Chapter Eighteen

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Nash caught hold of Caroline, dragging her to the ground with him and trying to cover her as much as he could. That was hard to do, what with the bullets flying at them nonstop.

“You sonofabitch,” Bodie yelled at the top of his lungs.

He, too, got down, darting in front of the limestone sign and using it for cover. Somehow, during all the maneuvering, he still managed to keep Ruby in a chokehold. Then again, Ruby might not have fought back since those bullets were being aimed at Bodie, it also meant they were also aimed at her. She had probably realized her best bet was to get out of the line of fire and then try to make her escape from Bodie.

From the corner of his eye, Nash saw both Bodie and Ruby hit hard on the ground, and Ruby grimaced in pain. Nash hoped one of those bullets hadn’t hit her or that she’d broken something in the fall. While he was hoping, Nash added one more thing.

That Eddie wouldn’t miss his target—Bodie—and shoot Ruby, Caroline, Leland or him instead.

Leland was especially vulnerable since he couldn’t even seem to move to scramble out of the way. He was bleeding out, and there was nothing Nash could do to help him.

“Eddie,” Caroline muttered. “He’s doing this.”

Yeah, he was.Nash was certain of it despite not actually being able to see the man. However, the shots were coming from one of the boats where Eddie had no doubt been hiding.

Waiting for Bodie’s command to kill them.

Instead, Bodie had turned on his friend, and Eddie had likely decided it was shoot or be shot. No way would Bodie let him live after learning what’d happened between Jordana and him.

One of the bullets ricocheted off the limestone and slammed into the fence just above Caroline’s and his heads. Nash figured that wouldn’t be the last time that happened either. The giant slab of limestone was protecting Bodie, but it was putting Caroline and him in even more danger since those bits of rock could come flying at them like little missiles.

“Try to crawl back inside the gate,” Nash instructed. At least that way she’d be further away from those ricochets.

Nash adjusted a little to give her room so she could start moving when another sound stopped him. Not the wail of sirens that he’d hoped to hear, but it was definitely a car engine, and as Leland had done, it was coming at them damn fast.

Nash cursed when he saw a dark blue car coming up the road. Not Slade. But rather Jordana. It wasn’t her usual vehicle, but then the cops would have been looking for that.

She slammed on the brakes when she saw what was happening, but she didn’t get down. Instead, she threw open her car door.

“Dad? Are you all right?” But then she shifted her attention to her husband. “Bodie,” she shouted. “Get in. I can save you. I can save both Dad and you.”

“Get back in your car, Jordana,” Leland told her as he grimaced in pain. “You’ll get killed out here.”

She didn’t listen. Instead, she volleyed glances at Bodie and her father, no doubt trying to decide what the hell to do.

Bodie turned, dragging Ruby so she was still his shield. But so he could also face his wife.

“Bitch, you cheated on me,” Bodie snarled. “Kill her, Eddie,” he shouted. “Do us both a favor and blow her brains out.”

Jordana frantically shook her head. “I didn’t. I, uh—” She screamed when a bullet skipped off the top of her car, barely missing her.

Still screaming and with Leland yelling for her to get down, she dived back in her car, and a moment later, Jordana came out with her own gun. “You told Eddie to kill me,” she yelled at Bodie. “How could you do that? I’m your wife, and I’ve done everything for you.”

“How could I do it? Easy peasy. Because, bitch, you cheated on me,” Bodie fired back. “No one cheats on me. No one walks away from me.”

Jordana’s expression changed, and normally Nash would have welcomed the fury he saw there. But the fury wasn’t for Bodie. No. It was projecting straight toward Caroline and him.

“You told him,” Jordana spat out. “Caroline and you told him about that picture. That mistake.”

The woman aimed her gun the same place she aimed that fury.

“You’re going to pay for that,” she growled. “You’re both going to die.”

Eddie thankfully stopped Jordana from firing a shot that could have indeed killed one of them. The man apparently had no loyalty toward the woman he’d had a one-off with because Eddie sent more rounds in Jordana’s direction, forcing her to duck back down.

Nash helped Eddie out with that by firing a shot into Jordana’s car. He didn’t want to kill her, but he sure as hell would if she took aim at Caroline again.

“Try to get to the gate,” Nash told Caroline once again.

But the shots shifted.

And not in a good direction.

Because Eddie was sending some gunfire their way now.

Shit. The idiot couldn’t make up his mind who he wanted to kill. The person he should be shooting at was Bodie. Because if Bodie made it out of here alive, he’d go straight for Eddie.

But Nash didn’t intend for Bodie to walk away from this.

This ended here. It ended now. And it ended with his asshole brother dead, so he’d never be another threat to Caroline.

Nash scrambled back, trying to pin Caroline against the fence so his body would protect her. But she wasn’t having any of that. She moved to his side, took aim at the boat and returned fire. Nash wasn’t sure she hit Eddie, but it put a halt to his shooting. Probably because he had to duck down or risk being killed.

Jordana must have realized that Eddie was temporarily disabled because she came out of her car again. And, yeah, she took up where she’d left off by lifting her gun toward Caroline.

“Watch out,” Ruby shouted, and she started to kick and shove, trying to put herself in between Caroline and Jordana.

Bodie obviously wasn’t going to lose his leverage, and he hung on, giving Ruby another jab with the knife.

Nash didn’t check to see how bad this cut was. He decided to do something about the enraged woman hellbent on killing them. When Jordana took aim.

So did Nash.

He didn’t go for a kill shot, but he sent a bullet right into her hand. She screamed again, and both her gun and the blood went flying. It was possible she’d lose a finger or two, but she sure as hell wouldn’t be shooting with that hand any time soon.

“Jordana,” Leland called out, and he yanked out the knife from his chest and began to crawl to his daughter.

Jordana sank down onto the ground, still screaming and cradling her injured hand. Nash hoped the woman didn’t do anything stupid to make him shoot her again, but he had to be ready for that.

Ready for Bodie, too.

Caroline fired another shot at the boat, but then she gasped when she saw the fresh blood on her mother’s neck. This second cut had likely still missed an artery, but it was deeper than the first. The blood was pouring.

And apparently so was Caroline’s rage.

“You and me,” Caroline snapped, and she pulled out her knife.

It took Nash a moment to realize she was issuing a challenge to Bodie. Hell. He didn’t want this.

But apparently Bodie and she did.

Caroline got into a crouching position, and Bodie shifted his body so he’d be in a position to hurl his own knife right at Caroline. The asshole would no doubt aim for her throat.

And he might hit her, too.

That is, if Eddie didn’t first.

Eddie must have realized he was no longer being shot at because he resumed firing. Not for long though.

“Enough of this shit,” Nash snarled, and he pivoted, took aim at Eddie’s head and blasted away.

Nash didn’t miss.

Eddie dropped like a stone, and Nash immediately turned back to Bodie. But he was too late.

Hell, he was too late.

Bodie bashed Ruby against the limestone and shoved her aside. Without missing a beat, he tossed down his knife, whipped out a gun from his shoulder holster, and put his finger on the trigger.

The asshole coward was going to shoot Caroline, and she only had her knife to defend herself.

Nash took aim. But Caroline had already done that—with her knife. And she didn’t hesitate. Just as she’d done in her studio with the target, she sent the knife flying. And it landed all right.

Directly into Bodie’s chest.

Bodie went stock-still, and with his mouth open in shock, he looked down at all the blood as if he couldn’t believe this was happening.

“You brought a knife to a gunfight,” Bodie muttered, his eyes already glazing over.

And the last breath he’d ever take rattled from his throat as he crumpled to the ground.