Chapter 14 #3
And then the world simply exploded.
Maybe Dawson sensed her movement, because he reached out for her, but Keely jerked away and ran around the house, screaming.
Dawson shouted from behind her, and she only got a few steps before he tackled her from behind.
She landed in the snow, face-first, as gunshots littered the air. A motor fired up, and she fought Dawson’s grip on her to see the battered red truck peeling out of the driveway.
More shots from the sniper in the barn, but Dawson rolled off her. “Stay down!” He gave her a look that should pin her to the ground.
Indeed, it sent a tremor through her, but more fury than fear.
What was Vic doing here? She shot a look at the woman, unmoving in the snow, and everything curdled inside her.
Dawson told her. Nothing else made sense—the man had betrayed her secret to Vic, which had ignited some inner cop gene, maybe, and—
Shots fired from the woods, and she spotted a man in a sheriff’s uniform emerge from the forest by the driveway, a couple more uniforms from the other side.
They had the place surrounded.
Dawson got up and grabbed Vic by the back of her jacket and pulled her away, behind the truck. Keely ran over to her.
Vic’s eyes remained closed, her breathing slight. But Keely didn’t see blood—
“Get down!” The woman from the woods advanced on the house. Copper hair, white parka, she held a handgun, her eye on the shooter as she crouched where Keely had been.
Then everything went quiet.
The shooter in the barn ducked away, and for a long moment, Keely didn’t breathe.
Then Dawson got up, motioned to the sheriff, and they closed in on the barn.
What were they—Oh, Dawson, don’t die, don’t—
The barn exploded. An inferno of heat and flame that made Dawson hit the snow. She ducked too, the furnace blistering.
Dawson!
But when she looked up, he was running toward her, something ferocious in his gaze.
And then Vic groaned. Keely looked down even as Vic’s eyes opened.
Vic put a hand to her chest, made a throat-clearing sound, and pushed up on one arm.
What—?
No blood in the snow. Vic had unzipped her jacket, pulled it apart.
Vest. The woman wore a Kevlar vest.
“Vic! You okay?” Dawson landed in the snow next to her, on his knees.
“Wow, that hurt.” She winced as she breathed in. “Did you get him?”
Dawson glanced at the fire now consuming the barn. “Dunno. Maybe one of the bullets hit a propane tank.”
Then he looked at Keely. “You okay?”
She just blinked at him, her breaths coming fast. And yes, maybe she should be throwing herself into his arms but—“You told Vic.”
He frowned. “What—”
“How could you tell her? How could you bring her into this—oh my gosh, Dawson, you knew how . . . you knew I didn’t . . .”
“Keely—stop, it’s not like that.” This from Vic, who reached out to her.
She rounded on the woman. “Really? What, are you saying you already knew?”
Vic’s mouth opened, and then she looked away.
And Keely gasped. Wait—what?
And then the redhead came over and crouched in front of Vic. “Let’s take a look at that bruise. There’s a med kit in the cruiser.”
Vic sighed and got up, followed the redhead.
Keely shook her head. Wow. So, not the reunion she’d expected.
“Calm down, Keely,” Dawson said softly.
“Don’t tell me to calm down!” She rounded on him, and for a second, possessed a vision of a different ending. One where she took a breath and threw herself at him, holding on.
But, no—“The last thing I am going to do is calm down. I’ve been kidnapped, shot at, chased, hit in the face.” She indicated her still throbbing, probably reddened wound.
He winced, his jaw tightening. “Keely. Vic already knew who you were. They called her. I just confirmed it—”
“So you convinced her to what—act as bait? To save my life? Have you lost your mind?”
He blinked at her. Glanced at Vic.
And she knew she’d hit it on the head.
“You put her in danger to save me.” She shook her head, held up her hands. “Wow. So I could watch another mother die in front of my eyes. Perfect.”
“Keely. Stop being so dramatic.”
His final word was a blade, landing inside. She stiffened, narrowed her eyes. “Have you not met me, Dawson? Dramatic is who I am. Have you not met Bliss?”
“No, I haven’t. I’ve met Keely Williams.” He stepped up to her. “Bliss is just the disguise for the real Keely Williams, the one who is scared to show her true self.”
“Because when I do, someone betrays me.”
A beat, and his mouth opened. “I was trying to save you.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t need a hero, Dawson. And you need to stop always trying to save the day. You just end up getting yourself—and people around you—hurt.”
He flinched then, and yes, she should stop talking, but anger felt like her only protection. So she stepped back, her voice shaking. “Why don’t you call a press conference, tell the rest of my secrets.”
She could have slapped him with less effect. What looked like pain flashed in his eyes, and he shook his head.
As if she might be a child throwing a temper tantrum.
She pushed the thought away. “I should have never told you.”
“C’mon, Keely, let me take you home.” He reached out for her.
She backed away. “Not this time.”
His hand dropped, and he sighed. “Be sure to stop by the clinic to get that wound looked at before you head out of town.”
He turned away.
And that was it. The true ending of her love song.
She practically fled for the local sheriff.
He bundled her up in his SUV, a deputy on watch, and she refused to look at Dawson, her heart hammering as he talked with the sheriff.
Dramatic.
She looked out the window, her eyes burning. Then she turned to the deputy. “Could you please drive me back to Copper Mountain? I need to make a call.”
And only then did she realize that her voice emerged just above a whisper, destroyed. She closed her eyes and leaned back against the seat.
And let herself weep.