Page 98 of Ultimate Justice

“Wherever I tell you, bitch.”

For some reason, he wasn’t going to kill them right there, but she didn’t doubt that was the ultimate goal.

They wouldn’t get out of this alive. The last thing she’d do was make it easy on him.

“Let him go,” she said with a strength she didn’t know she had. “He’ll stay here with you and behave. Won’t you?” She gave Noah a meaningful nod.

Manello grunted, shaking his head as he glared down at Noah. “Too late for that. You’re the biggest pain in my ass. Only one other kid gave me this much trouble. You never should have come back here.” He edged around her, taking aim again at Noah.

“No!” Marlie wrapped her arms around Noah, putting her back to Manello and using her body as a shield.

At least this time, if she lost another child, they’d go together. Hugging Noah tightly against her, Marlie squeezed her eyes shut, held her breath…and braced for impact.

Chapter Thirty-Two

The rifle slapped against Evan’s back as he raced after Blue. Snow had begun falling hard, blanketing the road in a thin white carpet. Soon it would be too hard for Blue to track Marlie’s scent at all.

Evan’s stomach knotted with more fear than he’d ever known, and the worst-case scenario played out in his head—that he wouldn’t find her in time. If at all.

They came to a sharp bend in the road. Blue circled, as if he’d lost the track. A second later, he picked it up again but slowed to a walk. With every step they took, the knot in Evan’s stomach tightened. The trail was disintegrating faster by the second.

Through the falling snow, he could just make out a wood shed looming in the distance. Two people stood in front of the shed. As he got closer, fear splintered his heart. Marlie and Noah.

Jesus. Standing behind them…was Frank Manello, pointing a gun at Marlie’s back. Both she and Noah were between him and Manello. Evan had no clear shot.

Dammit. No time for a plan that wouldn’t get them all blasted full of holes.

With a flick of his wrist, he signaled for Blue to go around the backside of the shed. His dog took off, galloping behind the small building and disappearing from view. Between him and Blue, they’d hit Manello from two directions. If luck was on their side, they’d take him off guard. If not, Evan would be pushing up daisies.

Judging by how loudly Manello was shouting, time had just run out.

Evan pounded down the road, eating up the distance and heading straight for Manello. “Hey!” he shouted, needing a distraction while Blue hit him from the other side.

Blue bounded around the far side of the shed, looking to Evan for a command. “Attack!” Evan shouted, running faster than he’d ever run in his life.

From behind the shed, Blue leaped into the air, latching onto Manello’s arm just as Evan plowed into the guy’s chest. They all slammed to the ground. The butt of the rifle dug into his bad shoulder, sending stabbing pain to his entire upper body.

He rolled to his side, searching for Manello’s gun. “Marlie, get out of here!”

From the corner of his eye, he glimpsed her dragging Noah around the shed.

Evan and Manello both grabbed the weapon at the same time. Manello gripped the handle, his finger on the trigger as he aimed the muzzle at Evan.

He clamped down on the man’s hand with his own, preventing the slide from racking back and the gun from firing.

With his other hand, Manello pounded his fist on the side of Evan’s head. Evan tightened his fingers harder on the gun. If he let go, the slide would kick forward, and a hot round of lead would lodge in the center of his chest.

Blue jumped back in, growling and biting down hard on Manello’s arm and making the man scream.

Manello got in one good punch to Evan’s head. For a moment, his vision blurred, clearing in time to see Manello now in full possession of the gun. Blue shook his head back and forth, his jaw still locked around Manello’s bleeding wrist.

The guy kicked at his dog, getting in a blow to Blue’s ribs. Unable to unsling the rifle sandwiched between his back and the ground, Evan yanked the Glock from his holster. Snow pelted his face like shards of ice, partially obscuring his vision. If he couldn’t focus, he might hit Blue.

Still lying on the ground, he wiped the snow from his face, then slid his finger to the trigger. Manello swung the gun, aiming at Blue’s ribcage. Evan squeezed off a shot.

The crack of the gun blasted the eerie quiet. Manello fell to his side and slumped to the ground. Not taking any chances the guy was still alive, Evan remained aimed in, breathing hard. Manello didn’t move and probably never would again. The only clear shot, without risking hitting his dog, had been to the head.

“Blue!” he shouted. For a moment, he couldn’t breathe. His dog had plastered his body to the ground as he’d been trained to do at the sound of gunfire. But he wasn’t getting up. If that sonofa—