A ferocious roar reverberated in the air as Ian staggered toward Cole like a man possessed. The gun continued to shake, Ian’s eyes burning with a rage that could only be satisfied with the annihilation of the murderer in front of him.
“I killed her,” Cole said again, a rush of serenity moving through him the closer Ian came.
Looking past Ian’s shoulders, he saw Jamie rolling to the side, a blur of motion as she sprang to her feet, but he knew she wouldn’t reach Ian in time. It was too late. Ian would win.
But so would Cole, because he would go to his grave with the knowledge that the woman he loved was all right.
As Ian raised his hand, Cole smiled at Jamie, hoping she could see in his eyes the emotions he couldn’t voice, and then the gun in Ian’s hand exploded and the bullet ripped through Cole’s abdomen.
Chapter 17
Jamie hit the ground as the gunshot echoed in the room, followed by a second shot that made her ears ring. She lifted her head, shocked to see Ian falling to the floor with a thud. A second later Finn burst into the room, gun drawn, face hard with satisfaction.
She stumbled to her feet, only briefly glancing at Ian’s lifeless body and the bullet hole right between his eyes. Finn had damn good aim, she had to give him that. But her focus wasn’t on Ian or Finn or anything other than Cole. He’d stumbled to the floor from the force of Ian’s shot and when she knelt down and looked at his ashen features, she could barely breathe. The blood drained from her face as fast it seemed to be draining from Cole’s gut.
“Oh God, Finn! Help me stop this bleeding!”
Ripping off her jacket, she bunched it up in her hand and pressed it to Cole’s stomach, applying as much pressure as she could. Cole’s skin was clammy and pale, and he was unconscious. He was losing too much blood. It soaked right through the material of her jacket and stained her fingers.
“Ambulance,” she choked out as Finn came to kneel beside her.
“Already on its way,” he assured her, gently removing her hands so he could apply the pressure.
Her heart hammered in her chest and she battled a wave of dizziness as she slid behind Cole’s head and lifted it into her lap. “Stay with me, Cole,” she begged, stroking his cold face.
“He’s lost a lot of blood,” Finn muttered.
He was right, and there wasn’t a damn thing they could do about it, not until the paramedics came and took over. As she caressed Cole’s dark hair, she silently pleaded with him to fight. It wasn’t lost on her that he was in this perilous position because of her. He’d antagonized Ian so the man wouldn’t kill her. He’d taken a bullet for her.
Then another thought occurred to her. “Were you out there the entire time?” she demanded.
Finn nodded. “Donovan wanted to go in alone, so I hung back until I had no choice but to interfere. Macintosh was ready to take another shot when I fired my gun.”
She wasn’t worried about that—she knew killing Ian had been Finn’s only option. “So you heard everything Cole said?” she asked slowly.
He gave another nod.
“Don’t you dare arrest him,” she said with a fierce look. “He didn’t kill anyone, Finn. He just said that to—”
“I know,” he interrupted, a soft look entering his eyes. “He said it to save you.”
Satisfied that Finn wouldn’t cause Cole any trouble, she turned her attention to the man she loved. The man whose blood was leaving yet another bloodstain on the floor of this beautiful room.
Don’t die, Cole. Please don’t die.
She realized with an aching heart that she couldn’t lose him now. Not when she’d just found him. Found a man who excited her, who made her feel safe and happy. If having a future with him meant giving up her job, she’d do it in a heartbeat. All these years she’d worked herself to the bone, wanting to be successful, wanting to escape the miserable trailer park she’d grown up in, yet at this moment, she knew that none of it mattered. How could it, when she had nobody to share that success with?
The wail of sirens pierced through her thoughts. Relief swarmed her when the paramedics flew into the room a minute later, moving with skillful precision to load Cole onto a gurney and control the bleeding.
“Can I ride in the ambulance with him?” she asked one of the men.
They agreed to the request, and a few minutes later the ambulance sped toward the hospital in the next county. Apparently Dr. Bennett’s clinic wasn’t equipped to deal with injuries like Cole’s, and Jamie went pale as she listened to the paramedic radio the hospital saying they needed an O.R. ready. Stat.
Surgery? She’d hoped that the bullet had gone through and through, but apparently that wasn’t the case, and fear erupted in her belly, chilling her body.
When they reached the hospital she refused to let go of Cole’s hand, until one of the nurses at the Emergency Room door forcibly disentangled their fingers and ushered Jamie to a sterile white waiting room. She was just collapsing onto one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs when Finn rushed into the room.