Page 100 of Claimed By the Deputies

“Trevor,” I mumble, my voice a tormented whisper.

“Tassia, honey.” He smiles at me, then pauses and looks at Sherry and Dante, frowning. “Were you just pointing a gun at my wife, Sherry?”

“She was trying to get away,” Sherry replies with a bored shrug.

The silence that falls between them is heavy. It thickens the air, amplifying the ominous sentiment growing within me. Trevor’s calmness alarms me the most. I never liked that about him, the eerie self-control. Something awful always follows.

“If there’s one thing I don’t want taken from me, it’s the pleasure of doing away with her myself,” he says. His voice is even. Soulless.

Dante chuckles nervously. “It was just to scare her, Trevor. She wasn’t going to actually kill her. I did everything you asked me to and haven’t said shit to nobody. I want my payment.”

“Right.” Trevor reaches behind him for what we all assume is money but pulls out a gun instead.

“What are you—” Dante doesn’t get to finish his question before Trevor shoots him in the head without blinking.

Sherry screams, wide-eyed and horrified. Trevor shoots her, too.

Stark silence follows as I try to draw a breath, hoping I can figure out how the hell I’m going to survive this. Sherry and Dante were somewhat manageable.

But Trevor is the devil himself.

“Now, honey. You and I need to talk,” he says, giving me another smile.

“You killed them.”

“I didn’t need them anymore.” He says it so casually, so comfortable with his decision it makes me shiver.

“You could’ve just paid them off!” I say, my voice wavering. Tears prick my eyes as the shock begins to wear off, but I quickly blink them away. The last thing I want is for this man to see my emotions. “You could’ve just?—”

“They were both a liability,” he interrupts. “I’m not all powerful, and the minute I get my shipment through, there will be pieces for the DEA and some other sheriff to find. I don’t want any of this tracing back to me, so, you know, a man’s got to clean up after himself.”

He moves toward me and I jump back. “Don’t touch me!”

“Oh, I will touch you and then some,” Trevor laughs wickedly.

“I’m pregnant!”

I’m not sure why I said it. Maybe a part of me hopes there’s still a sliver of humanity left in him. Maybe my current condition will make him falter. Maybe it will buy me some time.

Trevor stops, a scowl deepening the shadows in his cold eyes. “What did you say?”

“I’m pregnant,” I repeat.

“You didn’t waste any time spreading your legs here in Frost Valley, did you?” he mutters.

“We’re not married anymore,” I remind him.

He scratches the side of his head with the barrel of his gun, thinking about what to do next. Without warning, he puts the pistol away and grabs me by the back of the neck.

“Trevor, no!” I try to pull from his grip.

But he’s too strong. Merciless.

“I’m nowhere near done with you. Hell, I haven’t even begun,” he growls and drags me out of Tim’s cabin.

28

TYLER

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