Badlands. Jill Sorenson
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made his task easier or harder. He’d already broken the guy’s nose. Now he was really going to jack him up.
He took the weapon from his waistband. It was loaded and ready; he’d checked. Raising the gun, he assumed a ready stance. The flashlight in his left hand supported his right.
Brett cowered against the cave wall, trying to scoot backward. “No,” he cried, his voice muffled by the hand cupped over his face. “Don’t, please!”
Owen took aim and pulled the trigger, shooting him in the foot. If he’d waited another second, he might have lost his nerve. It was probably the most difficult, most horrific thing he’d ever done—and he’d done a lot of shitty things.
Brett screamed at the top of his lungs, moving his hands from his broken nose to his ruined foot.
Owen was tempted to apologize, but he didn’t. He just walked away. Brett didn’t give a fuck how sorry he was. He’d spend the next few hours, if not days, in excruciating pain. He might be crippled for life. The fact that Brett was a kidnapper who’d agreed to do the same to Owen didn’t ease his guilt any.
Shane shouted into the radio, demanding answers.
Owen engaged the safety and tucked the gun into his waistband. It sizzled against the small of his back. The burn wasn’t worth wincing at, under the circumstances. His stomach lurched suddenly. He stopped in the middle of the tunnel and retched, emptying its meager contents. After his nausea abated, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and continued down the corridor on wobbly legs. This wasn’t the first time he’d shot a man. It was the first time he’d shot a defenseless man, and the difference wrecked him.
“We haven’t found another way in,” Dirk said to Shane on the radio. “Do you want us to come back to where you are?”
“Yes,” Shane growled. “Fuck!”
Owen turned down the volume on the radio. His risk had paid off, but he felt no triumph. When he reentered the cavern, Penny flinched. Her arms were wrapped around Cruz, her hands covering his ears. She seemed reluctant to let go, which was understandable. Brett’s hoarse cries faded into the background as Owen came forward.
He wondered how he looked to her. Like a monster, not a hero.
Owen felt disconnected from reality, as if studying the scene from above. He didn’t want to be the kind of person who shot a man as a strategy, instead of in self-defense, but here he was. He just wished Penny and Cruz didn’t have to witness it.
“You climb out first,” he said to Penny. “Cruz can go next.”
She edged closer to the opening, kissing Cruz on the top of the head.
“Wait for us right outside,” Owen said.
“Be careful, Mommy.”
She had to get down on her hands and knees to pass through the narrow space. Her skirt impeded her progress, so she hiked it up to her waist. He watched her crawl forward, his pulse jackknifing. It was an incredibly inappropriate moment to ogle her. They were still in danger. He’d shot an unarmed man two minutes ago. Even so, his mind wasn’t so detached from his body that he failed to admire her perfect backside, framed by lacy black panties. His libido was like the heat of the muzzle—irrelevant, but undeniable. Seeing her in this position appealed to the animal in him. He couldn’t have averted his gaze if he’d tried.
When she reached daylight, she sat up and glanced around carefully before signaling for them to join her. Cruz climbed out next, followed by Owen. The path along the side of the hill looked much steeper from here.
“Don’t stand up,” he said to Penny. “Crouch down and slide on your butt if you have to. I’ll take Cruz.”
She did what he said, her movements clumsy. He winced as she half slid, half scrambled down the slope, probably scraping her hands and bruising her bottom in the process. But she reached the ground safely.
“Ready?” he asked Cruz.
The boy looked up at him with huge brown eyes. “I’m scared.”
“I won’t let you fall.”
Cruz clung to his neck, trembling with fear. He made short work of the climb. Penny watched them descend, her face tense. She took Cruz away from Owen at the first opportunity. Making a strangled sound, she cradled her son to her chest.
He studied the hole they’d climbed out of, raking a hand through his dusty hair. Although he didn’t want to push Penny too hard, they couldn’t afford to delay. Brett’s injury would create problems for Shane and his ragtag crew, but that didn’t mean their ordeal was over. Someone would come after them.
“Let’s go,” he said to Penny as gently as possible.
She set Cruz on his feet and trudged forward, her shoulders trembling. She knew what he’d done to Brett. He’d exposed her to his true nature. She’d seen the ugliness inside him, the savagery he’d always tried to hide. He’d been raised this way. Infected with dysfunction, hardened by circumstances. He couldn’t shed his criminal past. He was the kind of person who got off on the sight of a crawling woman. He’d just committed a stunning act of violence. There was no going back now.
He wasn’t one of the kidnappers, but he wasn’t one of the good guys, either.
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