Chapter 48
Forty-Eight
“Roxy!” Travis bellowed again, putting on a burst of speed.
Twenty feet from the corner of the barn, a shot rang out, then another.
He skidded around the barn, slipping on the rain slicked grass, catching himself by grabbing hold of the corner of the building.
He raised his arm that still clutched Freeman’s handgun, but he slammed to a stop, his heart hammering in his chest at the sight that met his eyes.
Neal lay flat on his back. A gasping, choked breath stuttered out of his mouth, and then he went completely still. His eyes open, but unseeing. Two bullet wounds pumped red blood, one from his stomach, the other from the side of his neck, where it had severed the carotid artery.
Roxy stood three feet away, splattered in mud and rain and blood, her hands clamped tightly around the butt of the handgun, still pointing directly at Neal’s now lifeless body.
She was soaked, her hair lying flat against her head and shoulders, clothes clinging wetly to her body.
She was shaking, eyes wide and filled with horror, tears mixing with the rain sliding down her cheeks.
A gash across her left bicep oozed blood, dripping down her arm and off the tip of her elbow. The bastard had shot her!
“Roxy,” Travis whispered, stumbling forward. He flipped the safety on, then tucked Freeman’s gun into the waistband of his jeans at his back.
When her eyes lifted to his, her hazel eyes were unfocused, faraway. She blinked away the rain, her eyes finally focusing on him, and she whispered, “Travis.”
And then her face fell as soul deep sobs wracked her body. She cried wretchedly, the sound breaking him entirely. Tears filled his own eyes as the anguish exploding from deep inside enveloped her. Her arms lowered, the gun falling from her fingers to the mud at their feet.
He didn’t waste another heartbeat, wrapping his arms around her so tightly he wished he could imprint her on his own body, burrow her under his skin to carry all of her pain. She cried miserably, her fingers clutching at the material of his shirt at his back, her face buried in his neck.
“Travis,” she sobbed, great, hiccupping breaths leaving her as she clutched at him desperately.
“I’ve got you,” he breathed, stroking her hair reverently. He pressed kisses to her forehead, to the top of her head, as he continued to chant, his voice raspy and broken. “I’m here, Red. I’ve got you. I’ve got you. I’ve got you…”
Picking her up beneath the knees and cradling her back in his other arm, he strode away from Neal’s lifeless body.
She wound her arms around his neck, as if holding on for dear life.
He held her as tightly as he would allow himself, fear of hurting her, not knowing what Neal had done to her before they’d gotten to her…
He tamped down the fear, striding around the barn and back toward the main part of the driveway.
As they got closer, he heard the sirens, and then saw the lights flashing as two, then three police cars pulled down the driveway toward them all. An ambulance was right behind them.
Free was up then, running toward the ambulance as the doors opened and two EMT’s hopped out. They raced back to the deputy that had been shot as three officers approached the two of them as they crossed the yard. Their guns were drawn, aimed at their feet in precaution.
“They’re with us!” Free shouted as he became aware of the situation. A tall, black-haired deputy with striking blue eyes glanced between Free and Travis, who still held Roxy cradled in his arms. “Chase, dammit, that’s Roxy you’re aiming your fucking gun at!”
“Who’s he?” the deputy called back, not lowering his gun entirely.
“That’s the guy that just drove her across the fucking country to get her here safe,” Free hissed, stepping closer before another officer stopped him. “Oh, fuck off Cross. I’m not going to hurt Chase.”
“And the suspect?” Chase called to Travis.
Travis tightened his arms around Roxy. Fear and anxiety swirled inside his chest. She had done everything she had to in self-defense… but that fear still ate at him. He would take the blame before he ever let her see the inside of a fucking jail cell.
“Deceased. Around the barn,” Travis said loud enough for him to hear.
Roxy’s arms tightened around his neck at his words.
He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “She’s been shot.
Looks superficial, but it will require stitches.
” Then he looked squarely at the first officer, the one Freeman seemed to be on a first name basis with.
“I have a firearm at my back, the safety is on.”
The dark-haired deputy notched his chin at the other officers around him. “You two take the weapon, then go check the suspect. I want to go—”
“You go with Beckett,” the one Free had called Cross said. They all holstered their guns, stepping toward Travis and Roxy, still held in a bridal carry in his arms. “Sorry, it’s just precaution.
Travis nodded stiffly as they lifted his shirt, pulling the gun out of his waistband. Anxiety was clawing at his chest, but he rasped, “I understand.”
The deputy named Cross asked, “Does the firearm belong to you?”
Free spoke then. “It’s mine. I gave it to him just before he went to find Roxy.”
“How is the other deputy?” Travis asked then, glancing across the yard to where the ambulance was parked.
The EMT’s were loading the wounded deputy into the back of the ambulance, and the dark-haired deputy jogged over to the back of it before they could close the doors.
They spoke for just a minute, and then the doors closed, the lights and sirens coming on as they pulled out quickly.
The officer in front of Travis shook his head.
“Not sure.” Pointing to the dark-haired deputy who stood staring after the ambulance, he continued, “That’s his partner.
I’ve never had a partner wounded like this before. It’s got to be rough.”
Travis adjusted Roxy in his arms and she hissed in pain, her breath sucking in through her teeth where her head was resting against his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he murmured, walking forward again. “Is there another ambulance coming or should I take her myself?”
“I don’t need—”
“Shut up, woman,” Travis growled, though there was no heat in his tone. Pressing his lips to her forehead again, he breathed, “You’re going to get checked out this time whether you like it or not.”
She nodded, just barely. Jodi, Seren, Levi, and Free waited nearby. It was going to be a long night of getting her checked out, lots of questioning, and documenting the scene. But he would be with her, wherever she was.
Her lips moved against his neck as he continued forward. “You came back for me.”
His chest tightened; heart wrenching open inside his ribcage. “Always, Roxy.”