Sarge answered on the second ring.“Yeah.”
“McCoy’s still got them places up the mountain?”
“Yeah,” Sarge said.“Couple old places—why?”
Nash yanked his truck door open, already climbing in.“Because that’s where we’re goin’.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Cassie—”Olliestoppedshortin the cabin doorway, his eyes dropping past her to McCoy.“Jesus Christ—what the hell happened?”
Even with her hands shaking, Cassie didn’t lower the gun.
“Don’t move,” she said, voice quivering and raw.“Don’t come any closer.”
Ollie lifted his hands slowly, palms out.“Hey,” he said, tone softening.“Hey.It’s me, Cas.It’s Ollie.You know me.”
“Do I?”
His eyes flicked past her again to McCoy on the floor, his jaw tightening.
“I think…I think you’re hurt,” he said carefully.“Do you even know what’s goin’ on?Hell—that’s Deputy McCoy.”A pause.“You understand what this looks like, right?”
Cassie flinched—her grip slipped—she caught it before it shook loose.
“Yeah,” she said, quieter now.“I’m starting to.”
Ollie pressed his lips together before exhaling slowly.Then one hand dropped—slow, deliberate—toward his pocket.
“All right,” he said.“Calm down, Cas.We’re gonna figure this out together.”
Cassie’s grip tightened.“Ollie—don’t.”
“I’m just gonna call this in,” he said, pulling his phone free.“Get you some help—”
“Give me the phone!”Cassie shouted, the sound tearing out of her, her grip faltering now.“Don’t—don’t call anyone.”
Ollie stilled, phone in hand.
Cassie swallowed, forcing the words out past the tremble in her chest.“I’ll call,” she said.“I’ll do it.Just—just give it to me.”
“All right,” he said easily.“You can make the call—”
He threw the phone.
Cassie jerked sideways—
—and then he was on her, slamming into her like a freight train.His hand clamped around her wrist, twisting hard, pain shooting up her arm as the gun wrenched free before she could recover.His other arm locked around her throat, hauling her back flush against him hard enough to steal both her air and her balance in the same motion.
She went rigid the second the barrel pressed against her temple, her pulse battering against his forearm.
His breath brushed her ear.“You forgot the safety.”
A soft click.
Ollie shifted, dragging her backward with him, forcing her to move or choke.Cassie stumbled as they walked, her sneakers slipping against the floor, her balance gone, at the mercy of the arm around her throat.He adjusted his hold just enough to bend, grabbed his phone from the floor, and shoved it back into his pocket in one quick motion.
Then his attention dropped to McCoy.
