Rick nodded. “More than you’ll ever know.”
Brody pulled over to the side of the road and put the Hummer in park. He turned toward Rick. “Then how I see it is you have two options and only two.” Brody glanced out the front window before he turned back to Rick. “You can leave her with me, but I can’t promise that I won’t try and win her heart…” The muscles in Brody’s arm flexed with his grip on the steering wheel. “I can’t believe I’m saying this… Or you can stay and fight to win her back. If it were me, I’d do everything in my power to hold on to her.”
There was no way she was going to forgive him. Hell, he’d basically signed a contract on her life. “You don’t know the extent of what I lied about. There’s no chance she’ll take me back.”
Brody tilted his head. “I never pegged you as a quitter.” He glanced at Rick. “I guess looks can be deceiving. Maybe I am the better man for her.”
Rick clenched his fist. Brody knew how to push his buttons. Rick breathed in a deep breath and, with it, the energy that surrounded him. He closed his eyes, trying to control the thrumming in his veins. The engine sputtered. The sound of the Hummer’s engine dying filled his ears. Crap.
Brody unfastened his seatbelt, popped the lever for the hood, and pushed open the Hummer door and climbed out. With one hand on the top of the door and the other on top of the roof, he leaned in. “Why is it every time you try to leave town shit happens? Maybe the universe or some higher power is trying to tell you something. All I know is I wouldn’t get on a plane if I were you without another injection from our guys. You might take the whole thing down like we thought Lydia would.”
Rick shrugged as Brody slammed the door.
He knew what he had to do. He had to go back. Brody was right about one thing; he couldn’t give up without a fight. Rick felt the energy strumming in his blood. It felt as though his heart had started beating again for the first time since he’d told Lydia the truth. He needed her, and not for the reasons Floyd or even the general had. He needed her like he needed his next breath.
Chapter 24
Lydia climbed out of the SUV when Briggs pulled up in front of the shooting range. Her mind was preoccupied. Visions of Rick and the time they’d spent together replayed in her thoughts. She thought of how happy she’d been with him and the terrible last words they’d shared. It was inevitable that she was meant to be alone. She was done. No one deserved the hell that her life offered on a daily basis. Throwing herself into catching Floyd was what she was going to concentrate on, the new meaning of her life. Taking the man down was the only thing that made sense and mattered more than her broken heart.
Briggs rounded the SUV and grabbed her hand. “Are you ready?”
Lydia lifted her chin. “Bring it on.”
Briggs nodded. “Good.”
He pulled the door open and walked behind Lydia up to a burly man behind the counter. He didn’t look like a cop but a hunter. A graying, scraggly brown beard hung down below his shirt collar. The fine lines on his face were hard. He looked like a man who had been around the block. A man that she wouldn’t want to meet in the forest alone.
Lydia glanced around the reception slash store area. Guns and rifles hung from the wall and in the glass cases. Accessories littered the shelves, and the place looked as though it could use a good dusting. Firing rules hung strategically around the room. The overpowering smells of gunpowder and oil made her stomach roll.
“First time to a firing range, missy?”
Lydia turned toward the old man. “Is it that obvious?”
Briggs cleared his throat and pulled out his driver’s license. “General Lister sent us to get Lydia some practice time. I was told he made arrangements.”
Lydia picked up a package of pink earplugs and turned the package over.
The man lifted a graying eyebrow. “Oh. She’s one of them.”
Briggs placed his palms on the glass case that separated the visitors from the man. “Excuse me?”
The man lifted his palms. “I just meant she’s from the compound. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Briggs leaned against the counter. His muscles bunched, and his jaw clenched. Lydia took the earplugs to the counter and touched Brigg’s arm. “You’ll have to forgive him. He’s just very protective of me.” She handed the earplugs to the man. “I guess from the signs it looks like I’ll be needing some of these.”
The man eyed her warily and pulled out two slips of papers and a pen. “We have rules you’re going to have to follow.” He turned and pulled orange earplugs out of a bin behind the counter and set them down next to the pink ones. “We run a clean establishment. Safety is our top priority.” He pointed to the papers. “You need to read the rules and sign to say you understand them before you’re allowed onto the range.”