“Fine,” Dugan said, although Jordan saw the twisted look in his eyes and knew he was lying.
Which meant she had to keep hacking away at him. Find out why he wanted to go to Mexico. If there was someone he was running to.
“One hour,” Dugan shouted back to Miles. “Not another minute longer.” He jerked Jordan up to the doorway and pointed the gun to her temple. “And if I see any cops or hear anyone approaching, she takes a bullet in the head, and you’ll never see your son alive again.”
Jordan reached up to touch Dugan. “Please, think about Timmy. Hurting him is senseless.”
Irrational anger flared in his eyes as he swung his hand back and sent her sailing against the wall. Her head hit the edge, blood trickled into her eyes.
Timmy jumped up and suddenly screamed, “Stop!”
Jordan swayed and reached for him, but Timmy threw himself at Dugan, beating at his legs with his fists.
Dugan grabbed Timmy and flung him off of him, so hard he stumbled and hit the floor. Jordan jumped up to protect him and slammed her weight into Dugan.
The gun went off.
The shot echoed in the air, and pain sliced through her, the world spinning as she fell to the floor.
* * *
RED DOTS SPLATTERED the air in front of Timmy’s eyes. The scream started inside his head, loud and shrill, over and over.
He couldn’t stand it. Couldn’t stop it.
He closed his eyes and covered his ears. He had to stop the noise.
But he could still hear her. His mommy. Crying. Screaming.
The red...it covered everything. His mommy’s neck. Her body. The floor...
And now it was all over Jordan....
No...she couldn’t die and leave him like his mommy had....
He had to stop her from dying. Had to stop the bad man.
He opened his eyes and blinked. The red...there it was again. Jordan on the floor. The man over her.
He jumped up and ran toward him again. This time he would make him stop. He had to.
It was his fault his mama died.
It would be his fault if Jordan did, too....
Chapter Fourteen
Miles normally didn’t flinch at the sound of a gunshot, but this one nearly brought him to his knees. He heaved for a breath, grabbed his gun and started to run forward but Brody called his name.
“Wait,” Brody said in a low voice.
“No, Timmy or Jordan might be hit.” Dear God, please don’t let them be dead.
A commotion sounded from inside the barn, and Miles froze. “Jordan?” A pained silence tore at his gut, making him desperate to see what was going on. “Dugan, what happened? Is someone hurt?”
“Shut up!” Dugan suddenly appeared at the barn door, his face barely visible behind the wooden doorway he was using as a barrier. “You promised me a chopper, now where is it?”
“Our deal was that you let Jordan and Timmy go and then I give you a way out,” Miles shouted, unable to control his anger. “Are Jordan and Timmy okay?”
By God, if Dugan had hurt one of them, he would die.
A slow and painful death.
“Your son is fine,” Dugan said.
Relief made Miles dizzy. Then again, the sicko could be lying. “What about Jordan?”
A long pause, then a raspy reply. “She’s alive.”
Miles glanced back at Brody and saw the boys fidgeting nervously, whispering in hushed tones, their faces drawn with worry and anger.
“I need proof,” Miles said.
A bitter laugh echoed from Dugan. “Do what I said or you won’t ever see them.”
“Not working this time,” Miles said, standing his ground. “How do I know you didn’t shoot both of them?”
A string of curses rolled off Dugan’s tongue. Gone was the smooth-talking, confident man in the courtroom who had won half the jurors over and played innocent until even Miles had momentarily wondered if he had arrested the wrong man.
This was a desperate man out for revenge, one who had been cornered and saw no way out.
The most dangerous kind...
Still now, with Ables on the loose, he had to wonder if Dugan had committed all the murders or if they’d worked together as he’d suspected. Or could Ables have committed the crimes alone?
Another possibility nagged at him.
What if the half brothers had some bad history and Ables had set Dugan up to take the fall?
No...otherwise Dugan wouldn’t be here now...unless he wanted a hostage to help him until he could get to Ables. Maybe Ables was in Mexico....
“Let me see them or no chopper,” Miles said more firmly.
Another hiss echoed from the barn, then a moan, and suddenly Dugan shoved Timmy in the doorway. He held his son by the collar, the gun to his head, an evil leer on his face.
Miles choked back the bile clogging his throat. Timmy was so close...yet so far away. He wanted to touch him, to yank him away from this monster. But any sudden move could mean death for him and Jordan. “Are you okay, son?”