toes. She felt her trembling, and could only give her hand a little squeeze in response.
"Chloe, look at me, please."
Carrie remained silent, sensing that only Adam could help her sister. A man who had trained to be a cop and to face the possibility of using deadly force could ease her sister's guilt.
Chloe slowly looked up at him. "Do you know I've had that gun for years?" She spoke softly. "I bought it, and I've practiced with it, faithfully, making sure I could use it proficiently. And do you know why? Do you know why I did all that?"
"Yes, I do. So you'd be ready for that son of a bitch, if he ever came near you, or your sister, ever again."
"Yes. Last night, I was pissed, because Andrew and Grant showed up, determined to protect me, to...to keep me from doing anything rash if Lockwood showed his face." Chloe sighed, and a tear escaped her control and rolled down her cheek. "They guessed right off what I'd planned to do. That makes it more than my just shooting the man. That makes it worse. I murdered him."
"The hell you did. Now you listen to me, Chloe. Lockwood was the one who broke into your home, and took you hostage. You didn't do that. He did. Hell, if you want to blame someone for the fact you had to shoot the bastard, blame me."
Chloe gasped and opened her mouth, obviously to protest, but Adam held up his hand. His expression looked grim. "I was so fucking pissed off that Lockwood had come into my town and taken one of my people hostage. I was going to go in there, fast and furious and damn the consequences." Adam shrugged. "Only problem was, I'd never crashed through a window before and it was a hell of a lot more jarring than I'd anticipated. I had planned to land, roll, and pull my weapon and fire, and I can promise you, Chloe, I was going to shoot to kill."
Adam covered her hand with his. "I'm going to thank God for the rest of my life that you had that gun and that you had practiced with it, and used it." He stepped back. "That bastard got off one shot and hit me in the chest. The flak jacket protected me but I've got a bruise that hurts like hell." Adam stopped and swallowed. "And the force of that slug hitting me tripped me up. If you hadn't shot him, I would be dead." He squeezed her hand. "In a couple of days, when you're feeling better, I want you come on down to my office and we'll do the paperwork. Deal?"
"All right." Though subdued, this time Chloe met his gaze. Carrie thought that was something, anyway.
Adam nodded. "Good. Now, I have to go home and, um, explain to my wife why she shouldn't take a frying pan to my head for acting all impulsive and doing something that was, ultimately, very nearly the death of me." He shrugged and grinned.
"Good luck with that, cousin," Chase said.
Carrie couldn't help it. She said, "You can always tell Ginny that you just got so mad."
Adam's laughter burst right out of him. "Are you kidding? I haven't been married long, but I know enough not to use my woman's words against her."
"You're a wise man," Brian said. Then his expression sobered. "Thank you. Personally, I think the way you handled things was what had to happen to end it. You say Chloe saved your life? We think - Chase and I - that you saved hers, and Carrie's."
Adam met his gaze, nodded, and left the room without another word.
Carrie looked down at Chloe. "As soon as the doctor springs you, we'll get you settled in at the ranch. The three of us will take turns checking on you through the night. No arguments."
"That won't be necessary."
Carrie's head jerked up and she looked toward the man who'd just spoken. She was surprised to see both Andrew and Grant Jessop, two of Robert's brothers - and the two men who'd "babysat" her sister the night before.
"How are you, Chloe?" Andrew's gaze never left her sister as he came into the room and went straight to her. "You okay, love?" He laid his hand on her shoulder, then looked at his brother the doctor. "Is she okay, Robbie?"
Robert nodded. "She'll need watching for the next couple of days."
Chase said, "As well as being firefighters, Andrew and Grant are also trained