“Maybe not everyone.” With my help, she clambered to her feet and I wrapped my arm around her waist, instantly snatching the weapon into my hand.
“Do me a favor and stay right here. Let me check to make certain we don’t have any stranglers lurking in the shadows.”
She didn’t bother arguing, her face and eyes riddled with several emotions. Squeezing her arm, I walked toward the wreckage,slowly moving around the charred remains of the Blazer with the weapon in both hands.
Other vehicles had finally appeared, the road completely blocked off by the accident. Several people were out of their cars yet almost everyone was too fearful to walk closer. Especially given a terrifying man was holding a weapon and stalking the site of the carnage.
This section of the bayou wasn’t deep, but the vehicle was being pulled further into the body of water. Neither victim was present. I hoped the gator had enjoyed his meal.
Sighing, I turned around, studying the carnage, lifting my head when I saw her face. For a few seconds, I allowed myself to block out everything else. All I could think about was how my grandmother had been right about almost every word of wisdom she’d offered.
Fleur was exactly the woman I needed in my life.
As I walked toward her, I felt a sense of peace. She started walking in my direction and I sensed the connection we’d shared since the first day when she’d collided into me like a bull would do in a china shop.
The serene look on her face shifted into one of horror just as she threw her arm out.
Her cry was shrill and she didn’t stop running toward me.
Pop!
CHAPTER 28
Two minutes earlier…
Fleur
Men.
Creatures I’d determined to keep from my life, but I’d been forced to realize there was no chance of doing so.
Not with a man like Montgomery around.
If they made another superhero movie, he’d be cast in the starring role. Minus the cape because there was no chance in hell he’d tolerate something so unmanly.
A slight shiver drifted down my spine as the smoke continued to rise toward the bright morning sky. The stench was acrid, the carnage unbelievable, but we were alive.
And he’d killed the monsters determined to kill us.
Then he’d pulled me from the wreckage. I was overwhelmed with so many emotions, fighting for clarity while a crowdgathered around us in an arc. As soon as Montgomery started to walk toward me, I moved forward. I longed to feel his strong arms around me once again. He’d done everything to protect me and I’d almost cost us our lives.
The horrible feeling of guilt would never leave. Another shiver as the light breeze tickled my skin. As I pulled hair from my face, a glint caught my eye. In the split second as my brain registered, my throat began to close.
No. No. No!
“Montgomery!”
Pop!
The single shot slammed into his back, pummeling him to the pavement. The gun he’d held in his hand skipped along the surface toward me. The moment of utter horror was captured as if stolen by time. A jolt of current popped the horrific bubble just as the assailant raised his gun again, determined to finish the job someone else had started.
A gut reaction of saving the man I loved kicked in and I threw myself toward the weapon, uncertain what the hell I was doing. Yet my instinct guided me and in those now frozen seconds of time, there was no hesitation or cause for guilt, no second thinking what needed to occur.
I fired off two shots, stumbling backwards instantly.
In thriller movies the bad guy went down like a rock, but this asshole had time to grin and as if in slow motion, the weapon fell from his hands before he crumpled to the pavement.
Shocked, for a few seconds I could hear nothing. Not a single sound. No birds although a rush of wings fluttered by low in thesky. No screams from onlookers, although I sensed several were shouting.
