Saw the rage rise.
Saw his finger tighten around the trigger.
Sheriff Cooper stepped forward.
“Gerald, put the weapon down.”
Gerald laughed.
A broken sound.
“You’re all on his side.”
“You fired at her house,” the sheriff said. “You put her and her father in danger. You tried to hurt people who never did anything to you.”
“He took her from me!”
“No,” I said.
I took one step closer.
“You drove her away.”
Gerald’s eyes locked on mine.
Hate.
Pure hate.
Then he looked past me.
Toward the ranch house. As if he could see everything.
The storm cellar.
Sadie.
And I knew.
He wasn’t going to surrender.
Not willingly.
He was still thinking about getting to her.
Still thinking he had a chance.
The gun shifted in his hand.
Toward the opening beside the creek.
Toward the path that led back to the house.
Wolf moved.
Fast.
Gerald fired.
