Page 70 of Hidden Shadows
Nixon’s fingers tightened around his Glock. He wanted to kill this asshole.
The guy was still moving closer, and while Nixon wanted him as far from Finley as possible, another part of him welcomed the closing of the distance. Because Nixon wanted to tear the guy apart with his bare hands.
“Did that asshole friend of yours find you? Or is he dead?” the guy shouted. “I kind of hope he found you, because that means I get to gut him right in front of your eyes. Show you just how much more of a man I am…everything you missed out on because you whored yourself out to him!”
Nixon’s vision blackened, the anger inside him threatening to overflow into violence.
“We could have been great together. Now—you die.”
When a bullet hit the ground beside the tree, Nixon cursed.
The asshole knew where they were.
When a second bullet hit, Nixon eased his gun around the tree. The guy saw him a split second before he fired and dropped to the ground, immediately raising his pistol to return fire, but Nixon was already behind the tree.
Then steps. Quick ones. Before the man even came into view, Nixon kicked out a leg, sending him to the ground. He swung his weapon around, but the asshole kicked it out of his hands.
Nixon cursed and dove forward, grabbing the asshole’s wrist before he could aim the pistol, slamming his hand to the ground. He snapped his head forward, smashing his forehead into the man’s already broken nose.
The guy howled, fresh blood pouring down his face. Nixon immediately threw an elbow toward his cheek, but he rolled, smashing Nixon to his back.
“I’m gonna kill you for taking her from me!” he growled, yanking a knife from a sheath at his ankle.
Nixon was reaching for his wrist even as the shovel suddenly came down on the guy’s head, causing him to grunt and drop to the ground.
Still, the fucker didn’t stay down. He cursed and rolled toward his fallen gun. Nixon wrenched the pistol he’d taken from Rad from his holster.
The guy was lifting his own pistol when Nixon fired, putting a bullet between his eyes.
He dropped…then there was silence.
Nixon rose to his feet and stepped toward Finley on heavy legs. Carefully, he slipped the shovel from her fingers and dropped it to the dirt.
He gently cupped her face. “Hey.” It took a beat, but she finally lifted her gaze to his. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, voice shaking. “Yeah. Are you?”
He was far from fucking okay. She’d come too close to getting hurt. He gave her crumbs of the truth. “No. But holding you is making me feel better.”
She nodded, the air rushing in and out of her chest. “He’s dead,” she whispered.
Nixon tugged her into his arms. “He’s dead.”
CHAPTER23
Finley watched from the parking lot as paramedics carried Beth on a stretcher from the woods. Her feet twitched to go to her. Check in. She hated that the woman had been hurt because of her. Hated that she was still unconscious, and they had no idea if the hit to her head was her only injury.
The only thing she was holding on to, her one reprieve, was that the woman still had a heartbeat.
Finley leaned against Nixon’s side, needing to borrow just a bit of his strength. “Do you think she’ll be okay?”
His arm tightened around her waist. “I don’t know, honey. But I hope so. I overheard paramedics talking in the woods. Words like dehydration, blood loss, and concussion were mentioned. Also, her body temperature is low.”
She swallowed, hating everything Nixon had just said.
“But they didn’t think she’d slept in the woods all night, because she probably wouldn’t be alive right now if she had. And also because police searched that exact spot yesterday.”
“Why would he have left her there then?” she asked, unable to keep the question to herself.
