Page 31 of One Heated Summer

“Yes,” I sobbed.

He took the gun from his pants, pressed it against my side, and dragged me to the end of the alley. Turning the corner, he pushed me through the door, causing a bell to announce our arrival. A man in his fifties, or so I thought, of stout build, with gray hair and hazel eyes, appeared in the reception area.

“Can I help you?”

Another man, around the same age, tall and lean with a bald head and brown eyes, made his appearance seconds later.

“Take me to your office,” Finn ordered.

The men opened their mouths to protest but when Finn pointed the gun in their direction, they both backed up.

“What do you want?” The bald man asked.

Finn waved his gun around with one hand while keeping a firm grip on my arm with the other. “Lock the door.”

The man did his bidding and then we were all led to an office off a hall behind reception. “Whose office is this?” Finn demanded to know.”

“Mine,” the gray haired man stated calmly.”

“Sit at your desk.” While he did as he was ordered Finn instructed me and the bald headed man to stand off to one side and he moved behind the man now seated.

“I want you to draw up a legal document giving everything Harlyn owns to me,” Finn ordered.

“Why would I do that?” He looked at me. “Is this what you want? I assume you’re Harlyn?”

“I am, and no, it isn’t what I want but Finn will kill us if you don’t do as he asks.”

Ignoring Finn who was becoming more agitated by the second, the man continued to speak to me, “My name is Unley…Brad Unley. I heard you had inherited Bill’s ranch. Didn’t you have an agreement drawn up by John Kostas in Grantin giving shared ownership of your estate to your men?”

Why the fuck was…ah, now I understood.I didn’t have one but Finn wasn’t privy to that information.

“Yes, I organized an agreement not long after I arrived giving them co-ownership of the ranch and they inherit if anything happens to me. Ranches are dangerous places and I thought it best to be well prepared, I didn’t want it going to just anyone.”

“So there are four co-owners who will become beneficiaries?”

“Yes. My estate is co-owned with the foreman and hands at my ranch.”

What I was saying was all lies but Finn didn’t know that and I believed that’s what Brad Unley was counting on if he was leading me in the direction I suspected he was.

Brad looked to Finn. “Regardless of what you demand, since there is a legal agreement involved, giving equal ownership to four other men, nothing you force me to write here will be legal. You won’t receive a cent or even a nail from the ranch. It would have to be agreed upon, and signed off on, by all owners of the ranch. I’m afraid your threats and terrorizing of this young lady are pointless.”

Finn’s face turned beet-red, he screamed in anger, and cracked Brad across the skull, causing him to pass out. He pointed the gun at my chest and started to approach, screaming mostly incoherent words. I had never been more terrified in my life. I wasn’t ready to die. I didn’t want to leave Jensen…the love of my life.

Seconds later all hell broke loose and within a minute or so, Finn lay in a crumpled heap, dead on the office floor. A bullet fired by one of the men dressed in an official law enforcement uniform had pierced him dead center between the eyes.

“All okay?” One of the men asked, it was the last thing I heard before my world turned black.

My eyes blinked open and the world slowly came into focus. I felt disoriented, my senses dulled by pain and a horrendous headache. When I tried to move, I winced and looking down saw that my left arm was in a sling and my right foot was bandagedand elevated. What had happened to me? Panic gripped me until I felt a gentle hand on mine. I looked to the side of the bed where Jensen was seated, his eyes filled with worry and relief.

"You're awake," he whispered, his voice a soothing balm to my troubled soul. "You're safe now, darlin’."

I tried to speak, but my throat was dry and I was barely able to manage a faint croak. Jensen reached to the table at the side of the bed I was in and offered me a sip of water, holding the glass to my lips with tender care. As the cool liquid eased my thirst, memories of the terrifying ordeal flooded back. The confrontation, the gun, Finn's rage, Brad's courage, and finally, the shot that ended it all.

"Brad...is he...?" I managed to murmur, fear twisting my stomach.

"He's okay," Jensen reassured me. "He suffered a concussion but he'll recover. The men who saved you were Doug Blast…the sheriff, and his deputies, Phil Gaze and Chester Eroid. It was Phil who fired the shot that killed Finn when he saw Finn was about to shoot you."

Tears welled in my eyes, some from relief, some from the overwhelming emotions swirling within me. Jensen brushed them away gently, his touch grounding me.

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