Two gunshots went off, and Paul fell to his knees, but Marco remained standing as the deputies flooded out of their cars and surrounded us with drawn weapons.

Paul was still on his knees, his gun pointed under his chin. “Stay back! I’ll do it!”

“You coward,” Marco sneered. “You need to be held accountable for what you’ve done.”

“No, Roland, that’s something you would do, which is why you’ll never win at anything. It’s a dog-eat-dog world, and you’re nothing but a sheep.”

The shot rang out and Wyatt jerked me to his chest, burying my face into his shirt as the deputies crowded around Paul, issuing orders to try to keep him alive until an ambulance arrived, but I’d seen his wound before Wyatt could pull my gaze away. I knew he wasn’t recovering from that.

Then I remembered he’d fired at Max and Marco. I pulled loose and ran to Max first, grabbing his upper arms and searching him from head to toe, looking for any signs of injury.

“I’m fine, Carly. He missed.”

I pulled him into a hug, holding him tight, even though it aggravated the pain in my ribs. I pulled away and searched the crowd of deputies for Marco.

“He’s okay, Carly,” Max said softly.

“Paul fired at him too.”

“And he missed him, although I’m not sure why. Based on what I’ve recently learned, Paul Conrad was a first-class bastard who shouldn’t have batted an eye at killin’ either one of us.”

He was right, but I had no answer for it.

Marco broke loose from a group of deputies and walked over to me, pulling me into a hug.

“You scared me to death, Marco! I thought he shot you! Multiple times!”

“I’ve already been shot twice, which is enough for me.” He tilted my chin, and his eyes darkened when he saw my bruised face. “I’m gonna have an ambulance take you to the ER.”

“I’m fine. I just want to go home.”

Softness filled his eyes. “I’ll get someone to get a quick statement from you, then have Max take you home.”

“I can take myself. My car’s just down the road.”

“I realize you can do it yourself, but I’d feel better if someone took you. I’d do it myself, but I’m going to be here for a few hours, and I don’t want to keep you waitin’ that long.”

“That’s okay,” I said. “I think I’ll have Wyatt take me. We’ve got some things to discuss.”

A shadow crossed his face. “Then I’ll call you in the morning.”

I grabbed his hand. “No. I need you to call me when you’re done.”

“It’s going to be in the wee hours of the morning, Carly.”

“I don’t care. I’ll wait up.”

He conceded, but he didn’t look happy about it. He found a deputy to take a short statement from me, telling me they’d want a more in-depth report the next day. The deputy didn’t seem upset that I’d been asking questions, but it occurred to me that I might need to get an attorney myself to keep out of trouble.

Wyatt had given a statement, and after hearing about my conversation with Abby, they cancelled the arrest warrant and told Wyatt he was free to go, but he had to leave his truck since all the bullet holes made it part of the crime scene.

Max could leave too, but he’d ridden with Marco, which was how I ended up hiking the half mile to my car with the two Drummond boys. Wyatt had told us he could hot-wire it if the keys were missing.

“How’d you end up with Marco?” I asked Max as we walked.

“I barely made it out of town before my truck broke down, which I suspect was sabotage. Marco happened to see me on the side of the road. I told him what was goin’ on, but he’d already gotten a call on his radio from Conrad. I had the recording you made with Abby on my phone, and he still had your recorder.”

“Okay, but Abby’s not sure she wants to give an official statement. She’s worried about losing her veterinary license. She’s going to need an excellent defense attorney first thing in the morning.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Wyatt said.

The keys were still in my car, but to my irritation, Wyatt insisted on driving. We dropped Max off at the tavern, then drove in silence for a few moments before Wyatt said, “I owe you my thanks.”

“No,” I said, “you owe me answers.”

“Carly…”

“You said if I helped prove your innocence, you’d give me answers. I got you off the hook and helped save your life tonight. The very least you can do is follow through on your promise.”

“I can tell you some things, but not what you want to hear.”

Same old bullshit. But I reined in my temper and asked, “And what do you think I want to hear?”

“Something that’s goin’ to give you some magical power to bring down my father,” he said, his voice weary, “but you’re not going to find it. It doesn’t exist.”

“That’s what you think?”

“Carly,” he said, sounding like he was getting pissed. “If you’re stickin’ around Drum because you’re set on bringing my father down, then do yourself a favor and leave already, because we both know you’re not stayin’ for me.”

“Pull over,” I snapped.

“What?”

“I said pull my damn car over.”

His hands tightened around the wheel. “Seriously? You’re gonna leave me stranded on the side of the road in the middle of the night?”

“No, I’m gonna drive my own damn car like a grown-ass woman. For some reason, you suddenly think I’m some fragile flower, but I’m not sure why. You didn’t seem to think that when you showed up at my bedroom door asking me to help you find out who killed Heather. You seemed to think I was capable of handling myself then.”

“My father is different. You have no idea what he’s capable of.”

“I’m more aware than you think. Now pull over.”

He jerked the car to the side of the road and came to a full stop, putting the car in park. “What the hell are you talkin’ about, Carly? Has my father threatened you?”

“My personal life is none of your business!”

“It is if it involves my father!”

I opened my car door and got out, then walked around to the driver’s door and jerked on the handle. “Get out.”

He climbed out and stood beside me. “Has my father threatened you?”

“Why don’t you ask him?” I slid past him and got behind the wheel, leaving him to walk around and get in from the passenger side.

He hesitated for a moment longer before he circled the car, and when he got in, he rested his hands on his knees. “I know you’re not weak. And I know you mean well, but you have to leave my father alone.”

“What happened?” I asked, pulling back onto the road. “At Seth’s funeral you were all for helping me, but it only took you a few days to change your tune.” I shot him a glance. “What did your father threaten you with?” I cast another look at him and saw the surprise on his face. “So I’m right?” How had I not realized this before?