Page 150 of Proof of Guilt

He cursed Theo and then smiled, his head dropping back onto the ground.

“You just signed their death warrants,” Wesley said.

Theo was no doubt about to ask Wesley what he meant by that, but then she heard something she didn’t want to hear.

An explosion.

She whipped toward the sound of the blast. Her parents’ old house. And it was now in flames.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Theo cursed. He hadn’t exactly relaxed, but he had thought the worst of the danger was over. Maybe not, though. His instincts were to go running to the old house, to make sure no one was inside, but that could be a trap. Something that Wesley had set up in case he failed here.

Which he had.

The agent was moaning in pain, but he still had that stupid smirk on his face. A smirk that could be there because he’d put someone in that house. Someone who was now dying because of the fire. The flames were quickly eating their way through the place, and even if they could get the fire department out right away, it might still be too late to save it.

“Three of the ranch hands are on the way down there,” Gabriel said after reading a text. “And Edwin’s just up the road. He’ll be arriving at the old house in just a couple of minutes.”

Maybe that would be enough, because it was also possible that Wesley had stashed the rest of his hired guns near there. Hired guns who would kill anyone who came their way.

Theo checked the SUV to make sure no one else was inside. It was empty. Theo also picked up Wesley’s gun and shoved it in the back waistband of his jeans.

“Where are the gunmen who were at the back of the house?” Theo asked Gabriel.

“Dead,” Gabriel answered while he tossed Theo a pair of plastic cuffs that he took from his pocket. “Al’s back there, and he’s keeping watch to make sure no one else sneaks up on us. The hands in the pastures are reporting that they’re not seeing any other gunmen. Not live ones, anyway. They had to shoot a couple of them. Jace has rounded up a couple of them, too.”

Theo released the breath he hadn’t even noticed he was holding. Of course, there could still be a straggler out there, but maybe that person would just surrender now that his boss had been captured.

From the end of the trail, Theo saw the cruiser lights as the vehicle pulled to a stop near the burning house. Edwin, no doubt. At least now the hands had law enforcement help.

Gabriel made a call to someone else, but Theo didn’t wait to hear who he was talking to. He first cuffed Wesley, and since it was still too dangerous for Ivy to be outside in the open where a sniper could pick her off, he put her on the passenger’s seat of the SUV.

“Stay down,” Theo warned her.

She gave a shaky nod and caught on to his arm when he started to move away. That’s when he spotted the marks on her throat. Bruises and scrapes from Wesley putting her in that choke hold. It sickened him to think of just how close she’d come to dying.

And all because of him.

“I’m so sorry,” Theo said.

Ivy shook her head, took hold of the front of his shirt and pulled him to her. She kissed him. It didn’t last long. Just enough to soothe some of the raw nerves inside him. Still, he wanted to beat Wesley senseless for doing this.

Standing guard in front of Ivy, Theo turned so he could face Wesley. “Who’s in the old house?”

“Just tying up some loose ends.” The smirk finally faded, and he glared up at Theo. “You might as well go ahead and kill me. You know what they do to former agents in prison?”

Yeah, he did, but since this piece of slime had tried to kill Ivy, Theo didn’t care what happened to the man.

“Who are the loose ends?” Theo pressed.

Wesley groaned in pain. Probably because he had cracked ribs. Or maybe the realization of what he’d done was finally hitting him. “One loose end,” he amended. “Someone who helped me fund this little operation. Don’t worry. I sent proof of the money trail to the sheriff’s office so you’ll know who paid for all these hired guns.”

Hell. That could maybe be August or Lacey. Theo was hoping, though, that it was just a bluff and the only person dead in that house was the guy who’d fired those rounds of tear gas.

“It wasn’t supposed to work this way,” Wesley mumbled.

“No. If things had gone according to your plan, you would have kidnapped Ivy and used her to get me to do whatever you wanted me to do.”

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