Under Threat by B.J. Daniels (reading the story of the .TXT) 📕

while he believed in using his weapon with deadly force if necessary, as long as this man wasn’t actively trying to kill him, or take or harm Natalie, Vaughn was having a hard time rationalizing shooting first.

Maybe some of it had to do with the fact this could potentially be the only man on earth who knew where Natalie’s sister was. If Vaughn killed him without trying to retrieve more information, what might Natalie think of him? What might she lose?

It was the absolute last thing he should be concerned with, but, still, he didn’t shoot.

“But you see, Ranger Cooper, I know you, and I know your type. It’s why I’ve managed to do as much damage as I have. Because you’re all so honorable, or easy to buy off.”

“Try to buy me off and see what happens.”

The man chuckled, all ease and...something like charm, though Vaughn wasn’t at all charmed by it. Still, these were the most dangerous criminals to deal with, the ones without much at stake, except their own pride, or whatever was going on in their warped heads.

Of course he’d be charming and smooth, men like him were always charming and smooth. That was why people didn’t suspect them. That was why he’d gotten this far. But also because reason and rational thinking wouldn’t change their course. Nothing would. The man standing before him could do anything with zero remorse.

“But I’m not here for you,” Callihan said with an elegant flick of the wrist. “I’m here for the woman. I have plans for the woman who thinks she can get her sister away from me.”

Vaughn’s entire body turned to ice. Even in the quiet desert, he didn’t know if they were close enough for Natalie to hear that, but it was an admission. It was a certainty that Natalie’s sister was with this man, and that he was after Natalie. For very specific reasons.

His finger itched to pull that trigger, to end this, now. Though they were still yards apart, Vaughn thought he saw Callihan’s gaze drop to his gun.

“Lucky for me, Ranger Cooper, I don’t need you. Quite frankly, wherever that woman is, I’ll find her, but you’ll be de—”

Vaughn pulled the trigger. The whistle of the shot, followed by the man’s piercing scream, were barely heard over the beating of his heart.

He’d purposefully shot for the man’s weapon-wielding arm, and as Vaughn raced toward the dropped gun, Callihan started screaming for someone in Spanish.

Even though he knew Callihan was yelling for backup, which likely meant people with even larger weapons would be coming around that bend, he raced for the gun. Even though he knew he might have signed his death warrant, there was always a chance Callihan had only a few men with him, a chance Vaughn would be able to pick them off before...

But there was no chance if he didn’t get to Callihan’s weapon first.

Vaughn was so intent on reaching the weapon, and reaching Callihan that he didn’t realize there were footsteps behind him.

“If you so much as touch that gun with a fingertip, I will shoot you, and I’m not a very good shot, so if I aim for your heart, I might just hit your head.”

Vaughn skidded to a stop and looked back at Natalie, who was walking steadily toward them. She had the gun he’d taken from one of the men in the cabin trained on Callihan’s writhing form.

The man merely smirked, his hand still reaching for the weapon, before Vaughn could pull his weapon, Natalie shot.

“That’s the problem with women,” Callihan all but spat. “They can never shoot on tar—” She shot again, and this time Callihan howled.

Red bloomed at his stomach, and Natalie kept calmly walking forward, though now that she was close enough, Vaughn could see the way her arms were shaking. Callihan was screaming for someone named Rodriguez while he thrashed and moaned on the ground.

Right before Natalie and Vaughn reached Callihan’s weapon, a large man stepped out from behind the curve of mountain. He was dressed all in black, had black sunglasses and black hair, with multiple guns strapped to him—all black. Everything about him was large and muscular and ominous.

“Shoot them!” Callihan screamed. “Kill them both. What are you doing?”

Vaughn didn’t pull his trigger, and not just because the man didn’t pull out a gun. The man was shockingly familiar. Not because he’d arrested him before, not because of anything criminal. He’d trained him a few years ago on undercover practices, though Vaughn couldn’t come up with his name.

Callihan kept screaming at him to shoot, but the man didn’t make a move to reach for a weapon. He walked calmly toward the three of them.

“Tell your woman to put down the gun,” he said in Spanish, nodding toward Natalie, who was holding the gun trained on the man.

Vaughn glanced at her then, noting that everything about her was shaking and pale and scared. But she was ready to take the shot.

“Put it down, Nat,” he murmured.

“I won’t let anyone kill us. Not now. Not when that man has my sister.”

Callihan made a grab for his supposed henchman’s leg piece, but the man easily kicked him away.

“Ma’am, I need you to put your weapon down,” he said, steady and sure, making eye contact with Natalie. “I’m with the FBI. I’ve been working undercover for Callihan. I know where your sister is. She’s...safe.”

Natalie didn’t just lower the gun, she dropped it. Then she sank to her knees, so Vaughn sank with her.

“Does this mean it’s over?” she asked in a shaking, ragged voice.

“I think so,” he said, stroking her hair. “I think so.”

Natalie sat in a truck squished between Vaughn and this... FBI agent. Vaughn and the man discussed the case, the particulars of the FBI’s involvement and what the agent was allowed to disclose.

Natalie knew she should be listening, but everything was just a faded buzz. She couldn’t seem to stop shaking, and all she could concentrate on was the fact the