Page 39 of Lucky Cowboy

Biggs didn’t halt. Instead, he chose then to angle himself at her like he meant to tackle her body to the ground. She’d managed to spread her feet apart, ready to plant the heel of her boot right in his most vulnerable area when she registered that he was yanking something from beneath his waistband. A flash of metal allowed her to see that it was a pistol. Panic raced through her.

At ten feet, he ceased his forward movement and blatantly took aim at her forehead. A kick wouldn’t work if he planned to murder her right there in cold blood. Was he that insane?

He cocked the gun, proving that he must have real intent to follow through despite their audience, although many were now ducking for cover. Every single molecule of her blood and organs froze solid. This was really happening, and nothing she could do would change that. Things were occurring too fast for her life to flash before her eyes, but she had one thought, only one, as the barrel of that gun remained fixed on her like a missile.

She’d never get to see Mark again.

As if from a distance, Val heard the gunshot as it reverberated across the rudimentary soil path that stretched to the other parts of the stadium. But it was too late. Shadows erupted behind her vision, throwing her consciousness into a clinging darkness unlike anything she’d ever experienced before.

And then she knew nothing more.

CHAPTERNINETEEN

As the sheriffof Rocky Ridge, Mark had long ago learned how to conceal his emotions so that he appeared as the most level-headed person in any room. It’d been a necessary requirement. Not only had his family depended on him to keep his cool throughout the most gut-wrenching experience of his young life, but so did every person who resided within his purview now.

So, when his father had been killed, he’d kept his grief and mourning to himself. When something horrendous that shook him occurred, he pushed it out of his mind until he could be alone and deal with it then. That had been his strategy for a long, long time. People needed to believe that their sheriff was invincible and implacable rather than human.

And this notion had started years prior to him taking on his role of sheriff. He’d been calm when he fell into an iced-over lake at the age of ten. He’d been calm when a rare car chase had only desisted when said car had been flipped by its driver and had gone over a cliff, ejecting his passenger. The passenger had survived but the driver had been crushed. Been dead on arrival before paramedics could even get to the scene.

Yet he couldn’t call how he felt right now anything even close to calm. Mark had his lights on and sirens blaring as he careened as fast as he could toward the town of Great Falls. He had no memory of the hour-long trip that usually took ninety minutes. Mark had been too focused on reaching those fairgrounds.

Blair and his mom had contacted him dozens of times, but he’d ignored each and every communication they sent. He didn’t have the time or bandwidth for them right now, and he couldn’t deal with whatever they might ask him if someone from Great Falls should reach out.

Then, over the police radio, he’d heard the code that had his heart nearly clanging into a full arrest prior to it bucking like an unbroken mustang. Shots fired. At the Great Falls Rodeo Grounds.

Mark had snatched up his radio like a madman and yelled his demand for more information, but none had been forthcoming. They only thing the operator could tell him was that he’d need to hold on due to pandemonium at the location. He knew he shouldn’t jump to conclusions. He knew that. But acknowledging such wisdom didn’t help.

Not while Val’s life could very well be on the line.

Ready to come clean out of his skin, Mark had held his breath when dispatch finally buzzed back on. But then, she said something even worse. The code for someone being down, which could mean anything from serious injury to death.

He’d refrained from calling Val not wanting to distract her or—he didn’t know, possibly bring more of Biggs’ attention to her—but now he couldn’t wait. Mark dialed her number, and as he feared, it went right to voicemail.

Mark called again. And again.

He cursed. “Pick up, Val. I need you to pick up.”

But she didn’t. No one did.

He’d been following his GPS to the livestock paddocks where the rodeo was being held when he’d roared up beside a series of other police vehicles. Mark continued to repeat dialing Val’s cell without much hope of getting through, but now that lack of contact felt much more ominous.

“Two victims have been taken to the ER at the Great Falls Hospital by an ambulance,” the lead officer on the scene let him know.

“What about Valentine Bernard? Do you know her status?”

“I just know that there were two people involved, a man and a woman. The man pulled a gun—a Smith and Wesson pistol—on her. Each were injured, one seriously.”

“Butwhowas injured seriously? Val or Biggs?” Why wouldn’t the man just answer him?

“The report doesn’t specify, and I’m afraid that’s all I know. I arrived after the events took place. The attending sheriff’s deputy left with the paramedics.”

All too close to losing what little was left of his mind, Mark white-knuckled it to that hospital breaking all the rules. He didn’t care about upholding the speed limit or anything else. He had to get to Val, had to know what was going on with her.

To find out if she was still alive.

Beside himself, Mark sprinted inside the Emergency Room. “Valentine Bernard. I need to see Valentine Bernard. Can you tell me where she is?”

After some tapping on her keyboard that had Mark clenching his fists and jaw, she at last responded. “Are you family?”

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