Suzanna pushed Ava forward, and they started walking toward him, Ava stumbling unsteadily on her feet. “So, I’m going to put a bullet in her and you can watch her die…”
Ava used the fingers of her uninjured hand to signal the countdown from “three.” She looked undaunted and unafraid.
“And then, even if I don’t get to kill you…” Suzanna was going for suicide by cop.
“Two.” Ava counted down silently, still moving toward him.
“I’ll know that you’ll go to your grave knowing all these people died because of you…”
“One.” Ava sagged in Suzanna’s arms, becoming dead weight that the other woman couldn’t hold.
Dominic brought his weapon up and fired three shots straight into center mass of Suzanna Bernier. The woman dropped to her knees and then toppled over. Ava rolled over and snatched the gun out of Suzanna’s limp fingers.
“Do you have your cuffs?” Ava shouted. She was on her knees holding the weapon on Suzanna’s inert body. Dominic could see Ava’s feet were bleeding and covered in dirt.
He crossed over to her, bent down and checked the pulse in Suzanna’s neck. Shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. She’s dead.”
He turned towards Ava. Took the gun from her hands and stuffed it into his jacket pocket. She stayed where she was, staring at the dead woman with wide, haunted eyes.
He pulled off his bow tie and secured it tightly over the wound in Ava’s upper arm that was still bleeding.
“We have to find Mallory,” she whispered. “She went into labor.”
Dominic swept her up into his arms.
“I can walk,” she protested.
Ava deserved someone to take care of her for a change. To slay her dragons.
“I’ve got you.” He kissed her forehead, and she sagged against him.
“I know,” she said softly.
His throat closed with emotion, and he almost stumbled with relief. She believed in him. She trusted him to be there for her, despite what had happened earlier with the director. She’d had faith in him that he’d come to help her.
“Suzanna killed Van.”
“I heard. You did the right thing calling me when you did.”
Ava’s fingers tightened around his lapel. “She killed him as if a loser like that had the right to judge him.”
“She didn’t. She was less than scum.”
“She was involved in Galveston’s crimes. Was on maternity bed rest when you shot the bastard.”
Dominic nodded. That made sense. Ava laid her face against his chest, and he felt her go lax.
They reached the car.
“Where’s Mallory?” she asked.
Dominic nodded in the direction of the woods. “Parker said somewhere in there.”
A rush of dread swept over him at the unholy silence. What if Mallory had been hurt or something had happened to the baby?
*
Mallory lay in the dirt looking up at the blue sky as a series of gunshots split the air. Sweat stuck her hair to her skin. Her body trembled with exertion. Had Ava been killed? Where was Suzanna? Mal heard a car stop. Thought she heard men’s voices but didn’t dare call attention to herself in case Suzanna had accomplices they didn’t know about.
Had Suzanna left the area? Or was she roaming about like a rabid animal looking for revenge?
Another contraction hit, stealing all her attention, making her bite down on the stick as breath was ripped from her body. Her back arched up off the ground, knees bent, legs wide. It was hard to think, let alone protect herself or her baby.
A tiny whimper escaped, and she clamped down on it, terrified of giving herself away.
Suddenly Alex was crouching beside her.
She spat the stick out of her mouth and grabbed onto his hand.
“You found us.” She started panting, pain tearing her apart.
He smoothed her damp hair off her forehead and kissed her there. His eyes scanned the area. His SIG stayed in his hand.
“Is she still loose?” Mallory whispered.
“Those last shots sounded like a Glock. What weapon did she have?”
Mallory laughed and wished desperately for some water. “A semi-automatic. I don’t know exactly. I avoided looking at it.”
His eyes softened, and a smile played around his mouth. “Sheridan’s got this.”
“What if Ava’s dead? It’ll be all my fault—” Another blast of agony bore down on her.
She panted but Alex gained her attention and coaxed her to breathe the way she’d been coached.
“Breathe through the pain, Mal.”
Her nails bit into his flesh. He placed the weapon on the ground beside him.
“As soon as this contraction is over, I’ll take a look at how dilated you are. Figure out how to get you to the car.”
She shook her head. “This baby is coming, Alex. I’m not going to make it to the car.”
Alarmed eyes met hers. “You can’t hold back a little? Slow it down?”
“That’s not how it works! This baby is coming,” she hissed. “Now.”
She lay back as Alex lifted her skirts and dragged her panties down her legs. “Don’t let Suzanna find us,” she pleaded in a whisper. “She wants to take our baby as her own.”
“No one is taking our baby, Mal. You know that.”
She did. But she was still terrified.
Alex nudged her thighs wider apart. Her hand touched the grip of his SIG in reassurance. She didn’t pick it up. She wasn’t stupid. But it was within reach and if that bitch showed up Mal would put a bullet between her eyes, contraction or no contraction.
“I can see the baby’s head.”
Mal closed her eyes. Oh crap. All the planning and preparation they’d done and she was having the baby in a grass patch on the side of the road.
“You have to push with the next contraction, Mal.” He looked up and met her gaze, his silver eyes filled with concern. “It’s time.”
Fear overwhelmed her, and panic made her pulse skip. “I can’t do this.”
He smiled. “You can do this.”
She wanted to cuss and swear at him, but another contraction hit, and the instinctive urge to push took over.
When it was finished, she gasped out a keening sound, rubbing her finger over the pattern on the SIG’s grip.