Chapter 21

Sawyer knew that they were pushing it, but he was having as much fun as Piper, so he let her keep going. "Shifters?" the man asked. "You've got to be kidding, this can't be real."

"Oh, it's real, and I'm going to let him tear you to pieces if you don't tell me who sent you after me," Piper said, reaching out and rubbing his head. "I've been keeping him restrained, but if you don't start talking, I'm going to walk away and let him express his anger."

He snarled and showed his teeth again, then took a couple of steps toward the man, his blood boiling, the urge to do what Piper had just suggested filling him. The man's eyes widened, he backed up a few more steps, his face filled with fear, but he didn't say anything right away.

"It was a woman, I met her in a bar in town," he finally blurted out. "She said a woman stole her husband, and I thought I could make a few quick bucks. I thought it would be an easy kill."

"Well, I guess you were wrong, weren't you?" Piper said, taking a step toward him. "The question now is what we should do with you."

"Please don't hurt me, I'll go away and never come back," the man said, digging through his pocket. "Here's the money she gave me. You can have it all if you just let me go."

A roll of bills landed at Piper's feet and she bent over to pick it up, "I don't want your blood money," she said, then tossed it into the bushes, making the man cry out. "And you don't need it either. Killing people leaves a nasty stain on your soul, just ask my husband. So, we're going to let you live, but you really should find a new line of work. Consider this your warning from the universe."

He made a few more growling noises, bared his teeth at the man some more and looked as menacing as he could, then looked up at Piper, his urge to kill the man gone. A look of understanding appeared in her eyes, and she looked back over at the man and shook her head. Freed from the instinct to protect, his magic began to fade, then only a few seconds later, he was back in his human form. The man began to scream, his knees gave out, and he started crawling away, unable to look away from them.

"He's not worth killing. Let's go home," he said, then looked over at the man. "We'll leave you now. The campfire should keep any other wild animals away, so I wouldn't let it go out if I were you."

They left the man cowering by the fire, his eyes frantically scanning the forest, and started the long walk home. Neither spoke for a long time, but Sawyer held Piper's hand in a firm grasp, wondering how many more times he was going to have to save her before they could live happily ever after. Then he looked over at her, realizing that he hadn't had to save her this time; she was firmly in control, and a burst of pride washed over him.

"I love you, Piper," he said. "You're quite the woman."

"I love you too, Sawyer," she said. "Thanks for coming to my rescue again. We're getting pretty good at this."

"I didn't have to save you this time, you saved yourself," he said. "But I'll always be there when you need me. You mean everything to me."

"We're a team, Sawyer. You'll be there for me," she said, "and I'll be there for you."

Every light in the house was on when they finally made it back several hours later. Mary was the first one to see them, and she let out a cry of joy. "We thought you were dead," she said, tears streaming down her cheeks. "We were going to send more people out to search for you in the morning."

"We're both fine, but we need to call the sheriff," he said, holding up the gun. "Helen paid a man to kill Piper, but it didn't quite work out that way. Piper led him all over the mountainside before I found her. The idiot passed out in front of his campfire, and we were able to get his gun."

"He might be a little freaked out by something he saw in the woods," Piper said, a little smile playing at the corners of her mouth. "I'm not sure what it was, but he was going on and on about a wolf or something."

"Sawyer Weston, what did you do?" his mother asked, standing up and putting her hands on her hips. "Did you terrorize that poor man?"

"I wanted to kill him, so he's lucky that's all I did," he said. "Besides, it was Piper's idea, don't blame me."

"I wasn't his first victim, that much was clear," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "Maybe he'll stop killing people now."

"She has a point," Heather said, giving her daughter a hug. "I'm proud of you, sweetheart."

"Thanks, Mom," Piper said. "Now, I'm starving. Isn't anyone going to feed us?"

They had a hot meal in front of them in minutes, the call was made to the sheriff, and people began to disappear, leaving only the two of them and the three older women. "I never thought Helen would go that far," his mom said. "I knew she had problems, but this is deeper than that."

"She was spoiled her entire life," he said, shaking her head. "It ruined her, and I don't know if she'll ever recover now. There was nothing I could have done to fix her."

"It wasn't your job to fix her, son," his mom said, putting her hand on his arm. "Maybe now she'll get the help she needs."

"Let's hope so," Piper said. "I'd love for a week to go by without my life being threatened."

***Piper***

"Piper, will you quit pacing, you're making me nervous," Mary said, drying her hands on a towel. "You're not the one who is in trouble."

"I know," she said, forcing herself to stand in one place. "I just hate not knowing what's going on."

"I'm sure the sheriff had his reasons for interviewing you and Sawyer alone, and I'm sure he won't be gone that much longer," Mary said, walking over and patting her on the back. "Then you can have your turn, and this will be over."

"I hope you're right," she said, letting out a long sigh, feeling like she wanted to cry. "I'm ready for life to calm down, I'm worn out from all of this. Sawyer is worth it, but……"

"It won't be much longer," Mary said. "Why don't you go outside for a while? The fresh air would do you some good."

She took a deep breath, battling back the tears, "That's a good idea," she said. "But are you sure? I should be helping you with Reese."

Mary looked over at the toddler, who was happily playing with her toys, "We'll be fine, you go on," she said. "I've got a couple of things to finish up in the kitchen, then I'm done for the morning."

Grateful, she gave Mary a quick hug, "I'll be right outside if you need me," she said, then slipped out the back door.

The heat of summer was already on them, but it was still soft in the early morning, and she stood taking deep breaths until she started to feel better. Looking around, she considered sinking into one of the rocking chairs on the porch, but knew that she'd never settle down and headed down the stairs instead. Taking the path that circled the house, letting the sunshine warm her tense muscles, she tried not to think about what was going on in town.

She'd expected to wake that morning feeling like it was all finally over, but instead, she'd been nervous and jittery all day, searching the shadows like she was expecting something to jump out at her. Shaking her head at how silly she was being, she let out a long breath, then sucked a new lungful into her chest, and looked around, determined to find something to take her mind off her crazy thoughts.

Noticing the weeds choking out the bright blossoms of the flowers, she got down on her knees and started ripping them out of the ground and making a pile. The smell of damp earth reached her as she worked, a soothing balm, and soon she was filled with the satisfaction of seeing the flowers emerging from the tangled mess. She lost track of time as she worked, only stopping when her back began to complain, but filled with a sense of accomplishment.

Getting to her feet, her mouth as dry as a desert, she decided it was time for a break and something to drink, but only made it a few steps before a big black car came careening down the driveway. Too shocked to move for a second, she watched it coming toward her, expecting it to swerve off at the last minute, but it bumped up onto the grass and came straight toward her. She dove out of the way and rolled into the flower bed. The car came to a sudden halt, the driver's side door swung open, and Helen sprang from the car, a gun in her hand.

She rushed over to Piper, lifted the gun and pointed it at her eye wildly, her movements jerky as if she was high on something, "God, I want to shoot you right now," she said. "You ruined everything. You were supposed to be dead by now. I was finally going to get you out of my life. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you."

Trapped between two big bushes, she could do nothing but brace herself. Helen took a deep breath, "Steady, steady, this wasn't part of the plan," she said, clearly talking to herself. "She's only part of the problem, you need to get rid of them both."

"Helen, you don't want to do this, it won't solve anything," she said. "You need help, and that's okay. Put the gun down, and we'll call someone to help you."

"Shut up," Helen screamed at her. "I've had help, it didn't work. The only thing that's going to work is if I get rid of you and that little brat Sawyer loves so much. Now get up, we're going in the house."

Getting slowly to her feet, heart hammering in her chest, she looked down the road hoping to see Sawyer's truck, but it was deserted and she knew that she was on her own. Helen shoved her when she didn't move fast enough, then jammed the gun into her back and gave her another push, forcing her to move faster. Unable to think of a way to get the gun away from Helen, she was forced to lead her around the house and into the kitchen.

Mary's face registered surprise when she saw Helen, then fear when she saw the gun. "Where's the little brat?" she asked, then saw Reese playing by the fireplace on the floor. "Go get her."

When she didn't move, Helen waved the gun in her face, "Go get her," she said, "or I'll shoot her right now."

She rushed over, picked Reese up, and crushed the baby to her chest, too shocked for words, unable to believe a mother could be so cruel to her own child. "Now I want all of you to go down the hallway to Mary's room," Helen said, then narrowed her eyes at Piper. "And don't try anything; I've nothing left to lose. This is my last chance at happiness; I'll do anything to get Sawyer back."

The madness in Helen's eyes said more to her than the words she'd said, and she glanced over at Mary, then nodded her head. "We'll cooperate," she said. "Just don't kill the baby."