Christ…it was Gigi.
Even as his heart leapt at the sight of her, she dashed toward the fallen body and into the line of fire.
“Conrad,” she cried.
“Grab her, Johnson!” Anne screamed.
“Gigi, get down,” Conrad shouted. “Now.”
Gigi came to a halt. Obviously confused, she paused…then dropped to the ground.
Conrad pulled the trigger, and Johnson gave a pained cry, hitting the ground a few feet from Gigi. Breaking cover, Conrad sprinted toward her. She lifted her head from the grass, and even in the moonlight, he saw the bright relief in her eyes.
“You’re alive,” she breathed.
“Stay down!”
An instant later, he was there with her. He kept his pistol aimed at Anne and Heller, who remained by the mill.
“Stay in the woods and head toward the stream,” he said tersely. “I’ve a horse waiting about a mile away. Go for help while I take care of these two.”
“I can’t leave?—”
“I’ll be fine.”
“I’m not worried about you. It’s Evie,” Gigi burst out. “James’s wife. When I thought you got shot, I told her to hide behind the building while I came to you.”
Bloody hell.
He stiffened as Anne moved. Not toward them but to the side of the building…
“I’ll fetch Evie. You get to the horse. Go.”
He took off in a run. When he was close enough, Heller let off a shot, which he dodged before firing his own pistol. He hit the other in the shoulder, but the brute charged at him like an enraged bull, tackling him. Hitting the ground, he lost his grip on his weapon. When Heller crushed his windpipe with a massive hand, Conrad delivered a solid punch to Heller’s jaw. Heller’s hold slackened, and Conrad dug his fingers into his foe’s wound. Heller howled, and Conrad reversed their positions, smashing his fists in the brute’s face until the other lay still.
Retrieving his pistol, Conrad held it at the ready as he hunted down Anne. He found her by the stream’s edge. She was using a blonde woman as a shield, her pistol pressed against the other’s temple.
“Throw down your weapon,” Anne said. “Or I’ll shoot her. Don’t think I won’t.”
The blonde whimpered, her eyes blank with terror.
“I want your word,” Conrad said. “Your word that you will let her go.”
“You have it.”
He didn’t trust Anne. But what choice did he have? He couldn’t let an innocent woman die.
Maybe after Anne takes her shot at me, Evie will have a chance to make a run for it.
“Be strong, Evie,” Conrad said. “Tell Gigi I love her.”
Slowly, he lowered his pistol, tossing it in front of him.
“Goodbye, Uncle,” Anne said.
The shot pierced the night.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
