Montana SEAL (Brotherhood Protectors #1)(34)
“Bitch!” Before the attacker could aim, Sadie hunkered low and plowed into him like a bull into a matador. All her pent-up fury took both of them several feet back, landing in a heap on the ground. The gun bounced out of her assailant’s gloved hand and skidded across the dirt, out of reach.
Sadie landed on top of the attacker and pinned him to the ground. “You bastard! If you’ve killed Hank, I’ll choke the living shit out of you and sling your sorry ass into the house so you’ll burn in hell where you belong.” Furious, she could feel the fire burning inside of her as well in the blaze of her home going up in flames, she was beyond caring if the fiend had another weapon.
The body beneath her struggled, bucked and kicked. It felt too small to be a man and didn’t have the strength to throw Sadie off. Grabbing the ski mask, she yanked it off his head and gasped.
Long, bleached-blond hair spilled out onto the ground, and a familiar face glared up at her.
“Carla?” Sadie shook her head. “You?”
She spit at Sadie and bucked again. “Damn you to hell. You should have died, damn it. You were supposed to f*cking die!” Carla swung at Sadie, catching her in the side of the head with a balled fist.
Sadie fumbled for her wrists, dodging the blows. When she finally had both of them, she pinned her to the ground. “You’re family. Why do you want me dead?”
“You’re making money hand over fist, living the good life. While I’m stuck here, buried on a ranch I hate, cleaning up after a man who doesn’t know I exist. Then you waltz back into town, snag the man I dated first in high school, and rub my nose in all your f*cking glory. I hate you. I hate this ranch. I hate my husband, and I want you all to die.”
“You’re making no sense. If we die, you’re on your own. No better off than if we lived.”
“Bullshit. If you and Fin die, the ranch comes to me. Me!” She fought again to free her hands. “I’d sell this shit hole. Some Californian with more money than brains would pay top dollar for this little corner of hell, and I’d have enough money to move as far away from Eagle Rock and Montana as I could get.”
“Well, you’re going to get part of your wish,” a deep voice said behind Sadie.
She turned, and her heart squeezed hard in her chest.
Fin’s jaw was tight, his gaze dark and his face ashen. A horse stood behind him, dancing backward, nickering, the flames reflecting in its frightened eyes.
“You knew what you were getting into when you married me.” He took another step forward. “I made no bones about staying in Montana.”
Sadie rolled off Carla and stood.
Carla staggered to her feet, her hair wild about her shoulders and her lip curled in a snarl. “I was a fool to think your four years in the marines would show you there was a whole other world out there. I married you because you’d been somewhere beyond Eagle Rock. I was sure I could change your mind. Make you move. Ha!” Carla spit on the ground at Fin’s feet. “You’re never going to leave this place.”
“Damn right. When I was taking live fire in the hills of Afghanistan, all I could think about was home. Montana. This ranch. I have no desire to go anywhere else in the world.” He flung his arm out. “Why should I? This place is paradise compared to where I’ve been.”
Sadie could feel the pain in Fin’s voice. He’d come back from his four years in the Marine Corps a changed man. Gone was the carefree teenager who’d run wild through the Crazy Mountains. For the first year after he’d returned, Sadie’s parents said he’d jumped at every loud noise and had nightmares where he’d yell so loud, he woke himself and everyone else in the house.
“You can have this place.” Carla stepped away from Sadie. “I’m done. I’m going to move to Reno with my mother.”
“Are you forgetting something?” Sadie crossed her arms over her chest. “You’ve committed a couple of crimes. “Arson and multiple counts of attempted murder.”
Carla’s eyes narrowed. “You won’t turn me over to the sheriff. It will be too much negative publicity for your career.”
“Sweetheart, as a celebrity, any publicity is good for my career.” Sadie jerked her head toward the burning house. “And I’m not the one who started the fire.”
“Sadie won’t have to turn you over to the authorities,” Fin said. “I’ll do it.” He reached for her.
Carla dodged his grasp and dove to the ground.
Before either of them knew what she was going for, she’d grabbed the handgun, rolled to her back and fired.
The bullet hit Fin in the leg and he went down, clutching his thigh. “Damn you.”
“Fin!” Trying not to think about the crazy woman waving the gun, Sadie dropped to her knees beside him. Her hand covered the wound, applying pressure to staunch the flow of blood. Blood leaked through Sadie’s fingers. “I need to stop the bleeding,” she said through chattering teeth.
“My shirt.” Fin sat up shrugged off his coat, then quickly removed his shirt, and handed it to her.
She pressed it against the wound, praying Carla didn’t take the opportunity to shoot her in the back. Sadie needed to get help for Fin and find Hank. The last she’s seen him, he was still on the roof of the house. Had he made it down from the roof before the building exploded? The force of the blast could have thrown him.