Tracks of Her Tears by Melinda Leigh Page A

She stepped sideways, obviously trying to draw Travis away from the car. “Didn’t she have her purse with her?”
    “Not her purse. The bag that she kept the baby stuff in. It’s black like this one,” Travis screamed as he pointed to Carly’s purse with his damaged hand. In the other he waved his gun, still aimed directly at Carly.
    What to do? Seth scanned the surroundings. He needed to distract Travis.
    Hoping to draw Travis’s focus away from Carly and the kids, Seth stepped out into the open. “Put down your gun, Travis. You can’t get away.”
    “Fuck me.” Travis looked around Carly’s body to see Seth. “I’ll kill her.”
    “You don’t want to do that, Travis. You’re in enough trouble already. If you kill anybody, you’ll never see the outside world again. You’ll spend the rest of your life in prison.” If Seth took three steps to his right, he’d have a shot. He eased over.
    “Stop!” Travis screamed, his gaze darting back and forth between Carly and Seth. “Don’t move. I swear I’ll kill those kids if you take one more step.” His hand moved, arcing toward the vehicle.
    Seth saw the scene in slow motion. Sickness rose in his gut as the barrel of the gun swung toward the children. Desperate for a clean shot, he lunged sideways. He landed on one knee and steadied his aim on Travis.
    Carly drew her handgun from under her coat and fired. The shot echoed in the cold woods. Travis dropped the gun and crumpled, one hand pressed to his thigh. Seth raced past his wife and took Travis to the ground. Relief swept through him as he handcuffed Travis and rolled him to his back.
    “Are you okay?” Seth called to Carly.
    “Yes,” she said in a shaky voice as she moved toward the Jeep. Seth could hear her consoling the children as she crawled into the backseat. “It’s all right. You’re safe.”
    Thanks to her. Pride welled up inside Seth. His wife was one of a kind.
    Zane pulled up and got out of his police vehicle. He brought the first aid kit from his trunk and applied pressure to the bullet wound on Travis’s leg. “Paramedics are on the way.”
    “What the hell is the matter with you, Travis?” Seth asked.
    “Ow! This hurts,” Travis whined. “I can’t believe she shot me.”
    Seth had no sympathy. “You pointed a gun at the children, and you’re surprised she shot you?”
    “I wouldn’t have actually shot them,” Travis said.
    Dumb. Ass.
    “You’re lucky she didn’t castrate you.” Seth shook his head, his rage cooling as his brain and body processed the end of the threat. Travis was even luckier that Seth hadn’t shot him. He spent many more hours at the range than his wife. “Why did you kill Amber Lynn?”
    “Whoa.” Travis’s eyes widened. “I didn’t kill anybody.”
    “What the hell is going on, Travis?” Seth still wanted to beat the snot out of this sniveling coward who had threatened his family.
    Fear crossed his face. “He’s gonna kill me. You guys got to promise me you won’t let him kill me.”
    “Who?” Seth asked. “We can’t protect you if we don’t know who’s after you.”
    Travis looked around and lowered his voice. “Bob Fletcher.”
    Seth knew Bob was dirty. “Why is Bob going to kill you?”
    Sirens announced the paramedics’ arrival. Seth stepped back to let them in. “If you want protection, you’d better talk fast.”
    “I was out back at Fletcher’s the other night taking a piss on the way to my car when I saw Bob carrying a girl out the back door. She was either dead or unconscious. Couldn’t tell which. Bob dumped her in the back of his SUV. Thinking he’d pay me to keep quiet, I recorded it on my phone. I need money. My new job doesn’t pay much.”
    “So you tried to blackmail Bob?” Seth asked.
    “Well, first I backed up the video on a flash drive in case Bob searched me. I wanted to hide it good, so I put it in Amber’s purse. At least I thought it was her purse.” Travis swallowed. “Then I went to Bob