Page 58 of WITSEC

“Are Keelan and Creed okay?” Colt asked.

Knox nodded.

That satisfied me enough to walk away and head over to the sheriff. He was still alive, bleeding out into the snow, struggling to breathe. His eyes locked on me as I approached.

“Please,” he gasped out as he put a trembling hand into his pants pocket. He pulled out a cell phone and held it out to me.“Save—” He coughed. Blood and saliva shot out of his mouth and rolled down his cheek. “Save Cassy.”

I debated whether or not I wanted to tell him that she was more than likely dead. But if I did, this moment would haunt me even more than it already would. I took the phone from him. “I’ll try,” I forced myself to say. It was all the kindness I could offer him in his last moments. It was probably more than he would have offered me.

I held my tears back until I saw the life leave his eyes—the life I’d taken.

Cheese and fucking rice!

I walked away on unsteady legs, and I gasped in cold air.

“Shiloh?” Knox said at the same time Colt said, “Babe?”

I just kept walking aimlessly, tears rolling down my cheeks. My knees buckled, I stumbled, and I was going down.

Arms caught me from behind before I hit the ground. “You did what you had to.” Knox’s deep voice filled my ear and tried to soothe me. He held me tight as I cried. “It’s all right. You had to.”

I knew that and I wouldn’t take it back even if I could, but that didn’t mean it felt any less terrible. A soul-broken sob barreled out of me. Colt took my rifle from my hand and set it on the ground before putting himself in front of me and wrapping his arms around me and Knox. They held me until I stopped crying.

While the three of us walked back to the cabin, Knox told us what had happened. He, Creed, and Keelan had just finished up their workout in the basement and as they’d headed toward the front of the cabin, Creed had thrown snowballs at Knox andKeelan, which had started a battle. To avoid getting hit, Creed had run inside the cabin. Knox said it had been a cowardly move, but it had saved them.

Just as Creed had gone inside, an Arizona police car had driven up to the cabin. Sheriff McAllister and two others had gotten out of the car. None of them had worn a uniform; they’d been in civilian clothes, and they’d been armed. One of the sheriff’s friends had asked Knox and Keelan where I was, or more specifically, “Where’s the girl?”

Keelan and Knox had said I wasn’t there. The two friends had looked to the sheriff, who had then nodded at them, and they’d pulled their pistols from their side holsters. They’d pointed their guns at Knox and Keelan and demanded again to know where I was.

Then a shot had sounded in the distance. It was the shot I’d fired to spook the bear.

“I guess we have our answer,” the sheriff had said. “I’ll let you take care of things here.” The sheriff had then started walking in my and Colt’s direction while the other two had held Keelan and Knox at gunpoint.

Knox said he’d known that they were going to shoot them. He had seen it in their eyes when they’d glanced at each other.

Before they’d been able to shoot, a shot had rung out behind Knox and Keelan. One of the men had fallen dead. Knox and Keelan had run in opposite directions to get away. The guy who’d still been alive had shot at Keelan while backing away toward the police car. Keelan had gotten nicked in the thigh before he’d been able to hide behind his Jeep. While the guy had been focused shooting at Keelan, Creed had ripped open the front door of the cabin and shot him with the rifle I had taught him how to shoot.

After making sure Keelan was all right and hearing where Colt and I were from Creed, Knox had taken off to try to get tous before the sheriff. Because the sheriff hadn’t known exactly where I’d been, Knox had been able to get ahead of the sheriff, but not by enough.

When we made it back to the cabin, Creed was sitting on the front porch looking as torn-up as I felt. Keelan was sitting with him, a kitchen towel tied around his thigh.

I eyed the two dead bodies and recognized them as the two police officers who had pulled me and Logan over when we’d been on our way to my school. They had done it to intimidate me for the sheriff, but as soon as they had seen Logan’s badge, they had balked.

I rushed the rest of the way to my guys. “Are you all right?” I asked Keelan.

He nodded and glanced at Creed, who was frowning at the ground. “What happened to the sheriff?”

“Shiloh killed him,” Knox said with a low voice.

I knelt in front of Creed and cupped his cheeks. “I’m so sorry you had to do that.”

His eyes drifted to me slowly. “I had to.” His voice came out empty yet angry.

“It still feels terrible,” I said.

He nodded and pulled me closer.

I straddled his lap and hugged his neck as his arms wrapped around my ribs tightly. “I’m sorry,” I whispered over and over to him.