Verna screamed as the cat hit her face and raked his claws down her cheeks.
Millie dodged in beneath the cat and tackled Verna by the legs, knocking her onto her back. The gun fired.
Chapter Forty-Two
Scott heard the firing of a gun, and he nearly lost his mind. He immediately lunged toward the door to the boathouse.
“Stop,” Wolfe said, grabbing his good arm.
Even so, agony ripped through Scott with a force that nearly knocked him to his knees. He wrenched his arm free. “I’m going in there.”
“Let me open the door,” Wolfe growled, gun in his hand. “You go low. I’ll go high.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Scott could see Ian gently lead Nancy to a rock, where she collapsed. The woman shook and cried violently.
Scott took a deep breath and ignored the pain in his shoulder from the bullet wound. It had knocked him out for a few seconds before his friends had arrived. “Go,” he ordered.
Wolfe opened the door, and Scott went in low, his gun in his good hand, pointed out.
Millie and Verna struggled furiously on the ground with Verna punching and clawing and kicking for all she was worth, her dress riding up past her hips. Millie dodged each blow and seemed to be trying to subdue the woman without harming her or the baby.
“Millie,” he snapped.
She paused and Verna punched her in the cheek, tossing her to the side, so Millie rolled several times.
Verna scrambled for the gun. Scott sprang forward and kicked it across the dirt floor.
Verna screeched and levered herself up, swiping at his knees. He took a step back.
Wolfe was instantly there, hauling the woman to her feet by one arm. Sirens echoed in the distance. “Hold still,” Wolfe growled.
The woman snarled at him, then all the fight went out of her. Tears streamed down her face. “It wasn’t my fault. This is all a mistake.”
“Bullshit,” Millie said, standing and holding her cheek. “Scott.” Her eyes widened, and she rushed for him.
He held her close with his good arm, pulling her into his body. “Are you okay?” he asked, his voice shaking.
“I’m fine.” She leaned back, her eyes wide. “She shot you. I didn’t know if you were dead.”
“I’m fine. It was a through-and-through, according to Wolfe.” Truth be told, his entire right side hurt, but nothing else mattered now except his woman. “I love you. I know it’s a weird time to say it, but people keep shooting at us.”
Tears filled her eyes, and one slid through the dirt on her pretty face. “I love you too. It is a weird time to make the declaration.”
“There you go,” Wolfe said. “Happy? Kat.” His entire face lit up. The cat let out a strangled meow and leaped nearly across the entire boathouse to land on Wolfe’s shoulder. The animal immediately wrapped himself around Wolfe’s neck, his mangled ear twitching. Then he snarled and reached out, batting at Verna.
Verna batted him back, and Wolfe pushed her away. “Knock it off. Leave the cat alone. What are you doing here, buddy?” He stroked the animal.
“She kidnapped him,” Millie said. “Thought it might be a good way to lure me here.”
The look Wolfe gave Verna had the woman taking two more steps back.
“He hasn’t eaten,” Millie said, sagging against Scott. “How is June? Please tell me she’s not dead.”
“She’s going to be okay,” Scott said instantly, tightening his hold even though his gun was at her waist. “Oliver stayed with June to wait for the paramedics. Ian’s outside. He has Nancy Wilcox. Care to catch me up?”
She gingerly felt along his rib cage. “Verna planned and executed all of this. She’s pregnant with Clay’s baby and became angry when he drugged me. So instead of saving me, she killed him. Then she shot the chief so he wouldn’t see her car on the VCR tapes. She hired the hit squad to take us out, fearing that I’d remember seeing her that night. I don’t. That Henry is one of her exes.”
“Worst of all,” Wolfe growled, “she catnapped my cat.”
