Page 146 of Samuel

“Why wouldn’t Garrett give the money to help his own daughter? Fuck, I didn’t even know he had kids!”

“I’m his,” he scoffed. “But my sisters aren’t. The fucking prick knocked my mom up when they were sixteen. He wasn’t around growing up, but you bet your ass he came back looking for me the minute that survey first came back saying there was oil here.”

“I can’t believe you’ve been working against us this whole time.”

“Monica was sick her entire life, Sam. I was able to send money home to cover things as long as I did his bidding. Until she got worse.”

“That’s when you started siphoning money again from the ranch?” Evie asked. “You should be home, grieving with your family, Derrick.”

“I can’t be with them right now. Knowing I was so close for so long to getting Monica the help she needed.” He turned away from Evie, staring straight at Sam. “You died last year. All on your own, and it was like God had given me the greatest gift. Finally, finally, my asshole father was going to have the ranch and I’d be free of this place. I’d have the resources to getthe best treatment in the country for my baby sister. But you got a miracle. And she didn’t. How is that fucking fair, Boss Man?”

Before Sam could answer, his ears picked up on sirens in the distance. God, he wished it was more than just an ambulance coming towards them. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one who heard the sirens.

“How? How did you alert them?” Derrick shoved his gun into Sam’s chest, his eyes wide with fury.

“I didn’t. It’s an ambulance, coming for Evie and the baby. Let’s get out of here, Derrick. Go to the bunk house. Let Evie and Jake get medical attention. Please.”

“Sam, no! We need you with us.” More tears poured down Evie’s face. “I won’t let this be the last time I see you.”

“You need to go to the hospital with Jake. You need to take care of yourself and our daughter. I won’t be far behind.”

Derrick laughed at his declaration. “We’re not going anywhere.”

He turned, waving the gun in the air. “It’s not enough. Not enough for you to suffer physically. Don’t you see? I don’t want you to die, Sam. I want to hurt you. Make you feel every ounce of pain your selfishness caused in me. In my family. We’ll never have another moment with Monica. Why should you get to walk into the sunset with your automatic little family when my family is so fucking broken? It’s not about taking you away from everyone. It’s about taking your whole world away from you. I was just going to settle for Evie, but I don’t think that’s what I’ll do anymore. Because imagine my delight when the perfect answer came into the world tonight.”

“No!” Evie screamed. “Your sister wouldn’t want you to hurt my baby. Please, Derrick! Let us help you. Let us get you help!”

Sam looked to his left, catching Jake’s eye for half a second. The small, almost imperceptible nod from his friendtold him everything he needed to know. He didn’t wait. And the second his body started moving towards Derrick, he saw Jake lunge to cover Evie and the baby.

His shoulder slammed into Derrick. Although the man had twenty pounds, and a good three to four inches on Sam, he was no match for the element of surprise. The only thing Sam was thinking about was getting the gun out of Derrick’s hand. That’s why he missed the other fist flying towards his face.

His jaw took the punch with a crack. Somewhere in the distance Evie screamed again. Sam’s hand reached for Derrick’s arm, slamming it down over and over again as Derrick landed punches in his side.

His vision tunneled, focused solely on getting the firearm away from Derrick.

“What the fuck?” a voice growled over his shoulder.

“Hank! Help Sam!!”

“Oh God! Hank! He’s got a gun!

“Daisy, get out of here!”

“Fuck that! They need our help!”

“Sprinkles, get back here!”

The weapon was so close to coming loose from Derrick’s grip. Sam just needed to wrench his arm a little more to the left…

The boom of the gun going off a second time rang in his ears.

Forty-Two

Sunlight made its way through the blinds and a soft coo pulled Evie from the last little tendrils of sleep she’d been holding onto.

It took a minute for her eyes to adjust, and her memory to recall where she was. The hospital. Jellybean… or rather, Sammy Jo, was less than a day old. And already, she’d witnessed unimaginable violence.

“Hey, Mama.” Sam turned from the window and Evie’s heart burst.

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