Page 37

H olden jogged down the side street, his gaze continuing to scan his surroundings. Searching.

His time as a Ghost Ops soldier was the only thing keeping him calm. But fear and dread still clawed at his insides.

Where was she? Had she gotten away from Briar? And if there was a second person, then who the fuck was it and were they also a threat to Clara right now?

He turned right onto the next street.

That’s when he saw it—shattered glass on the sidewalk.

He sped up and had just reached the front of the florist when the door flew open and a woman ran straight into him.

Air cut off in his throat. “Clara!”

Her gaze shot up, fear and relief swirling together. “Holden!” She dropped against his chest and he tightened his arm around her.

“Shit, Clara, you’re covered in blood.” Panic soared through his lungs. Had she been shot? Stabbed? Where was the wound?

“No. It’s not mine. It’s Briar’s.”

“Briar’s?”

“Yes! Helen killed her and is still in there. So is a gun, but I think she’s unconscious.”

“Helen?” She was the second person?

“They were working together.”

Fuck . He stepped in front of Clara. “Stay behind me.”

He didn’t want to take Clara back inside the florist, but there was no way he was leaving her on the sidewalk by herself when they didn’t know how many threats there were.

He grabbed his phone and sent a pin of his location to Jesse with two words: “She’s here.”

Then he stepped inside.

Briar lay on the floor, a bullet wound in her temple and a pool of blood around her head.

Jesus. He hated that Clara had witnessed the woman being killed.

He inched farther inside, scanning the shop as he went. He couldn’t see Helen. Had she slipped behind the counter? When he reached the counter, he swung his weapon around, only to stop. She wasn’t there either.

Clara’s breathing grew louder. “She’s gone…”

Holden looked into the room behind the counter. He saw the muzzle of the pistol a second before it fired. He lunged on top of Clara, sending them both to the floor and covering her body with his own before crawling them to the other side of the counter.

He pulled his second gun from the holster on his ankle and handed it to Clara, whispering, “If she gets past me, shoot.”

Clara’s eyes widened, but she nodded.

There was no way in hell Helen would get past him. But having Clara armed gave him peace of mind.

He lifted a fallen vase. “When I get to the other end of the counter, I need you to throw it in the opposite direction. Can you do that?”

She nodded again, a bit of color returning to her face.

He pressed a firm kiss to her temple before moving to the other end of the counter.

The vase shattered, and Helen popped out from behind a doorway, taking aim near the broken porcelain.

Holden fired, hitting her gloved hand.

The woman screamed and dropped the gun.

Holden ran forward but just as he reached her, Helen grabbed the nearest pot with her uninjured hand and swung. He dodged the makeshift weapon and grabbed her wrist, twisting it behind her back and forcing her to the floor.

Helen bucked her hips, trying to dislodge him. “Get off me! I don’t deserve this! All I wanted was some fucking recognition.”

He had no idea what she was talking about, but whatever it was, it didn’t justify having a hand in everything that had happened. “Any second now, this room will be swarming with the sheriff’s department. You’re not going anywhere.”

Right on cue, the door to the florist opened and Jesse burst in, closely followed by three of his deputies. He ran straight to Clara and wrapped her in his arms while the deputies took Helen.

The second Jesse released Clara, Holden pulled her against his chest. “Are you okay?”

“I’m not hurt.”

Didn’t answer his question. He inched back and studied her eyes, but her stare returned to Briar’s body on the floor.

He had a million questions. He wanted to know everything that had taken place after he’d left this morning. But now wasn’t the time. Right now, he needed to get Clara the hell out of this shop.

He slipped an arm around her waist. “Let’s go.”

She leaned into him and let him guide her out, and after almost losing her, the feel of her against him was everything.

Clara’s throat tightened as she watched Helen get wheeled out of the shop on a stretcher. Jesse walked beside her. The wrist of her uninjured hand was cuffed to the gurney.

This entire time, she was involved. Not just involved—the instigator.

Clara barely felt the paramedic cleaning the wound on her head. She sat in the back of the ambulance after telling Jesse everything. And each word had felt more surreal than the last. Like she was talking about some movie she’d watched, not her life.

“I can’t believe it was her,” Clara whispered, still shocked. “She shot Briar. She tried to kill Malcolm…and she put all those ideas in Briar’s head.”

A deep shudder coursed down her spine.

Holden inched closer, curling an arm around her waist. “She hid her involvement well.”

“They both did,” she whispered. “And they both had such different motives. I never would have thought either of them could be involved. Well, Briar maybe. She always seemed to have a chip on her shoulder.”

“She was angry, and she let that anger dictate her actions.”

Clara shook her head. “So many people have been hurt or killed.”

“I know.”

“I never liked Scarlett, but she died trying to discover the truth to let people know. Even if her methods were a bit unethical. And how could they have hurt someone like Deb? Everyone likes Deb.”

“People like them will do anything to protect themselves. They don’t care who gets hurt.”

She nodded absently, hating that it was true. That some people—the awful kind—had such a low moral compass that they didn’t care what happened to anyone else.

The paramedic stepped back. “Okay. All done. Try not to get it wet for twenty-four hours, and go into the hospital if you feel dizzy or if the wound looks like it’s getting infected. And get some rest.”

“She will,” Holden answered for her.

She leaned into his side. God, she was grateful to have him. And her family. Becket had come and gone, and she’d also received a call from her mother and a text from Indie.

She’d taken one step away from the ambulance when two men stepped out of the florist holding a gurney, but this time there was a sheet covering the body.

Briar.

She tried to swallow, but it felt like there was a lump in her throat.

“Are you okay?” Holden asked softly.

“I watched her die.”

“I’m sorry.”

She sucked in a sharp breath before turning to face him. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Being my knight in shining armor today. You saved me.”

He shook his head. “ You saved you. You got out of there, and I have no doubt that you would have outrun her.”

“But then she might have gone free, and we’d all be looking over our shoulders until we found her. You took her down.”

“If I hadn’t, someone else would have.”

She stepped closer and laid her temple against his chest, closing her eyes when he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

This was safety. And right now, it was the only place she wanted to be.

A hand touched her back, and she turned to see Jesse.

“Hey.” He studied her face like he was trying to assess if she’d break.

“I’m okay, Jess.” She was sounding like a broken record. “I’m glad it’s over.”

He nodded. “Me too. Mom wanted to come, but I told her to hold off.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re going to let Holden stay with you tonight, aren’t you?”

She looked up at Holden. “I’m not letting him leave my side.”

“Thank God,” Holden said, before pressing another kiss to her head.

She sank further into him. Today hadn’t been a good day. The people who loved her made it easier.