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“Let’s do this.”

* * *

“Why?”Trinity asked.

“Why what?” Kathy flew down the road, going at least fifteen to twenty miles over the speed limit.

“Why set my father up? Why befriend me? Why all of it?” Trinity tried not to focus on the gun that Kathy held in her hand and kept trained on Trinity, but it proved impossible. She worried that if they hit a pothole, Kathy might accidentally pull the trigger and kill Trinity.

She swallowed that thought.

“Everyone always wants to know the why. Does it really matter?”

“It does to me,” Trinity said. “I get that you feel my father wronged you.”

Kathy turned her head. “So, you know who I really am.”

“I do.”

“And how long have you known that?”

“I just found out today,” Trinity said. “But that still doesn’t justify the why. You were a baby when my father killed yours. And my dad did his time. He hasn’t hurt anyone since then. Why hold this grudge all these years? And why become my friend? I don’t think you planned on killing me.” She glanced down at the gun. “But now, I think that’s changed.” She shouldn’t be antagonizing a woman who had a loaded weapon pointed at her rib cage. However, she had to trust that Emmett and his family were only one to two steps behind her and would make sure that Melinda was safe.

Trinity pressed her hand over her middle.

Melinda and her baby had to be safe. Trinity would never forgive herself if anything bad happened to them.

“Fucking bridges in this town,” Kathy mumbled as the car slowed. “Since we’re going to be stuck here for a few minutes, I’ll give you a little history lesson.”

“Okay.” Trinity’s heart lurched when she caught a glimpse of the vehicle rolling to a stop behind them.

Emmett.

She needed to keep her cool. This was going to end. She needed to make sure it ended without a bullet tearing through her body.

“My grandmother died begging me to make sure the man who took her baby boy—my father—from her went back to prison where he belonged. She believed that your dad got off too easy. She tasked me with making sure that he suffered and perhaps saw the death penalty. She also wanted his family to feel the kind of pain she did. It wasn’t fair. I have to agree.”

Trinity glanced in the side mirror. Neither Emmett nor Rhett were in Emmett’s vehicle any longer. Her pulse sored. She had to keep her cool. Getting shot wasn’t on her bucket list.

“I’m honestly very sorry about what my dad did all those years ago, but that has nothing to do with me.”

“You’re right. It doesn’t,” Kathy said. “I never had any intention of hurting you, but you wouldn’t let this go. You had to come here and poke the bear. If you had just let things go and let your father take the fall, we wouldn’t be sitting here right now.”

“You had innocent men killed because you wanted my father to go back to prison?”

“They weren’t innocent,” Kathy said. “They were cheating bastards just like my dad. Just like your mom. Just like my grandpa. They deserved to pay for their crimes. And more than the slaps on the wrists they had been given.”

Before Trinity could open her mouth to say anything, both the driver’s and passenger-side doors flew open.

“What the hell?” Kathy said as she lifted the gun.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Emmerson reached across her and knocked the weapon away. He lifted his gun, pointing it at Kathy. “You’re under arrest.”

“Are you okay?” Emmett lifted Trinity out of the passenger seat and into his arms. “Are you hurt?”

“No. I’m fine.” She wrapped her hands around his strong frame. “Melinda? Are she and the baby safe?”

“Baby?” Emmett set Trinity’s feet on the ground about twenty feet from the road.

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