Page 43 of Her Billionaire Hero
Scrambling to my feet, I jumped up and then I heard Sloan’s voice, “Baldwyn?”
The man with the shovel raised it over his head, aiming to hit the poor guy who’d just emerged from his grave.
“Son of a bitch!” the old guy shouted as he let the shovel fall.
Only I caught it before it could hit the man he’d obviously thought he’d already killed. I had no problem figuring out that the shovel wielding freak was Preston Rivers. “Preston, you sick piece of shit, you’re done here.” I jerked the shovel hard, making him release it.
“Baldwyn!” I heard Sloan call out, but I didn’t see her. “I’m over here.”
Preston lunged at the man I assumed was Richard Manning. Preston seemed set on killing Richard, going for the throat. I kicked Preston before he could touch Sloan’s father and he went flying to the side.
Pulling out my pocketknife, I cut the piece of material that was tied around Richard’s mouth. “You Manning?”
He nodded, unable to say a word. I had no idea what had happened to him, but I saw that his hands were bound and I cut them loose too. Pushing the dirt away from his legs, I found he was also tied at the ankles and cut that rope.
Just as I was about to stand and help Sloan’s dad up, I was tackled from the side.
“You need to leave her alone!” Preston snarled. “She’s not yours. She’s mine. She’s always been mine.”
“Leave him alone, Preston!” Sloan shouted.
As I wrestled with Preston, I caught sight of Sloan’s father crawling toward the sound of Sloan’s voice. If she was in a hole, he’d never be able to get her out. I had to bring Preston down and keep him down.
Standing, I grabbed him before he could do anything else and body-slammed his ass into the ground, then I made my way to where I thought Sloan was. “Sloan, baby, I’m coming.”
When I got to her father, who was leaning over the hole Preston had put her in, the urge to cry came over me strongly. She lay in the shallow grave, hands and feet bound, dirt covering her, her lip busted, eyes sunken in, and hair matted with blood. Barely recognizable as the woman I’d seen off just the morning before, Sloan had been through some torturous shit.
She looked up at me, trying to smile. “You came for me.”
A howl filled the air and I turned to see Preston running toward me with a knife glistening in the moonlight. I tossed my knife to Sloan’s dad. “Cut her free.” Then I headed to meet Preston before he got close to either of them.
The sound of sirens crept through the cool night air, letting me know the police were on their way. Soon, this would all be behind us. Soon, I could hold Sloan in my arms again.
Suddenly, Preston stopped and threw the knife on the ground. He pulled up his shirt and pulled out a gun, aiming it at me. “You won’t be taking her.”
Before he could pull the trigger, I yanked my gun out of the back of my jeans. One shot rang out. “That’ll stop you, you sick fuck.”
The bullet hit him in the shoulder and he crumpled to the ground. I turned to find Sloan climbing out of the hole. She ran to me and I caught her in my arms, hugging her as tightly as I could without hurting her.
“You came, Baldwyn! You found us!”
“I’ve been looking nonstop since the plane landed. Of course I found you. I wasn’t going to stop until I did.” Kissing her forehead softly, I said, “You’re going to be fine. We’re going to get you to the hospital.” I looked at her father who had laid back on the ground. “You and your father. You both will be fine.”
She looked at Preston, who was laid out on the ground. “Did you kill him?”
“No.” I rocked back and forth with her. “He’ll have to face what he’s done, and he’ll have to live with the consequences.”
“He admitted that he killed my mother. And something else too.” Tears poured from her eyes. “He killed her because he wanted me too, and she refused to give me to him.”
“Like when you were a kid?”
“Yeah.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted him to live after all. Letting her go, I sped toward him, gun drawn, ready to make sure he never got the chance to hurt anyone again. “I knew you were sick, you fucking bastard.”
A hand on my shoulder stole my attention. “Let them deal with him, Baldwyn. For all we know, he’ll get the death penalty for what he’s done. I will testify and tell the police everything he’s told me. I don’t want his death on your conscience.” She turned to look at her father. “I’m just so damn glad to see Dad alive that I don’t want anyone to die. Not tonight.”
The cops pulled up, the sound of officers coming around back telling I should holster my gun and let them take care of Preston. “You got it. I love you.”
