Now he had the Lodge and Freeze men coming, and they were as trained as Hawk and Adam.
Hawk glanced over at him. “You think Boyd’s still there?”
“He shot someone,” Adam said. “He’s not walking away from that.”
The truck bounced onto the main ranch road as Adam pushed the speed higher. Fence lines blurred past the windows and dust rolled behind them in a thick cloud.
His thoughts moved fast.
Bianca.
Images forced their way into his mind. Bianca smiling as she planted flowers. Bianca dancing in his kitchen as she cooked breakfast. Bianca alone somewhere on Willoughby land with a killer.
He gripped the steering wheel harder. The memory of the roses on his porch slammed into place—the threat, the shot tire, Boyd. It wasn’t lining up in his head yet, but the text had been clear enough. She had to be okay.
He turned the truck onto a narrower trail cutting toward Willoughby land. The tires slammed into ruts as the vehicle bounced hard across the uneven ground. Wind rushed through the open windows. “Hold on,” he said.
Hawk braced himself against the door.
Adam pushed the truck faster, his heart pounding with a rhythm that had nothing to do with speed. He should have told her. The thought hit him out of nowhere and stuck hard. He should have told Bianca he loved her. He had known it for days, maybe longer, every time she smiled at him and every time she turned his quiet ranch into a brighter place just by being there. He loved her, and he had been waiting—waiting for the right moment, waiting until the film wrapped, waiting until everything settled down. What had he been thinking?
Hawk pointed forward. “Trail splits up there.”
“I know.” Adam took the right fork without slowing. Dust exploded behind the truck.
“Quinn, Jake, and Colton are coming,” Hawk said. “We need a plan if Boyd is armed.”
Adam wasn’t waiting for anybody. He had to get to her.
He just prayed he wasn’t already too late.
Bianca pressed harderon Ewan’s wound. “He needs help, Boyd.” She looked up, trying to keep her voice calm. “You made a mistake, but you haven’t killed anybody yet. You don’t want to do this. Help him, please.”
Boyd’s shoulders slumped. “It’s too late. Just too late.”
Ewan made a weak sound on the ground.
Maggie cried softly. “Please, Boyd.”
Bianca kept pressure on the wound, fear pressing down hard. Adam. The thought surfaced again, stubborn and desperate. Had he seen the text? Had the message even gone through? Her phone was still in Maggie’s SUV somewhere above the pit. Maybe he hadn’t gotten it. Maybe he was still out fixing fences,completely unaware she was down here with a man holding a gun. Her throat clogged.
“Get up,” Boyd said suddenly.
Bianca looked at him. “What?”
“Both of you. Move away from him.”
Maggie stood slowly, her hands still red with Ewan’s blood. Bianca hesitated before easing Ewan back onto the ground.
“I said move.” Boyd’s gaze flicked up the ramp for a moment. “I’m really sorry about this, but I don’t have a choice.”
“No.” Panic burst through Bianca. She jumped in front of Ewan and yanked Maggie behind her. The woman had two kids to worry about. “Don’t kill us, Boyd. You can’t live with that on your conscience.”
The air changed. A faint crunch of dirt came from above.
Boyd stiffened. “What the?—”
A shape moved at the rim of the pit, and before Boyd could fully turn, a body dropped down the slope with explosive speed. Adam hit the ground hard and drove straight into him, the impact knocking Boyd’s gun arm sideways as the shot fired wildly into the dirt.