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There was a beat of silence Then a voice spoke from behind Beau, a voice that chilled his blood “Don’t be so sure of that, Beau Drop that rifle and turn aroundvery slowly”
Still holding the Winchester, Beau turned far enough to look over his shoulder Hoyt Axelrod was standing next to the truck’s open passenger door, a 9 mm Taurus pistol aimed at Sky’s head He must have slipped around the silo and come on the truck from behind
“Ironic isn’t it? After all that time in Iraq, you come back to Texas to die,” the sheriff taunted “Now throw that rifle down or I’ll blow the half-breed’s brains out” His voice darkened “Do it And don’t try anything”
Faced with the hard reality that anything he tried would never be quick enough to save Sky, Beau had only one option left—to et aith this And his weapon would have to be the cell phone in his other hand
With exaggerated slowness, Beau cast the Winchester aside, ician’s favorite trick to divert Axelrod’s attention while Beau hit the video record app on the cell phone Keeping his hands raised and the cell phone pointed in the sheriff ’s direction, he turned to face him with the pistol now aimed at his chest “Your quarrel is with me, not him”
“He’s going to be what you lance flicked to the phone “Called Life Flight, did ya? Too bad he isn’t going to last that long I’ll make sure of it When the paramedics arrive, they’ll find three dead men Lute, the half-breed, and you—with the Barrett in your hands And don’t worry I can fake a crime scene I’ve had plenty of experience Since I’ll be here to meet them, my story will be that you shot the other two, and I had to kill you with my pistol In self-defense, of course All very believable, don’t you agree?”
“Sounds like you thought of everything” Beau caught soue movement in his side vision, but he didn’t want to break eye contact with Axelrod, hoping to catch a half-second warning before the h ti fatal, allowing hiround
“You’re daht I have”
“I don’t think so, Sheriff” Natalie’s voice was accompanied by the o racked “Drop the gun or I’ll blow you in half And I’m too close to miss”
There was a sick look on Axelrod’s face even as he blustered, “You won’t shoot”
“Why? Because I’ to bet your life on that?” She stood near the truck’s tailgate, cold and determined
Unwilling to risk it, Axelrod lowered the pistol and held his hands out to the sides in a show of surrender Beau immediately stepped forward and relieved him of the weapon, then backed up to cover hiainst the side of the truck, hands shaking as she lowered the shotgun Beau motioned her to his side She stumbled a bit on the first step, then made a wide circle around the sheriff to join him
“Nothing’s changed,” the sheriff told them “I’ll still have you for the murder of these two”
“I don’t think so” Beau sed the phone in his free hand “I video-recorded your confession”
Natalie released a shaky laugh of relief “It’s really over,” she ainst his side