Page 53 of Lone Star Protector

“You limp dick sonofabitch,” Bodie snarled into the communicator. “You are a dead man.”

That threat had barely left his mouth.

When the gunshots started.

Chapter Eighteen

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Nash caught hold of Caroline, dragging her to the ground with him and trying to cover her as much as he could. That was hard to do, what with the bullets flying at them nonstop.

“You sonofabitch,” Bodie yelled at the top of his lungs.

He, too, got down, darting in front of the limestone sign and using it for cover. Somehow, during all the maneuvering, he still managed to keep Ruby in a chokehold. Then again, Ruby might not have fought back since those bullets were being aimed at Bodie, it also meant they were also aimed at her. She had probably realized her best bet was to get out of the line of fire and then try to make her escape from Bodie.

From the corner of his eye, Nash saw both Bodie and Ruby hit hard on the ground, and Ruby grimaced in pain. Nash hoped one of those bullets hadn’t hit her or that she’d broken something in the fall. While he was hoping, Nash added one more thing.

That Eddie wouldn’t miss his target—Bodie—and shoot Ruby, Caroline, Leland or him instead.

Leland was especially vulnerable since he couldn’t even seem to move to scramble out of the way. He was bleeding out, and there was nothing Nash could do to help him.

“Eddie,” Caroline muttered. “He’s doing this.”

Yeah, he was. Nash was certain of it despite not actually being able to see the man. However, the shots were coming from one of the boats where Eddie had no doubt been hiding.

Waiting for Bodie’s command to kill them.

Instead, Bodie had turned on his friend, and Eddie had likely decided it was shoot or be shot. No way would Bodie let him live after learning what’d happened between Jordana and him.

One of the bullets ricocheted off the limestone and slammed into the fence just above Caroline’s and his heads. Nash figured that wouldn’t be the last time that happened either. The giant slab of limestone was protecting Bodie, but it was putting Caroline and him in even more danger since those bits of rock could come flying at them like little missiles.

“Try to crawl back inside the gate,” Nash instructed. At least that way she’d be further away from those ricochets.

Nash adjusted a little to give her room so she could start moving when another sound stopped him. Not the wail of sirens that he’d hoped to hear, but it was definitely a car engine, and as Leland had done, it was coming at them damn fast.

Nash cursed when he saw a dark blue car coming up the road. Not Slade. But rather Jordana. It wasn’t her usual vehicle, but then the cops would have been looking for that.

She slammed on the brakes when she saw what was happening, but she didn’t get down. Instead, she threw open her car door.

“Dad? Are you all right?” But then she shifted her attention to her husband. “Bodie,” she shouted. “Get in. I can save you. I can save both Dad and you.”

“Get back in your car, Jordana,” Leland told her as he grimaced in pain. “You’ll get killed out here.”

She didn’t listen. Instead, she volleyed glances at Bodie and her father, no doubt trying to decide what the hell to do.

Bodie turned, dragging Ruby so she was still his shield. But so he could also face his wife.

“Bitch, you cheated on me,” Bodie snarled. “Kill her, Eddie,” he shouted. “Do us both a favor and blow her brains out.”

Jordana frantically shook her head. “I didn’t. I, uh—” She screamed when a bullet skipped off the top of her car, barely missing her.

Still screaming and with Leland yelling for her to get down, she dived back in her car, and a moment later, Jordana came out with her own gun. “You told Eddie to kill me,” she yelled at Bodie. “How could you do that? I’m your wife, and I’ve done everything for you.”

“How could I do it? Easy peasy. Because, bitch, you cheated on me,” Bodie fired back. “No one cheats on me. No one walks away from me.”

Jordana’s expression changed, and normally Nash would have welcomed the fury he saw there. But the fury wasn’t for Bodie. No. It was projecting straight toward Caroline and him.

“You told him,” Jordana spat out. “Caroline and you told him about that picture. That mistake.”

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