Resisting the urge to rush straight in, his mind kicked into overdrive as he tried to figure out what to do. The guy had a gun in his hand. Colton wished he were more confident in handling his own weapon. He did have the element of surprise, but only from a distance. He worried any shot he may fire from here would put Kendra in more danger. If he tried to get much closer, the snap of leaves and twigs beneath his shoes would give him away.
“You’d say anything right now to save your ass,” Robert said in response to Kendra’s offer.
“No—you don’t understand. I don’t—”
“I understand perfectly. With you gone, it’s all mine.”
Colton didn’t trust Robert’s increased confidence even with Kendra working to stall him. He inched as close as he dared, watching each movement of his feet, insuring silence.
“I got married today,” Kendra blurted. Colton jerked his head up.
Robert went completely still as he glared down at her. “You’re lying.”
“Everything’s changed. My Trust. Noah’s. You won’t see a penny unless you let me go.”
“You bitch. You got a copy of the Will.”
Robert paced a few feet in one direction, his profile visible to Colton for a moment. The rage contorting the man’s features wound his nerves even tighter.
“Yes I did,” Kendra confirmed. “But I’ll give you the money back. I promise—you can have it all. Just take me back to the ranch and—”
“Shut. Up.”
His abrupt spin back to Kendra sent Colton’s heart into his throat.
“You’re as stupid as your mother if you think I’ll buy that load of crap. You’d have the cops on me before I could even blink. Sorry sis, but it’s over. And you’ve got no one to blame but yourself.”
Colton was out of time. He raised his gun, aimed high in Robert’s direction and squeezed the trigger.
It didn’t move.
“Robert, please,” Kendra begged.
Colton’s grip tightened on the gun as he pulled harder on the trigger. His pulse thundered in his ears when it still didn’t fire.
The safety!
Robert drew his foot back. Colton flicked the safety latch and got off a shot as Robert’s boot connected with Kendra’s shoulder. The sharp report of gunfire, her scream, and the ricochet echoed in unison into the ravine below, bounced off the walls of rock and returned to the scene ten-fold.
Robert’s body spun around. He fell back onto the ground with a cry of pain. In the moment it took for Colton to recover from the kick of the gun, Robert shoved to his feet and took off into the trees at a dead run down the mountain. He fired after him twice more, if for nothing else than to keep the bastard running.
Gunfire echoes faded to eerie silence as he rushed across the small clearing to the edge of the cliff. Kendra.
His chest clenched so tight he couldn’t breathe. The bastard had pushed her over, and he hadn’t been able to stop him.
Colton hated himself at that moment, as if he were receiving the call about his father all over again.
Every fiber of his being screamed against looking over the edge, but he knew he had to. He had to face the fact that he’d again failed someone he loved.
Chapter Twenty
Kendra struggled for the air that’d rushed from her lungs with the force of her landing. A moan escaped once she could breathe again. Gingerly, she moved her arms and legs to see if anything had been broken or if she’d been shot. Now that the initial shock of pain from her fall had subsided, she realized her body hurt, but was otherwise okay.
I’m still alive!
She turned her head and nearly screamed again. Her life-saving landing was nothing more than a small rock ledge jutting out from the wall of the ravine.
“Kendra.”