I thought the nightmare was over. I thought Blue was safe now. We hadn’t found anything at the campsite to indicate that the biker had had an accomplice or was being paid to hurt Blue. We just chalked it up to a crazy man trying to scare the hell out of her, which he’d succeed in doing. For weeks, Blue wouldn’t so much as go outside without Dale or I accompanying her. I thought it was over. I was sure it was over.
That was, until the day I walked into the living room of the ranch and found Sheri there, holding a gun on Blue. Blue was calmly sitting on the couch, directly across from the pistol in Sheri’s hands, which were shaking.
“Sheri, what in God’s name are you doing?” I demanded.
She never took her eyes off of Blue. “She just wouldn’t leave you alone. I told her, I warned her that if she didn’t leave you alone, she wouldn’t like what was going to happen. But, she wouldn’t listen. She just won’t go away!” she shouted the gun waving precariously.
“Sheri….,” I began, but she kept talking like she didn’t hear me.
“So, I decided that she must die. I found that biker, the one you arrested. I made a deal with him. He would get rid of Blue for me. He tried running her off the road, then again by burning down her apartment. When that didn’t work, I told him to kidnap her and get rid of her. He was supposed to kill her in the woods, but he failed at that too! He wouldn’t listen to me. He wanted to rape her first, and then cut her up for breaking his nose, and then finally, only after he had fulfilled his own needs, kill her. But he failed! Failed! She just won’t fucking die!” she shrieked madly.
“Sheri, calm down, we can talk about this. Put the gun down.” I tried a soft, gentle tone, but on the inside, I was screaming.
“Oh no. This time, this time she will die, and then you and I can finally be together,” she said calmly, finally looking over at me, but with the gun was still pointed at Blue. I had to get that gun pointed my way instead.
“Sheri, I’ve told you numerous times that I am not interested in you that way. You and I will never be together.” Bingo! The gun swiveled my way.
“Not as long as she’s around! She has a hold on you, and it’s not natural. Why would you want her when you can have me?” The gun shook with her every word she shouted.
“No, even if Blue wasn’t here, I still wouldn’t be interested,” I told her calmly. I’d taken a couple of steps toward her, but she turned the gun back on Blue. Shit!
“You took me out to dinner. Daddy said I could have you if I wanted you. You are mine, Cash. With your money and my looks, we can own this town.” The shrill tone of her voice sounded like nails on a chalk board. Sheri had definitely lost her mind.
“No, I’m not. I belong to Blue. She and I will be getting married.” The gun swung back to me.
Sheri shook her head vehemently. Tears rolled down her cheeks and that damn gun was shaking double time.
“No, you are mine. I won’t let her have you,” she said crazily her finger twitching on the trigger.
I took another step toward her. “No, I belong to Blue. Please give me the gun, Sheri. You don’t want anyone to get hurt, do you?”
She looked up at me, then, the tears gone. What I saw in her eyes made me go cold inside. She was determined that someone was going to die today.
“If I can’t have you, then no one will,” she whispered, as she cocked the pistol and pulled the trigger.
The sound of Blue screaming registered just before the blast of the gun. I looked down at my chest, thinking it should hurt. I was only about three feet away from Sheri when the pistol went off. It wasn’t a shot that I could survive, but there was nothing there, no pain, no blood. Nothing. Then I heard the whimper. Blue was there on her knees, holding the gun on Sheri, who had fallen to the ground when Blue attacked her. She was leaning forward a bit, sort of huddled.
I jumped into action, just as dad came through the kitchen with his shotgun.
“What the hell happened?” he barked.
I took the gun from Blue’s hands and she looked up at me. “I think I may need an ambulance, Sheriff,” she said, just as she fell backwards.
“Blue!” I screamed, falling to my knees and grabbing hold of her. That’s when I felt the stickiness of the blood leaking from her side. I looked down to notice that her shirt was becoming soaked in blood. I immediately started applying pressure to the wound.
“Dad, call 911, Blue’s been shot!” I yelled over at my dad, who was still pointing his shotgun at Sheri. Sheri was in the fetal position, eerily quiet. Her eyes were unfocused as she looked over at Blue. I pushed the pistol under the table, just in case she came to and decided to try again at killing us.
“Already on it, son. They said to keep as much pressure as possible on the wound. They are headed our way.”
“Hold on, Blue. Please hold on. I love you. I can’t live without you. Please hold on for me,” I begged, I prayed, and I cried, letting the tears fall freely. She had to survive this. She’d survived everything else; she had to pull through this too. I couldn’t lose her. I wouldn’t survive it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I opened my eyes to the sight of Cash’s chest. I was lying on my side in a very narrow bed, and Cash was practically wrapped around me. I reached up to touch his face, but I felt a hard pinch in my side. I looked down to find myself in a hospital gown with an IV in my arm.
“We’ve got to stop meeting this way, Blue,” Cash said, his voice gruff and sleepy. I looked up at him.
“No kidding, Sheriff.” I gently touched my side. “Guess she got me, huh?”
“Just a flesh wound. You’ll be out of here tomorrow, and the stitches will come out in a couple of weeks.” His kissed the top of my head. “If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I’m going to tan your hide.”
I looked up at him and smiled. “Hey, I was saving your hide.”
“By almost getting yourself killed!” he returned, angrily. “There’s been too many close calls with you these past few months. I can’t lose you, Blue. I wouldn’t survive without you.” These words were said with a wealth of emotion. Love shone brightly through his eyes.
“Hey, it’s just a flesh wound, remember?” I sassed, trying to lighten his mood. His big hand palmed my ass, squeezing it tightly. He growled at me, and I laughed, which wasn’t such a bright idea.
“Oh, no laughing,” I said out loud.
“Are you in much pain, baby?” he asked, suddenly concerned.
I shook my head. “It’s not terrible. Just pulls a little when I move.”
Cash cupped my cheek and tilted my head, so that he could look into my eyes. “I love you, Blue.”
I smiled. I loved hearing him say that. “I love you too, Sheriff.”