Page 148 of Rescued by the Single Dad

“Put it on speaker, but don’t hang up. Don’t be an idiot, Marine.”

“Oorah,” Clint whispered, doing as the sergeant said, then climbing out of his truck. He was careful not to slam the door. It was a brisk jog to get to the parking lot. He kept to the bushes and remained hidden. His training kicked in, and he was grateful for the dark khaki shorts and brown and black flannel shirt. He blended in with his surroundings well. Though, with his level of training, he could be wearing a fucking day-glo orange jumpsuit and still keep himself from being spotted.

Just as he reached the parking lot, the bottom of his stomach nearly fell out of his gut.

Inez had a gun pointed at Brooke, and Brooke was just steps away from backing over the motherfucking cliff.

Her hands were up, and it seemed like she was pleading with Inez. Trying to reason with her.

But as she spoke, Inez kept stepping forward, and Brooke kept inching back. Maybe she wasn’t even aware of it, but she grew dangerously close to the edge.

And Clint knew what waited at the bottom of that drop.

It was over a hundred feet down, and unlike falling off a yacht into the Puget Sound, there wouldn’t just be water below to catch her fall.

There were jagged rocks, driftwood and an unrelenting surf. If she didn’t die from the fall, the water battering her against the shore would finish the job.

Fear dug sharp talons into his chest and squeezed.

He couldn’t lose her.

He was a fool to let her leave in the first place. But he was also scared.

Scared for his heart. And for Talia’s.

Her eyes flicked in his direction, and a twinkle of recognition and relief creased her face before she stowed it again. That’s when he realized his dog tags were out over his shirt and the sun must have caught on them briefly. He tucked them back under his collar.

How could he get to Brooke and get the gun away from Inez? Brooke was terrifyingly close to the edge now. If the gun didn’t go off, Inez could just as easily push her over.

“Inez, you don’t want to do this,” Brooke hollered over the wind, her gaze flitting over to Clint for just a fraction of a second. But in that second, she shook her head. Like she was telling him no.

No?

No, what?

No, don’t save her?

Fuck that.

If Clint could sneak up behind Inez without her hearing him, he might be able to startle her and wrestle the gun out of her hand. At this point, he saw no other option. Brooke was four steps away from the edge. He needed to act now.

He stalked her like prey. Prey that he intended to take down.

Brooke’s eyes went wide, but she continued to plead with Inez, ignoring Clint—well, mostly. He ate up the distance between them, careful where he put each foot. Even a dead leaf stepped on wrong could alert her.

Though, with the way the wind was whipping up from the water, she probably wouldn’t hear a crunched leaf. Both women had to yell.

“Nobody needs to get hurt,” Brooke cried.

“It’s too late for that,” Inez said. “You ruined my life.”

“You’re only thirty. You have lots of life left. A chance to rebuild and do better. We don’t need to define ourselves by where we came from or our pasts. I don’t let my family or my past define me. Neither should you. You’re better than that. You’re better than your father. We both are.”

“Why couldn’t you just stay dead?” Inez hollered. “Once the world forgot about you, I could finally shine. I could finally be free. You don’t love me. You don’t want me. And you don’t appreciate all that I’ve done for you. You should have died when I pushed you into the water the first time.”

“I appreciate you, Inez. And that you worked so hard to help my career. I’m not happy that you hurt Maren, or that Carol and Phoebe died. But I understand your reasoning. You wanted me to succeed. My success was your success. And it still can be. I can help you. I see you now, Inez. I’m sorry if I didn’t before. I’m sorry if you didn’t feel like I appreciated you before, but I do. You’re my sister. Please don’t do this.”

At this point, Clint had gotten close enough that he could reach out and touch Inez. He didn’t want to give Brooke any warning, in case she made some kind of acknowledgment and alerted the deranged woman. So he swept her legs out from under her, causing her to fall sideways to the ground. The gun went flying to the side.

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