Beau #2
“Of course I do. That’s how I knew what she did.” She pointed at Birdie. “What she took from my son. I accessed the records, and wiped the slate clean for him. No one ever looks at what admins do. Perks of the job.”
“And I was just doing my job when it came to protecting Alexis from your son…”
I shook my head at Birdie. The last thing we needed was her trying to reason with them.
I caught her eye, tipping my head toward the office door.
I needed her to move. To haul ass in there and lock the door.
A new shadow, one coming in from behind Sawyer at the edge of the barn, caught my eye. About fucking time!
“How about this?” I was gambling hard on Hayes making it to this fucker before anything happened.
The pressure in my chest eased as I saw Emmett was with him, too.
“I’ll put my gun down.” Fuck. It was hard to not look at my brother.
I knew they were moving as quickly as possible, but if they would just hurry up, we could rush him—
“On the ground. We’re running out of time.”
I nodded, flipping the safety as I lowered my hand to the ground. Birdie started sobbing the second the metal clanged onto the concrete.
The moment I stood back up, hands held high next to my face, Sawyer’s gun was trained on me.
And I could finally breathe. I was going to keep her safe. Sawyer would shoot me, just like I knew he was planning to since the moment I’d stepped into the barn, but Hayes would put him down. Maybe Emmett would do the same to the bitch standing next to him, too. And Birdie wouldn’t be hurt.
Her sobs turned into a scream at the same time the gunshot rang out. I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact. It was stronger than I thought it would be. Warmer, too. Like being a kid again messing around with a football, and having one of my brother’s tackle me.
Wait.
That’s exactly what it felt like.
Another shot rang out.
Like someone had run into me.
No.
No, no, no.
My eyes popped back open, the breath in my chest leaving in an instant. Because I was right—someone had run into me.
Hayes was standing over Sawyer, gun drawn. His fucking mother had the goddamn nerve to fill the air with shrieks, but I knew Emmett would handle her.
Oh, fuck.
The truth hit me so hard I almost threw up.
It wasn’t Hayes. My brother hadn’t been the one to jump in front of me. He wasn’t the person who’d run into me.
Every muscle in my body contracted at the sight of my beautiful Chickadee lying on the floor, a pool of blood seeping out around her body as her chest seemed to jerk and convulse with each jagged breath she was taking.
“Fuck! Birdie! No!” I screamed as I pulled my shirt off over my head, rolling it up onto my knees. “Why the hell did you do that?”
My hands were on her the next second, ripping her shirt to try and find where the bullet hit. There was so much blood. I was going to lose her. There was no way…there wasn’t a way for her to survive this.
“That’s what you do…”
“No.” I pressed down on the little spot between her shoulder and her neck that I loved so much.
“Yes. When you…love someone. You keep…keep them safe. You n-need to be here to keep our daughter safe,” she whispered. Her bright blue eyes dimmed, but she reached out for me. Her hand landed against my face, brushing my cheek. “Don’t cry.”
“Don’t cry? This isn’t okay,” I sobbed. I didn’t fucking care for one second that my tears were falling so fast they were dripping off my face and landing over her heart.
“You don’t get to leave me. We’re getting married!
And we’re making Juniper a big sister. We’re working on your passion project,” I cried as her eyes started to close. “We’re building a legacy…”
“I got…” She coughed, the sound tearing through her lungs.
“I got to be with you. I got to be a mom. I stopped our girl from losing her father. I…I love you both—” she gasped as I applied more pressure to the wound.
It was too close to her neck. Too close to her heart.
That beautiful spot I loved to kiss was going to be the place she bled out from.
I knew it was hurting her more, but if I didn’t press down harder, she was going to die.
And she couldn’t die. Her eyes already said she was ready to, but I wasn’t about to let her go.
“What the fuck happened?” Somewhere in the background, I registered Hawk’s voice. Then Dad’s. That fucking god-awful screaming from the fucking bitch finally stopped.
“Fuck. Fuck. Oh fuck. Hawk and Dad are taking care of whoever the hell that lady is. I called it in, Beau. Dispatch is gonna get MedFlight out here. That’ll be the fastest response.
” Hayes slammed to the ground beside me, the first aid kit we kept mounted on the barn wall exploding open in front of me.
“Hold her hand while I try to get the bleeding under control. I need to see if there’s an exit wound… BEAU! YOU HAVE TO FUCKING MOVE!”
Birdie’s eyes fluttered closed as I forced my body to listen to my brother. He was trained in first aid. I had to trust her with him.
“No, baby. No. No. I know you want to sleep, but you can’t. Okay? Open those beautiful eyes for me. Open them, Birdie!”
She nodded, the last bit of pink slipping out of her cheeks. “No shirt.”
“That’s right. I’m not wearing a shirt. How about you open your eyes and we’ll count ladybugs together?
All thirty. We’ll plan where the next one goes.
Okay?” I lifted her fingers and pressed them to my lips, then held her hand over my heart.
“I’m thinking right here. Can you open your eyes and see?
R-Right over my heart, Chickadee. Because you own it.
You own my heart, and there is no leaving me now.
Got it? So open your eyes. Please, baby. Please open your eyes!”
The muscles in her hand and her arm all went slack, but I still held on to her. With everything in me.
Because I couldn’t let her go.
I wouldn’t.