Page 66 of Lone Star Wanted
The projectile shot forward with a sharp, whistling sound. It struck Becker’s right hand with brutal force. He let out a howl of pain and instinctively jerked his hand away, the detonator slipping from his grasp and skittering across the grass.
Cassidy surged to her feet, the adrenaline flooding her entire body. “He dropped it,” she shouted. “Move!”
Becker clutched his injured hand, staggering back, trying to get behind one of the trees, but it was too late for him to recover.The detonator was no longer in his reach, and with Jericho, Kincade, and Travis closing in, his options were gone.
Or so she thought.
Then, she saw Becker draw his gun and take aim at Kincade.
“No,” she yelled.
Just as the gunshot cracked through the air.
Cassidy’s heart stopped. Her breath caught. Her vision tunneled as panic surged through her.
No. Not Kincade.
She sprang forward, eyes sweeping the chaos. For one terrible heartbeat, she thought he was the one who’d gone down. Her mind raced through every awful possibility. Blood. A fall. The stillness of someone not moving.
But then she saw him. Kincade was still upright, still holding his gun, still alive.
Her knees nearly buckled with relief.
It wasn’t him.
She spun around and spotted Becker. He was on the ground now, one hand pressed to his chest, blood seeping between his fingers.
Cassidy whirled around, looking for who had fired that shot. And it wasn’t Jericho or Travis. Just beyond the nearest headstone, Marlene stood unsteady on her feet. Her arm trembled as she held a small pistol, likely her backup. Her face was pale, her eyes wide with shock and pain, but her grip didn’t falter.
Marlene collapsed, her body folding to the ground as the gun slipped from her hand and landed in the grass with a dull thud.
Becker crumpled seconds later, the last breath he would ever take rattling from his chest. He didn’t move again.
Cassidy didn’t wait. Overcome with relief, she ran straight to Kincade and pulled him into her arms, holding on like she’d never let go. He was solid and warm and alive.
But the moment shattered in an instant.
“It’s on a timer,” Jericho yelled, the urgency in his voice. “That IED’s going to blow in fifteen seconds.”
He pointed toward the detonator on the ground. A small digital screen blinked in steady red numbers. Fifteen. Fourteen. The switch had been flipped. The countdown was already in motion.
“No way to switch that off in time,” Jericho added. He didn’t hesitate. He lunged for Marlene, scooping her up like a rag doll. “Run!” he yelled.
They ran. Hard and fast, their feet pounding across the uneven ground. Cassidy’s heart slammed against her ribs as she gripped Kincade’s hand, breath tearing from her lungs. Jericho was ahead of them, Marlene in his arms, her body limp but still breathing. Travis was right by Jericho’s side.
The SUV came into view just as the world behind them exploded.
The shockwave hit first, a deep, violent roar that shook the earth. Heat pressed against Cassidy’s back, a wall of fire and force that nearly knocked her off her feet. She stumbled, but Kincade caught her, steadied her, and they kept moving.
Flames licked into the sky, black smoke billowing upward as debris rained down around them.
Cassidy didn’t look back.
They reached the SUV. Jericho yanked open the back door and shoved Marlene inside. Kincade pulled Cassidy into the passenger seat and slammed the door just as another secondary boom echoed through the cemetery.
Once everyone was in the SUV, Kincade hit the gas and sped away. Behind them, the cemetery was engulfed in flames,thick smoke curling into the darkening sky. Somewhere in the center of that destruction lay Becker’s body, buried in the chaos he had unleashed.
So much loss. So much devastation.
