“What is it you want, Cargill?”
He gestured by dipping the arrow slightly and then raising it again. “You out on that bridge.”
“I’m not stupid.”
“Yeah, not quite as dumb as I always thought,” Dan said, inching closer. “You gave me a good run for my money out there on the mountain.”
“Put down the bow.” The setting sun made it hard to see, but Shep blinked until Dan was in focus again.
“Get on that bridge and maybe I will.” Dan moved forward, forcing Shep toward the rickety structure. “If you don’t, I’ll shoot you in the chest and go back for your girlfriend.”
Although it was likely Maggie and other law enforcement would be there to protect Joss, Shep couldn’t chance it. He lunged forward, but Dan danced back and sidestepped him. “That all you got, Kingston? I smell the stink of desperation.”
“And I smell the scent of a man who’s scared shitless that he’s past his prime.”
“Fuck that, and fuck you!”
“Admit it, Dan, you’ve been catching the fat for a while now.”
“I’ve had you on the run, haven’t I?” Dan’s smile was calm and even. He really thought this was some justifiable competition between them. Maybe if Shep let him believe he’d already won, they could end this thing now.
“Yeah, you sure did,” Shep said, easing his way closer.
“Uh-uh, you aren’t running this show.” Dan braced his legs to stabilize himself to take a shot.
If Shep didn’t do something now, Dan’s arrow would find its target this time.
“Hey! Did you say something about going back for his girlfriend?” someone called out from behind Dan. “Well, you won’t have to go looking for her because here she is!”
Shit! Joss was standing at the tree line. Where the hell was Maggie?
Joss ran toward the bridge. Dan turned toward her slightly, but not enough to completely take his gaze off Shep.
“Jojo, get the hell away from here!” Shep yelled at her.
“You never left me out on that mountain, and I’m not leaving you now.”
Shep had to get Dan’s attention back on him and him alone. He rushed the man and swept an arm up to dislodge his hold on the bow. Didn’t work, but it did shift his focus directly back to Shep.
Fine, he might get an arrow to the gut, but he would take Dan into this gorge with him.
Shep grabbed Dan’s shirt, pulling him too close for the bow to be effective, and tried to wrench him off-balance. Dan might’ve put on some lard around the middle, but he was still solid, probably outweighing Shep by twenty pounds. It was like trying to wrestle a buffalo.
Shit, don’t think about Buffalo.
Something hit Dan from behind. “Ugh!” he grunted, stumbling forward, forcing Shep onto the bridge, and dropping his bow and arrow.
That something was Joss with a tree branch. Her hair was a wild tornado of blue around her head and her eyes blazed with a fierceness that bordered on complete frenzy.
Shep had to get Dan away from her, or they would all go into the gorge. “Jojo, you’re making things worse. Get back!” he shouted at her.
In the split second of his distraction, Dan lunged forward with another arrow and a spear of pain shot blazed across Shep’s left arm as the arrow grazed him. Fuck, he should’ve realized Dan was wearing a quiver full of arrows on his back.
Shep grabbed for the strap, trying to yank it off Cargill’s shoulder.
Dan came around with the arrow again, aiming for Shep’s throat. Joss whacked Dan in the arm, blocking the arrow’s trajectory and sweeping his hand down. But the arrow tip sliced across Shep’s chest and through the fabric of his shirt to the skin beneath. Fire chased in its path.
Dan shoved Joss, and her butt connected with the ground, but at least she was away from this damn bridge.
As he took a step back, Shep’s hiking boot hit a piece of slickly rounded wood and the heavy tread couldn’t steady him. His weight thrown off, Shep grabbed for the rope handhold and lost his grip on Dan’s quiver.
But the feel of coarse rope strands in his palm provided Shep with steadiness and strength. Centered and calmed him.
Then Dan reached into the quiver and pulled out two additional arrows. “I think I’ll use these for your eyes. When I aimed for you the first time, I was looking for a clean kill shot. But what’s the fun in that? If I gouge out your eyes, you won’t know when you’re about to hit the bottom of this gorge. You’ll piss all over yourself on the way down, just like Moody did.”
“How do you know he peed himself?”
Dan lifted a shoulder. “Because he was a pussy.”
“Well, if you want to toss me off this bridge, you will have to come after me.” Straddling the bridge and gripping both ropes, Shep carefully began to feel his way back to the next piece of wood with one foot. One step at a time, that was all he had to do.
Dan glanced over his shoulder—either at his lost bow or Joss, Shep wasn’t sure. Regardless, he had to keep Dan coming at him. “I will be across the bridge before you can notch another arrow,” Shep told him. “And if you try for Joss, I’ll be all over you. If you want me, you have to come for me.”
With every careful step he made, Shep’s stomach wadded tighter into a ball of sick tension. The rope was disintegrating in his hands and the gaps between pieces of woods were becoming wider and wider.
That spelled death for both him and Dan Cargill. But as long as Shep took Dan with him when he went down, he didn’t care. This was what Maggie had been trying to explain to him. If you were willing to sacrifice to this level to keep someone safe, you loved them.
He loved Joss. Really truly loved her like a normal man loved a woman. And that was worth dying for.
Dan charged onto the bridge and it shimmied and swayed under his weight. He stumbled and dropped one arrow in his haste to grab the rope, but he quickly righted himself. He had the advantage of seeing the steps in front of him, but Shep couldn’t afford to turn his back on the man to obtain that edge.
Dan advanced faster, becoming careless with his steps in his haste. But with every slipping step, the man caught himself and kept coming. Relentless.
But Shep needed him close. Come on, you bastard.
When Dan was within reach, Shep shifted his weight to his arms, bracing himself on either rope, and kicked out with both feet. His heels caught Dan in the chest, but he recovered quickly and yanked Shep’s foot, pulling him off-balance and compromising his grip on the ropes.
He tried to retreat and get his feet under him again, but his body felt like a bag of muscles and bones that had all decided to strike out on their own. His tenuous hold slipped and he grappled for stability. He grasped the rope on his right, and then pain exploded across the back of his hand.
Fuck! Dan had used his remaining arrow to pin Shep’s hand to the rope.
Without regard for the pain, Shep grabbed the fletching and twisted his fist to break it off, but before he could free himself, Dan came up with a hard right cross to Shep’s arm. Stars blinked like flickering fluorescent bulbs behind Shep’s eyes. God, he hated those damn artificial lights.
He blinked them away and spotted blood seeping through Dan’s pants. With his hand still pinned, Shep gripped the rope for balance and aimed a kick toward the bloodstain. Not his best effort, but it connected.
“Aaaah!” Dan grabbed for his injured leg, and Shep freed himself from the arrow piercing his hand and the rope.
The bridge shimmied under Shep’s feet. More weight. Joss was on the bridge with them, but Cargill didn’t seem to realize it. Shep’s entire world coalesced into this pinpoint of time.
But before he could move to protect Joss, Dan screamed and reached for his neck. Joss had gotten her hands on the arrow Dan had dropped and shoved it into him. Not deeply, but it was enough.
Dan’s feet slipped and he flung out a hand to grab on to the rope, grab on to Shep, grab on to anything. Caught only air.
But th
e man was apparently lucky as hell because instead of stumbling off the bridge, he dropped straight down with one foot on either side of a wood plank. Two hundred plus pounds of man landed with an oomph straight on his dick.
Possibly the first rack job that had ever saved a man’s life.
“Fuck,” Dan yelled as he flailed for something to hold on to.
“Shep!”
He looked up to see Maggie and her deputies with their guns drawn. “Where were you?” he demanded of his sister.
“I’ll explain later,” she yelled back. “After we secure Cargill.”
“I don’t want to chance anyone else coming out here until we get some weight off this thing.” He pointed at Joss, who was breathing heavily and staring glassily down at Dan. “Go back. Now. Quickly but carefully.”
Her head came up and rage was burning in her eyes. She nodded at Shep, but instead of complying, she pulled back her foot.
Gave Dan one good kick in the chin and another solid one in the nose.
Shep wanted to yell at Joss for risking her life, but he had to admire her parting shot. As he stepped over the groaning man and grabbed Joss, Shep gave his own parting shot. “You lose, Dan Cargill.”
30
Joss would’ve stood on that bridge until the end of time kicking Shep’s former boss in the face, but Shep picked her up as easily as if she were a doll and carted her back to stable ground. He plopped her feet on the grass and glared down at her. “Don’t you ever do something that crazy again.”
All the adrenaline that had built up over the past few days surged forward into Joss’s system. Joss grabbed Shep by the shoulders and launched herself at him, wrapping her legs around his waist like a desperate anaconda. He was alive, he was safe, and he was hers.
He staggered back against a tree and just held her, his arms a reassuring weight around her body.
As the wind whipped and the rain began to pelt them, Shep’s sister and lots of other people in official-looking uniforms swarmed the area and dragged Dan Cargill off the bridge in handcuffs.
Shep’s big hand swept from the top of Joss’s head to her ass. “I am sorry.”
Joss drew back and stared into his eyes. “For what?”
“For putting you in danger.”
“Your dad talked with me about the difference between correlation and causality. You didn’t cause this.”
“You’re right.” His grip on her butt tightened and then he let her go, forcing her to slide down his body and gaze up at him. “But there was definitely a correlation between Dan coming after me and your life being threatened.”
She wouldn’t even bother to talk him out of that one, because they would spend far too much time arguing. And she didn’t want to use their time that way.
Unfortunately, Sheriff Maggie had an even worse idea. She stalked toward them and said, “You both need medical care.”
“Only after we check on Puck,” Shep said.
Maggie sighed, but said, “I’ll have Cash or Emmy meet us at your house. Again.”
She commandeered one of her deputies’ squad cars to drive Shep and Joss to the clinic. On the way, Shep asked her, “Where were you while I was out on that bridge with Cargill? I expected you to keep Joss safe.”
Joss hurried to say, “Don’t blame her. The wind uprooted a small tree in the forest and it fell, blocking Maggie’s path for long enough for me to get to the bridge.”
Maggie shot her a hard look. “What you did was stupid.”
Maybe so, but Joss would do it all over again.
When they arrived at the vet clinic, they were allowed straight back to see Puck. “How is he?” Shep asked Dr. Orozco. His voice was hoarse as he gazed down at his still unconscious dog.
“We gave him a stimulant that can help counteract a Propofol overdose, but there are no guarantees, Shep.”
“You’re saying he might not ever wake up.”
“For now, he’s still breathing.”
Joss pressed against Shep’s side and whispered, “He’s strong. We have to believe in him.”
Shep leaned down to his beloved companion, and Joss heard him whisper, “Puck, you are my family. And now I know how much I love my family. Don’t leave me.”
Her eyes sad, Maggie led them back to the car and drove them to Shep’s cabin. They trudged to the front porch, where Emmy led them to chairs and began to clean and bandage wounds.
Maggie said, “I need to ask you two a lot of questions, but we can finish this tomorrow.”
“No,” Shep protested. “Let’s do it now. I don’t want Dan Cargill to take away any more time from me.”
And so Maggie asked questions until Joss thought she would fall out of her chair with exhaustion.
“But he confessed, Maggie,” Shep said with enough outrage to indicate he could argue for the next twenty-four hours straight. “He killed Moody.”
“I know he told you that,” she said on a sigh, “but we still have to have all the facts as you know them.”
“So no one from Do or Die had anything to do with this?” Joss asked.
“We pulled them all in for questioning as well after some of my deputies found them on a completely different trail from the one they should’ve followed back to town,” Maggie said. “It appears that the only thing any of them are guilty of is cowardice, self-centeredness, and some petty theft.”
“Petty, my ass,” Shep grumbled.
“Do you want to press charges?” Maggie asked him. “What they did ultimately hurt you, Joss, and Puck.”
“No, I just want them gone from Steele Ridge.”
Maggie stood and gave his shoulder a solid pat. “Why don’t you sleep on it? You can always come by tomorrow and file a report.”
"Maybe they could pay another way,” Joss said quietly. Yes, they deserved consequences, but with the financial resources Lauren, Bradley, and the production company had, others could benefit. And Joss found she wanted that more than she wanted them to be crucified as she had been. “What if we demanded they pay a lump sum to the charities we choose?”
“Like the organization that gave me Puck?”
“Exactly like that.”
“I don’t necessarily agree, but I can understand where you’re coming from,” Maggie said to Joss. “Oh, and by the way, one of the cameramen knew where all the contestants’ personal belongings were stashed. I’ll have someone drop yours by for you.”
Shep stood and drew his sister to the side, said something Joss couldn’t hear. Once Maggie was in her cruiser and pulling away, Shep took Joss’s hand and pulled her to her feet. “Let’s go inside.”
Taking her hand, Shep led her to his bedroom and urged her to sit on his bed. Then he guided her down on the mattress, and she let the lights go out.
When she woke later, her mouth was dry, her eyes were gritty, and she was still grungy. It had probably pained Shep to have her zonk out like that on the top of his comforter. She blinked and looked around. The only light came from a crack in the doorway to the bathroom.
Her body aching, she pushed herself off the bed and went to investigate. “Shep?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I come in?”
“Yes.”
She eased open the door to find the room, with its roughly hewn wood walls, bathed in candlelight. The shadows flickered and danced against the golden patina of the wood.
Still wearing the same clothes from earlier, Shep was sitting on the floor near the bathtub, his long legs stretched out and his eyes closed. Beside him, Fiona was propped against the wall.
“You got her back for me.” A wave of love and gratitude swept through her, almost flattening her with its intensity. Shep might not think he understood people and their complicated emotions, but he had an innate sense of what was important.
His eyes opened, and he pinned her with his green gaze. “Actually, someone from Maggie’s team did.”
“Because you asked them to.”
“If the candles remind you too m
uch of the fire, I can blow them out,” he said.
“No, it’s fine. Soothing, actually.” And in addition to the candles, his clawfoot tub was filled with water and a tiny group of anemic bubbles floated near the faucet. The bathwater had obviously been cooling for a while. “Sorry I crashed like that.”
“No apologies for needing something.”
What she needed was this man. She was in love with him. This special, soulful man. “If I run hot water, will you bathe with me?”
“Um… that’s two dirty bodies in approximately ninety gallons of water.”
She chuckled. He had a good point, so she pulled the plug and began to undress while the tub drained.
“I… uh, should go?” he asked, but by the way he was watching every move she made, he definitely wanted to stay.
“Take off your clothes.”
“But—”
“I know. Dirty bodies and standing water.” She pulled the curtain around and fiddled with the faucet until she figured out the shower mechanism. “Wash first and then soak. Does that work for you?”
“Does soaking just mean soaking or…”
“How do you feel about having sex in a bathtub?”
He cocked his head, and a small smile made its way across his lips. “I think I feel very good about it.”
By the time she and Shep had thoroughly used the pull-out shower head to wash their unbandaged areas, Joss’s skin was pink and her nipples were perky. It was like there were magnets under her skin drawing her to this man. And although he’d been all business with the bathing, his erection was plenty of proof that he wasn’t unaffected.
“You sit in the back,” she instructed, “and I’ll handle the water.” The old plumbing was stubborn, forcing her to bend over to adjust the heat and flow. When something hot and wet delved between her legs, she almost took a header out of the tub. Catching herself and gripping the edge, she glanced over her shoulder.
Oh my God. Shep was… He was…
She groaned and widened her legs. For a man who wasn’t keen on kneeling at the altar, he was doing a bang-up job. Very thorough. Very dedicated.
And then—sweet Jesus!—he remembered the magic of the clitoris. Tongue, a sweet scrape of the teeth… and then his lips were around her and she was flying.
Striking Edge Page 28