“No.” She wasn’t going to die here. Not in a place she loved, and not at the hands of a man who’d hurt so many. Aslen allowed gravity to consume every muscle in her legs. She dropped out of Jaylan’s hold and hit the ground, spinning before he had a chance to get her under control. She thrust her boot heel into his shin.
The arsonist rocketed forward, falling into the tree that’d protected her. The softness she’d found in his expression drained. “Son of a bitch!” Jaylan grabbed for her, missing the collar of her uniform by mere centimeters.
Aslen did what Murray had taught her. She swung her fist straight into Jaylan’s ear, the impact jarring his eardrum and throwing him even more off-balance. She got her bearings, but the fire had cut off any escape. Sooner or later, it’d eat them both alive. Putting a larger tree between them, she struggled to regain her breath.
“You’re going to pay for that, Ranger Woods.” The arsonist’s voice wavered, louder then softer, closer then farther away. He was toying with her. “I was going to do you a favor. Finish this with as little pain as possible, but now? Now I’m going to make it hurt. I’m going to draw it out. I’m going to make that law enforcement ranger hear your screams and know there’s nothing he can do to save you.”
Murray? No. He wouldn’t survive it.
“Looking for this?” Murray’s voice tunneled past the too-hard beat of her pulse in her head and drilled straight through her. Her heart threatened to stop altogether as her partner came into view, all six foot four and 230 pounds of intimidation. With Danny positioned in front of him and his sidearm in one hand.
“Danny.” Her name left his mouth as more of a prayer than anything else. Jaylan’s entire frame straightened as he focused on his sister’s position. Every ounce of violence in those blue eyes was solely focused on Murray, but Aslen couldn’t let it get that far. She couldn’t lose him either. “Get your damn hands off my sister.”
Aslen took advantage of the distraction. And lunged. She threw her whole weight into tackling the arsonist to the ground. Except he’d been ready for her. Turning at the last second, Jaylan twisted her around, slamming her back into the forestfloor. His head connected with the bridge of her nose. Blood plunged down the back of her throat and cut off her air, all too similar to the feeling of drowning at the bottom of that reservoir. Her body arched off the ground to ease the threat, but it was no use.
“Let her go!” Jaylan straddled her hips and gripped her collar to keep her from escaping. Eyes on Murray, the arsonist threw his elbow back. “Do it!”
“Aslen!” Murray threw Danny out of his way and charged.
She didn’t have time to avoid the next strike. Pain exploded across her face. Lightning struck behind her eyes then made room for tears. Aslen twisted onto her stomach, coughing up the blood stuck in her throat, and reached for Murray. Her partner. Her everything.
He collided with the arsonist. Aslen could do nothing but try to get out of the way as the brawl intensified and the fire raged closer. Sirens announced her unit had been deployed to manage the wildfire. Help was coming.
“Jaylan, stop!” Danny’s sobs squeezed Aslen’s heart until she was sure it would pop. Pure agony ripped her best friend’s expression apart as she flung her hands out. “Stop!”
Jaylan Kennex froze under Murray’s attack, his gaze centered on his sister as Murray prepared to strike.
“Just…stop.” Danny took a single step forward. “It’s over, Jaylan. You did what you said you’d do. You saved me. Now we have to face the consequences.”
Murray shoved away from the arsonist, turning Jaylan Kennex onto his stomach and snatching his hands behind his back. “Jaylan Kennex, you are under arrest for the murder of Randy and Elizabeth Kennex and for the attempted murder of a federal officer.”
Aslen didn’t have the strength to try to make sense of anything that happened after that and lost consciousness.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
He’d made it in time.
Dawn broke from the east, painting the sky in pastels and bright oranges as smoke from the fires of the past couple days mixed into the atmosphere. For the first time in nearly a week, Murray could breathe easier.
Crews—both fire management and law enforcement—had worked through the night to get the fire under control and neutralized the last few embers that refused to go out thanks to the canister of gasoline Jaylan Kennex had used to start the blaze. But the fire was under control.
He’d managed to contain Jaylan Kennex with ease once the bastard realized he’d lose his sister if he killed Aslen. Murray didn’t know what to do with that information, the lengths the arsonist would have gone to protect his sister, to keep a promise he’d made to her. It was…all too familiar. And terrifying. Because Murray wasn’t sure if there was anything that would stop him from doing the same for Aslen.
Law enforcement rangers had taken custody of the duo within seconds of arriving on the scene. His rangers did their jobs well, taking statements from both him and Aslen and collecting the evidence they needed to make the arrest—including the physical damage done to Aslen’s face. It was clear what had happened, and considering Aslen’s and his eyewitness statements and the evidence collected during the investigation,Murray was sure Jaylan Kennex would spend the rest of his life getting visits from his sister from behind bars. Though Danny hadn’t had a direct hand in killing her parents, she too was arrested on charges of obstructing the investigation and currently waited in the back of a separate SUV from her brother as they finished up at the scene. But Murray couldn’t deny her hand in saving Aslen’s life. Without her interference, Jaylan Kennex would’ve killed Aslen right in front of him, which he would be sure to mention to the judge come trial.
Murray scrubbed a dirty bandage down his face as one of the EMTs assessed his other palm. The blisters had broken open during his struggle with the arsonist, but it was nothing compared to the pain that’d nearly suffocated him in watching Aslen take those punches. He’d wanted nothing more than to destroy Jaylan Kennex for putting his hands on her, but he’d have to leave that to the justice system.
“Switch.” The EMT grabbed for his opposite hand, unwinding the old bandage, cleaning the wound and applying more burn ointment, but Murray didn’t notice the pain as Aslen finished up with the EMT across the clearing.
The blood had been cleaned away from her delicate features, but the swelling and bruises—along with the bandage across her nose—told a gut-wrenching story of survival. One she almost hadn’t made it through. Staring out at what remained of the woods surrounding Lava Point Overlook, she closed her eyes and tilted her head back as if to absorb the morning’s sunrise. And, damn, she was beautiful standing there. Though he was ready to drag Jaylan Kennex out of that SUV and beat the man into unconsciousness for breaking her nose.
“We’re done here.” Murray ignored the EMT’s protests as he crossed the clearing to reach her. She opened her eyes and turned at his presence, like the invisible thread tying them together warned her of his approach. But she wasn’t yelling athim to get the hell away from her after how he’d treated her the last time they’d had a conversation, so he’d take that as a win. He wished he could go back in time and keep her from having to go through any of this—his rejection, the fire, her abduction, the brutality spelled across her face. Except there was nothing he could do to fix this for her. Whatever happened, he could only promise to be at her side. If she allowed him. “What’s the damage?”
“Broken nose, a few lacerations. Nothing I haven’t survived before.” She tried shrugging her shoulder but only managed to upset some unseen injury. “Your self-defense lessons came in handy. Jaylan Kennex is sporting a busted lip and a cracked cheekbone right about now.”
“Let me see your hand.” Murray reached for her, letting her meet him halfway. Relief charged through him as she slid her hand over his bandaged palm. He probed her knuckles and the tendons running down the back of her hand with both thumbs. “Nothing broken as far as I can tell.”
Aslen retracted her hand in offense. “Excuse me, I know how to throw a punch.”
