Page 66 of The Leaving Road

Idiot. Stupid. Idiot.

I can’t lose him…not when I just found him again.

The thought rocked me, and I was pretty sure my nails were digging so far into his back he’d probably have indents.

“Who the fuck are you?!” the guy screamed out, thrashing the gun around. Now it found itself pointing at Sloan’s throat, and Sloan had his hands held up in surrender, trying to appease the man in front of us.

“She’smine.”

As if that were enough explanation, the guy let the gun fall a little bit, as if that were an acceptable answer as to why he was here. The whole encounter had maybe been only going on for a minute, but time dragged, and I felt myself start to shake violently.

“Magnolia, baby, it’s going to be okay,” Sloan whispered to me, although he was still facing away from me and toward the threat, who had gone back to mumbling to himself.

“I think I can get you into the safe,” Sloan offered, and I was sure I let out a whimper. I knew what he was doing; he was trying to get him as far away from me as possible. There was no way he could get into that safe.

“Lead the way, but she comes, too.”

Part of me was relieved that we weren’t separating despite Sloan’s efforts.

“She stays behind me or I don’t open it,” He gritted out.

“Fine.”

Instead of behind him, he put me in front of him while he had the gun to Sloan’s back.

“Magnolia,”he whispered low in my ear. “When I tell you to run, yourun.”

I started to shake my headno. There was nofucking wayI would leave him.

“Magnolia, please, I need you to trust me.”He reached out and gripped my waist, and I could feel the desperation in his touch. Giving in, I let out a small nod and I felt his body sag in relief, despite the situation he was in. Every nerve ending was on high alert waiting for his instruction.

“Now,”he whispered and shoved me forward. I ran toward the door while I barely registered that Sloan had turned around and punched the guy straight in the face before doing what I could only classify as some kind of football tackle. I sprinted to the door with my only objective to get to my truck and get the shotgun we all carried in our vet trucks in case of emergencies. In thirty seconds flat, I ripped the clinic door back, not giving two fucks that I was running back into immediate danger. My only thought was to get to Sloan.

Loading the gun with the ammunition, I made my way to where I’d left them, only to see the two men brawling. Sloan currently had the upper hand, but he was on top of the man, and I definitely didnothave a clear shot. I clocked the handgun that must have been knocked out of his grasp when Sloan caught him by surprise and made my way to pick it up.

Sloan’s head snapped up to meet my gaze, and in his moment of distraction, a meaty fist hit his temple, sending him toppling over and off the man. I winced when I heard the crack, but kept my eye on the prize, but was not quick enough to reach it.

“Let him go!” I shouted and pointed my shotgun at him.

Oh, how the tables have turned.

He looked at me and laughed. I froze as the man advanced toward me, his hand grabbing the barrel of the gun. He clearly had no fear and I was struck stupid for a second as he backed me up into a wall and closed a hand around my throat and squeezed. I barely registered that he knocked my head into the wall with force as he applied more pressure to my windpipe, laughing.

Black spots coated my vision before I heard the unmistakable sound of a gun going off.

His laughing face turned into shock and his hand fell away from my throat, flying to his stomach where I noticed blood was pooling. I gasped for breath for a few moments before I was sucking in large mouthfuls of air. Sloan was next to me, and I found myself roaming my hands all over his body, checking and rechecking to make sure it wasn’t him that was shot.

Before either of us could get out a word, the clinic doors burst open with about seven police officers, all with their guns raised, taking in the scene before them. Sloan’s focus was completely and utterly fixated on me, his gaze focused on my neck, and I instantly knew there would be bruises. One of his eyes was swollen shut, and he had a gnarly split lip.

“I told you to run,” he whispered at me, trying his best to keep his emotions at bay.

“I did. I ran for the gun.”

Chapter 41

Magnolia

It took what felt like hours to wrap everything up at the clinic, answering so many police questions. They wanted to take Sloan down to the station for paperwork and more questioning, but he somehow shut that down quickly. He got ahold of his dad, who in turn got ahold of the lawyer that’s done work for them before with the bar, and they begrudgingly agreed he could go in tomorrow.

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