“Just me,” I reply, keeping my hands visible as I move closer. “Let them go, Noah. This is between us.”
He laughs, the sound harsh and brittle. “Always the hero, aren’t you? But I’ve got the upper hand this time.”
“You do,” I agree, stopping about ten feet away, close enough to talk but not close enough to rush him before he could get a shot off. “So let’s talk.”
“Talk?” he spits. “Like you talked to Jessalyn when you stole her away? Or like telling everybody about Project Watershed to get talk about the evidence ready to convict you out of the forefront of everyone’s minds?”
I have to keep him talking. “What evidence?”
“Don’t play dumb,” Noah hisses, pressing the gun harder against Atlee’s side. She flinches, and it takes every ounce of self-control I have not to lunge forward. “I had proof of your cattle rustling. Tire tracks that matched your trucks, witness statements from one of Morrison’s hands who saw the whole thing, camera footage. But now it’s all circumstantial, and the grand jury refuses to indict? Coincidence? I don’t think so.”
I keep my expression neutral, though internally I’m happy since this is the first I’m hearing about the grand jury refusing to indict. That’s really good news.
“I had nothing to do with that,” I tell him. “But it doesn’t matter now, does it? The whole town knows about Project Watershed. They’re on our side.”
“Your side?” Noah’s voice rises, edged with hysteria. “You’re criminals! Thieves! And they’re treating you like heroes while I’m suspended pending investigation?”
“Noah,” I say, keeping my voice calm, reasonable. “Think about what you’re doing. Even if everything you believe about us is true, this isn’t the way to handle it. You’re holding innocent people at gunpoint.”
“Innocent?” he scoffs. “Carson here is as guilty as the rest of you. And her?” He jerks Atlee closer. “She chose her side when she got involved with you.”
I take a careful step forward, calculating distances, angles, and timing. “Let them go,” I say again, my voice hardening. “Take me instead. I’m the one you really want.”
For a moment, I think he’s going to agree. His eyes flicker between his hostages and me, weighing options.
“Fine,” he says finally. “Carson first. Then we’ll talk about the girl.”
He shoves Carson forward roughly. Carson stumbles but catches himself, moving quickly toward me.
“Go,” I tell him quietly as he reaches me. “Get out of here. Tell the sheriff what’s happening.”
He hesitates, clearly torn. “Devlin…”
“Go,” I repeat, more firmly this time.
Carson nods once, then hurries toward the exit, leaving me alone with Noah and Atlee.
“Now let her go too,” I say, turning my attention back to Noah.
He shakes his head, a cruel smile twisting his features. “Not a chance. She’s my insurance policy.”
I take another careful step forward. “This isn’t going to end the way you want it to, Noah. The store is surrounded. You can’t get out of here.”
“Maybe I don’t want to get out,” he says, and there’s something in his tone that chills me to the bone. “Maybe I just want to make sure you pay for what you did.”
“And what exactly did I do?” I ask, playing for time, inching closer with each exchange. “Steal your high school girlfriend? That was fifteen years ago, Noah.”
“It wasn’t just Jessalyn,” he snarls. “It was everything. The football scholarship I lost after you broke my ribs. The respect I worked for years to build in this town. And now my career.”
“That wasn’t me,” I point out. “You did that to yourself when you got in bed with the Morrisons.”
His face contorts with rage. “I know what you did! The cattle rustling, the break-ins at Morrison’s office…all of it! I have proof!”
“No one will believe you,” I tell him bluntly. “Not anymore. Not after the article. The whole town sees us as the ones standing up against corruption. Against you and the Morrisons. Whatever evidence you think you have, it won’t matter.”
“Then I’ll make them believe,” he says, desperation bleeding into his voice. “One way or another.”
I’m close enough now to see the sweat beading on his forehead, the slight tremor in the hand holding the gun. He’s unraveling, and that makes him even more dangerous.
