Page 60 of Lone Star Wanted
“Did Daniel kill Alisha?” she asked, both dreading and welcoming the answer. She might finally know the truth of what had happened to her cousin. “Was it him?”
Before Marlene could respond, a dark figure burst from the trees, barreling into her from behind and dragging herroughly to the ground. Cassidy jerked in surprise, gun trained on the struggling pair. At first, she thought it was Jericho.
But no.
It was someone else. A second attacker, dressed all in black, his face hidden by a ski mask.
Marlene screamed in rage, twisting violently beneath him. The attacker pinned her down, one hand gripping her throat, the other wrenching away her gun.
“Get off me!” Marlene yelled, the panic and anger drenching her voice.
Cassidy hesitated, torn between intervening and holding her position. The situation had spiraled dangerously out of control.
Marlene thrashed on the ground, locked in a fierce struggle with the masked figure who had taken her down. She still had a grip on her gun and was flailing around, making it a danger to any one of them if Marlene pulled the trigger. Cassidy kept her weapon raised but couldn’t get a clean shot.
Some movement to her right drew her attention. Travis was on his feet, weaving through the headstones with his hands still bound behind his back. He was trying to get to them.
“Take care of your brother,” Kincade insisted.
That was the only thing he said before Kincade broke from cover, sprinting toward Marlene and the masked attacker. Cassidy’s heart kicked hard against her ribs. She pushed up from the ground and followed, keeping low, her weapon steady. The wind caught her hair and the distant cry of a hawk cut through the silence that had fallen between gunshots.
She didn’t know who the second attacker was. But she knew this wasn’t over. Not yet.
Staying low and with her heart pounding, Cassidy hurried toward Travis. She dropped beside him and pulled him behind one of the headstones just as another shout rang out from thescuffle nearby. Marlene and the masked figure were still locked in a vicious fight, but Cassidy pushed the chaos aside to focus on her brother.
“You okay?” she asked, already reaching for the zip ties around his wrists.
Travis gave a tight nod. “I’ve been better.”
“Who is that?” she asked, nodding toward the masked attacker.
“No idea.” The words tumbled out with his gusting breath. “Marlene didn’t say anything about backup. She lured me here, said she had proof about Alisha’s murder. I figured it was a trap, but I came anyway.”
Since she and Kincade had done pretty much the same, she couldn’t fault her brother for coming. Still, she wished things hadn’t gone down like this.
Especially since Kincade was running right into danger.
Cassidy’s heart jumped into her throat as she saw the masked attacker break away from Marlene, and he turned his gun on Kincade.
“No,” she shouted.
The crack of the shot split the air, and Kincade dove, rolling behind a thick oak tree just in time. Bark exploded where he’d been standing a second before.
Cassidy didn’t hesitate. She turned to Travis. “I have to help him.”
But she also couldn’t leave her brother defenseless. Because after all, there could be more hired thugs out there.
Hurrying, she yanked out her pocketknife and sliced through the zip ties. His wrists were red and raw. She cursed softly and reached into her boot holster, drawing her backup pistol.
“Here,” she said, pressing it into his hands. “You’re going to need it.”
Without waiting for a reply, she bolted from behind the headstone, crouching low as she moved. The masked man was focused on Kincade now, firing shots at him nonstop. She sprinted across the uneven ground, her eyes locked on her target.
She had to get to Kincade. And fast.
Cassidy darted between the graves, her pulse pounding in her ears. She spotted Kincade shifting behind the tree, readying his weapon. Just a few more feet and she could reach him.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Travis moving too, staying low as he maneuvered through the stones with the backup gun clutched in both hands.
