As Matt watched, the door opened and Lorie walked outside, followed by Supervisor Pitt carrying a semiautomatic pistol aimed at the small of her back. Pitt’s son Quentin trailed after them, a rope slung carelessly over his left shoulder.
From his position behind a pine ten yards away, Matt lifted the rifle and sighted through it. He’d take out the supervisor first, and then worry about his son. Pitt’s proximity to Lorie made this tricky. If he missed...
He couldn’t miss. Lorie’s life depended on it.
Very gently, he started to squeeze the trigger—
Cold metal pressed against his right temple. Glancing at the man who had the drop on him, Matt recognized him as Paulie Jones, one of the mechanics who worked at the Pitt Stop.
“Nuh-uh. Lower that rifle nice and slow.”
If he complied, he and Lorie were both dead. If he didn’t, he and Lorie were both dead.
Lord, help!
Matt eased the rifle down from his shoulder and held it out to one side. It was ripped from his grasp and tossed into a tangle of brambles. As Jones fumbled at Matt’s holster, Matt reached up and grabbed the mechanic’s gun hand, forcing it upward. It discharged, the bullet slamming into a pine branch.
As they struggled over the gun, it went off again, the bullet flying wildly to hit Quentin Pitt in the ankle. He went down, squealing like a wounded razorback.
“Daddy!”
“Shut up, Quent.”
Jones seemed to have superhuman strength. He fought like a madman.
Dimly, Matt heard Lorie shout. “Meth!”
Now he understood. If Jones were on meth, he’d have enhanced reflexes, and enough chemicals pumping through his brain to make him think he could conquer the world. Matt prayed as he fought, prayed for the strength to overcome the addictive drug that had fueled the blitzkrieg.
Matt wrestled the gun from Jones and smacked it into his temple, felling him. Jones lay flat on the ground, unconscious.
“Stop right there!”
Matt wheeled in the direction of Pitt’s shout, going into a gun crouch. The supervisor had Lorie in a chokehold, pistol to her head.
“Throw the gun down or she dies right now!”
Matt shook his head. “You’ll kill her anyway. That’s always been your plan.”
Pitt raised an eyebrow. “Don’t be a fool, Deputy. I can make you rich.”
Matt spat on the ground. “I don’t need your money.”
He loved her, and at any second, he might lose her. And she was...reaching into her pocket? What’s Lorie doing?
“I can give you power!”
“I have God’s power on my side.”
“God!” Pitt sneered. “You think God cares what happens to any of us?” He shook his head. “You waited too long, Deputy. Tell your girlfriend goodbye.”
As Pitt’s finger slowly tightened on the trigger, Lorie’s hand flew up, sunlight glinting off a deadly looking scalpel. Pitt screamed in pain as the gun flew out of his hand, blood pouring from his slashed fingers.
“Down!” Matt shouted.
Lorie dived toward the ground, rolling away from her captors.
Matt pulled the trigger.
Pitt reeled backward, blood spurting from his chest before he hit the ground.
Quentin screamed. “Daddy!” Despite his injured ankle and bandaged arm, he reached for the gun his father had dropped. Matt shot it out of reach. “Don’t move, Junior.”
Lorie scrambled to her feet and hurried over to Supervisor Pitt, looking around for anything she could use to stop the bleeding. Kneeling beside him, she bunched up her skirt and pressed it onto his chest.
Pitt’s eyes opened. “What—what’re you doing?”
“Trying to save your life.”
Pitt blinked. “Why?”
“Because I couldn’t save your son’s.” She pressed harder, but blood soaked her skirt and stained her hands.
Pitt blinked, seeming to try to focus on Lorie’s face.
“You—forgive me?”
Matt couldn’t stand it one more second. “Lorie, get away from him!”
She turned to look at Matt and shook her head. “No. I have to do this.” She looked back at the man who lay there, slowly dying under her hands, despite her best efforts.
“Yes. I forgive you.”
Matt’s hands clenched the pistol, ready to fire again if necessary. Standing there, watching, not knowing what to do or how to pray, Matt remembered the scripture, and let the Holy Spirit intercede on their behalf.
Pitt drew a gurgling breath. Maybe he planned to use it to forgive her for her role in Grayson’s death. Or to apologize for what he’d done. They’d never know for sure—that breath was his last.
“Daddy! No!” Quentin’s cry of anguish rent the pine-scented air.
Lorie stood up as the sound of sirens penetrated the woods. Tears poured down her face. Still covered in pine tar from yesterday, and now drenched in blood, she should have looked a wreck.
She was beautiful.
“Get the rope, Lorie.”
Picking it up from where Quentin had dropped it, Lorie brought it to Matt.
“You any good with knots?”
She nodded, her tangled hair flopping around her face.
“Tie up Jones.”
Lorie knelt in the dirt and, with moves that would make any bulldogger proud, bound Jones hand and foot while Matt kept his gun trained on Quentin.
After she hog-tied the mechanic, Lorie returned to Matt’s side. He gathered her to himself with his free arm as the cavalry arrived.
“I don’t care if you’re in law enforcement, Matt.”
“And I don’t care that your name is Lorie.”
After a Lanier County and two Dainger County Sheriff’s Department SUVs drove into the clearing to take charge of the situation, Matt handed off the gun to Gerhardt so he could pull Lorie into a better hug.
“I love you, Lorie Narramore.”
She blinked away tears. “And I love you, Deputy Matt.”
When Matt’s lips met Lorie’s, he knew it was true. She did love him. Everything was going to be all right.