Nick began to close his finger on the trigger because yeah, if the bastard aimed anywhere near Brian, Nick would cap his ass, cop or no. “Put it down, motherfucker! Don’t make me! We know all about it.”
Gannet snapped, “Gun down now, Kyle. It’s over.”
He looked at her. “Clearing out the scum. Doing the job you’re too soft to do.”
Sam muttered a litany of “Fuck you, fuck you, fucker.”
Nick said, “Extortion, arson, conspiracy, assault with a deadly weapon. You’re finished, McNaught.”
“No one will convict a cop.” McNaught stared at him, then at Gannet. “My word against yours. I’ll win.”
Gannet said, “Oh, yeah? I didn’t clean fucking house for months for this. I’ll see you go down, Kyle.”
For breathless moments, their eyes held— McNaught frozen with the gun half raised, Gannet’s stare fixed on him, her chin high, her mouth a slashed line of grim determination. In one abrupt, jerky motion, McNaught bent his elbow, put the gun in his mouth, and pulled the trigger.
“Fuck! Shit! No!” The words ripped out of multiple throats, as the back of McNaught’s head sprayed blood and he collapsed in a limp, bloody heap. Nick staggered, shaken, lowering his weapon.
“Kyle!” Sheriff Gannet broke from the cover of the trees and ran to McNaught, dropping to one knee.
Nick holstered the Glock and rushed to Sam. The man lay in a huddle on the dirt. Flickering light from the growing flames showed a dark stain on one side of Sam’s jacket and down his jeans. Smoke drifted their way, making Nick’s eyes water. Sam batted feebly at Nick’s hands. “G’way from me.”
“Shut up. You’ve been shot.” Nick tugged the zipper of Sam’s parka open, ignoring his muttered protests.
He could hear Gannet on her phone, calling for backup and ambulances and the fire department. She paused to call to Nick, “How’s Sam?”
“Gonna be okay once the ambulance gets here,” Nick said, for Brian’s sake and even the motherfucker Sam’s. Hopefully, if he isn’t bleeding to death. He shrugged out of his own jacket, pulled off his T-shirt and wadded it against the wound in Sam’s side. He took a worried look at the flames licking up the cabin. “We need to move him.”
“Hurts. Mo’fuckr.” Sam writhed ineffectively.
“Hold still or it’ll hurt worse.” Nick pressed harder as blood soaked into the shirt. A warm touch against his shoulder made him look up, expecting Brian, but Charlie was there. Together, they eased Sam across the clearing farther from the sparks and smoke. Sam yelped, then went limp under his hands, unconscious but still breathing. Charlie held Nick’s jacket for him to get one arm in it at a time while pressing against Sam’s wound. “Thanks. Where’s Brian?”
“Here.” Brian sat a few feet away with his head in his hands. He looked like shit.
Nick remembered it was actually some kind of miracle Brian was still awake. “Charlie, there’s glucose tabs in my right pocket. Get some into Brian, would you?”
“On it.” Charlie dug around by Nick’s hip, then went over to Brian with the tube.
“Rugo.” Sheriff Gannet stood over Nick, her expression like thunder. “What the hell are you doing in this clusterfuck?”
“I was following McNaught. Now I’m keeping Sam from bleeding to death.”
“McNaught’s dead.” Gannet’s tone was hoarse. “I want some real answers.”
“I told you someone in your department was involved in the vandalism.”
“That was Kyle McNaught?”
Nick looked up and met her furious eyes. He nodded.
For a second, he expected her to go postal on his ass, but she pulled back, turning icy calm. “When my backup arrives, you’re under arrest. You try to run, and I’ll track you down and shoot you myself.”
“Not going anywhere.” Nick glanced down at his blood-soaked hands. “You got an ETA for that ambulance?”
“Ten minutes.”
Those minutes dragged excruciatingly. Charlie coaxed Brian to lean on him and fed him glucose tablets one at a time. Nick thought Brian was way too pale, but he was still eating and talking, so Nick wasn’t looking any gift horses in the mouth. The air got smokier, and Gannet helped move Sam farther from the danger zone, shining her Maglite on the wound. The blood was bright red in the light. There was a hell of a lot of it.
A deputy was first to arrive, peeling up the lane with lights and sirens. Gannet set him shifting the two parked trucks off the lane so the fire truck and ambulance could get by. Another deputy and the ambulance tied for next. Two young EMTs