Page 120 of Love Me Dangerous

A cry from somewhere draws me back to the truck. Then the muffled thump of a door slamming. I start running just as the outline of an object filters through the blowing white.

It’s a trailer.

Not just any trailer.

I sprint toward it, aiming for the man turning to lock the door behind him. The wind funnels down from the mountain, screaming, the snow like hot needles on my neck and face. I lose sight of the figure, but I barrel forward, undeterred.

Dustin sees me coming and reaches for his gun, but I power into him, crushing him against the trailer. The air leaves his lungs and I feel something crunch. Dustin spins me sideways, slamming my shoulder. The metal siding buckles and the trailer jerks. I jab my elbow to his windpipe. It lands in the soft tissue of his neck and he gasps, but he’s quick with a punch to my exposed ribs. The pain takes me down, and I stumble.

Dustin draws his gun, but I go at him again, knocking his hand up. The gun goes off. Someone screams—Sofie?

I slam Dustin’s arm into the trailer, making him drop the gun, but he uses the rebounding momentum to shove me back. We fall into the snow, with him straddling me. I slap and buck, the pain in my body forgotten as I fight him. He clamps one hand around my neck and squeezes, his menacing eyes boring into mine in the blowing snow. I scratch at his face and arch off the ground to get free. He grimaces in pain but doesn’t let go.

He's closing off my windpipe, pinning me to the cold snow. I can barely get a breath. My vision tunnels.

No. This is not how this ends.

I land a fist to his throat. He curls forward in surprise, and I pop his hand free. He falls into me and we wrestle, limbs flailing, the cold snow all around us. I scramble away and lurch to stand, but Dustin is already lunging. He rams me into the front of his truck, the hard metal like a brick wall.

Movement sweeps past my peripheral vision. Followed by the boom of a shotgun.

“Get down on the ground!” a woman shouts. She pumps a new shell into the chamber.

A sudden surge of hope helps me focus, and I swing Dustin sideways. He pushes off me, and I realize he’s going to flee.

The sound of jingling tack blends with the raging wind as I leap for Dustin, getting him around the waist. We hit the frozen ground hard.

Figures materialize out of the white. Am I dreaming? Henry rushes over. Barb is right behind him, aiming her shotgun at Dustin’s chest. Blue lights swing through the storm and a dark green truck appears. It’s Rowdy, racing out of the blowing snow.

He jumps on Dustin.

“Where is she?” he growls while I lurch to my feet, panting, my head buzzing and thick.

Rowdy wrenches Dustin’s hands back and whips out his cuffs while I take off for the trailer, my legs pumping hard through the snow.

I yank open the trailer door. “Sofie!”

Inside, it’s dark and freezing cold.

“Zach?”

I race toward her voice in the corner. She’s curled up into a ball, rocking back and forth, her hands bound at the wrists.

I drop to my knees and pull her to me. She’s shivering violently. “I’m here, baby. I got you.”

Her words tap out with her tremors. “I was so… scared.”

While I want to inspect every inch of her to make sure she’s okay, I pull her tighter. She’s freezing. “I’m just sorry it took me so long.”

“Are y-you with Dustin?”

Rubbing her back, I press a kiss to her cold, silky hair. I need to get her out of here. This place is an icebox, and she’s been here too long. “Your dad arrested him.”

A violent shiver rattles through her. She starts to cry. “My dad?”

“Henry and Barb helped.”

We happen to specialize in being caught in the middle.I close my eyes and hold Sofie tight. To think I could have lost that brawl out there in the snow. What would have happened?

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