Bianca’s hands were slick with blood and her mind raced through useless thoughts about pressure, wounds, and the terrible truth that she had no idea how to save Ewan.
The silence in the pit pressed down on her. “You shut this all down?” she asked.
“I only needed a little more time,” Boyd said.
Maggie stared at him in disbelief. “Boyd, this is our land.”
“That’s why it worked.” Spittle flew from Boyd’s mouth. “I’ve been here for a year, and you had no clue. This isn’t hurting you at all.”
Wait a minute. Bianca coughed out dust. “That’s why you helped give them a loan? So they wouldn’t have crew members running all over the property?”
“Yes.” Dirt marred his face and clothing. “Even if they were just filming at the house, I’m sure somebody would’ve headed out here and explored. I’m shutting it down now, Maggie. I promise.”
Maggie just looked at him, shock in her eyes. “You stole gravel from us.”
Bianca felt another realization push through her thoughts, sharp and sudden. “You didn’t want anybody out here? Wait a minute. Did you shoot out my tire?”
“Yes, and you should just fucking thank me. I could’ve shot between your eyes.” Boyd looked frantically around as if wanting a way out.
She gulped. The man owned a freaking nursery. “You sent the flowers. To scare me off?” How did that make any sense?
“At first,” Boyd agreed. “Then when you were with Adam, I figured it’d make him go all protective and not let you out of his sight.”
“So she couldn’t come out here?” Maggie asked slowly, still sounding befuddled. “That’s fucked up, Boyd.”
Bianca coughed out a shocked laugh. Dust particles danced all around them.
Boyd pointed the gun at her. “I tried to keep you safe, Maggie. Even suggested you go be an extra at Adam’s place. I’m almost all wound down here. I’m so close.”
Ewan groaned, looking down at his bloody chest. “You can’t fill back in the material you stole, you idiot.” His face was an unnatural greenish white.
“Yeah, but nobody would’ve known it was me,” Boyd snapped. “They would’ve noticed the land had been mined, but I’m not leaving any evidence.”
“Except us,” Ewan grunted, more blood dripping from him.
Boyd stared at the rock walls. “In a couple more days, I could’ve shut everything down clean,” he said. “No trucks. No machines. No sign anything happened.”
Ewan groaned weakly on the ground.
Bianca dropped back beside him and pressed harder against the wound. “Stay with me,” she whispered. His breathing came rough and uneven.
Maggie knelt on the other side of him. “Boyd, please,” she said. “He needs help.”
Boyd didn’t move. “He rushed me.”
“He was protecting us,” Maggie snapped.
Boyd’s jaw set.
Bianca lifted her head and looked at him. “So what now?”
He stared at them for a long moment. Then he looked up toward the rim of the pit where the ramp cut a path through the dirt wall.
Maggie rose to her feet. “We won’t say anything.”
Boyd gave a hollow laugh. “That’s not how this works.”
Bianca felt the weight of those words settle over the pit.