Page 40 of Chasing Bandit

“What happened?” I shouted, already grabbing my purse and keys from underneath my desk, “Are the babies, ok?!”

“Yes, yes. Your nephews are fine and eager to meet you, but Wylie’s not. He’s been shot.”

What the -?

“How soon can you get here?!” she shouted.

“I don’t know! It takes three hours driving. I might be able to get a flight into San Angelo if you can come pick me up?” I was panicking, not knowing what was going on and feeling a sense of dread and complete loss of control.

“Get on the first flight that you can into San Angelo. Nash will meet you at the airport.”

I sprinted out of the hotel office, not caring to tell anyone where I was going. As I sped to the Houston airport, frantically looking up flights to San Angelo, I knew in my heart I was never coming back to this job or to Houston again. My home was in Lonestar Junction, and my heart was with Wylie, wherever he was and whatever he was going through, I'd never choose to be this far apart from him again.

Thankfully, there was a flight boarding just as I arrived at the airport, and it had one open seat. The short 30-minute flight felt like an eternity as I feared the worst while cruising through choppy air. When I landed in San Angelo, Nash was there to pick me up at Arrivals.

“Where is he?” I shouted as soon as I saw him and rushed into his open arms.

“At the hospital in Lonestar Junction. He’s going to be fine, Stevie, just got wheeled into surgery. We should be able to make it there in under thirty minutes if I speed.”

“What the hell happened?” I demanded as he swerved through traffic out of the terminal.

“Charles snuck up on him and shot him while he was in the field at Cameron ranch.”

“What!” I screamed, my body flooding with adrenaline and anger.

Nash nodded, “Somehow, he found him out in the fields. It sounds as though he posed as a worker to one of the Cameron ranch guys who pointed him to where Wylie was working on a fence that had broken from the last storm we had. Snuck up on him but at the last minute, Wylie heard him and turned around. There was a fight that ensued, and Charles pulled out a gun. Shot him clean through his bicep.”

“Shit...” I covered my mouth in shock. “It’s all my fault.” I cried as tears streamed down my face.

Nash reached over and squeezed my hand, “No, it’s not. That man would have had it out for anyone who defied him, and Wylie sure beat him to a pulp for what he did to you a few months ago. He was on a mission for revenge. Wish he’d just killed him in the middle of Nourish but the future Charles has coming to him now is even worse.”

I couldn't bear to ask any more questions as we rode in silence for the next 30 miles. When we pulled into Lonestar Junction Hospital, I was out of the car before Nash could even park, rushing through the ER doors.

“Wylie Cameron?” I asked at check-in.

“He just got out of surgery. In room 76A," the nurse shared.

I hurried down the hallway and found him lying in bed, his eyes closed, tall frame stretching the hospital gown to its limits and muscles bulging. A doctor stood beside him.

“Is he ok?” I whisper-shouted to the doctor.

The doctor smiled and nodded, “He's just coming out of anesthesia so he’s a little groggy still. He’ll be awake shortly.”

He turned to leave us alone, and I sank into the seat beside Wylie, taking his hand in mine. Tears welled up as I gripped his hand tightly and squeezed. His eyes fluttered open, and he smiled, as if he hadn't just been shot and through surgery.

"You don't have to cry, Stevie. It's just a little bullet hole."

“It’s because of me and I should have been here.”

He shrugged, “Got it all on camera and my new neighbor and friend, Dallas Golden, identified him for the police. The fucker wasn’t thinking that we’d have cameras on the property, but we’ve got to in order to watch the miles of land we own. For a supposedly smart guy, he really doesn’t know anything about rural Texas. The police already got him, charged with attempted murder. He’s going to prison, Stevie. You don't gotta worry about him anymore.”

“Shit…” I breathed out as relief flooded through my body that Wylie was ok, and Charles was gone.

Wylie's threats towards Charles a few months ago had made me feel safer. Now, with his career ruined and him behind bars, unable to hurt me or any other woman again, I felt even more relieved.

Wylie grinned. “Dallas threw me on the back of his 4-wheeler and hauled me to the hospital. He's not such a bad guy, ya know. Plus, I’d take another three bullets for you if it meant I got to see that look on your face every day of my life.”

I leaned in, not caring about our marital status or whether Wylie had moved on in the past five months and pressed my lips against his. He responded with passion, his good arm reaching up to thread through my thick hair, holding me in place. His tongue explored my mouth eagerly, as if he couldn't get enough, and I responded in kind, lost in the moment with him.

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