Logan!” Weslee screamed as she watched him fall to the ground. Where had the bullet hit him? Relief flooded her when he got to his knees and looked at Josh. Blood soaked through his T-shirt, giving her hope that the bullet had only grazed his shoulder.

“Why did you make me do that?” Josh yelled. The hand holding the gun shook violently, and he let go of Weslee to steady it with his other hand.

“Go!” Logan shouted at Weslee. “Now!”

Before Josh could grab her, she obeyed Logan. She didn’t want to leave him but knew the only way she could help him was to get to a phone.

“Get back here!” Josh raged. Then another shot rang out.

She waited for the pain to hit her as she dove behind the pool table. Her breath came in short gasps as she realized he had missed. Then she heard a grunt of pain and knew he’d shot Logan again. Please, don’t let him die, she silently prayed.

“You made me do that,” Josh said, his voice bordering on a sob. She wanted to hurt Robbie herself. What kind of man did that to his son? “I didn’t want to kill anyone.”

The air in Weslee’s lung felt trapped as an iron fist of fear clenched around her throat and squeezed. Logan couldn’t be dead.

“You need to come back over here, Weslee, if you don’t want me to shoot your boyfriend again.”

“Stay where you are,” Logan groaned.

He’s alive! Weslee thanked God as she dragged air into her lungs.

Josh swore at Logan and told him to shut up, but no shot followed the demand. Unfortunately, Logan didn’t make another sound either. That’s when Weslee knew it was up to her to save him.

Adrenaline surged through her, bathing her brain with a calmness incongruent with the rapid beating of her heart. Since her phone was still charging next to her bed, calling 9-1-1 wasn’t an option. The chances of Inez waking were slim, which was probably for the best. Her nanny would die protecting Weslee.

She needed a weapon. It was the only way to possibly save Logan’s life as well as her own. One of the balls from the pool table could work if her aim were as true as she shot an arrow.

An arrow. It was exactly what she needed. On the wall adjacent to the one at her back, her daddy had hung the plaque she’d won at her first archery tournament alongside the bow she’d used and at least one arrow. She couldn’t remember if there were more, but one was all she needed.

Josh was muttering to himself about how much he hated his father and that his plans were all ruined. He was crying too, which broke her heart despite the revenge plan he’d concocted to get back at Robbie. Crawling on her hands and knees, Weslee slowly inched out from her hiding place. The room was dark except for the faint light from the lantern and Logan’s flashlight. The storm raged on outside, but she remained calm.

“You need to come out, Weslee,” Josh hollered in a scratchy voice. “I don’t want to do it but y’all have left me no choice.”

Didn’t want to do what? Kill her? Her pulse accelerated, and she moved a little faster. She only had a couple more feet to go before she could get the bow and arrow down.

“There’s always a choice, Josh,” Logan said. His low voice filled Weslee with renewed hope. “It’s not too late for you to make a good choice here.” Logan then elaborated on what he thought of Robbie, using colorful expletives for emphasis. Although she’d never used that kind of language, she completely agreed with him.

“I told you to shut up!” Josh’s voice resonated in the room, making Weslee start to shake. She had to get back in control if she wanted a chance to save Logan.

“Hey, I’m on your side,” Logan said, ignoring the young man’s demand that he stay quiet.

She saw Josh whirl around and lift the gun, pointing it exactly where Logan sat. From this vantage point, she could see Logan was still fully alert. Despite the shoulder wound, both his hands were pressed against his thigh. The bullet wound to his leg was the only reason Logan hadn’t gotten to his feet, which might be the thing that saved his life, that is if he didn’t die from blood loss. The beam from the flashlight was pointed in Logan’s direction and she could see his pants were soaked with dark, red blood.

Josh raged on about his dad, using more swear words than Logan had used. She took advantage and slowly stood up. Her fingers connected with an arrow…no, two arrows. They were easy to remove. Once she had those locked under one arm, she lifted the bow from the wall. It scraped a little, but a synchronized gust of wind shook the windows and covered the sound.

“This is your last chance, Weslee,” Josh yelled, keeping his eyes and gun trained on Logan. “Come back over here or I’m going to shoot your boyfriend. And this time I’ll aim for his heart.”

A fierce power surged through her like a jolt of lightning. Logan’s heart belonged to her and nobody was going to shoot it. She nocked one of the arrows in place and took aim. Her hand trembled with raw emotions. As if her daddy were right here talking to her, she could almost hear his voice telling her to clear her mind and focus on the target.

“I’m counting to five, Weslee.” He started the countdown, thankfully pausing between each number to give her the final edge she needed.

Drawing back the string, she zeroed in on the target and let the arrow fly just as Josh counted to number three. She remained poised as the arrow struck its mark. Josh screamed obscenities as the gun dropped to the floor with a thud. An arrow was stuck in his hand, right where she’d wanted it to go.

She already had the other arrow nocked when he turned toward her and bellowed in pain. He started running toward her. She didn’t focus on what Logan was doing or the fact that in seconds Josh was going to plow into her. She took aim and let the arrow fly, striking him in the thigh. With another cry of pain, Josh went down. His head connected with a small marble table as he fell with a loud thud.

The lights flickered twice before staying on. Josh lay on the floor as if he were dead. She saw a goose egg the size of a golf ball forming on his temple, blood trickling down. He lay at an awkward angle, both arrows still buried in his flesh. As she approached him, she saw his chest rise and fall.

Her calm demeanor fled as quickly as the light’s had come back on. Adrenaline poured through her veins, and she nearly fell because her legs felt like noodles.

Logan had tried scooting toward the gun but didn’t get very far. Not with the amount of blood pouring out of the bullet wound in his thigh. Their eyes connected as she stooped down and picked up the weapon. She knew how to handle a gun. And she knew she would use it if she had to.

“Did you shoot those arrows?” Logan asked. His face was pale, and his lips held very little color. It had to be a good sign that they weren’t blue.

“I did,” she said, moving quickly to his side. “Logan, you’re losing so much blood.”

He ignored her and gave her a roguish grin. “That was so hot,” he said, his words sounding slurred as if he’d had too much to drink.

She rolled her eyes. If he could flirt with her then there was still hope. “Hang tight, and I’ll get something to stop the bleeding.”

“Yeah, I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart.”

She was already on her feet and ran toward the kitchen. Thank goodness her daddy had insisted on a landline. Setting the gun on the countertop, she picked up the cordless phone and punched in 9-1-1 while she yanked open the drawer that held the dishtowels.

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” a calm female voice said into her ear.

As she gave the woman the critical details, she grabbed the kitchen shears and rushed back to Logan’s side. Putting the phone on speaker, she set it down next to her and made a few cuts in the fabric of the dishcloth and then ripped the white linen into several long strips. Inez had embroidered this set, but she knew she wouldn’t care they were being torn apart.

“He’s losing a lot of blood,” Weslee told the dispatcher, not liking how quiet Logan was. She darted her eyes up to find him watching her, a small smile on his lips. Did that mean he was doing better than she thought or was he in shock and letting his guard down?

The dispatch operator ordered her to put a tourniquet on, giving her ideas of things she could use as Weslee slipped the first strip of cloth under Logan’s injured leg. She’d taken a wilderness first-aid course before, but training for trauma and actually treating trauma were so different.

Her fingers were covered in sticky blood as she grabbed both ends of the cloth and started to tie them together. Logan was big but the old-fashioned dishtowels were longer and she was able to secure a tight knot. The operator reassured her that help was on the way as Weslee wadded up the remaining dishtowel and applied pressure to Logan’s thigh.

“Did you go to combat-medic school or something?” he asked in a raspy voice. “You’re good at this.”

Ignoring him, she answered the dispatcher’s question about the perpetrator. Weslee confirmed Josh was still unconscious by taking a quick look over her shoulder. She hoped he remained that way until help arrived. Of course, she didn’t want him to die. She just didn’t want him to wake up yet.

She heard the dispatcher ask for an ETA and then relayed that the paramedics should arrive in four minutes. That seemed like an eternity right now, but at least they were on their way.

“Weslee?” Logan said as she applied another layer of Inez’s towels on top of the other one.

“Yes,” she said, looking into his eyes. He seemed lucid. Until he spoke.

“In case I don’t make it will you to tell me what your password was?”

“Stop talking,” she said tersely. “The ambulance is on the way.”

“I promise not to die if you tell me.” His voice trailed off. “Please?” he added on.

“You’re not going to die, Logan.” Not if she had anything to do about it. She squeezed his hand. “Save your energy and focus on your breathing.”

As usual, he ignored her. “Come on, babe. It’s driving me crazy not knowing.”

“Oh for heaven’s sakes, Logan. It was HotNavyGuy.”

He tried to give her that sexy smirk of his but didn’t have the energy. He licked his lips that were now colorless. “Were you talking about me?” he asked in a sluggish tone that scared her to death.

“Yes, I was talking about you.” She shook him when his eyelids started to drift closed. “Logan, you have to stay awake.”

“Can’t.” She saw him try to swallow. “Too tired.”

“Please,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. “Please, stay awake. I love you and I can’t lose you too.”

That got his attention, and he opened his eyes. “You really do love me?”

“Yes, and I want to marry you and have babies with you and fly in a helicopter with you and climb mountains with you and eat cookie dough with you and— ”

“Hey, babe,” he said, closing his eyes again. “Gonna have to talk about this later. I don’t feel so good.” Logan’s head fell to the side as his body gave up trying to stay awake.

“WHERE ARE THEY?” she shrieked at the dispatch operator. “He’s dying!”

“Ma’am, I need you to remain calm and tell me if the patient is still breathing.”

“Yes! But they need to hurry!” She was prepared to start CPR and began going over the steps in her mind.

The cavalry arrived moments later. She’d never been so happy to see someone and wanted to hug the two police officers that rushed through the door. With their guns drawn, one of the men rushed over to Josh while the other one asked about the location of the weapon the shooter used.

“I put it on the countertop.” Weslee knew why he wanted to locate the gun, but she wanted help for Logan. “Where is the ambulance? He’s losing too much blood.”

“They’re here, ma’am,” he said, as he located the gun on the countertop.

If they were here then where were they! Before Weslee shouted out the question, the police officer spoke into his mic, stating the scene was clear and safe to enter.

Paramedics arrived seconds later, and Weslee got out of the way so one of the medics could take her place. “I need a line, STAT,” he said to his partner while at the same time checked Logan’s pulse. “Let’s get an IO in him and start fluids,” he ordered as he put an oxygen mask over Logan’s nose and mouth. Then she watched him put on a much more substantial tourniquet than the one she’d made from a dishtowel.

More first responders arrived and immediately went to check on Josh when the cop called out for a medic to assist him. Weslee was too frightened by everything they were doing to Logan to find out any details on Josh.

While one paramedic cut the lower pant leg to Logan’s uninjured limb, the other one cut off his T-shirt. She didn’t have time to appreciate his sculpted chest as the man affixed heart monitor leads to his skin, but she was relieved to see the gunshot wound to the shoulder wasn’t bleeding very much. Meanwhile, the second paramedic shaved a section of hair from Logan’s lower leg, wiped the patch of skin with a pad that left an orange stain, and used a drill to insert the IV access directly through the shin bone. Logan didn’t even flinch.

As the paramedic hung a bag of IV fluids, he asked dispatch for an ETA on the emergency helicopter. Weslee didn’t remember anyone calling for a helicopter. It made sense though since there was only a small urgent care facility on the island.

All at once a wave of nausea hit her, and she nearly toppled over, even though she sat poised on her knees. In a haze of dizziness, she saw neighbors had gathered near the open door. She saw Robbie and heard him cry out Josh’s name.

The last thing she remembered was somebody shouting that she was going down before everything went dark.