“That was for my father.” The man aimed the gun at his groin. “This one is for you.”
“Wait!” Chase shouted. “Tell me why! Tell me who you are!”
“Aidan Shea, bro.” He relaxed his grip on the gun. “I’m the man who’s going to send you to hell.”
“Why me? I barely knew your father.”
“You knew him well enough to frame him. You and your so-called band of brothers sent him to prison for something he didn’t do. Do you have any idea what that did to him?”
“I had no part in that.”
“Tell it to Satan, you lying bastard.” He took aim, the muzzle leveled on Chase’s abdomen.
Chase braced, expecting the impact of a bullet and mind-numbing pain. But he couldn’t stop thinking about Lily. This man was going to disable him, then he was going to kill her while Chase watched. He’d do anything to stop the horrific scenario. But what?
The only sound on the road was the pounding of his heart. Till the gunshot split the quiet.
His nerves jumped, and instinctively, he stumbled back, raising his hands in a useless effort to protect himself. But there was no need.
Aidan Shea crumpled to the ground.
Chase stared, disbelief and relief barreling through him in equal measure. His knees nearly buckled when he turned to find Lily standing twenty feet away, the rifle in her hands.
“Lily…”
He heard her name, realized belatedly he’d whispered it. Her gaze shifted to his. Worry skittered through him when he saw the distant look in her eyes. Her face was ghastly pale; tears glistened on her cheeks. She took a single step toward him, the rifle clattering to the ground.
Then he was running toward her, enveloping her in his arms. Her body trembled violently against him. He held her tight, wanting to calm her, protect her, thank her for saving his life. Smoothing her hair away from her face with his uninjured hand, he marveled at her beauty. At the softness of her body, so warm and blessedly alive against his.
“Are you okay?” he asked when he found his voice.
“I killed him,” she choked out.
“I know, honey.” He held her tighter. “I’m sorry you had to do that. He didn’t give you any choice.”
“He was going to kill you.” Her body vibrated against his.
“You did what you had to do.” When she only sobbed, he held her tighter. “You’re going to be okay. I promise.”
Worried that she could be going into shock, he eased her to arm’s length and set his hand against her face. “Shh. Easy does it. It’s okay.” But Chase knew firsthand how difficult it was to use lethal force. Even for soldiers and secret agents, no matter how tough or seemingly emotionally detached, it wounded the soul to take a life.
“You saved my life,” he said quietly.
Her focus went to his hand, where blood dripped from his fingertips. “Oh, Chase, you’re bleeding.”
“I don’t think it’s too bad.” The wound throbbed with every beat of his heart, but Chase was just thankful to be alive. “Let’s get you to the car,” he said. “I’m going to search the men and see if I can get a phone to call nine-one-one.”
She nodded. But he could see her lips quivering. Her teeth beginning to chatter. More than anything, he wanted to get her to a place where she could decompress. A place where he could take care of her.
Alarm shot through him when she gasped and doubled over.
“Lily! What is it?”
“Just…a cramp, I think.”
“The baby?”
“I don’t know. It’s too soon.” Another gasp escaped her. “Maybe.”
AIDAN SHEA COULDN’T BELIEVE he was going to die this way. Gut shot by a pregnant woman and bleeding out on some godforsaken road in the middle of nowhere. He had so much more to do. How had things gone so terribly wrong? If only he could complete this leg of the mission and eliminate Vickers. Ethan Matalon and Ty Jones had been next, but Aidan knew his brothers and father would take care of them.
With the last of his breath, Aidan cursed Chase Vickers. He cursed Ethan and Ty and all of the others who’d been involved. He’d wanted to finish Vickers himself. But he knew the most important phase of the plan had already been set into motion. The bomb he’d planted. No one knew about it, other than him and his brothers and father, and no one could stop it.
And the clock was ticking….
The knowledge comforted him in a way nothing else could. He smiled through the pain of the gunshot wound, and he tasted blood. It should have been their blood, but it was his own. No matter. Soon they would be dead and his father would be avenged.
Revenge was such a powerful motivator.
Now it was time to get down to the business of dying. Such a slow process. In the near distance Aidan could hear Vickers and the woman, and another wave of fury washed over him. Damn them to hell, he thought. Damn all of them.
A groan escaped him when he shifted. The pain had receded slightly. That was when he realized he still had the gun in his hand. That he could still move.
And he smiled.