Chapter Thirty
Seth had stared down the barrel of a gun a few times in his life and come out the other side to talk about it, but this time it wasn’t him. That gun was pointed directly at Seth’s heart.
In other words, right at Presley.
He could feel his blood running cold in his veins and his heart galloping in his chest, loud enough for the whole county to hear. Adrenaline had kicked in hard, that fight or flight instinct that he had to wrestle for control.
Because his caveman instincts could get his wife killed. This wasn’t the moment to go off half-cocked without a thought. No, he needed to keep calm. Cool.
In control. Only then would he be able to get both of them out of this alive.
Presley, of course, would laugh at his thoughts. He knew what she thought of his penchant for control in every situation but for once he truly needed it.
He could – and would – fall apart later. Once Presley was safe.
“Brittany.” He was shocked by how smooth his voice sounded. “I’m surprised to see you here.”
He took a slow, calculated step up one rung on the ladder.
The woman took a step forward but the gun never wavered from Presley’s chest. Although about eight feet away, she could make the shot from there and probably not miss. This was Montana and knowing the way around a firearm wasn’t unusual, but few people had actually shot another human being. That was a whole different thing than shooting at a target or maybe a nuisance animal. Did Brittany have what it took to shoot a woman – a mother – in cold blood? Seth wasn’t going to take the chance and find out.
“Go ahead and stay down in the cellar, Sheriff. No need for you to move.”
Holding his hands up in a non-threatening manner, Seth did as he was told but all the while his mind was working…looking…searching…for just a smidgen of an opportunity to distract Brittany. He only needed a split second and he could completely change the advantage from her to him. She wasn’t a powerful woman; to the contrary, she was smaller than Presley, who barely skimmed his shoulder. The only thing Brittany Smithers had going for her was a gun and the element of surprise. One of those was gone now.
A quick glance at his wife told him that Presley was holding up well being on the wrong end of a gun barrel. A sheen of sweat covered her face and her lips trembled slightly, but someone who didn’t know her like he did wouldn’t see the fear. She was afraid but his brave woman wasn’t about to show it. She’d learned a lot since the day he’d met her straight off that plane from Florida. That night she’d been freezing cold, tired, terrified, and the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen in his life. He was pretty sure his fate had been sealed right there and then.
Now all he had to do was save her life. One more time. Then he was going to keep her locked in the house so she couldn’t get into any more trouble.
Presley also had her hands held away from her body but her gaze was darting back and forth between Brittany and Seth. Wondering and waiting for him to do something? Hopefully she wouldn’t have to wait long.
When Brittany glanced at Presley, he stepped up another rung. He just needed two more.
“No need to point that at us,” Seth said in his most soothing tone, as if he was talking to Ben or Lulu when they scraped their knee or got a shot at the doctor. “We’re all friends here.”
But thoughts of his children didn’t help him think more clearly and he had to ruthlessly push them out of his mind and give laser-like focus to the woman in front of him. He wanted to watch her every move, eye twitch, and breath. At some point not too far in the future he was going to have to anticipate what she was going to do.
“We’re not friends, but I do appreciate all the work you’ve done finding Danny’s money. It’s going to solve all of my problems.”
“You didn’t know where it was?” Presley asked and Seth’s chest tightened in terror. He didn’t want her antagonizing Brittany. They all needed to keep the emotional level low.
Brittany smiled and shook her head. “Not at all, but I figured out after you two came to talk to me that you were looking for it. I figured that if I followed you I would find out where it was and it worked. Danny was a lousy boyfriend but this helps make up for it.”
He didn’t remind her that she had chosen Danny, so she had the bad taste in men. Money probably wasn’t going to fix that.
If he couldn’t reason with her perhaps he could scare her. “Brittany, let’s talk about this. There’s a group of lawmen on the way here and you don’t want to go to jail. Trust me when I say it’s a bad place.”
“You arrived alone. I know because I followed you. You dropped off that guy and drove here. Now I’m going to take that money and get my life back on track. After I got laid off, I lost my house and my dignity. The car I drive is a piece of shit and I wait tables in a crappy diner. This money will fix all of that and Danny owes it to me. I can take it and start a new life somewhere else. Maybe somewhere warm and sunny, away from everyone who feels sorry for me. Look at Brittany, she messed up her life so don’t be like her.”
The woman was beginning to get agitated and that made Seth nervous. He could feel the sweat pooling at the back of his neck and trickling down his back where his shirt stuck to the skin. His heart was pounding so loudly it was like a freight train in his ears.
But he didn’t move. Not a flinch. Not even a deep breath. Show no fear.
“You aren’t a criminal,” Presley said softly. “Not really. You’ll have to live with yourself.”
Brittany’s chin wobbled and her eyes were bright with tears. “I’ve followed all the rules. Done everything I was supposed to do. Work hard. Go to school and get a good education. Work harder. Be a good person. And where did it get me? Flat broke with nothing. Maybe Danny had the right idea. Take what you want and screw everyone else.”
Her arm wavered and Seth had to grit his teeth together to control his impulse to jump out of the cellar and tackle Brittany. That had death for all of them written all over it. At first his plan had been to delay until Tanner arrived but from the woman’s emotional state that didn’t look like it was going to be possible. He’d have to go to Plan B.
Just as soon as he thought of it.
“But look what happened to him,” Seth pointed out. “Prison and then a violent death. You don’t want that. Put the gun down and let’s talk about this. You don’t want to hurt anyone. You’re not that kind of person.”
Although she clearly had some moral compass issues if she was planning on gunning them down and taking the money. He didn’t say that aloud however, his attention split between Brittany and Presley. His wife was holding firm but he could see her beginning to waver, the tension taking its toll. While he was fine with drawing this out for a long time, she couldn’t take much more. Her body was beginning to wilt, her shoulders slumping with fatigue. He already knew what thoughts were running through her mind. The same ones were running through his as well.
Ben. Lulu. His parents and siblings. Their friends. Hell, even old Fergus. Their home. And most of all their future that they’d spent so much time planning and working for. He wasn’t about to let Brittany Smithers take that away from them. Not while he still had breath in his lungs.
Brittany’s fingers tightened on the gun. “I’m tired of losing. This money can change everything for me.”
“Then take it,” Seth urged, his throat scratchy from dust and fear. “We won’t stop you. Just take it and drive away. We’ll just pretend we never found it.”
But Brittany was already shaking her head. “You’re a cop. I can’t trust you. I can’t leave any witnesses.”
A few tears had slipped down Presley’s sweat-covered cheeks and her hands were shaking. A powerful force rose up inside of Seth to protect his woman and keep her safe from harm. He might not come out of this alive but she was going to.
“You’re going to just shoot us?” Presley asked, her voice choked. “In cold blood? We have two babies.”
Brittany was also covered in sweat now and the only color in her face was her brown eyes. Her lips were pressed so tightly together they had disappeared completely and the hand that held the gun was shaking. She didn’t want to do this but she’d backed herself into a corner. And there was nothing more dangerous than an animal that was cornered. He needed to make her feel like she had options.
“I can’t let you live. You’ll tell.”
Seth stepped up one more rung on the ladder. He was high enough that he could place his hands on the dirt floor or even reach out and touch the money bags.
Presley wasn’t going to hold out much longer and Brittany looked like she might shoot them or faint. He wasn’t sure which. Something had to be done right now. No more waiting, no more stalling. All he needed was to distract Brittany for a moment. But how? She wasn’t a seasoned criminal and her nerves looked like they were stretched to the point of breaking. Perhaps he could take advantage of that.
“You haven’t even checked inside the bags,” Seth said, his heart banging against his ribs. He only had one shot at this so it had to work. “What if the money is gone?”
Frowning, Brittany’s eyes widened. “Didn’t you already look?”
Shrugging, Seth acted as innocent as possible. “I didn’t have time and it was too dark down there.”
“Shit,” Brittany cursed and did exactly what he’d hoped she’d do. She began to rush forward but then seemed to think better of it, but it was too late. She was only a few feet away. Close enough.
His trembling fingers dug into the soft earth of the barn floor, grabbing two handfuls of dirt and small rocks. Just when she came to a skidding halt, he threw up his hands, the soil flying into Brittany’s eyes and blinding her momentarily.
Just long enough.
Awash with unleashed energy, he lunged from his position on the ladder, sweeping her legs out from under her so that she dropped the gun. It skidded off to the side and Presley, thinking quickly, scampered after it. He’d tell her later how proud of her he was. She’d been strong and brave but that was the woman he loved. She was the glue that held their family together.
Brittany was not only much smaller than him; she was also not in the best of shape, either. He quickly had her subdued, although she hadn’t stopped screaming and clawing at him, despite the hopelessness of her situation. Presley now had the gun trained on Brittany.
Blowing out a breath, he allowed himself a moment of triumph. They were going to live to see another day.
“You did good,” Presley said breathlessly, but she was smiling at him as if she’d always known he’d save her. As if she’d never had any doubt. “But you took quite a chance.”
“Had to. The situation was going downhill on a sled.”
More expletives from Brittany but that’s when Tanner decided to walk into the barn, Dare on his heels.
“Are we interrupting anything?” he asked with a smirk while Dare carefully reached for Brittany’s gun, holding it between his thumb and finger after Presley handed it over.
“Just get over here and cuff her,” Seth growled. “You’ll probably want to arrest her, too.”
Dare dragged Brittany to her feet and when she tried to scratch him, she was on the receiving end of a fierce growl that had her shutting her mouth and staying still. No one did grouchy like Dare. He slapped the cuffs on her and marched her outside leaving Tanner, Seth, Presley and the two money bags.
Tanner nudged one of the bags with his foot. “Looks like you found it. What’s her part in the story? And where’s Eric Harbaugh?”
Ignoring his best friend, Seth swept his wife up into his arms now that he didn’t have to deal with a pissed off woman who wasn’t going to get to keep two hundred thousand. Holding her tightly, he pressed his lips to hers, both of them sweaty and dirty, but he didn’t care. For a while there he wasn’t sure how he was going to get them out alive. But here she was in his arms and he could feel her soft skin under his palms and the beat of her heart again his, accelerating again but this time for a different reason. This time it was because he was so fucking relieved he almost couldn’t breathe.
If he’d lost her…
“Don’t,” she said, whispering in his ear. “Trust me on this. I’ve learned over the years not to think of what might have happened. Just concentrate on the fact that we’re both okay.”
If this was what she dealt with every goddamn day when he left for work, he was going to have to quit and find some boring as fuck job where he’d be safe every fucking day. Because this had been intolerable and the thought that he was putting her through hell every time he left the house… He couldn’t do it and he couldn’t do it to his kids, either. They were young now, but soon they’d realize that Daddy had a dangerous job.
“I love you,” he choked out, that delayed panic finally hitting him as tears burned the back of his eyes and his legs turned to jelly. “Jesus, I love you so much.”
Her hands smoothed over his jaw and her eyes looked at him with such adoration it made him want to fall to his knees in gratitude. He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve a woman and a life like this but he’d be grateful every damn day he was given.
“I love you too. You’re my hero.”
Seth would never ask for more than that.