Page 59 of Honoring Freedom

The man was bleeding from the back of his head.

*****

Keller ran so fast that his lungs were parched.

He’d heard the gun shot reverberate around the lake.

Lanah had found him and told him Freedom needed him. He had no idea what he’d find when he got there. Thankfully, he could pull up the camera footage on his phone. He saw her slip through the tree line at the lake. The drone didn’t cover that area and there were no cameras at the water so he could see what she was doing there. Lanah had been so frantic, he didn’t wait around to get information.

With the blast, the area would be crawling with cowboys soon.

He burst through a row of trees and he saw Freedom. She was alive.

Another man stood over Rigs who appeared dead. As Keller approached, the bulky man with a shaved head and a cross tattoo on his cheek said in a stone-like voice, “Good riddance.

Keller quickly moved toward Freedom, who continued to gaze at Rigs' body.

Pulling her into his arms, Keller turned her so she couldn’t see the grisly scene. “What happened?”

“Rigs is dead,” she muttered against his chest.

“I shot him,” the man said proudly. “Bastard shot Kent. I followed him here. Good thing I did. He was about to shoot her.”

“And who are you?” Keller felt Freedom’s shoulders shaking. She was coming out of shock.

“I’m Kent’s bodyguard. Tribe.”

“Thank you,” Keller said. He looked down into Freedom’s face. “You’re okay. You’re safe.”

She nodded. “Is—is Lanah…?”

“She’s fine. She’s calling the sheriff.”

“Rigs…he was sick. He had tied Lanah up.”

“Shh. It’s okay, sweetheart. I’ve got you, I’m right here.” He pulled her back into the safety of his arms.

Epilogue

“Twins. Can you believe it?”

Freedom smiled at her husband who was sitting in the driver’s seat as they drove to Liberty and Wyler’s. “It hasn’t sunk in. I’m a little worried about you. You look googly eyed.”

“Can you blame me?” Keller said with a grin like he just won the lottery and Super Bowl at the same moment. “A boy and a girl.”

“It will be awesome. Now that everyone knows that you and I are married, we’ll throw them for another loop by telling them we’re having twins.”

He reached over and took her hand, squeezing it gently. “Have I told you today how much I love you?”

“Only five times which isn’t nearly enough.” she teased.

“Well then let me clear that up. I love you. I love you. I love you.”

“When did you become such a softie, cowboy?” Her heart filled with love for him.

“Sometime after I almost lost you. If Tribe hadn’t killed Rigs I would have done it with my bare hands. I can’t believe he was right under our noses all that time.”

“That shows us that people can hide who they truly are. His real name was Pok? He had a criminal background. I can’t believe he shot Kent.”