Chapter 20
20
N ikki jumped from behind the tree the second she recognized her stepfather. A shot rang out. Time moved in slow motion.
Conrad dropped to the ground and then rolled. She scanned his shirt for any signs of red. Fear that he’d taken a bullet sent panic rocketing through her.
“Put the gun down,” she shouted to a surprised-looking Heath.
Before she could run to Conrad, who was now somewhere behind the tent, a hand came over her mouth. Another wrapped around her midsection like a vise.
“Be quiet, bitch,” the unfamiliar voice said.
“Not her, Lukas,” Heath warned. “Leave her out of this.”
“And do what?” Lukas asked. “Let her call for help? Hell no.”
“She doesn’t belong here,” Heath said. Should she be happy that he seemed to care whether or not she died today? His fatherly love should have come with a warning label.
Nikki bit the fingers over her mouth. Hard.
“Shit,” Lukas said, squeezing her even tighter with his free hand. He released a slew of curse words as he whispered, “You’ll get paid back for this, you little—”
She banked on Heath not wanting her to die. Therefore, he wouldn’t shoot her himself. She dropped down and jabbed an elbow in Lukas’ ribs. A feral growl tore from him as his grip slipped enough for her to break free.
“Don’t be stupid, Nikki,” Heath warned as Lukas quickly regained composure, aiming the barrel of a gun directly at her heart. “Do whatever he says.”
“What’s going on, Heath?” She took a step toward him, trying to create a distraction so Conrad could either get away or get in a position to fight. His shotgun, unfortunately, had flown out of his hands. It was lying on the ground ten feet in front of her.
Could she make a move for it?
“Don’t,” Heath warned, following her gaze to the shotgun.
Conrad had disappeared from view. Was he bleeding out behind the tent? Coming up with a plan? She hated the helplessness embedding in her chest at not knowing if he was alive or dying without being able to do anything about it.
Hands fisted at her sides, she locked gazes with her stepfather. Being a good litigator was about taking the right risks, pushing the right buttons.
“Why did you kill my father?” she asked. Those words were knives to the chest. She didn’t want them to be true. She shouldn’t care about Heath. She shouldn’t love her stepfather. But her loyalty ran deep, and her feelings toward the man were a mix of disgust, fear, and as much as she hated it, love.
Lukas walked up to her side, pointing the barrel of his gun at her temple. This time, he was smart enough to stand just out of reach.
“How did you figure out it was me?” Heath asked, clearly taken back.
“I didn’t,” she admitted. “Until just now.”
“Harrison made everything complicated,” Heath said, and she could hear the exasperation in her stepfather’s voice. “He didn’t do anything to deserve your loyalty except donate sperm.”
She couldn’t argue there.
“But you still loved him,” he said with a sour expression, like the words tasted bitter. “You were loyal to him.”
“I came here to tell him that I wanted to be your daughter, Heath.” Those words hurt now. So much about their relationship would involve painful memories now.
“You did?” Heath’s surprise caught her off guard. “I overheard you talking to your mother, saying you didn’t know what you were going to do.”
Heath’s weapon still pointed in her direction, but she ignored it. “I didn’t,” she said. “Not until I got half a mile away from the ranch.” It wasn’t entirely true. She’d wanted to gauge her father’s reaction before making a final decision. Loyalty counted for a lot when it came to parenting. In a perfect world, Heath’s parental love wouldn’t be tainted by jealousy of her birth father. “But then it came to me that loyalty is more important than anything else, especially biology.”
Some of the tension eased from Heath’s face. She stared at someone who was willing to kill to get what he wanted. Or was it to protect her? In his twisted way, she figured the latter might be true.
But it was still murder. Heath had taken away any chance she’d had to mend fences with Harrison, to find out if he really would rather her go away. If he’d known the reason for her visit, would he have had an epiphany?
Any chance for her childhood fantasy of the man having a change of heart and telling her how much she meant to him was gone.
Heath took that from her.
“Why hide behind the deal?” she asked, still unable to fit certain puzzle pieces together. The questions were also a stall tactic, but she desperately wanted answers.
“Less messy,” Heath said, shifting his weapon just enough so that the barrel was no longer trained on her. “And I would never be tied to it. Only three people had to die. Their bodies could be buried and not found for years. The deal would never come back on me.”
It took Lukas a few seconds to catch on that Heath intended to kill him from the start. When he did, his gaze widened, and his jaw dropped. Nikki took advantage of the distraction, stepping into him and throwing an elbow into his solar plexus.
Lukas gasped for air like a fish writhing on the bank.
And then another shot was fired.
Nikki prayed the bullet hadn’t hit her. There was no time to check. She dove for the shotgunandcame up with it. She’d never fired a weapon a day in her life. Could she shoot a human? A parental figure? Lukas?
One glance to her left answered the last question. She wouldn’t have to find out if she could shoot Lukas because he was already sitting on his backside, staring out at the water, bloody hand over the center of his chest. His mouth was open like he wanted to speak but couldn’t. Shock stamped his features as blood pumped out of him like an open fire hydrant spits water.
At this range, Heath had scored a direct hit. Would he shoot her next?
Could he?
Conrad scrambled to get a view of what had just happened. He’d been knocked unconscious after going head-first into a tree trunk when he’d dove behind the tent. He must not have been out for long. His vision wasstill blurred; he scanned the area for his shotgun but couldn’t see it.
Not that anything would stop him from getting to Nikki, including not having a weapon of his own.
A shot had been fired, and Nikki could have been hit. As he came around the back of the two-man tent, crawling on all fours, he saw Lukas.
Getting a better line of sight, he realized Lukas had been shot. He also saw that Nikki was still alive. She’d retrieved the shotgun and had it pointed at her stepfather.
Fuzzy details came together. Had Beau been set up? Did that mean his half-brother’s intentions were good?
Conrad didn’t know what to believe.
“Put the gun down, Nikki,” Heath warned. “Don’t force me to shoot you.”
“How will you be able to look my mother in the eyes if you do that?” she quipped, anger lacing her tone.
A noise to his right sounded a second before an arm hauled him upright.
“What are you doing here?” Beau asked under his breath before walking Conrad around the tent.
Conrad tried to shake the fog out of his brain. “What the hell?”
“Are you looking for this?” Beau asked Heath.
“I was just about to go find it,” Heath sneered.
“Wait!” Despite Nikki’s protest, Heath took aim.
“Hold on a damn minute,” Beau stated. “You’re about to accidentally shoot me.”
“Who said it would be an accident?” Heath laughed. “I hope you didn’t take me seriously. Bring him closer so I can get a better shot.”
Conrad’s brain snapped into gear as Beau stuck cold metal between his ribs. Beau didn’t move.
“I got this one,” Beau said. “He’s been a pain in my ass ever since I arrived at the Sturgess ranch.”
No way did Conrad intend to go down easy. He spun around, grabbed Beau’s arm, and then dropped to the ground, holding tight.
“I’m trying to help you, dammit,” Beau grunted in Conrad’s ear.
What are you doing here? Beau’s words came roaring back. His word choice had been niggling at the back of Conrad’s mind. He hadn’t expected to find Conrad here. Then who?
Heath?
Was he coming to check on Lukas? Or had the pair scheduled a meetup?
Conrad relaxed his grip enough for Beau to gain the upper hand. He rolled on top of Conrad and squeezed his arms to his sides using powerful thighs.
With his back to Heath, Beau was also making himself an easy target while shielding Conrad. Hell.
The next thing he knew, Beau pressed the gun into Conrad’s hand and winked.
Conrad bucked, rolled, and then aimed.
The bullet nicked Heath’s hand, knocking his weapon flying.
Nikki dove toward it at the same time as Heath. She landed on top as the shotgun went flying. Heath’s gaze followed it.
He maneuvered over to it before she realized what he was doing or could stop him. The bastard came up with it and then immediately aimed at Conrad and Beau.
They were already on their feet, bum-rushing the man.
Conrad wasn’t sure who struck Heath first, but they knocked him backward a few steps. He splashed in the water. Once again, the shotgun went flying. It landed in the water with a splunk .
Heath didn’t surface.
“He can swim,” Nikki said.
The man would have to come up for air at some point. Or drown.
Rather than wait, Conrad dove into the water. There was no way he was giving Heath a chance to regroup or gain access to a weapon. Or, hell, swim away.
He’d barely broken the surface when arms clasped around his midsection, pulling him toward the bottom of the lake.