Chapter 13
Thirteen
SHE’D KISSED HIM. Something she’d dreamed about doing for years.
And he hadn’t seemed to mind one bit. It might have been a selfish move, especially if he wasn’t interested, but deep down she knew he was.
And kissing him, even that light brush of butterfly wings, had been the stuff of dreams. Now she wanted to live to see if they could have more.
Be more.
Together. And she had a glimmer of an idea how to move things in the right direction to make sure they could explore that option.
But before that could happen, they had to find Ellie and Vance and stop them. If she didn’t, her dreams were dust.
She hurried around to the front of the condo, looking for fresh prints. None.
A shot rang out from the back. “Gideon!” Maya darted along the cabin wall, staying close to the rough wood.
At the corner, she cautiously peered around and her heart squeezed.
Using the tree line for cover, Ellie had her weapon trained on Gideon, who was near the stack of firewood and facing the cabin’s French doors.
Before Maya could get Gideon’s attention, Ellie’s gaze snapped to her, and the gun swung in her direction.
Maya pulled back and bullets splintered the cabin beside her, sending wooden shrapnel raining into the snow.
When the shooting stopped, she looked around again, praying she didn’t get a bullet in the head.
She caught Gideon’s eye just as the French doors swung open and Vance bolted out of the cabin.
He spotted Gideon and never slowed. He ran down the steps of the porch, through the icy snow, slipping and sliding, with no weapon that she could see. But she knew what a good fighter he was. He could kill a man with his hands, and that seemed to be his intent as he reached the woodpile.
Maya stood still, watching, as did Ellie. The man dove over the stack of wood and landed on top of Gideon. Gideon grunted and the two men rolled down the slight hill away from the wood and into the open.
Ellie’s gun barked once more in Maya’s direction.
“Ellie, Vance, stop! It’s over!” Maya yelled.
The sirens were closer, but they wouldn’t be able to see what was going on, thanks to the privacy of the cabin’s location. Not unless they were watching the security cameras.
“It’s not over!” Ellie shouted. “We may never get to claim the land now, but you’re not going back to it! Ever! You’ve ruined everything!” The high-pitched screech echoed through the air, and Maya breathed a prayer for divine help.
She couldn’t see Gideon and Vance now. They’d rolled back behind the woodpile.
But the sounds of their fight came through loud and clear.
She had to do something to distract Ellie and help Gideon.
She could only pray the men were evenly matched, with Vance’s head wound hampering his strength. “Security is on the way!”
For a moment Ellie had her weapon aimed at Vance and Gideon.
Obviously trying to hit Gideon.
“No, no, no,” Maya whispered. Using Ellie’s distraction to her advantage, Maya darted for the woodpile, praying she could get there before Ellie could refocus her aim.
A bullet whipped over her head, and she slid to her knees behind the wood. From her vantage point, she had a good look at Gideon and Vance.
And it was not going well for Gideon.
Gideon struggled under Vance’s weight. His back dug into the icy underlayer of the snow, sending shards of pain rippling through him while he tried to find some kind of leverage to get the guy off him.
The man’s massive hands were wrapped around his throat and closing like a vise.
Vance’s eyes were wide open, but he was lost in another time, another place, another battle, his PTSD set off by his wife’s gunfire.
“Vance!” Gideon’s gasp came out on a whisper. Another crack followed, then another, Ellie’s shots echoing off the mountainside like firecrackers. And very close to their heads. One more pop from another direction, someone screamed, and then the shooting stopped.
Vance’s grip loosened and his body trembled.
Gideon gasped in a full breath, bucked Vance to the side, and threw a punch to the man’s chin.
It just grazed him, and Vance came back at him, his fist aimed at Gideon’s face.
Gideon ducked and Vance’s punch landed on the ground.
A howl came from his throat, and Gideon rolled, but the man reared back and came at him once more with a chunk of ice gripped in his right hand.
“Vance, no!” Maya’s shout came just before she swung a log into Vance’s upper shoulders.
Vance turned to look up just as she swung again and connected with his head.
Vance cried out and slumped over. Unconscious. On top of Gideon.
Gideon didn’t move, simply lay there, trying to regain his breath, knowing he needed to protect Maya. Screams came from his left.
“Maya!”
He started to push Vance off once more.
“Everyone stay down!” Lila’s voice rang out, and Gideon froze for a brief second, then he lifted his head.
The last gunshot he’d noticed coming from a different direction had been Lila’s, and her bullet had caught Ellie in the shoulder.
The woman lay writhing on the ground, her screams still echoing around them. Her screams. Not Maya’s.
Oh, thank you, God.
Ellie’s weapon lay next to her, but even in her pain with two gunshot wounds, she still fought back, her fingers grasping for the butt of the gun.
Maya ran over and kicked it away while Lila got the squirming woman under control and pulled her arms behind her.
She zip-tied them in spite of the wound in her shoulder.
“Stop!” Ellie’s screech was earsplitting. “You’re hurting me! I need help!” Her cries would have been heartbreaking if she hadn’t just tried to kill him and Maya.
Gideon grunted and shoved Vance off him and onto the snow. The man was out cold. Gideon drew in ragged breaths, his throat aching. Maya’s hands were on his face, checking him over. “I’m okay,” he managed to rasp.
“Nice swing you got there,” Lila said to Maya, not taking her eyes off Ellie. “When I saw what was happening, I waited for an opening. Didn’t want to risk hitting any of you in the scuffle.”
More sirens were almost on them now. Vance remained unconscious, a momentary reprieve from his life and what was to come.
Maya moved from Gideon to kneel beside Vance.
She checked him over, then looked up. “He has a pretty severe head wound. He needs medical attention immediately.” She chewed her lip and a tear slipped out.
Just as Gideon started to go to her to pull her into his arms, she swiped the tear away and sniffed.
“I didn’t mean to hit him in the head, but he moved and—”
“It’s not your fault,” Gideon said, his voice sounding hoarse and rough. He could only pray Vance hadn’t done any lasting damage to his vocal cords. But he’d worry about that later. “He brought this on himself.”
“I know, but still . . .” She shook her head and cupped a hand over her shoulder with a grimace.
“He and Ellie both need a hospital, but let’s get them to the clinic where I can treat them as best as I can.
Then we can get a chopper on the way to transport them to the nearest hospital.
” She raked a hand over her hair. “And I suppose we’ll have to alert the authorities and make statements and all that. ”
“Sounds about right,” Gideon said. He retrieved the weapon he’d taken off Vance and passed it to one of the other officers.
“They’ve managed to dig through the entrance,” Lila said, still holding on to the more subdued Ellie. “Anyone who wants to leave can get out now. And local police can get in. You can give your statements to them, and we can get Mr. and Mrs. Harland to a hospital.”
Gideon nodded and finally couldn’t stop himself. He went to Maya and pulled her close.
It was over.
Thank you, Lord.