Jodie Bailey - Fatal Response

Last successful mission? Erin’s thoughts tripped over the word, then stuck on what he was trying to tell her. It couldn’t be real. Life wasn’t as bizarre as the movies. “You can’t be serious. You sound ridiculous. That’s some old Bruce Willis action movie kind of stuff. The bad guys don’t get revenge the way you’re saying, not on individuals. They come after whole countries. Big targets to make a statement, not families.” He was insane. Out of his head. Nobody came to Mountain Springs to commit murder.

Except she’d seen the carnage with her own eyes a few hours earlier.

Still, there was no way. She rolled the handle of the bucket between two fingers and refused to meet his eyes. “Even if it was true, I’m your ex. Anybody trying to get revenge couldn’t care less about someone who means nothing to you.”

Everything about Jason froze. He looked as though she’d slapped him and he didn’t know how to handle the blow. But then he jerked his head to the side and continued as though the pause never happened. “You’re forgetting Cole’s ex. The Dawsons got divorced before we did. Cole never remarried. He always said Tracy was it for him, the same way...” Jason dropped his hand from her arm. “Somehow, some way, somebody with a grudge found Tracy. And Angie and Crystal. In two different cities. And until somebody figures out how they got their intel, I can’t promise whoever this is doesn’t know about you too.”

This was too much. Between Angie’s death and Jason’s reappearance...

Erin tried to read him, to find something familiar in the man in front of her, but all she could see was a hardness around the edges that hadn’t existed before. “What happened to you overseas?” It had to have been something, because nothing else could explain the things he was saying. The story simply couldn’t be real.

His head dipped to one side, confusion clouding his gaze. “What?”

“You walk with a limp. Not much of one, but enough. I noticed it earlier. And this? This story you’re spinning?” When his mouth opened to say more, she backed farther away and dug deep for the strength to walk away, even as her heart wanted to reach out to him. “I’m about to grab my truck keys out of the office. You’re going to walk out ahead of me without saying another word. Because if you don’t, I’m having Wyatt come back to handle you and your crazy talk. Don’t speak to me again.” Because I don’t have what it takes to remember why it all went wrong in the first place.

When she turned, he didn’t follow. Jason had always been the pragmatic one, the levelheaded one, while she’d been the one wanting to run away and do crazy things like eloping in South Carolina. To think a mind as solid and steady as his had cracked...

Her throat ached. She’d heard about men coming home broken, different... She’d simply never imagined it would happen to Jason. He’d always been the strongest man she knew.

Without pausing, she dropped the bucket next to the row of wall lockers and swept into the office, snatching her keys from the corner of the desk and holding them so tightly they dug into her palms. If he didn’t leave as she’d asked, she’d...she’d...

Cry. His brokenness would break her.

But his footsteps didn’t pause as he headed up the hall. The outside door opened and shut softly and the building fell silent.

Erin dropped her chin to her chest and stared at the scuffed toes of her black boots, feeling as though her spine couldn’t support her any longer. Last night had been too long, too much of a breakneck ride down the mountain at top speed. She couldn’t do any more. And if she didn’t get out of this building in the next ten seconds, she was going to fall to pieces.

Maybe she’d make the drive home slowly with the windows down. Maybe last night would blow away somewhere into the fall mountain mist.

When she broke through the door into the early morning light, she scanned the parking lot, half expecting to see Jason waiting.

The small front lot was empty.

She’d deny until her last breath that his departure left her with a hint of disappointment. It was for the best. He was gone. Hopefully for good, the way he should have been when their divorce was final.

Jerking open the door to the Bronco, Erin climbed in and reached for the seat belt as she angled her foot toward the brake. Her heel rolled on something and an all-too-familiar sound paralyzed her, cold terror icing her movements and driving the world into slow motion.

No. There was no way. None. She had to be dreaming. Or hallucinating.

Tilting her head, she looked at her foot, throat dry, head pounding...

And found a rattlesnake beneath the heel of her boot.

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