Page 76 of Wanted by the Lawman

“I almost feel sorry for Cade when I blow your head off in front of him, but I’ll feel vindicated.”

“What has Zander ever done to you?”

He shrugged. “Nothing, but his type boils my blood. Everything comes so easily. Heroes in the military who come home and have all the help from the government. What does a man like me get?” He tapped his chest with the nozzle of the gun before turning it back on her. “Not a damn thing.”

“He fought in the war. He deserves to be valued.”

A noise from outside made Lansing spin.

“I’m out here, motherfucker,” Zander’s voice rang out.

Wynn gasped and started to stand, then Lansing grabbed her, pulling her in front of him as a human shield. She tried to push away, but the cold nozzle of the gun pressed into her temple and paused her.

“I’ve got the bitch right here,” he snarled.

Flinching as the gun pressed deeper into her skin, she stayed frozen, worried that he’d pull the trigger, even if by accident because she could feel him shaking. The man wanted revenge against everyone and there wasn’t just one person who’d satisfy his need. She and Zander were soft targets for a deep-rooted rage.

Looking through the thin curtain into the darkness, she couldn’t see anything. Where was Zander?

Lansing had the upper hand and it scared her for Zander. She didn’t want him to be in danger. She loved him. The realization exploded in her chest. Yes! She truly loved him.

“What are you doing, Lansing? Whatever has you upset is keeping you from thinking clearly,” Zander said from outside, this time a tad closer sounding.

“I’m thinking clearer than I have in a long time. I had more confidence in you, Cade. I expected you to connect me to the murders long ago, but the problem was, you were allowing your dick to sidetrack you. How does it feel to fail?”

“Not sure where this is all headed,” Zander stated, “but I have a feeling you’re blaming the wrong people for whatever fucked up situation you’re in.”

“Fuck you, Cade!” Lansing yelled. “You have no clue what fucked up situations I’ve endured.” Wynn shifted, but her assailant’s grip grew tighter. “Don’t fucking move!” he whispered in her ear. “I swear I’ll put a bullet through that pretty head.”

He didn’t realize that she hadn’t been trying to get away, but she was growing weak. Her breaths were hard to draw in.

“I’m tired of the thugs who believe they have the right to pick who lives and dies. I want the world to open their eyes to the space we live in, the air we breathe in is all powered by bureaucracy.”

“Your wife, she died, right?”

Through the fog in her brain, she felt him stiffen. The gun pressed harder. Her knees grew heavier. She’d been so caught up in the gun as the weapon that she’d almost forgotten that the bigger threat could very possibly be her asthma.

Voices came through a tunnel and she wanted to reach into his pocket and find the relief of her inhaler, and if she was lucky enough, it had medicine in it.

“This is a coward’s way, man. This proves nothing to no one except that you’re a chicken who preys upon women,” Zander taunted.

Lansing’s shakes became tremors. She believed what Zander was doing was a tactic trained officers used, but she wasn’t sure if taunting the man would help.

She felt the room spin. Felt her chest concave.

Then Zander spoke again…but it didn’t sound like him. Maybe it was just her ears.

“I’ll show you who’s a coward, Cade! Why don’t you come in here?”

She shifted, trying to ease his arm away from around her throat, gasping for air. Tilting her chin, she saw something at her feet…the syringe.

“The bitch is running out of air, Cade. She might make this easy on me after all.” Lansing cackled.

If it was the last thing Wynn did, it wouldn’t be to make anything easy on the jerk. Twisting her body, she was surprised that he removed his arm from her and let her to fall to the floor. A noise sounded from somewhere in the room and Lansing spun around, pointing his pistol and let off a shot. The bright flash of light lit the room.

At the same time, Wynn popped the top off the syringe and stabbed the needle into his thigh, emptying the drug into his body. He didn’t seem to notice at first, but then he wobbled, lowering the gun only slightly as another shot rang out, but it wasn’t from his gun, not this time. She heard a loud thud as Lansing fell.

“Just like you fuckers to shoot me with beanbags. This fucked up nonlethal shit is what cowards do!” Lansing said through the darkness. “You screwed-up cowards!” He sounded weaker.

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