Chapter 4 - The Showdown in the Study
Before Victor could squeeze the trigger, a heavy oak chair crashed through the side study door.
Detective Miller—the head of Daniel’s private security detail, who had been listening to the entire exchange through the intercom system in the hallway—tackled Victor mid-air.
The gun discharged with a deafening roar, blowing a massive hole in the plaster ceiling before skittering across the Persian rug.
Victor roared in anger, throwing elbows and trying to wrench free, but Miller—a retired federal marshal who had seen every dirty trick in the book—applied a swift, decisive joint lock, pinning the ranch manager face-down against the floor with his knee pressed firmly into Victor’s spine.
“Stay down, you son of a bitch,” Miller growled, snapping heavy steel handcuffs around Victor’s wrists.
Daniel stood frozen near his desk, the smoke from the gunshot drifting lazily toward the ceiling. His heart pounded against his ribs, not from fear of the weapon, but from the sudden, overwhelming realization of how close he had come to destroying an innocent life.
If he had listened to Victor, if he had let the sheriff arrest Emma, he would have played right into the murderer’s hands.
“Get him out of my sight,” Daniel commanded, his voice trembling slightly. “Take him down to the county jail and make sure the sheriff knows every single charge—embezzlement, child endangerment, attempted kidnapping, and conspiracy.”
As Miller hauled the struggling, swearing ranch manager out of the room, Daniel sank slowly into his leather chair. He looked down at the desk, his eyes resting on the ruby pendant that still lay where he had placed it the night before.
May you like
He had protected his daughters from the cold. But he had failed to protect them from the poison festering inside his own home.
And there was one debt he needed to settle immediately.
