Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
PAIGE
“We’ve got him covered,” Hawk said. “He’s coming in from the east, through the woods. Ryder and Wren are on him.”
“What if he spots them?” Ford asked.
“He won’t,” Hawk said with a low laugh. “Ford, walk out of the garage.” Hawk scanned the open doors and spotted the broom Billy Bob had leaned against the closest wall. “Grab that broom. Sweep the driveway. Take your time so we know he sees you. That’ll draw him to you.”
“And then what?” I asked. “Ford leads Haywood back in, and you guys shoot him?” I was hoping that was the answer, because this sounded an awful lot like Ford was bait.
Cole Haywood had already proven he was willing to kill to get what he wanted, and it seemed clear that what he wanted was to hurt Ford.
“Paige, get in the house,” Hawk said. “Harvey, you too.”
Harvey shook his head, his eyes on Ford. “I’m not leaving.”
“Neither am I,” I added. A little voice in the back of my brain was shrieking, Run, run, run!
But I wasn’t leaving Ford. I looked down into the hole in the garage floor, at the lumps of rough concrete in the bottom.
My father. Ford’s mother. Tipping my head back, I stared at the ceiling, imagining I could see through the layers of plaster and wood to the hallway above.
A shiver crawled down my spine at the memory of that frozen door the night we’d been trapped in the room.
I thought of the lights that flickered on and off, and the problems with the heat and the water.
Our first kiss in the closet when I’d gone to reset the breakers.
All of it had been leading us to each other, and together, to this moment.
To their bodies. They hadn’t left each other, and I wasn’t leaving Ford.
Our parents had died together. We were going to live together. After they dealt with Cole Haywood.
“Cole isn’t here for me,” I said to Ford and Hawk. “I’ll stay out of the way, but I’m not running for safety while Ford is in danger.”
Ford looked like he was going to argue, but Hawk, his focus on the woods across the field, said, “Ford, go. Get the broom. Use it for a minute, until I give you the signal to come back into the garage. I’ll deal with Paige and Harvey.”
Ford pulled me close. “We have a plan,” he said. “Please get inside with everyone else.”
I reached up to press my palms to his cheeks, pulling him down so I could press a quick kiss to his mouth. “I love you and I’m not leaving. Go play bait so we can get this over with. I’ll stay out of sight. I’m not going to mess up your plan, but I’m not leaving. Trust me.”
“I love you, too,” Ford said, and drew in a breath. “Please—”
Hawk interrupted with a low, “Ford, now.”
“Go,” I said, stepping back and giving him a gentle shove.
Ford shot a look at Hawk, that Hawk answered with a solemn nod. I expected him to toss me over his shoulder the way Griffen had with Hope, but he ignored me, turning to Harvey.
“Harvey,” he began, but Harvey shook his head slowly.
Harvey edged closer to the wall beside the hole in the concrete.
Grabbing one of the shovels leaning where Griffen and Ford had left them, he followed the wall to the corner by the garage door and tucked himself into the shadows.
Hawk narrowed his eyes at Harvey, then glanced at Ford fiddling with the broom.
His gaze flicked to the field beyond the courtyard.
Cole Haywood had emerged from the woods, his cautious pace picking up speed as he spotted Ford.
I worried he’d pull out a gun and try to shoot Ford, but instead he strode across the field, hands swinging free at his sides, his distant figure growing closer with every step.
Hawk looked over to Harvey. “We don’t have time to argue about it. Stay there. If you get yourself killed, it’s not on me. My job is to keep Ford and Paige alive.”
“I owe him,” Harvey said.
It seemed to be all the answer Hawk needed. Turning from Harvey, in a voice that wouldn’t carry farther than the courtyard, Hawk said, “Ford, he spotted you.”
Ford turned, broom in hand, and re-entered the garage, walking past Harvey’s hiding spot in the corner without seeing him. As his eyes adjusted to the dimmer light inside, he spotted me beside Hawk. “Paige, you shouldn’t be here.”
Before I could say anything, Hawk cut in, closing a hand around my upper arm.
In a low voice, he said, “Come with me,” as he tugged me toward the door to the house.
“Ford, stay there, in the middle of the garage. I don’t want you near that hole or pinned against the back wall. We need room to move.”
Ford shifted position to the center garage bay, his gaze on the figure of Cole, nearing the courtyard.
Ford swept a path of floor, sparing a quick glance at the back of the garage, where Hawk led me to the alcove by the door into the Manor.
Pushing me behind him, Hawk took a position at the front of the alcove and flicked off the light above us, shrouding us in the shadows.
I could see past him, but Cole and Ford would have a hard time spotting either of us.
And Haywood would have to go through Hawk to get to me.
Apparently satisfied by the wall of man between me and Haywood, Ford turned to face Cole as he strode across the courtyard, his face set in hard lines.
Weapon drawn, Hawk kept his attention on Haywood and Ford, but took a moment to whisper to me, “Don’t make me regret this, Paige.”
“I won’t,” I promised. “Don’t let him get hurt.”
“Not happening,” Hawk grunted as Cole Haywood paced through the open garage door, never seeing Harvey in the corner, or Hawk and me tucked into the alcove. All of his attention was fixed on Ford.
“Cole,” Ford said, sounding almost welcoming. “We’ve been looking for you.”
“Really?” Cole asked, stopping in the middle of the garage, less than ten feet from Ford.
“I won’t take too much of your time. Unfreeze my money and I’ll leave you alone.
” He paused and narrowed his eyes. “Everyone who took the bounty got the message. You’re too hot a target.
You’ll stop me from being able to pay anyone who takes the bounty, and they’ll end up in jail—or worse.
Understood. Fine. I give up.” He crossed his arms over his chest and lifted his chin. “Give me back my money.”
“What makes you think I can do that?” Ford asked, curling his fingers around the top of the broom handle as if he had all the time in the world. “We’ve known each other for years. You know I’m great with a spreadsheet, but I’m no hacker.”
“Don’t fuck with me, Ford,” Haywood snapped out. “I know you’re behind this.” Hawk shifted, keeping his gun focused on Haywood as he took a step closer to Ford, fury twisting his handsome face.
“And hypothetically,” Ford went on, his tone conversational despite the threat in front of him, “if I could unfreeze your money, you’d take your cash and disappear, never darken my door again?
That kind of thing?” Ford had one eyebrow raised, and I swore I saw a shadow of amusement in his sea-green eyes. Was he enjoying this?
My stomach was in knots. Cole’s hands were empty. I couldn’t see that he was carrying a gun, but despite his anger, he seemed too in control not to have the upper hand in one way or another.
“We both know you have access to some of the best hackers in the world through your brother and Hawk,” Haywood said. “Don’t waste my time. Tell them to unfreeze my money and I’ll walk away.”
“So basically,” Ford said, spinning the broom against the concrete in a very believable show of nonchalance, “you’re asking me to trust your word that you’ll leave me alone?
Trust the man who’s tried to kill me, repeatedly?
Who’s hired people to take shots at not just me, but half of my family as well?
If I did have anything to do with your accounts being frozen, I don’t think it would be very smart of me to unfreeze them.
You’ve got a lot less leverage when you’re broke and desperate. ”
Cole scowled. “I may be temporarily broke,” he said, “but I’ll never be desperate.”
Ford shrugged, as if it didn’t matter to him either way. “I have a different proposal,” he said. “I think you should leave Sawyers Bend and never come back. Stay off the dark web, cause trouble somewhere else. I don’t care where. Just disappear.”
“And, hypothetically, if I took your advice and left town, what about my money?” Cole asked.
“I don’t really see where that’s my problem,” Ford said. “It’s still your money.”
“But I can’t access it,” Cole ground out.
Ford shrugged. “I’m sure eventually you can sort that out.”
“And when I do,” Cole said, and this time he added a sneer, “you know full well I’ll come straight for you.”
Ford’s lips pressed together in a hard line, and he gave a decisive nod.
“Exactly. So why would I make that happen any faster? We both know you’re never going to stand down.
I don’t think you’re capable of it. Your life went to shit on your own watch, and you want to blame my father? Fine. He was a bastard.”
Ford glanced over at the gaping hole in the concrete.
“My father was more of a bastard than you know. But he’s dead.
You missed your chance there. The rest of us— We didn’t have anything to do with his bullshit, and you know it.
I may have fucked over some of my own family, clients, and business partners, but never you.
None of us here has ever hurt you. The people who did are dead, but for some reason, you can’t let it go.
I could unfreeze your accounts and write you a big fat check—and it wouldn’t make a difference. Am I right?”
Cole narrowed his eyes on Ford. Then, with a sigh, he propped his hands on his hips, looking for just a moment every bit the lord of the manor with his perfect hair waving off his face, those sharp cheekbones, and vivid blue eyes.
He was almost blindingly attractive, but so cold, and weirdly triumphant considering that his negotiation with Ford hadn’t been going his way.
I felt a chill in my gut as he cocked his head to the side and reached up to unbutton his black cashmere overcoat.