“I’ve met a lot of trash in my life, but nothing compares to you. You’re a human-shaped pile of garbage, and now it’s my turn to make sure you never come back.”

My fingers dig into his windpipe, and he begins to turn purple as he stops breathing. I’m going to end his life with my bare hands because I won’t give him the chance to come after Tracy. Not ever again. I have to end this, and it stops now.

“Bronco.”

Tracy says my name, but I ignore her. The only thing I can focus on is getting rid of this monster.

“Bronco,” she says again, and I feel her small hand on my back. “Don’t kill him. He’s not worth it.”

“I won’t let him hurt you.” My teeth are clenched, and Walker has gone from purple to blue.

“If you kill him, you’ll go to jail. Please don’t leave me.” Her plea fractures my anger, and it cracks right down the middle as my hands begin to loosen. “I can’t live without you, Bronco. He’s nothing to us, don’t give him that power.”

With one last look at her father, I release him, and he falls to the floor in a crumpled heap. He’s coughing and gasping for air, and part of me is disappointed that he’s still alive. Turning around, I see Tracy standing there with tears in her eyes, and I pull her into my arms.

“Come here, sweet thing. I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Bronco,” she says against my neck, and I close my eyes.

“I’m sorry I ran out of here so fast this morning.” I kiss the top of her head and squeeze her tighter. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here soon enough.”

“You’re here now.” When she sniffs, I pull back to look in her eyes and wipe away the tears. “That’s all that matters.”

“You’re never leaving my side again,” I tell her, and she nods as she gives me a watery smile. “Good, glad we’re on the same page. From here on out, it’s just me and you.”

“Bullshit,” Walker barks and we turn to see him using the wall to help him stand up. “She’ll never be rid of me.”

“Bronco?” I look through the front door to see the deputy sheriff and two of his men coming through the broken frame.

“She’s mine!” Walker shouts, and before we know what’s happening, he pulls out a gun from behind his back.

It all happens so fast, but it feels like it’s playing out in slow motion. I throw myself on top of Tracy while the deputy sheriff draws his weapon. Walker raises his gun to fire at us, but the deputy gets his shot off at the same time. Walker gets hit right in the center of his chest, while his bullet goes stray and grazes my arm. Tracy cries out and clings to me as we fall to the ground and the chaos of what’s just happened settles into place.