Page 70 of Sadie's Guarded Harbor

Anger surged through Tommy, and he leapt forward.

The knife jammed into his side. Pain rippled up his torso, and blood poured from the wound. He fell to the ground, Melissa crushed under him. He rolled to his side, but adrenaline andrage kept him alert. He circled his palm around Melissa’s wrist and slammed it against the floor.

Melissa dropped the knife. She scrambled to her knees and surged forward, trying to reclaim her grip on the handle.

Tommy stretched for the weapon, his side screaming in protest.

Melissa kicked Tommy where the knife had pierced his skin.

Stars erupted behind his closed eyes. Agony shot through him. He curled into a ball, grabbing his side.

The cold tip of a blade pressed against his throat. He opened his eyes and stared up into the cold, dark eyes of the woman who planned to kill him.

Another swift kick and his world went black.

Sadie poundedher fist against Shawn’s thin door. She tapped the toe of her booted foot against the concrete stoop, training her ears for any movement inside the house.

A loudthudsounded and the tiny structure shook.

Adrenaline shot through her veins. “What was that?”

A deep frown pulled at Deputy Grant’s bulldog-mouth. “Sounds like something heavy fell or a fight breaking loose.”

“We need to get inside. Now.”

She secured her gun in her hands, shouldered open the flimsy barrier and swept into the room. All the pain in her head fled.

Melissa Downs crouched low to the ground with a knife in her hand, the blade pressed against Tommy’s neck. Blood seeped onto the floor.

She trained her gun at Melissa’s head. “Freeze. Put your hands in the air. You’re under arrest.”

Deputy Grant stood beside her, feet planted wide, his weapon also aimed at Melissa.

Melissa cocked her head to the side and smiled. She kept the pointed tip of her weapon against Tommy. “Deputy Pennel. What an interesting surprise. And convenient, too. I can take care of you both right now. How lucky for me. But too bad for Deputy Grant. Wrong place at the wrong time I guess.”

She fought not to drop her gaze to Tommy’s motionless form. She had to keep all her focus on Melissa. “Do you think I’d just let you stab me? You have two guns aimed directly on you. You have no escape. No need to make this harder than necessary. Drop your weapon. Lift your hands.”

She took a step forward.

Melissa clicked her tongue. She pressed the knife harder against Tommy’s skin. “Not so fast. You might get off a shot, but not before I plunge this knife into Tommy. Are you willing to risk that? Especially with your…special relationship?”

“You’re full of shit. Now drop the knife.” How would she know anything about her relationship with Tommy? Hell, she didn’t even know if theywerein a relationship, but whatever was between them, she’d been careful to keep it under wraps as much as possible.

Melissa laughed. “Don’t like that I know so much about you, do you, Deputy?”

She studied the wicked gleam in the judge’s eyes. “You’ve followed us. Trying to kill us both, breaking into my house to steal Tina Wells’ files, and starting the fire at the bar. You needed to draw us out, separate us, to get to Tommy.”

Melissa grinned. “I’d applaud your brilliance at putting things together, but my hands are full.”

“Did Shawn hit Tina Wells and leave her to die?” Sadie tried to pull together all the information they’d collected to form a full picture, but something still didn’t make sense. “No. Youwouldn’t lie for years and stay married to a man like Shawn to protect him. Not to mention there’d be no reason to keep protecting Shawn now that he’s dead. If his secret came out, who cares? It doesn’t hurt you or anyone else at this point.”

Melissa worked her jaw back and forth.

She’d hit a nerve. She needed to push harder. “And why would anyone else kill Shawn as revenge for what he’d done?”

A tiny vein bulged at Melissa’s temple. “Enough.”

“You told me you two started spending time together when he came home on weekends. That you rushed into a marriage, even though he’d had a girlfriend back at college weeks before. And you’ve stayed married to the town alcoholic, even though he was sleeping with someone else, and nobody can understand why.”

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