Guardian Ranger (Shadow Agents #2)(49)
Author: Cynthia Eden

The two men she loved most were closing in. Just about ten feet away from her now. Why was Wyatt letting them come so close?

Because he’s going to kill them both. Her breath stilled. That was Wyatt’s plan. He was using her to lure Jasper and Cale closer. And when they were close enough, he’d shoot one man, and the other still wouldn’t fire back because he’d be afraid of shooting her.

Neither one of them will shoot.

Wyatt had that part right. But he was still wrong about one thing. “I can save myself,” she whispered again. But it wasn’t just about surviving this mess. She was ready to risk her life for the men that she loved.

You don’t risk your life for nothing. Cale’s number three rule. But this risk wasn’t for nothing. It was for everything. For their lives.

She looked into Cale’s eyes. Her brother was only about seven feet away now. She’d never seen such fear in his eyes.

“It’s going to be okay, Ronnie,” Cale told her. “You’ll make it out of this.”

Would he?

Her gaze darted to Jasper. No fear there. Just desperate determination. An intensity that would have scared her if she didn’t know him so well. He was looking at Wyatt, and promising death. “Get your hands off her!” Jasper snarled.

“You messed this up for me,” Wyatt yelled right back at him. “You weren’t supposed to be EOD. You were just supposed to be a mercenary. Expendable…dead.”

And she knew that Wyatt was going to shoot at Jasper first. Because Wyatt would rely on Cale’s bond with Veronica. A brother wouldn’t shoot at his sister, right? Jasper was the variable threat that Wyatt would want to eliminate first.

I won’t let you kill him. She’d just found Jasper. He wasn’t dying.

“He’s not…expendable,” she said, her voice flat and cold. “You are.” Then she drove her elbow into his ribs as hard as she could. He jerked behind her, startled, and the gun slipped away from her chin, moving about two inches.

That two inches was all that she needed.

She leaped toward Jasper even as she screamed, “Shoot him, Cale!”

Jasper’s arms were reaching for her. She tried to push him back because she was afraid Wyatt would take the shot. But Jasper was too strong. Always so strong. He twisted, protecting her, using his body as a shield.

Gunfire exploded behind her. Once. Twice.

Then she felt the hard jerk that knocked Jasper—as a bullet hit him?

“Jasper!”

They were both on the ground. Jasper was on top of her, covering her with his body. But no, she’d wanted to protect him.

“Jasper?” she whispered.

His head lifted. He stared down at her with so much emotion blazing in his eyes that she couldn’t speak again. “Stay here,” he whispered, and he rose.

He turned his back on her, and she saw the blood. The bullet had hit him. A bullet that she’d tried so hard to stop.

She pushed to her knees.

Cale was standing over Wyatt’s prone body. Cale’s legs were braced apart and his gun was trained on the sheriff. Only Wyatt wasn’t moving.

“He’s dead!” Cale shouted. “Take care of Veronica!”

Jasper turned toward her, but she was already wrapping her arms around him. His body trembled against hers, and that tremble scared her more than anything else. Jasper was always strong. Always so in control. Always…

He kissed her. Hard, desperate. His arms wrapped around her so tightly that her ribs hurt. She didn’t care. She held him just as tightly, clinging to him as fiercely as she could.

It had been too close. Too close. In those terrible moments, she’d realized…I don’t want to be without him.

“Scared me,” Jasper rasped against her mouth.

She could feel his blood on her fingertips. He was still scaring her. “Jasper, you’re hurt.” Serious understatement. The bullet hadn’t come out; she could see that much for herself. It was still lodged in his back.

“Won’t ever…lose you…”

“No,” she whispered at once. “You won’t. Jasper—”

“Love you…Veronica Lane…”

She couldn’t breathe. “Jasper, I love you, too!” She stood on her toes to kiss him again and that was when they fell. Jasper’s body seemed to crumble against hers, and they hit the ground. “Jasper?”

She tried to shake him, to get him back up, but his eyes were closed. He wasn’t moving.

“Jasper!”

But he wasn’t answering. She remembered the blood on his back. The bullet. And Jasper’s skin seemed to be losing its warmth. The warmth that had been there to banish the chill and the worry that had cloaked her for so long. That warmth was fading now.

Desperate, she looked up. “Cale! Cale, help me!”

Her brother rushed to her side. Behind them, she heard the growl of more motors as other cars rushed to the scene. She didn’t look back at those cars. Didn’t look at anyone or anything but Cale and Jasper. Cale’s face was grim as he looked down at her lover. Jasper was pale, too pale.

“Don’t leave me,” Veronica whispered to Jasper, and she pressed a kiss to his lips. “Don’t.”

Her fingers curled around his. His lashes seemed to flutter. No, maybe that was just the wind. Not him, not…

“I…won’t…” Jasper whispered.

Her breath choked out. Jasper had just made her a promise.

She wouldn’t let him break it.

Sydney and Logan ran to his side. Veronica kept her hold on Jasper’s wrist, and even when the EMT crew came, she didn’t let go.

She would never let go of the man she loved.

Death could just wait. She wasn’t done with Jasper Adams yet. Not by a long shot.

Chapter Thirteen

Not many people bothered to come to the funeral. Seemed as if the folks in Whiskey Ridge were too betrayed and shocked by the actions of Wyatt Halliday to be able to forgive him, even in death.

But Veronica was there. Standing silently beside the grave. To her right, the young deputy was looking as if he’d seen a few better days.

The poor kid probably had. But at least Jimmy Jones was alive, thanks to Veronica. He could look forward to a whole lot of better days to come.

“I’ve seen the way you look at my sister,” Cale said, the words whisper soft.

Jasper turned his head to meet Cale’s hard stare. The man hadn’t really changed that much in the past ten years. A fierce fighter, a loving older brother and a man who would kill in order to protect the ones he cared for in this world.