Chapter Twenty-Two
Aaron reached for the gun, managing to knock it out of Benning’s hand for a moment.
Lee was stirring next to him, coming back from the hit Aaron had dealt him to the back of the head with a rock he’d found on the road.
He had to subdue them both, and keep them away from Bailey.
He knew one thing for damn sure: He wasn’t going to let them get away with this anymore.
“Damn,” Benning snarled as he rolled out from underneath Aaron and scrambled back toward the weapon.
“Aaron!” Bailey yelled from the van, but Aaron held his hand up.
“You stay right there,” he told her. “I can handle this.”
He gritted his teeth, and repeated the same thing to himself. He could handle this. He just had to keep pushing forward, keep doing what he could to bring this nightmare to an end.
All he could think about was the way Bailey had been trembling in his arms. He didn’t want her to feel that fear for another moment, and he would do anything to end it. She didn’t deserve this, and the only way he could stop these men from hurting her again would be to take them out for good.
Lee was on his feet again, and Aaron rounded on him, pushing him back against the van, next to Bailey. He crashed into it, still woozy from the blow he had taken to his head, and his entire body shuddered with the pain.
But he had a knife, and he reached for it quickly, pulling it out and flashing it at Aaron. Aaron sprang back, and Lee raised the knife, ready to swing down again.
Until Bailey swept his feet out from under him. Lee seemed to have forgotten she was there, and Aaron nodded to her in thanks. Just like old times, he knew he wouldn’t have been able to do it without her by his side.
He turned his attention back to Benning again, his face tightening as he glared at him.
Benning had managed to get the gun trained on him again, and Aaron ducked just in time to feel a bullet whizzing over his head.
It hit the van with a loud clang, and Bailey let out a yelp of surprise.
Aaron turned to make sure she hadn’t been hit, but she was out of the van, her arms wrapped around Lee’s neck as she held him in place and pushed the air out of him to subdue him once more.
She had him covered. Even though she was scared, and injured, she could still fight for herself.
He lunged at Benning, who fired off another shot in a panic.
There were only so many bullets in that magazine, and it wouldn’t be long before he ran out entirely.
And when he did, Aaron would make his move.
He dove into the tall grass for cover, making it so Benning couldn’t see him to fire off another shot. His chest pressed to the ground, his whole body was rigid as he waited to make the next move. He didn’t even know what he was going to do, but he had to do something.
He crawled along the ground as Benning paced around at the edge of the grass, trying to spot him.
He probably would have just shot blindly if it hadn’t been for the limited amount of ammo he had right now.
He didn’t have the support of the others, and he knew Aaron was well trained in how to handle himself and what he should do in these situations.
Only problem was, so was Benning. They’d likely been through the same training, and Benning was far more practiced when it came to a showdown like this one. Aaron shuffled through the grass, trying to make as little noise as possible, until he reached Benning.
He grabbed his feet and yanked hard, knocking the other man off-balance and sending him crashing to the ground. Benning let out a yell, but there was nothing he could do to fight it. His whole body fell like cement, landing with such a thump the air was knocked out of him.
Aaron used the moment he had before Benning got himself back together to dive for the gun and take it from him, then tossed it as far as he could into the tall grass behind them.
He just wanted that thing away from him, away from Bailey.
When he had seen Benning pointing it at her, that was the only thing he had been able to focus on.
Once it was gone, he scrambled away from Benning to get to Bailey again.
She had Lee passed out at her feet, and she jumped up as soon as she saw him getting close.
He threw his arms around her, pulling her in against him, pressing his face into her hair.
He needed this. He needed her. He needed them together, no matter what he had to do to make it happen, no matter how hard it might be.
“You’re okay, you’re okay,” he told her again. “I’ve got you. We can get you back up to the lodge, get you patched up—”
But before he could say another word, a sound rang out behind them. He stiffened—a gunshot. He could hear it burning in his ears. He should have kept the gun, but he had been in such a rush to get back to Bailey, he couldn’t think about anything else.
And it might have just cost him everything.
“Aaron!” Bailey exclaimed as she pulled back. There was blood on her shirt, staining through, and for a second he thought somehow she had been shot. But then, as she reached out her hand to his torso, he realized that wasn’t what had happened.
It was him who had taken the bullet.
“Aaron, get down,” she pleaded, but he turned to shield her, refusing to let Benning take her down, too.
The pain was starting to set in now, radiating through his body.
He glanced down and saw the thick, wet rivulets of blood running down his jeans.
He could hardly see straight, dark spots clouding his vision, but it didn’t matter—he had to keep her safe.
It was the only thing he could think of, regardless of what was happening to him. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
If it was the last thing he did.
Finally, as the spots began to clear, he saw Benning walking toward them, limping slightly as though he was injured. But he had a grin on his face, as he advanced on the two of them.
And this time, Aaron didn’t know if he had any more fight in him. If he could hold him off.
“Aaron,” Bailey begged him, trying to pull him back down by her side, but he didn’t move.
He couldn’t. It was as though his feet were rooted to the ground, every bone in his body telling him that the only thing that mattered was Bailey’s safety.
Just like he had done all those years ago, he would sacrifice himself to protect her.
“Get out of the way, Ward,” Benning said, sneering at him. “You really want to leave her to die alone? Your shot was meant for her. Move so I can do her, too. That way, you can have your little romantic moment before you both go.”
“Shut up,” Aaron snarled back at him. “You’re not getting past me.” He never wanted to hear Benning talking about what he and Bailey had together. It was just for them.
He would never allow anything between the two of them to be sullied by what these monsters would say about them.
Benning would never understand the love Aaron had for Bailey, anyway.
Or the love she had for him in return. He was a man who scared women, a man who made them feel as though they weren’t safe.
He would never understand sacrificing everything for that person, doing anything to make sure they were protected and cared for.
“You sure?” Benning asked, cocking the gun again. How many bullets were left in there? Aaron eyed the barrel, contemplating his next move. But there was no way, no way he could win this. He was starting to feel woozy and tired from the blood loss. He wasn’t going to make it much longer.
No matter all that had happened, though, Aaron had never imagined a cop would point a gun at him like this. Someone he was supposed to be brothers-in-arms with, no less.
But Benning clearly felt none of that for him. Benning had banded with a team like Ziegler and his cronies, men who would likely turn their backs on him the first chance they got.
That was something Aaron could take away from this, at least. Benning would never be happy.
None of them would be. They had to live their lives looking over their shoulders, never able to rest, never able to slow down, never able to stop.
Aaron had lived more than half a decade in peace, really finding comfort in himself and the choices he’d made—enough so that when Bailey came back into his life, he had been able to meet her and tell her how he really felt.
Benning pressed the gun against his chest. Then, a voice cut in from beside them.
“Wait. Let me.”
Ziegler was on his feet again, standing there, holding out his hand for the gun. Even through it was clear Benning wanted to be the one to pull the trigger himself, he knew better than to argue with their leader, and he handed the gun over to him, pressing it into his palm.
Ziegler stepped forward and took his place in front of Aaron, grinning widely.
“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” he spat. “See you, Ward.”