Back to the Crossfire

Chapter One

Riley's POV

The rain slapped against Riley Winslow's face like a warning as she sprinted through the mud, her heart pounding faster than her feet could carry her. The truck behind her was relentless, its headlights cutting through the storm, illuminating the trees that blurred by in a dizzying streak.
Her boots sank deep into the muddy earth as she hurried down the narrow trail, her heart hammering in her chest, louder than the thunder that rumbled overhead. She glanced behind her once, just once, but all she could see was the silhouette of the black truck cutting through the mist. A truck that had been tailing her for miles.
Riley kept running.
The road was nothing but a blur beneath her, the path winding through thick pines and underbrush, the trees so dense it felt like the world had closed in around her. She shouldn't have come here. Shouldn't have returned to this place. But when things went south back in town, when the people she trusted turned their backs, she'd found herself with nowhere else to go.
The truck's headlights pierced the mist again, closer this time. They were gaining on her.
She glanced ahead. An old barn was just visible through the trees, barely more than a shadow in the dark. She had to make it there, she had to—
Her foot caught on a rock, sending her sprawling to the ground. The mud sucked at her like a vice, and her hands scraped against the wet dirt. She gasped, trying to catch her breath, but before she could push herself up, a voice cut through the storm, low and dangerous.
"Don't run, Riley. It's only going to make it worse for you."
She froze. That voice.
It was him.
Her pulse skipped, and her eyes shot up to see the figure of a man step from the shadows, tall, broad-shouldered, his silhouette framed by the dim glow of the truck behind him. His face was partly obscured by the brim of a weathered cowboy hat, but she didn't need to see it to know who he was. Colton Reid, the son of the largest ranch owner in Montana, and county Sheriff. The man who was once my best friend and lover.
But instead, he was standing in front of her like the gatekeeper to hell, his presence as heavy as the storm swirling around them.
She pulled herself to her knees, her heart still racing. "Colton," she breathed, her voice rough from the cold and the fear. "I—"
"You should've stayed away, Riley." He didn't move, didn't even blink, his words cutting through the rain like a blade. "You know what happens when people like you come back here. You don't belong here."
He took a step forward, and the air seemed to thicken, like a storm was gathering between them, more than just the one overhead.
Riley's mind raced, but her mouth didn't obey. She opened it, tried to find the words to explain—everything. To tell him about the debt she'd inherited, the lies she'd been sold, the fight she'd been forced into. But it all turned to dust in her mouth. The truth didn't matter here. Not now. Not in this place.
"Please," she whispered, desperate. "You don't understand."
"I understand just fine." His voice was as cold as the rain pouring down around them. "You thought you could come back here after everything you did. But you can't, you're not welcome here. If anyone recognises you..."
His boots crunched against the wet gravel as he took another step closer, until they were inches apart. She could smell the whiskey on his breath, the tobacco that clung to his clothes. He'd always smelled like this. Always been so close, just out of reach, like a storm waiting to break.
"This isn't your fight anymore, Colton. I'm not your—" she said, forcing the words through her clenched teeth.
"You're right about that." He cut her off, his eyes narrowing. His gaze was sharp, calculating, like he was already thinking about how to put an end to her. "It never was, Riley. It was always about you, never us."
The truck's engine rumbled louder behind her, and she glanced over her shoulder, just long enough to see two men step out of it—men who looked like they had spent their lives in this kind of storm, men who wouldn't hesitate to kill her right here and now. Riley swallowed, her mind scrambling for an escape.
There had to be a way out.
The barn wasn't far, but it might as well have been miles. Every step felt heavier than the last, every breath harder to take. She could feel the weight of her choices crashing down on her, the desperation rising. There was no getting out of this without a fight.
And she wasn't sure how much fight she had left.
"Colton, I—I'm not asking for your help," she said, forcing the words out. "I just need you to leave me alone. That's all."
His lips curled into something dark and mocking, but his eyes—those cold, calculating eyes—didn't waver. "You think I'll leave you alone?" He shook his head, taking a final step toward her, so close now that she could feel the heat radiating off him. "You should've stayed gone, Riley."
Colton's hand moved to his side, where a gun rested in a holster. She flinched, but he didn't draw it. Not yet.
There was a long, tense silence before he spoke again, his voice a low growl. "You're not getting out of this, not without paying the price. So, the question is—what's it gonna be, Riley? You want to keep running? Or you want to make a deal?"
Riley's breath hitched. The rain poured harder. And in the midst of it all, one thing was certain: she was still in love with the man who she tried to leave behind four year ago.