CHAPTER EIGHT

Zane saw Liam flinch as he heard his name called from the cabin. He took a sharp turn, running blindly toward the river.

“Liam, no!” Wade shouted at his son as he, Zane, and Carter tore after the boy.

It was a dangerous dash through the dark. As Zane knocked fir limbs out of his way, he prayed he wouldn’t step in a hole. He kept his gaze locked on the tiny running shadow.

The boy put out a burst of speed and seemed to drop out of sight.

The riverbank.

Seconds later, Wade jerked to a halt at the top of the bank. “Noooo!” He plunged down the bank just as Zane reached the same spot.

Zane’s heart stopped. Liam had landed in the water, but he’d managed to grab the branch of a fallen tree leaning twenty feet into the river. Terror filled his tiny face. Wade carefully moved toward his son, the water halfway up his calves. He’d have to swim in the rough water to reach the boy.

Zane froze as the thin tree bent from the boy’s weight and the powerful rush of the river. Not again.

“Holy shit, Zane!” Kenny arrived and started down the bank after Wade.

Zane couldn’t move. He stared at the tree and Liam, imagining the boy letting go. Or the tree coming loose.

“Zane! Come on!” Kenny looked up the bank at him, confusion on his face.

No. Zane looked downriver at the fishing dock fifty yards away. He turned and sprinted toward the floating wooden structure.

###

Stevie knew something was going on at the river. She’d seen three tall figures run to its banks, and muffled shouts sounded over the crash of the water. But she was focused on the man who’d come to the door of the cabin, a pistol in his hand.

Is that the FBI agent’s missing gun?

“Step out of the cabin, Marcus!” She veered closer, moving from fir tree to fir tree, Carter a few steps behind her. “Liam is with the police!” I hope.

Marcus’s shoulders slumped. Stevie didn’t feel one bit sorry for him.

“Put the gun down and kick it away.”

He didn’t obey.

“You’ve got two officers with weapons on you. Put the gun down.”

“He’s not going to do it,” Carter whispered. “What do we do?”

“Talk to him.” In a louder voice she said, “Nothing’s happened yet, Marcus. Liam is fine. You can stop this now before it gets any worse.”

“No one cares that I shot two FBI agents?” He gave a watery laugh and slowly shook his head. “I got in over my head,” he said, sounding crushed. “At that moment, it seemed like the only route to keep Liam away from Wade. And Dawn Hazelwood said she’d make it worth my while. I wanted to do everything possible to hurt Wade for destroying Shannon’s life.”

Damn him. “It’s not too late to turn yourself in. It’ll look better to a prosecutor if you give yourself up.” Bile churned in Stevie’s stomach as she remembered the blood splatter on the windshield of the vehicle.

Was that only yesterday?

Did he really kill two men just to keep Liam away from Wade? And make some money from Dawn?

“It’s still Wade’s fault,” Marcus intoned. “None of this would have happened if it wasn’t for him.”

“Wade didn’t kill your sister.”

“I know that. Now. But he might as well have pulled the trigger. If he had gone to the police with what he knew, Shannon wouldn’t be dead.” Tears choked his voice. “I never planned to hurt Liam. My God, I fucked up.” He swayed slightly in the doorway, and Stevie prayed he wouldn’t go back inside.

“Maybe you should ask Wade why he didn’t go to the police.” Stevie was grasping at straws to stall. His tone had steadily grown more despairing. “We can set up a time for you to talk to him. Maybe his answer will surprise you.”

“It doesn’t matter now. Shannon’s dead. I’ll never see my baby sister again, and I ended two other lives for no fucking reason at all!”

He spun around and went back in the cabin. Slamming the door behind him.

“Crap!” Stevie gestured for Carter to move closer with her.

A single gunshot had them both ducking and diving for cover. She waited for the next shot.

No. Please, no. “Marcus?” She held her breath. “Marcus?”

“Oh God.” Carter let loose a string of expletives. “Do you think he shot himself?”

“I don’t know.” She looked to the riverbank in the waning light. One figure stood motionless on the bank. She wondered where the others had gone.

She and Carter made their way to the cabin, occasionally calling for Marcus to answer them. Silently, Stevie stood to one side of a window and took a quick glance inside.

Her eyes screwed shut, trying to block out what she’d seen.

“He did it,” she told Carter, exhaustion suddenly hitting her limbs. She leaned against the log wall. “That was the last shooter, right?”

“I think so.”

Screams and shrieks reverberated across the grounds from the river.

Exhaustion forgotten, Stevie and Carter sprinted for the water.

###

It happened.

Exactly as Zane had seen it in his mind’s eye thirty seconds ago.

Liam lost hold of the branch and was rushed away in the water. His father and Kenny out of reach, shouting at the boy, trying to run in several feet of water.

They would never catch him.

From the floating fishing dock, Zane locked his gaze on the boy’s bobbing head. Just stay where I can see you.

If the boy followed his current path, he’d shoot past Zane within a few feet of the dock. The dock moved up and down with the water, tipping and swaying, making it nearly impossible for Zane to stay on his feet. He dropped to his knees, his hand stretched out, the other hand gripping the piling.

Any second now.

Liam’s terror-filled gaze met his.

I’m not going to miss you.

“Zane!”

He ignored Stevie’s shout. He couldn’t break eye contact with Liam. Steps pounded on the far end of the dock, still too far away to help.

Liam rushed closer, but his watery path changed, and he angled out toward the center of the river.

I’m not going to reach him.

I’ll have to go in the water.

Zane stretched as far as he could, knowing he would miss the boy’s hand by inches.

He sucked in a deep breath for the cold shock of the river, let go of the piling, and lunged forward.

His hand closed around Liam’s as a jolting yank at his waist kept his feet on the dock and dragged him backward. His head hit the water, plunged under, and he grasped the little hand in a death grip. Wrenching pulls on Zane’s belt and coat hauled his head out of the water as he clung to Liam. The force of the river tried to wash the boy out of his grip, and Zane couldn’t haul him in. But he wouldn’t let go.

Not while I’m still breathing.

“Liam!” Wade dropped onto his stomach beside Zane and reached for his son. His hand clasped Liam’s wrist, just beyond Zane’s grip, and he pulled. Wade seemed to have superhuman strength and lifted his son out of the water by one arm, Zane’s hand still clenching Liam’s.

Zane lay motionless on the dock, forcing his frozen hand to let go as Wade hugged his son.

Behind him, Stevie and Carter sat on the dock, both shaking from exertion, their hands still on his belt and coat.

Zane brushed water out of his eyes as Stevie crawled into his arms, and simply lay on top of him, her entire body quivering. His arms each weighed a ton as he wrapped them around her. And breathed.

“Stevie grabbed your coat just as you dived in,” Carter choked out. “I thought you both were going in the river.”

“I was.”

“Not on my watch,” Stevie muttered into his neck. “I couldn’t let you go in. You both would have died. I can’t lose you.”

Zane knew better than to argue with her.