same time Cameron launched himself at Jason. As the two men began to grapple, Mary scooted around to where Junior had sat up, his eyes filled with the same horrifying fear that froze Mary’s heart.
She placed an arm around his shoulder and watched in terror the two men fighting. Cameron appeared to have no respect for the knife Jason possessed. He threw himself at Jason and the two of them hit the floor.
Sobs began to escape her as Jason sliced Cameron’s arm and then attempted to stab him in his leg. They rolled and tussled and finally Cameron sat on Jason’s chest. One hand held Jason’s wrist and the knife gleamed between them, the tip of it pointed at Cameron’s chest. Their hands shook with their efforts to overwhelm and sweat beads popped out on Cameron’s forehead as blood ran down his arm from the wound Jason had inflicted earlier.
Jason’s neck muscles were taut, the amused smile that had been on his face now gone, replaced by a fierce concentration and an ugly sneer.
The knife shook violently between them and Mary’s heart nearly stopped when it moved closer to Cameron’s body. He was losing the battle, she thought frantically. She realized that in the scuffle that had taken place between them Jason’s knife had done more damage than she’d thought.
There wasn’t just the slice on his forearm that was bleeding profusely, but his jeans had darkened with blood on his upper thigh where obviously Jason had gotten beneath his defenses for a quick stab.
Cameron was losing blood, losing strength and she didn’t know what to do, how to help him. Junior clung to her like a frightened baby monkey, his long arms nearly engulfing her as his heartbeat tattooed against her own.
A scream ripped from her throat as Jason won the physical battle for the knife and plunged it into Cameron’s chest. Cameron listed to the side and fell to the floor beside Jason.
Jason rose to his feet, prompting Mary to untangle herself from Junior. “Dial three, Junior, and tell them we need an ambulance.” Her voice sounded high-pitched, hysterical to her own ears. He couldn’t be dead. Cameron couldn’t be dead.
And then she spied the gun.
Cameron’s gun on the countertop. She grabbed it and pointed it at Jason, who stopped in his tracks and smiled at her, that crazy, condescending smile that had always frozen her blood.
“You don’t have the guts,” he said with a laugh.
In a hundred million circumstances he was right. She would never have the guts to shoot to kill a man. But with the sound of Junior’s soft sobbing and the sight of Cameron’s unmoving body on the floor nearby, she didn’t hesitate.
She aimed and fired, the bullet exploding Jason’s left knee. He screamed in pain and before he fell to the floor she squeezed off another shot, this one smashing his right knee.
He was on the floor, writhing in pain. Primal screams mixed with curses and her name, Samantha...the name of the woman she’d once been, the name of a woman she’d never be again.
She dropped the gun to the counter as Adam Benson, Ben Temple and several other deputies rushed inside. She was at Cameron’s side before the others reached the counter. She threw herself to the floor next to him and grabbed his hand.
His breathing was labored and as he opened his eyes to look at her, everything else fell away. Jason’s screaming, Junior’s sobbing and the noise and chatter from the deputies all became white noise that didn’t matter. All that mattered was Cameron and the distant sound of a siren approaching that she hoped and prayed was an ambulance.
“Help is on the way,” she said, tears misting her eyes and falling down her cheeks. “You hang on, Sheriff Evans. You hear me? You hang on because this town needs you.”
His eyes fluttered closed and she thought he’d become unconscious. “Please, Cameron. Stay with us. We all need you. I need you,” she whispered.
Before she could say anything more, the ambulance arrived and chaos reigned. She was grateful to see the ambulance not only load up Cameron, but also a handcuffed, still-screaming Jason.
Once they were gone, Ben Temple tried to interview her about the events of the night, but the only place Mary wanted to be was at the hospital.
As Adam interviewed Junior, Ben agreed to drive Mary to the hospital as long as she answered some questions on the ride. Mary would have agreed to sit naked in the snow