Page 122 of Reins

Taking a second to bend it, I start across the gravel driveway.

“Cade!” Rosalyn’s scream has me throwing the box to break into a full run towards the door.

She’s just inside, her pistol raised in the stance I taught her, with the barrel pointing at a woman with wide eyes and rubber gloved hands raising in the air.

“Ros?” I trust her but I really need to know. “What’s going on?”

“It’s her, Cade.” Panic laces her words making them come out rushed and three levels higher. “She’s the one who tried to take me.”

Pete limps in from the back and stops, his head swiveling between the two women.

“Paige? She’s the one? Are you sure?”

“I’ll never forget her face.” Rosalyn’s hands shake but she keeps her weapon trained like a pro. “Remember I said she has a ruby engagement ring?”

“She’s crazy,” Paige mutters. “I don’t know what she’s talking about.”

“Take off your gloves,” I bark at her. “Slowly.”

“No.” Her eyes narrow. She focuses more on me than on Rosalyn. “You’re the monster here, not me.”

“Do as he says.” Pete’s gruff voice is punctuated by the wooden sound of a drawer sliding open, then he points his own gun at the woman.

“Fuck you, I know my rights.” Her arms start to drop. “I’m a cop.”

Pete snorts. “You got fired. That’s why I felt sorry for you and let you do this. Now take off your gloves. Show us your hand.”

Her jaw sets. “You can’t strip search me. You’re both LEO.”

The gunshot makes me jump before Paige cries out, crumpling to the floor.

“I’m not.” Rosalyn stands over her, the acrid tendril of smoke rising from the barrel.

I don’t miss the opportunity to leap on the fallen woman and wrench her arms behind her while pinning her with my knee. “Pete? Got cuffs handy?”

“She fucking shot me! You saw that! Bitch!” Paige’s face presses into the carpet as she continues to scream.

Pete shuffles closer, dangling a set that appeared from the same drawer. “Well, if you hadn’t attacked her, she wouldn’t have had to defend herself now, would she?”

His grin when he locks eyes with me is legendary.

Before each wrist gets locked in, I tug off the rubber gloves.

“There it is. Bright red, just like Ros said.” I roll back to avoid the blood oozing out of Paige’s thigh.

“Nice aim, Ros. Nothing vital but dropped her like a rock.” When I smile up to my wife, I see she’s as pale as a ghost.

“I get a phone call!” Paige shrieks.

I pat her pockets down and retrieve her cell. “Pete? We need to check her house. I bet she’s got them holed up and wants to warn them.” I push to my feet once Paige is secure so I can move to Rosalyn.

My palm presses her pistol down and away, then I peel it out of her trembling grasp and lead her outside. “Ros? Look at me.”

Her eyes roam for a moment before she locks onto me.

“You did it, Ros. You didn’t freeze. I’m proud of you.” I wrap her to my chest and hold her until she gives to hug my waist.

“I didn’t,” she exhales. “I just reacted. All I could think about was our baby.”