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Nolan didn’t like what was happening in front of him. Didn’t like it one bit and his gut tightened. Osborne had moved out of his comfort zone for a sure shot with his handgun, and he had to get closer. He dashed from tree to tree until he was as close as he could get without alerting Osborne to his location. Mina had moved next to Becca and was whispering something to her.

“Stop that.” Osborne waved his gun again, this time wildly. He was skilled with a weapon and shouldn’t misfire, but it didn’t matter what his skill was right now. He was losing his grip on reality. “Since there are two of you, you can quickly get that tarp laid out.”

Nolan couldn’t wait until the tarp was down. That would be too late. He had to try a surprise attack now. He inched closer. Silently. Carefully placing his feet.

Mina caught sight of him and gave a slight shake of her head. Nearly imperceptible, Osborne didn’t pick up on it.

Nolan returned her shake with a stubborn one of his own. He wouldn’t stop and risk her life. He’d give his life first, if that was what it took to save her. Becca too.

Please don’t let Becca see me and react .

The women spread out the tarp, the sound and action serving as a distraction while he closed the final twenty feet to his target. He took a silent breath and let it out.

Mina held one corner of the tarp and Becca the other. They backed away from each other. The camouflage vinyl fluttered in the breeze.

Now! Go!

He took off, not caring about the sound his feet were making as he all but flew over the ground.

Five feet away, Dr. Osborne turned, his gun outstretched. His eyes flashed open. He fired.

Pain razored into Nolan’s upper arm, and he hit the ground.

The doctor advanced on him, gun pointed at him, and an angry glare in his eyes.

“Run,” he yelled at Mina and Becca.

Osborne raised his gun and spun.

He was going to shoot them.

“No!” Nolan wrapped his good arm around Osborne’s legs, taking him down. His gun fired, the report sounding like a cannon in Nolan’s ears.

He scrambled on top of the doctor and tried to wrestle the gun free. One hand alone didn’t work. He clawed at the man’s gun hand.

Osborne ripped it free and started to crawl away. Turned onto his back and lifted the gun, aiming the barrel at him.

Nolan had failed. Big time. He prepared himself for a fatal bullet.

Please keep Mina and Becca safe.

Mina appeared above them. “It’s over, Dr. Osborne. Drop your gun. My weapon is trained on you, and I’ll use it if I have to.”

Osborne struggled for a moment longer, but then let out a sigh and dropped the gun. Nolan lunged at him, secured the gun, and held him in check.

Mina stowed her sidearm and cuffed the doctor, leaving him lying on the ground. She went to Nolan and gently touched his shoulder. “Look at your arm.”

He didn’t want her to make a fuss over such a minor injury. “It’s fine.”

“It’s not fine. It’s bleeding. We have to stop it.” She pulled a large white handkerchief from her pocket and tied it around his arm.

“A handkerchief?” He grinned at her, but kept his weapon fixed on Osborne. “I didn’t know anyone still carried them.”

She blushed bright red. “Something I learned from my LT in Portland. You never know when you’ll have to deliver bad news to someone, and it’s always convenient to have one in your pocket to hand over to them.”

“Or in my case,” he smiled at her, “use it to stop bleeding.”

“I found many uses for it over the years. One of these days I’ll share them with you.” She gave him a playful smile.

“I’ll hold you to that.” He almost whooped for joy at this investigation being over and finding Becca alive, but opted for professionalism and held his emotions in check. After all, Becca had lost her father and was grieving. Maybe just starting to grieve now that she was free and didn’t have to worry about her own life.

Mina leaned down to her radio. “Come in, El.”

“Go ahead.” El’s voice came over the radio.

“Suspect in custody about a mile east of the cabin. Becca is alive and well. Require medical assistance.”

El released a long breath over the radio. “I’m three minutes out. Will get the ambulance dispatched.”

“Roger that.” The radio squawked and went silent.

Nolan’s arm throbbed, but he didn’t want Mina to see that it bothered him. He tried to move like normal as he helped Osborne into a sitting position. Becca remained seated behind the tree.

“Let me check on Becca.” Mina went to her and unlocked her cuffs. They talked for only a few moments when Becca got up and firmed her shoulders.

Mina gave the young woman a side hug, and they stepped through leaves to join Nolan again.

Mina continued to stare at Osborne as if she couldn’t believe he really was their killer. Nolan didn’t have the same problem she did, but then he hadn’t worked with this man for years.

“I’m sorry, Mina.” Osborne cast her a pleading look as he began sobbing. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I didn’t want to kill Ernie, but my father wouldn’t avenge himself, so I had to do it. I couldn’t stand by and let someone take advantage of him like that and get away with it.”

“And what do you think he’s going to say about all of this?” Nolan asked.

Osborne’s sobbing ramped up. “I’m going to be an embarrassment to him. His only child, I was his pride and joy. The doctor son he’d groomed me to be since I was a little boy. Important in the community and certainly too good to run an inn. Too good to help him out too.”

He let out a shuddering breath. “And now, I’ll be his convicted son. The rest of my life thrown away. He’ll die while I’m in prison. My mother too. Both of them alone, without me.”

Mina actually gave him a compassionate look that Nolan couldn’t possibly muster. “And now that you’ve avenged him, do you feel any better?”

He looked up at her, his expression despondent. “No. Not at all. I feel worse. Terrible. And I’m embarrassed for having done such a thing.”

“Hah!” Becca shouted. “Embarrassed? Embarrassed? You kill my father, and your main feeling is embarrassment? How about remorse? How about guilt? How about the same things for abducting me? You might’ve been kind and treated me okay these past few days, but I feared for my life each and every hour of each and every one of them. I will never get those days back and never feel safe again.”

Osborne shifted his focus to her. “I’m sorry. I am. I do feel guilt. And remorse. For your father and you, and especially now for trying to kill you too. It was one thing to let my rage take over, another to do this.”

“I don’t buy the rage thing, either.” Becca fisted her hands on her hips and glared at him. “Rage makes you act in the spur of the moment. You planned this. Every bit of it. That’s cold-blooded murder.”

“No. No.” Osborne shook his head. “It’s not like that. Try to understand. I was so angry I could hardly see straight. Wasn’t in my right mind, even as I planned it. But now, I can see how very wrong it all was.”

“You’ll have plenty of years to think about that in prison,” Nolan said, not buying this I’m sorry for myself routine either. More likely he was sorry for having been caught. “I’m equally angry over you setting my team up to take the fall.”

“You bought the inn. It could be no one else.” He shook his head. “And then to discover the cancer in the autopsy, and it was all for nothing.”

“Cancer?” Becca’s eyes flashed open. “What about cancer?”

“I’m sorry, Becca,” Mina said. “I didn’t want you to find out like this, but your father had terminal cancer and didn’t have long to live.”

She blinked. Closed her eyes and blinked again, tears now starting to flow. “He didn’t tell me.”

“He didn’t tell anyone,” Mina said, “except the attorney who was revising his will.”

“But why? Why keep it a secret?” She swiped a hand over her eyes. “I could’ve—would’ve—been there for him. Made it easier.”

“He wanted his last days to be as normal as possible,” Nolan said, as if that could make things better for her.

She shook her head. “It still stings, but at least I know I would’ve lost him no matter what this creep chose to do.”

“That’s a good way of looking at it,” Nolan said.

“How did you catch on to me anyway?” Osborne asked.

Mina shared all of the details. “One thing we haven’t figured out, though. How did you get the police academy graduation photos for the escape room?”

“Oh those.” A prideful look crossed Osborne’s face. “That was a nice touch wasn’t it? I have a friend who runs the academy, and he gave them to me.”

Mina glared at him. “When we take your formal statement, we’ll be wanting his name.”

“No, no.” He swung his head side to side. “I don’t want to get him in trouble.”

“Just like you had a choice in doing this,” Nolan said. “He had a choice in helping you, and he made the wrong decision. He needs to pay for it.”

Nolan heard footfalls and swiveled to see El, along with Deputy Ewing, charging toward them. His adrenaline had subsided, and his arm started throbbing more. He felt a bit lightheaded, but swallowed to fight it off. He couldn’t let Mina see that he was suffering. She’d been casting him worried looks, so he had to keep it together for her as she still had a lot on her plate to deal with here.

“El, good,” Mina said. “Take Osborne into custody, and make sure Becca is seen by a medic.”

She nodded and glanced at Ewing. “Get him in the back of the patrol car.”

Ewing advanced on Osborne, and Nolan stood. He had a rush of lightheadedness and closed his eyes for a moment while he breathed deeply. When he opened his eyes, Mina was watching him. He smiled at her to tell her he was okay, and she turned her attention back to Becca.

The young woman’s face had paled, and she was shivering. Shock. She was likely in shock. That wasn’t a surprise in the least.

Mina squeezed Becca’s shoulder. “Go with Detective Lyons. I’ll check in with you later to get your statement while it’s fresh in your mind. I don’t want to bother you now, but we want to be sure Osborne goes away for as long as possible.”

Becca gave a firm nod, but didn’t speak.

El clasped Becca’s elbow. “Come with me, and I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”

Tears formed in her eyes. “You might be able to help with my physical issues, but there’s nothing you can do to make up for the horror of watching my father be murdered.”

Tears flowed in earnest, and she stumbled like she might collapse. El put her arm around her and supported her as they walked toward the cabin.

Nolan gritted his teeth and watched El lead Becca away.

Mina joined him.

“Becca’s right,” Nolan said. “Only a trained professional will be able to help her move on after seeing him murdered and then being kidnapped too.”

Mina grimaced. “I’ll make sure she has someone.”

“I can’t imagine the trauma she experienced standing next to her father as he was gunned down. That’s bad enough, but then becoming Osborne’s prisoner for days.” Nolan shook his head. “I wish we could’ve found her sooner.”

“Me too, but we located her in time, and that’s all that matters.” Mina studied his face. “Tell me about your arm. Do you need to see a medic or should we go straight to the ER?”

“Let the medics treat Becca.”

Mina shoved her hands in her pockets, but immediately removed them and plunged them into her hair. “You shouldn’t have done that. He could’ve killed you.”

“Better he kill me than you.”

“Says you.” She stared into his eyes. “My heart nearly stopped when Osborne shot you. I don’t know what I’d do if anything ever happened to you.”

He liked hearing her declaration, but she still hadn’t fully committed to a future with him. “I don’t think I could live without you again either.”

She stilled. “So what are we going to do about it?”

He took her hands in his. “That’s up to you, honey. I’m fully invested in this thing between us, but you have to decide if you can trust me—trust us going forward in a new relationship.”