Chapter Eighteen
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Cassidy stared at the man who had just ripped off the ski mask. Sheriff Becker.
Her gut twisted. She had suspected him, of course.
Had listed his name alongside Vance and Moran in every late-night theory she and Kincade had worked through.
But part of her had clung to the hope that they were wrong.
That no cop, especially one sworn to protect their county, would try to kill them. Try to kill her brother.
That hope shattered in front of her, replaced with the hollow thud of betrayal.
She tore her gaze away from Becker and looked at Travis. He was pressing his hand to his arm, blood seeping between his fingers, but he was upright. Coherent. The wound didn’t look life-threatening.
Marlene wasn’t so lucky.
Cassidy could hear her soft moans, could see her slumped shape behind a nearby headstone. Blood darkened the ground beneath her. The shot to her shoulder had been bad enough, but now she was hit again. Marlene wasn’t moving much.
She shifted her attention to Kincade who stood with his gun raised, his body taut with tension. Kincade was behind cover. Barely. He was behind an oak, and he had his icy gaze pinned to the man, to the county sheriff, who was apparently at the center of this nightmare.
Becker was still on his feet, his own weapon loose in his hand. She didn’t know if he’d try to run or fire again. But she wasn’t about to let Kincade face him alone. Not after everything they’d survived. Not after coming this far.
Cassidy’s pulse thudded hard in her ears as she spotted Jericho moving through the headstones. He was low to the ground, nearly invisible in the shadows, but she caught the flash of his hand as he reached Marlene. In one quick motion, he knocked her gun away and kicked it out of reach.
Before Cassidy could breathe a word of relief, Becker spun toward the movement. The shot cracked through the air.
Jericho dove behind a tall headstone, the bullet chipping off stone just inches from his head.
Cassidy lifted her weapon and shouted, “Don’t!”
But Kincade was already moving. He stepped from his cover, weapon raised and voice like steel. “You shoot again, Sheriff, and you’re getting blasted from three sides.”
Cassidy didn’t need more prompting. She sighted down her barrel, heart steady despite the storm crashing around them. Across from her, Jericho raised his weapon too. They formed a triangle, all trained on Becker.
It was three against one, and they were done playing games. Unfortunately though, Becker wasn’t making any move to surrender.
Cassidy kept her aim steady on Becker, and her voice was calm but firm. “Put down the gun, Becker. Let us get Marlene an ambulance before it’s too late.”
Becker still didn’t lower his weapon. His jaw clenched, and a growl ripped from his throat. “She doesn’t deserve to live,” he spat out. “It was her and Daniel who dragged me into this shit in the first place.”
Cassidy’s heart beat harder. She kept her gaze locked on Becker but caught the subtle movement in her periphery. Kincade was inching sideways, careful and quiet, using the stones for cover. He was going to try to flank Becker, get close enough to end this without more bloodshed.
Marlene let out a weak moan. “This isn’t my fault,” she rasped.
“Yes it is,” Becker barked. His voice was twisted with fury. “You came to me, whining that Daniel was going to be ruined. That it would destroy his family, his career. Daniel was a wreck, begging me to fix it.” He cursed. “So I tried to talk to Alisha, calm her down.”
Cassidy stayed locked on him, barely breathing.
Becker’s voice turned bitter. “But Alisha wouldn’t listen.
Said she was going to tell everyone that I was helping cover it up.
That I was just as guilty. She ran, yelling she was going to Sheriff Moran.
” He paused, making a low groan and adding more of that raw profanity.
“I didn’t mean to kill her. But she wouldn’t stop running her mouth. She left me no choice.”
Cassidy’s gut twisted. So there it was. The truth, laid bare and filthy. Becker had killed her cousin. Not out of rage. Not by accident.
But out of fear. Out of selfishness.
“You panicked again when Travis found that old hard drive,” Becker shouted, aiming that at Marlene. “You kidnapped your own mother to make it look like someone was forcing you. You played the victim so well that I almost believed you.”
Cassidy’s breath hitched. Her hands tightened around her weapon. She stole a glance at Kincade, who was still inching forward.
Marlene let out a strangled cry. “I wasn’t setting you up! You murdered Alisha. You murdered Daniel. I didn’t kill anyone.”
“Daniel was going to confess everything,” Becker snapped back, his voice rising. “He was going to throw me under the bus. He was clean-up. He was damage control. So was the things I did at the safe house. He stopped, cursed. “You were collateral damage, Maddox. That’s all.”
Kincade huffed. “You tried to kill me by knocking me out and setting the place on fire. You took my phone, my gun, my keys. I’m guessing you took my ride, too, and dumped it somewhere.”
Becker didn’t deny any of that. The SOB had planned on murdering Travis and Kincade then, and nothing had changed now. He still wanted them dead. And her, too.
Cassidy caught a glimpse of him as Becker glanced out from cover.
His hand trembled, finger tightening slightly on the trigger.
Cassidy steadied her aim, heart hammering.
But she didn’t have a shot because he ducked back behind the tree.
If she fired, she had to make sure she didn’t miss or she could end up hitting Kincade or Jericho.
“He was going to take the whole thing public. Put it all on me,” Becker spat out. “I did what I had to do.”
“And now you’re doing it again,” Cassidy shouted. “Trying to bury the truth with more blood.”
For a moment, the silence was absolute, and she hoped Becker was on the verge of rethinking his actions and surrendering.
Apparently not though.
“I have no choice,” Becker shouted back. “None of you is leaving this place alive. If the truth gets out, my family will be ruined. My name dragged through the dirt.”
The anger sliced through Cassidy. That’s what he was worried about? His reputation? What his family would think of him? He’d killed, destroyed lives, framed Travis for a murder and created this living hell they were in now, and he deserved every damn smear to his name.
Becker deserved to die.
And she had to fight the rage. Had to force herself not to just bolt up and start shooting at him until he was as dead as his victims.
“You betrayed your family,” Cassidy snarled. “You betrayed your badge, you despicable piece of shit.”
“I did what I had to do,” he shouted.
She leaned out just long enough to scan the area, checking to see where they were. Marlene, wounded and sprawled against the ground. Travis, clutching his arm. Jericho crouched behind a headstone. Kincade was God knew where.
“There’ll be no links to those men I hired,” Becker added, the sickening dread and venom drenching every word that he spewed. Even now, there was no remorse. “No links to the clean-up, to the bodies, to the fire. You all die here.”
This was it. He was going to come out firing. Well, so was she. She wasn’t going to let this bastard claim another life.
“Becker,” she warned him, sounding exactly like the cop that she was. “You pull that trigger, and I swear you won’t get off another shot.”
He didn’t respond for several long moments. “I’m already buried in this mess. Might as well finish it.”
Cassidy adjusted her aim and pinned her attention to the spot, waiting for Becker to make another appearance. A moment later, Becker leaned out from behind the tree. But he wasn’t holding his gun any longer. In his hand was something else. Small, black, and unmistakably dangerous.
A detonator.
Her blood turned to ice.
Cassidy’s breath caught in her throat. Hell, it was a detonator. Becker must have planted explosives somewhere nearby, and he was planning to end it all in one violent blast.
Her stomach churned as she scanned the trees, looking for any sign of where he might have hidden them, but there was no time to figure it out.
Then, she saw Kincade.
He moved fast, breaking through the brush, his body low and charging straight at Becker.
“No,” Cassidy whispered, fear slicing through her.
Becker turned just in time to see Kincade coming. His thumb twitched toward the detonator, but Kincade slammed into him hard, knocking him back against the tree. They hit the ground in a tangle of limbs, Kincade’s hands locked around Becker’s wrist, wrestling for control.
Cassidy bolted forward, weapon still raised, but she didn’t have a clear shot. Neither did Jericho, who raced toward the fight as well. The two men were locked together, struggling, Becker fighting to get his hand free, Kincade straining to keep the detonator out of reach.
Cassidy’s heart thundered as she closed the distance, praying Kincade would hold him back just long enough.
She sprinted forward, her lungs burning, her eyes locked on the struggle between Kincade and Becker. She barely registered Travis moving at her side until he shouted, pointing toward a headstone a few feet away.
“There,” he yelled. “There’s an IED at the base.”
Cassidy’s stomach dropped. She hadn’t seen it earlier, but she could certainly see it now. It was close. Too close. And while she didn’t know a lot about explosives, it appeared to have enough firepower to wipe out half the cemetery.
Including them.
“Get back,” Jericho barked. “You and Travis, take cover.”
But Cassidy didn’t move. “No,” she barked right back. She wasn’t leaving Kincade.
Kincade was locked in a brutal fight with Becker, both men grunting as they struggled. Becker’s hand kept jerking toward the detonator. He was going to do it. He was going to blow them all to hell and take everyone with him.