I pressed a hand to my chest, my heart thudding loudly. “Lucas.”
“I know, sweetheart.” He spared me a quick glance, running his gaze over me before turning back to Chris. Picking up the paper, he handed it off. “You’re still gonna have to actually fight for this, even with a note, but my position is now yours. I’m dead. Now, get the fuck out of here before I change my mind.”
Chris clutched the paper to his chest.
Scotty watched them both, eyes narrowed.
“He’ll never play along,” Chris said, tipping his head to Scotty. “What’s to stop him from telling everyone what he saw here?”
“Nothing,” Scotty answered. “You remember that, little fuck—”
“He won’t tell anyone,” Lucas said quickly, his gaze darting back and forth between his brother and Chris. “Right, Scotty?”
“Damn it, Lucas.” Scotty frowned but said, “Fine. Whatever. I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
Chris shifted on his feet. “But—”
“He said he wouldn’t tell anyone,” Lucas growled.
Scotty hesitated but nodded. “As long as you stay away from Lucas . . . and Heidi . . . yeah. I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
“I don’t understand,” Chris said slowly. “Why are you giving up everything when you could kill me instead?”
“I’m not giving up everything,” Lucas said, watching me with warm green eyes. “I’m keeping the thing that matters most, and I don’t want more blood on my hands.”
My heart wrenched. I didn’t know what to say to that, and I wasn’t about to question him in front of the other men, so I said nothing.
Chris rolled his eyes. “You can’t be serious.”
“I’ve never been more serious in my life,” Lucas said, still watching me as if he waited for . . . I don’t know. A sign from me? “We’ll be gone within the hour. Now, get the fuck out.”
Chris nodded and walked to the door. There was a tense moment when Scotty didn’t back out of the way, not letting Chris pass, but then he stepped aside, gun still trained on Chris. “One wrong move, and you’re dead. You remember that.”
Chris nodded, took one final look at Lucas, and then left. The door closed below us. I collapsed against the wall, my heart thudding in my ears faster than a racehorse. “Oh my God. You did it. We’re alive.”
“Yeah.” Lucas set the pen down and turned to me. He pulled me into his arms, those strong muscles I was so familiar with closing around me and hugging me tight, but it didn’t stop the trembling. “We did it. Together. Thank you, Scotty.”
Scotty closed the door and walked to the window, watching. “I didn’t do anything. But you guys need to get out of here. He could come back with more guys.”
Lucas let go of me. It took all my strength not to cling to him.
“How long?” Lucas asked.
Scotty stiffened. “How long for what?”
“How long have you been a cop?”
“Wait. What?” I asked, mouth open. “Scotty’s not . . .” Oh, crap. He totally was. The guilty look on his face said as much. “Oh. Wow.”
Scotty dropped his head back on the glass. “How did you figure it out?”
“The way you spoke. The way you held yourself. And the way you lied when I asked how you knew what was going on here.” Lucas shrugged. “I put two and two together. Am I wrong?”
“No.” Scotty shook his head slowly. “You’re not wrong.”
Lucas’s chest puffed out with pride, but that fear was still there. “If they find out . . .”
“I’m a dead man. I know.” Scotty dragged his hand through his hair. “You think I don’t know? I don’t care. I have to make this town clean again. For Ma.”
Lucas staggered back a step but caught himself. “I know.”
“Why didn’t you rat me out?” Scotty asked. “You could’ve. Still could.”
“I’m not going to do that to you.”
I watched them, unable to take my eyes off the two of them.
Scotty dragged his hands down his face. “Thank you.”
“I gave Chris the paper so you could keep your cover. If you arrested him, your cover would be blown. You’d be done. And if we killed him, you’d have to answer for two deaths. At least this way, it looks like Bitter Hill attacked, and I lost. Bitter Hill took me, abducted me, and killed me off. Never returned the body. You both saw it happen but couldn’t save us. Easy to explain, clear-cut. No one will suspect a thing. You can keep an eye on Chris, and he’ll steer clear of you out of fear for what you’ll say, or you can kill him off later. But whatever you decide, you better watch your back.”
“Thank you,” Scotty said, his voice low. His green eyes, which had once chilled me to the bone, looked fraught with emotion now. “I know you thought that I wanted you dead . . . it killed me to let you think that. All I’ve ever done is try to keep you safe.”
Lucas nodded. “I know. Were you really trying to get me in jail again?”
“Yeah. I put you there the first time, too.” Scotty scratched his head and shuffled his feet. “But only because I wanted you to be safe. To stay out of trouble. I could keep an eye on you there. Not because I hated you.”