No One But You (Silver Springs #2)(112)

She thought she might make it, but the terror of hearing his footsteps pounding up the stairs so close behind her nearly caused her legs to give out on her entirely. Go, go, go! her mind yelled. For Jayden. She didn’t want to leave her son motherless—with only a murderer for a father.

But panic had robbed her of her usual strength.

Somehow she managed to grip the door frame and launch herself through it. But she couldn’t close the door in time. She felt the pressure of Sly’s hand forcing the panel open despite her efforts to push it shut as he raised the hatchet.

She screamed—just as Dawson yelled Sly’s name.

Sly’s face registered shock as he turned to find Dawson staggering up the stairs, leaning heavily on the banister. Blood soaked his shirt, and he could barely lift the arm he used for most everything, but he was trying to stop Sly anyway.

“What the hell? You want more?” Sly screamed and turned on him, giving Sadie the chance to slam and lock the bathroom door.

Her hands shook as she dialed 9-1-1. She was terrified Sly would shoot Dawson again. Sly no longer had his gun in his hand, which gave her some hope, but he still had that hatchet, which could do just as much damage. Jayden’s father had completely lost his mind.

Before she could get the call to go through, however, she heard more footsteps, pounding up the stairs. Then she heard someone yell, “Freeze, or I’ll shoot!”

Chief Thomas! Sadie scowled at her phone in confusion. She hadn’t spoken to anyone yet. How was it that Chief Thomas had shown up?

“Chief?” she yelled.

He didn’t answer. He was too busy giving commands. “Get down on the ground! Now!”

Heart pounding, Sadie cracked open the door to find Thomas standing, gun drawn, over Sly, who was now lying facedown on the floor, his arms and legs spread out. Somehow the police chief had gotten past Dawson on the stairs, but Dawson was still trying to drag himself up to reach her.

“Are you okay?” he asked the moment their eyes met, his face pale and anxious.

“I’m fine, but...what about you? I thought...” She fought the lump that rose in her throat. “I thought he’d killed you.”

He pressed his left hand to the bullet wound in his shoulder. “No. I’m okay. Hurts like a mother, but... I’ll get some meds.”

“Call for help. He needs an ambulance,” Thomas said, but she didn’t need anyone to tell her that. She was already dialing.

*

Sadie sat in the waiting room of the Ojai Valley Community Hospital, the closest hospital to Silver Springs, while Dawson had surgery. She’d been in such a rush to climb into the ambulance with him when it came that she’d forgotten to grab a coat. Fortunately, Chief Thomas had arrived not long after she did and insisted she take his. The waiting room wasn’t that cold, but she was so jittery, so worried. Dawson had seemed okay in the ambulance, had kept reassuring her. But he hadn’t been seen by a doctor at that point, so she had no way of knowing how bad off he really was. What if he’d lost too much blood? Or the bullet had struck a nerve or damaged muscle tissue that would mean he’d lose the use of his right arm? He depended on his ability to use his hands in order to make a living.

“You okay?” Chief Thomas asked.

He’d been on his phone since he arrived, so they hadn’t yet had a chance to talk. “I am. I’m just afraid for Dawson.”

“I’m sorry about what happened.”

She’d been hunching over, clasping her hands between her knees while staring at the floor, but now that he seemed to be available for a conversation, she sat back. “How did you know?” she asked. “How did you get to the farm in time?”

“I was already there waiting and watching for him.”

“Where?”

“At the back, by the canal, but when it started getting late and nothing happened, I decided to go home. I was exhausted, couldn’t stay awake anymore. But when I tried to turn around, I got stuck. I was just coming to the house to get Dawson to pull me out with his tractor when I heard the gunshot.”

“Wait. You’re saying you got stuck in Dawson’s trap? That you would’ve been gone if not for that?”

“It was a trap?”

“For Sly, not you.”

“Well, it caught one of us. And it’s a damn good thing.”

“Why didn’t you let us know you were coming? Why did you cancel in the first place?”

“I was trying to have some faith in my officer, was trying to do everything I could to save him. I even warned him. But after I canceled with you and spoke with him, I received word on something that changed my mind.”

She lifted her eyebrows in question. “What? It didn’t come from Damian Steele, did it?”

“No. Although it might appear to you that we haven’t done much, we have been conducting our own investigation of the fire. That investigation included checking the various stores outside Silver Springs for video footage of a man purchasing a black hoodie and dark jeans.”

“That had to be like looking for a needle in a haystack!” she exclaimed.

“It was, except I remembered Sly mentioning something about going to Santa Barbara not long before the fire. I figured, if it was him, he would’ve picked up that stuff there—since it wasn’t so close to home.”