Page 39

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

G arrett crept in the direction of the sound. It had come from a neighboring property.

It took precious seconds to pick his way through the forest between the houses. Aspen wasn’t in the yard next door. Garrett hurried past, then into the woods again.

Where he saw a man on the ground, propped up on two arms. One hand was pressed into the ground.

The other was pressed into the neck of the woman Garrett loved.

He charged. Tackled the stranger.

Rolled him over and onto the ground, but he kept their momentum going until Garrett was on top. He landed a punch to the man’s face, only then getting a good look.

The mayor?

Brent Salcito, the man who’d claimed to love Jane Kincaid, had tried to kill her daughter.

Garrett punched him again.

Salcito was big enough to overpower a woman, but he had nothing on Garrett. Salcito landed a few blows against Garrett’s side, but Garrett hardly felt them as he punched the man a third time, then a fourth.

Salcito quit fighting and moved his hands to protect his head.

It took considerable effort not to punch him again.

But…Aspen.

He pushed up from the ground. Salcito had quit fighting. His eyes were closed.

He turned to find Aspen still lying on the ground. Eyes open. In a flash of panic, he feared she was dead. But he could see the vapor rising from her mouth as she exhaled.

He wanted to go to her, to pull her into his arms. He wasn’t going to leave Salcito alone, though. He stood. “Aspen? Are you injured?”

She shifted to look at him. And smiled. “I thought…” The words came out raspy, and she cleared her throat. “Are you really here?”

He wasn’t sure what she meant by that. “Can you walk?”

“Um…” She pushed herself up to sitting and must’ve seen Salcito at his feet. Her eyes widened, and she looked around on the ground. “Where is it?”

“What?”

“This.” Salcito’s voice was cold, angry.

Garrett dove, registering the moment his body hit the snow what Aspen had been looking for. Thank God his instincts had pushed him to act before his mind managed to catch up.

The gunshot was deafening in the silence.

Garrett rolled, didn’t pause to check if he’d been hit.

Salcito scrambled to his feet.

Garrett barreled into him a second time. This time, they crashed into the trunk of a tree.

Salcito’s head bounced off the hard wood, and he pitched sideways.

Garrett took advantage of the blow to the older man’s head. He yanked his opposite arm and twisted his body.

The mayor landed face down in the snow.

Garrett snatched the gun from his limp hand, stuck it in his pocket, and rested one knee on the man’s back.

He fought to catch his breath.

The shifting of bracken, the snap of a twig, told him Aspen was moving.

“Are you all right?” she asked

“I’m fine.” He hoped he was, anyway. He didn’t feel any pain, but he knew enough to know adrenaline could mask it.

He didn’t think he’d been hit.

He looked her way quickly, but he wasn’t going to be dumb enough to take his focus off Salcito again. “Are you?”

“Yeah. A little dizzy, but?—”

“Can you drive?”

“I think so.”

“My truck is parked in the cul-de-sac. Go to your house and tell Cote?—”

“Cote’s at my house?”

“Yeah. In fact…” He pulled the gun out of his pocket and aimed straight up. He squeezed the trigger, then squeezed it again.

The gunshots echoed through the forest.

“Maybe they heard that,” he said. “Maybe not. Either way, head for the road. If the police don’t come, drive down.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

He glared down at the man beneath his knee. “The mayor and I will be just fine.” If the man made any attempt to escape, Garrett would shoot him.

He sort of hoped Salcito would try.