Kendra’s face contorted with fury as she shoved Hadley back. “I knew I should have gotten rid of you when I had the chance!”
Hadley tried to push herself up. But her limbs felt heavy and sluggish.
Kendra lunged for the gun where it had fallen in the snow.
No!
Before she could reach it, Max was there.
His hand closed firmly around the weapon as he stepped back, putting distance between them. “It’s over, Kendra.”
Kendra froze, her gaze darting between Max and the gun in his hand.
For a second, it looked like she might still try something.
Then movement came from the trees. “Sheriff’s department! Don’t move!”
Voices echoed as deputies emerged from the darkness, weapons drawn, surrounding them in a tightening circle.
Backup.
The tension that had been holding Hadley upright finally snapped, and she sank back against the cold ground, her breath shaking as the world tilted.
Snow seeped through her clothes, but she didn’t care.
It was over. It was finally over.
CHAPTER 48
Fear hitMax all at once.
One second he was steady, focused, and handling the situation.
The next, the gun had gone off.
All he could see was Hadley on the ground wrestling with Kendra.
She could have been killed.
The thought slammed into him, stealing the air from his lungs.
He dropped to his knees beside her. “Hadley?—”
“I’m okay,” she whispered.
He searched her face, his gaze taking in every detail: the pallor of her skin, the faint bruise forming along her cheek, the way she held her ankle slightly off the ground.
Behind them, Kendra’s voice rose, sharp and frantic as deputies moved in. “You don’t understand! He needs me! He—Max!”
The words turned into a jumble as they secured her, but Max didn’t look back. He couldn’t.
All his focus stayed on Hadley. “Are you injured?”
“Nothing too bad. I’ll live.” She managed the smallest hint of a smile.
Relief flickered through him, but it didn’t settle. Not completely.
“What about Herb and Billie?” Hadley’s gaze sharpened despite everything she’d just been through.
