Page 143 of Wyatt

Meeting eyes with Duke in the passenger seat, I give him a curt nod.

We open our doors at the same time. The three of us pile out into the cold and I take the lead, raising my rifle so that it’s tucked firmly into the ball of my shoulder.

My heart is hammering. Something’s up. I feel it.

“Hello?” I shout, carefully releasing the safety so that it doesn’t make a noise. “Who’s in there?”

No answer.

“We’re comin’ in,” Ryder adds. “And we’re armed.”

We round the corner of the barn. Pressing my cheek against the butt of the rifle, I keep my stride steady as I slip through the open door.

A figure moves in the shadows, put off by the overhead lights. My finger sits on the trigger.

“Come out,” I say. “Right now.”

I nearly pass out from relief when John B emerges from the dark. I immediately put the safety back on and drop the rifle, letting out a breath. “Jesus Christ, John. Why didn’t you?—”

But then he grabs the rifle out of my hands with a quickness I didn’t know he was capable of at his age. He raises it, aiming the barrel at my chest. “Just who I was lookin’ for.”

I’m so taken aback—this is so out of character for him—that it takes a full beat for my brain to unscramble the events as they happen.

First, John B puts his hand on the trigger.

Second, he closes his left eye, aiming for my heart. Did he release the safety? My heart is pounding so hard that I could’ve missed the telltale click. And the light in here is too dim to see.

Third, John says, “Tell me you didn’t break your promise.”

My heart thumps in my ears. “What?”

Duke, Sawyer, and I exchange glances. None of us has any idea what the fuck is going on. We stay put, my brothers hovering just behind my left shoulder.

Could the three of us take John out before he pulls thetrigger? He’s getting on in years, but he’s still a born and bred country boy. He got his first rifle at five and has been a crack shot since six. Or so the story goes.

We’ve hunted together plenty, so I know the man only raises a gun when he means business. He ain’t gonna miss if he fires.

I squint, straining to see whether the safety is engaged or not. Still can’t tell.

“You promised me you weren’t going to keep her in Texas. You lied to my face, boy.”

What the hell?

“I didn’t lie to you,” I reply slowly. “Sally is still going to New York.”

John B just chuckles, a low, sinister sound. “Quit your lying already. She just told me.”

“Told you what?”

“Quitlying, Wyatt, or so help me God?—”

“John, please.” Duke steps forward, his hands held up. “Let’s all keep a cool head here, all right? I think there’s a misunderstanding?—”

“There’s definitely a misunderstanding,” I say, anger mingling with the fear coursing through my veins. “I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

A flicker of doubt moves across John’s eyes. “Sally didn’t tell you she’s not taking the job at Ithaca University?”

A bomb detonates inside my skull. At the same time my heart hammers against my breastbone, leaving me short of breath.

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