A Lawman's Justice (Sweetwater Ranch Book 8) (15 page)

“That doesn’t matter!” This shout was even louder than the last one. “All that matters is you’re a traitor. You cut your daddy to the core when he read it.”

Maybe. But Annette obviously was unstable, so there was no telling how much of this was truth and how much was fantasy.

“And as for the death penalty, that won’t happen,” Annette insisted. “Because I don’t intend to stay around afterward. If Whitt can disappear for twenty-three years, then so can I. Now, enough of this talk. Shelby and Jewell, get out here now, or I press this button and we all die.”

It was a risk, but Shelby figured she’d try to distract the woman a little longer just in case Seth could defuse this situation. Plus, Shelby was banking on the fact that Annette truly didn’t want this to be a suicide mission.

“So because I upset my father, you murdered at least five people?” Shelby asked. “And now you want to add Jewell and me to your list?”

“I didn’t kill Marcel.” Annette’s voice broke, and a loud sob came from her mouth. She repeated it in a whispered tone that sounded as if she was genuinely grieving for the man. “I think Hance did that,” she added, saying Hance’s name like a profanity. “To punish you. And me. He knew killing Marcel would be personal.”

Shelby couldn’t discount that. After all, Hance had murdered his own wife. But then, Annette was a killer, too. She hadn’t denied murdering the others, though.

She heard Roy’s phone buzz. Maybe a text message. But Shelby couldn’t see what popped up on the screen.

“I worked so hard to put Jewell away so that Whitt and I could have a life together,” Annette went on. She was crying now. Sobbing, actually. Maybe the tears would distract her enough so that she wouldn’t see Seth inching his way toward her.

“A life together?” Shelby questioned, hoping the sound of her voice would cover Seth’s movements. “What did you do, Annette? What?”

She shook her head. “Everything. I pressed the DA to bring charges against Jewell. And I’m the one who planted the bone fragments I took from Whitt’s house. Randy Boutwell helped me.”

Boutwell, the first dead man.

“Why’d you kill him if he helped you?” Shelby asked.

“Because he was blackmailing me, that’s why. I killed Meredith because she was asking too many questions, and I didn’t want her around to tempt Whitt. Women are always throwing themselves at Whitt,” she added. “Plus, killing her was a good cover for Boutwell’s murder. The cops would be focused on a serial killer and not specifically Boutwell.”

That was partly true. Seth and the other lawmen certainly hadn’t suspected that Boutwell was the original target.

“Now get out here!” Annette screamed. “And put down those guns.”

Since Seth still wasn’t in place yet, Shelby just kept pushing. Yes, it was a risk. Anything was at this point, but she had to try. She motioned for Jewell and Roy to get all the way onto the floor, but they both stayed put. In fact, Roy looked ready to jump at Annette.

“You’re right about women always throwing themselves at my father,” Shelby continued. “Is that why you shot him in the cabin twenty-three years ago?”

Annette froze, a strange look coming over her face. “That was an accident. I knew that he’d been with Jewell, and I got mad. So mad that I grabbed a gun and went inside to confront him. But the gun went off. I swear, I didn’t pull the trigger on purpose.”

Just talking about it seemed to put her in some kind of trance. Maybe because she couldn’t deal with the fact that she had indeed nearly murdered the man she purportedly loved.

Or maybe Annette had now murdered him. And left his body as a distraction for the ranch hands.

Shelby didn’t have time to dwell on that because she saw Seth move. Thankfully, Annette didn’t seem to notice that he’d managed to get so close to her. Shelby didn’t know exactly what he had in mind.

But she soon found out.

Seth came running from behind the tractor and launched himself at Annette.

Chapter Sixteen

Seth knew he had to do this fast, or they were all going to die.

He rammed into Annette, latching on to her left hand, which held the triggering device for the explosives. Maybe the explosives weren’t even real, but it was a chance he couldn’t take. He had to stop her from pushing the button.

It wasn’t easy.

Annette and he fell to the floor. Hard. So hard that it knocked the breath out of him for a few seconds. Still, he managed to keep hold of her wrist while trying to wrench the trigger from her hand.

But Annette managed to pull another trigger. The one on her gun.

The sound blasted through the barn. The bullet slammed into the ceiling.

She pulled the trigger again. And again. Each shot so close to his ear that it’d be a while before he could clearly hear anything.

And worse.

Seth wasn’t sure where those bullets had gone.

Annette fought like a wild animal. Screaming obscenities. Kicking and biting. She clamped her teeth onto his arm, and Seth could have sworn he saw stars.

Still, he held on to her left hand and finally managed to yank the triggering device from her. He couldn’t just toss it for fear it’d go off, but he eased it aside so he could try to deal with the woman. He had to be careful, though, not to let the scuffle land them on the button that could blow them to bits.

Part of him wanted to shout out to Jewell, Roy and Shelby to get out of there. Just in case those explosives also were on some kind of timer. But he couldn’t do that.

Not with those gunmen outside.

Seth hadn’t heard any shots fired in the past couple of minutes, but that didn’t mean the hired thugs weren’t there waiting to carry out their boss’s final orders.

Seth caught the movement behind him and cursed when he spotted Shelby. She was right there. Too close. And Annette was trying her damnedest to aim her gun at Shelby.

Roy came out from cover, too, and aimed his gun at Annette, and Shelby went after the triggering device.

“Don’t touch the button,” Seth warned her, though she likely already knew what they were dealing with. “But get it away from Annette.”

Shelby picked it up as if it was a fragile piece of glass that might shatter in her hands, and she moved it to the tractor seat.

One thing down. Now, to deal with Annette.

Seth bashed the woman’s hand against the barn floor, and her gun finally went flying. It landed far enough away for it to be out of her reach.

“You can’t do this,” Annette cried. The tears returned with a vengeance.

But Seth didn’t feel a single grain of sympathy for the woman. She had killed and would have killed again if she’d gotten the chance. He stood and dragged Annette to her feet.

“Should we take off those explosives?” Roy asked.

Seth shook his head. “Annette might have some kind of booby trap device on them.”

The woman was crazy enough to have done pretty much anything. That was why Seth holstered his gun so he could take hold of both her hands.

“I got a text from Cooper,” Roy told them. “He’s all right, but someone put a spike strip on the road that was the same color as the asphalt so he didn’t see it in time. He has flat tires, but he’s making his way on foot to the ranch. I told him to be careful.”

That only seemed to enrage Annette even more, and she started to struggle again. Seth didn’t care for slugging a woman, but if she kept it up, that was what he might have to do. He didn’t have time to babysit her, not with her two hired guns still out there. Cooper or one of the ranch hands could be shot.

“The fire,” Jewell said. “It’s destroying the house.”

Seth realized then his mother was looking out the barn door at the house. He got to her and motioned for her to step back. “Find something to gag Annette. I don’t want her shouting out orders to those thugs.”

Shelby quickly took care of that. She ripped off her shirtsleeve and tied it around Annette’s mouth. Shelby wasn’t especially gentle about it, either, and Seth didn’t blame her. Annette had come darn close to killing her. Later, he’d do something to try to soothe the anger and fear he saw in Shelby’s eyes, but for now he had to get them to safety.

Seth shoved Annette to her knees. “Put your hands on top of your head,” he ordered. “Keep a gun aimed at her,” he told Roy once Annette had done that. “If she moves or tries to get away, shoot her. Just don’t hit the explosives.”

Roy didn’t hesitate in taking aim at her, and Seth motioned for Jewell and Shelby to move so he could look outside. He took out his gun, opened the door slowly and listened for any sound that would alert him to the positions of the gunmen.

Nothing.

No one was shooting, but Jewell had been right about the fire. It would soon take down the house. It sickened him to the core to see the damage that Annette’s insanity had caused.

He finally spotted Darnell. The ranch hand had taken cover by the front of the detached garage, and Quint was at the back. They both had their guns raised.

“Where are the shooters?” Seth called out to them.

“The one on this side of the house went running off toward the fence,” Darnell answered. “I don’t know about the other one.” Quint verified that with a nod.

Not good. Because the one who’d run could double back, and the other one still could be in place to continue the attack.

“Any sign of Cooper?” Seth asked.

Darnell shook his head. “But some of the other hands went over to Colt’s to make sure they were okay and give them some backup.”

Good. Because Seth definitely didn’t want this danger headed in the direction of the wives and kids. Since Cooper’s wife and son were also at Colt’s, that might be where he was going, too.

“Text Cooper,” he told Shelby. “I want to find out his location.” Because if bullets started flying, Seth didn’t want Cooper to get caught in friendly fire.

The wind had carried away most of the tear gas, thank goodness, but the smoke and heat from the fire were still making their way into the barn. Worse, sparks were flying.

Literally.

And if one of those sparks made it to the barn, the fire could spread there. Seth already had too few options and didn’t want to lose the cover of the barn.

“Cooper’s out in the west pasture making his way here,” Shelby relayed. “I told him to be careful and watch for the shooters.”

Good.

If Cooper made it there in the next couple of minutes, then they could do something about getting Roy, Shelby and Jewell out of there. Cooper also could arrest Annette. But with the danger from that fire, Seth might have to run to a car and drive it back to the barn for the others. At least he still had the cruiser, and it was bullet resistant.

Of course, there were a good thirty yards between him and the car. And it might be rigged with explosives.

The detached garage was closer, and there were certainly some vehicles inside, but he didn’t want to take the time to hotwire anything, and he wanted as much protection for Shelby and the others as he could get. That meant he’d need to check the cruiser to make sure no one had tampered with it. That’d eat up precious time, too.

Someone fired a shot. Not nearby, but on the west side of the burning house. Seth held his breath. Waiting. And he finally saw Cooper step out.

“The gunman’s dead. How many more are there?” Cooper called out.

“I’m not sure. One of them ran away.”

Without warning, Annette let out a fierce scream. Somehow, she’d managed to remove the gag, and even though she was still on her knees, she threw her body at Roy, her head bashing into his legs. It was just enough to throw him off balance, and he staggered back.

“I’ll kill you all!” Annette shouted, and she tried to claw her way toward Shelby.

The problem was that Annette was so tangled up with Roy that Seth didn’t have a good shot. But he couldn’t just stand by and let this play out. If Annette managed to get Roy’s gun, no doubt she would start shooting.

Roy rolled on top of Annette, trying to get control while she threw punches at him and kicked him. Jewell tried to help. Not a good idea. Because the moment his mother leaned down to latch on to Roy, Annette grabbed Jewell’s arm and pulled her into the fray.

Hell. Enough of this. Annette still had those explosives strapped to her, and Seth didn’t want them going off.

“Keep your gun aimed at her in case she tries to run, and if she does, shoot her in the head,” Seth told Shelby.

It took Seth a moment to find a part of Annette he could reach, and he yanked her by the hair to pull her out of the tangle of bodies. He was succeeding.

Until the gun went off.

Everything seemed to freeze. All except Seth’s mind. It was racing with all the bad possibilities. Shelby, Roy or his mother could have been shot.

Roy untangled himself, pulling Jewell out with him.

And that was when Seth saw the blood.

* * *

T
HERE
WAS
SO
much blood on Jewell’s shirt that it took Shelby a moment to realize Seth’s mother hadn’t been hit.

All that blood belonged to Annette.

The woman was flat on her back on the ground, her left hand sprawled out to the side, her blank eyes fixed on the ceiling.

“Annette grabbed my gun,” Roy said, his voice shaky. The rest of him was shaky, too. “She pulled the trigger.”

After everything Annette had done, Shelby doubted the woman had meant to kill herself. No. She’d probably been trying to kill Roy or anyone else she could shoot. Thank goodness her sick plan had backfired, and Shelby felt nothing but relief about that.

Roy’s phone dinged, indicating he had a text message.

“Cooper,” Jewell said. There was so much breath in her voice that Shelby was surprised she could speak. The woman’s legs buckled, and Shelby quickly stuffed the gun in the back waistband of her jeans so she could take hold of Jewell.

“Is Cooper okay?” Jewell asked. “What about the others?”

“Cooper’s still fine,” Roy answered when he read the text. He fired off a reply. “He’s going to keep watch, but he’s making his way to the barn.”

Good. Maybe it wouldn’t be long before the firefighters could get on the property, as well.

But Shelby’s heart sank when she looked out the door and saw the house. Oh, mercy. The fire was about to bring it down to the ground, and even if the fire department arrived in the next minute or so, there wouldn’t be much to save.

“Your home,” Shelby said, touching her fingers to her lips.

Jewell made a sound of agreement, but Seth didn’t. His attention was back on Annette, and there was such alarm on his face that Shelby looked to make sure the woman hadn’t managed to come back to life.

“Did Annette touch the explosives when you were fighting?” Seth asked Roy.

The question caused Shelby’s heart to go to her knees. No, please. This couldn’t be happening now. Not after everything Annette had put them through.

“Maybe she touched them,” Jewell conceded.

Roy nodded in agreement. “Why?”

“Because some of the sticks of explosives have been moved, like maybe they’ve been shoved apart.” Seth went closer, motioning for them to stay back. “Maybe they got moved during the struggle.”

Shelby did stay back, but she watched as Seth leaned in and had a closer look at Annette’s torso. She wasn’t sure how he could see anything with all that blood, but he must have noticed something.

Something that caused Seth to curse.

“Get out of the barn now!” he shouted.

Seth didn’t wait for them to do that. He grabbed Shelby and got her moving. Roy did the same to Jewell.

“The explosives are on a timer,” Seth told them. “I couldn’t see when it’s set to go off, but it could be any second.”

That got Shelby moving even faster, and Seth hurried them in the direction of the detached garage.

“Run!” Seth shouted to Cooper, and then to Darnell and Quint. The ranch hands took off, heading for the pasture.

Even though they were in a footrace against those explosives, Seth still kept watch around them. For a very good reason. At least one hired gun was still missing, and Annette might have left orders for him to shoot to kill.

The moment they reached the garage, Seth pulled them to the side, and Roy pressed a keypad on the exterior. The heavy doors began to grind open.

But it wasn’t soon enough.

The blast ripped through the air, so powerful that it shook the ground.

Shelby didn’t have time to react before Seth pulled her to the ground, and, as he’d done before, covered her with his body.

Just as the fiery debris from the barn came raining down in the yard.

Instantly, there was more smoke, more heat, more flames, and some of the debris smacked into the fire-eaten house, causing portions of it to collapse. When Seth started to get up, he had to drop back down again to keep from getting hit.

“Mom?” Seth called out.

Shelby had been certain that Jewell and Roy were right there with them, but she looked around as best she could and didn’t see them.

Mercy, had they gotten hit with some of the rubble?

Now that the garage doors were fully open, Shelby could see they weren’t inside there, and it certainly didn’t help when Jewell didn’t answer.

However, Shelby did hear
something
.

“No,” Roy said.

Not a shout, but there was certainly enough anger and emotion in his voice for Shelby to know that something else was wrong. But what exactly that was, she couldn’t tell. Because she still couldn’t see either Jewell or Roy.

Where were they?

“Stay down,” Seth told her, and he hurried toward the sound of Roy’s voice on the other side of the detached garage.

Shelby didn’t move, but she could see the change in Seth’s body language. Every one of his muscles turned rock hard, and he pointed his gun at something.

Or rather
someone
.

Nothing could have stopped her at that point. Shelby still had her gun, and she had to try to help.

She inched her way to the corner of the garage, fully expecting to see Annette’s hired thug there, holding his weapon on Jewell and Roy.