Page 118 of Taking Denver

“Now.” Ranger tosses his weapon, and I do the same. “Do as they say, but don’t talk, little bird.” He kisses my cheek. “On your knees, fingers interlocked behind your head. Don’t give them any reason to hurt you.”

I nod, and we both get to our knees.

Chapter 40

Denver

Heavy rain drops like stones on a sea of black umbrellas, the steel clouds darkening with every passing minute. The forecast said rain, and the forecast was right, but I didn’t think the day would appear so menacing.

I rest my hand on the trunk of a tree and watch from a distance. A crowd of people in black huddle together against torrential rain and say goodbye to a man who fought demons and won but had died anyway.

A man who didn’t deserve to die the way he did, and he wouldn’t have if he hadn’t met me.

Ace steps up to the small podium, and even from where I stand, I see his pain. Rain plasters his hair to his forehead, his umbrella forgotten, and I wonder if he hoped the rain would hide the tears he sheds for his best friend.Zeke speaks next. Then a man I assume is Ethan’s father.

Eleven people died on my wedding day. In a hail of bullets, they lost their lives, and it was all for power.Wilder Harland had escaped again with his pathetic life. Run back to New York, no doubt. He’d be back. Ranger said they always came back.

I’ll be ready when he does.

As the crowd disperses and the rain stops, one figure remains. It’s only then that I find my courage and walk across muddy grass to stand by his side.

He has no umbrella. His suit is soaked through, and his shoes are muddy.

“You didn’t say anything?” I ask cautiously, hoping he understands that I’m asking out of concern.

He shakes his head, the movement barely noticeable. “Couldn’t.”

“What did Ace say?”

“He told a story from school,” Sebastian says quietly.

Ace had kept his hand over Sebastian’s gunshot wounds until the police arrived. He’d saved his friend’s life. Zeke had done all he could to try to save Archer, but he’d died almost instantly.

“This is your fault,” Sebastian says.

I expected that, but still, the blow dealt by those words steals my breath. I look away, tears blurring my eyes, and close my hand around the guitar pick in my pocket.

“I know,” I say. “But I’ll find the man who did it, Sebastian.”

His laugh is bitter. “And then what?”

“I’ll kill him.”

Sebastian faces me, rage in his eyes. “What’s the fucking point? It won’t bring them back, and it won’t make any of us feel better.”

“Then tell me what to do,” I whisper. “Tell me how I can fix it.”

“You can’tfix it,” he bites out, his eyes brimming with despair. “They are dead because of you, and there’s no changing that.”

He turns and walks away, and my chest feels close to collapsing. I created a thousand scenarios in which Sebastian hated me but had hoped I was wrong. I’d hoped he could find itin his heart to forgive me for taking his best friend and brother from him.

“Sebastian, please,” I call out, and he stops. It’s selfish of me to cry, isn’t it? I didn’t pull the trigger, but Ethan was in the firing line because he knew me. I have no right to shed tears, but I do anyway. “I’m sorry.”

Sebastian’s shoulders tense, and the rain starts falling once more.

“Stay the fuck away from us.”

He walks away, leaving me with rain and tears on my cheeks.

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