Home For a Cowboy Christmas(59)

She had never hated anyone more. He initially seemed harmless, but upon closer inspection, she could sense the evil in him. The malevolent soul within. She had never been this close to pure evil before, and it caused an uneasy sensation. She had always believed that people were never good or evil but a combination of both with some leaning more one way or the other. Not so with the man beside her. Without a doubt, she knew there wasn’t a shred of good within him.

The tracks the truck made on their way to the heifer were long gone. Emmy wasn’t sure if she was headed toward the house or not. She hoped so because there was that small ravine with the rickety bridge. It would be the perfect place to crash the truck and ensure it wasn’t drivable.

It became easier to see as the storm slacked off some. Now, she could make out about ten feet in front of the truck instead of the three of before. It wasn’t much, but she would take it. She tightened her hands on the steering wheel, her body tense, fear churning in her belly. Her sense of direction had always been shit. While she’d thought she should veer to the right, she instead veered to the left, hoping that by doing the opposite of what she would normally do, she would reach the ravine.

Please. Please. Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease.

“Why did you turn on Joe?”

The last thing she wanted to do was talk. “Does it really matter?”

“Nope. Just curious.”

“Then go fuck yourself.”

The man chuckled. “Now I understand why Joe liked you so much. From what I heard, you could’ve been his mistress. Possibly even his wife, eventually. He would’ve done anything for you. Then you had to go to the DA.”

“Just because he has money and power doesn’t mean he gets to choose if someone lives or dies.”

“Actually, that’s exactly what it means.”

She shook her head. “I could go into a lengthy conversation about why you’re wrong, but your moral compass was clearly destroyed long ago—if you ever had one—so I won’t bother.”

“Sanctimonious bullshit.”

She rolled her eyes as he made her point.

“If we had more time, I’d take you back to Denver and present you to Joe myself. Instead, we’ll go back to that big house you’ve been hiding in so I can FaceTime Joe, and he can see your death for himself. If there had been a signal out here, I would’ve already done it.”

Emmy’s breath caught when she saw the forked pine. She had seen it after they crossed the ravine. Her heart rate quickened. This was her chance.

She pressed the accelerator, increasing the speed the minute the ravine came into view. She didn’t want to telegraph her intentions too early, but it was difficult to keep her excitement at bay. As the bridge approached, she floored the gas pedal and jerked the wheel to miss the bridge.

Her breath caught in her lungs as they went over the side of the ravine, the engine revving. An instant of silence reigned before she heard the hitman yell. Emmy closed her eyes and raised her hands to shield her face.





Chapter 29


Dwight rolled onto his back, gritting his teeth in agony. Breathing was difficult, made worse by the frigid temperatures. He cracked open his eyes to see Sam pacing in front of him, whining softly.

He had to get up and get to Emmy. Dwight had no idea how long he had been lying in the snow or how much blood he had lost. The pain shooting from the wound in his back told him the bullet had found its mark. But that wouldn’t stop him. He grunted as he carefully pushed himself up into a sitting position.

The wind had died down, allowing Dwight to hear the crunch of snow as someone neared. Was the bastard coming back to finish the job? He hoped to hell he was. Dwight prepared himself to strike. It would be clumsy and ugly, but his life and Emmy’s depended on it. Sam was there to help, as well.

“Dwight!”

His head jerked toward the voice. Sam issued a short bark and rushed to the man.

Dalton lifted his goggles and lowered his mask to uncover the bottom portion of his face. “Shit. That’s a lot of blood.”

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

“I’ll explain on the way,” Dalton said as he hurried to Dwight and knelt behind him, shrugging off a backpack.

Dwight tried to turn his head and look over his right shoulder, but the pain stopped him. “On the way where?”

“After Emmy and Orso.”

“Is Orso a hitman?”

“Yep,” Dalton said.

Dwight didn’t say more as Dalton packed the wound with ice. Dalton dug in his backpack and pulled out a bandage roll, quickly wrapping it around Dwight’s chest and shoulder to hold the snow in place.

“This will have to do until we can get you medical attention,” Dalton said.

Dwight tried to move his shoulder. “This is perfect. Let’s get going.”

Dalton tossed a beanie at Dwight since his cowboy hat was missing. Then Dalton closed his backpack and shrugged it on as he got to his feet. Dwight tugged the beanie on before accepting Dalton’s hand to get up. Then they set out, following the fast-disappearing tire tracks with Sam trotting alongside them.

“I think it’s time you tell me what you’re doing here,” Dwight said.

Dalton pulled his mask up and re-donned his goggles. “As soon as I left Emmy at the ranch, I knew it was only a matter of time before Roma sent someone after her. I figured my best bet would be to find out who it was and tail them as they tracked Emmy.”