Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 75656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
I’m close enough to see his hand disappear beneath his jacket, and every nerve in me activates at once.
Gun.
I veer sharply to the left and throw myself toward the side of a detached garage as the shot cracks through the alley, its sound monstrous in the tight space. Wood explodes above me as a dog starts barking nearby.
For one frozen second, the shot replays inside my skull. Then training takes over.
Idiot.
I flatten to the garage wall, my breath harsh and my pulse hammering. I went after an armed man without bringing a weapon, without backup, and without even sending out a comms update.
He was near the school where Elena and T.J. are, and something possessive and furious in me wanted to get my hands on the bastard before he could disappear again. That doesn’t make it less stupid.
After two beats of silence, I risk a look around the corner and find an empty lane. Further down, the hedge at a narrow cut-through is still moving. I push off the wall and run in that direction, because part of me is still stupid enough to hope he made a mistake, but the path gives him three possible directions, and two parked trucks break sightlines.
Nothing’s moving except a curtain in a nearby house, where someone’s probably cautiously peering out.
There’s no runner and no vehicle peeling away, just sunlight on a once-again quiet mountain street and the metallic tang of discharged gunpowder in the air.
I force myself to stop and breathe and think.
The school.
CHAPTER 34
WESTON
I pivot and retrace the route at a controlled pace, my senses constantly surveying my surroundings. He might have circled back. He might have a partner, and they might be counting on me charging back blind.
But the path back to the school is clear, and when I get there, I take out my phone and call Buck.
“Talk,” he answers.
“I spotted him.”
“Location?”
“South side of the school. Concealed position in the brush.” I keep scanning as I speak, my eyes moving constantly. “He ran. I pursued, but lost him.” I add into the silence, “He drew on me in the alley behind Cooper Lane and Elk Trail. Fired once and missed.”
Buck swears, low and vicious, and Calder’s voice comes faint through Buck’s end, asking what happened.
“I’ll notify the sheriff’s office. Hold position until we get there.” Then Buck hangs up.
I slide the phone back into my pocket and approach the brush from an angle, moving slowly and carefully. The man abandoned more than I expected. Tucked against a rock outcrop and masked with cut branches, there’s a compact surveillance setup with a view of the gymnasium doors, part of the playground, and the windows of three classrooms.
There’s a tripod, binoculars, and a small digital camera, all of it professional quality.
Two flattened cigarette butts are ground into the dirt near the rock. Cardboard and thin paper, different from the others, but still foreign.
Either Kozlov ran out of his regular brand, or he’s got someone working for him.
A few minutes later, Buck and Calder come in hot, both of them looking furious enough to do damage. The same rage is still flowing through my veins.
They survey the gear without touching any of it, while I give them a rundown of what happened. The chase, the alley, the shot, and the fact that the shooter didn’t waste rounds after buying himself distance.
“A professional doesn’t shoot to scare unless he has a reason,” Calder says.
Buck glances at me. “He didn’t want a body in the middle of town.”
“Not yet,” Calder says grimly as he moves to bag up evidence.
We secure the equipment and clear the area. By the time we regroup in Buck’s office, the adrenaline has burned off enough to leave me with the full weight of what almost happened.
“We need to move them,” I announce as we stand over the surveillance equipment that’s now spread across the desk. “Elena and T.J.,” I add when no one responds. “Tonight. Off-site to a controlled location. Maybe Sentinel’s compound first, then somewhere further out.”
“And then what?” Buck says. “We tuck them away and hope he gets bored?”
“We reduce his access.”
Calder cuts in. “He’s already dictating movement. You want to reward that?”
“I want them alive.” I pound the desk, taking all three of us by surprise.
“So do I,” Buck says with just as much heat.
“Then act like it.”
His face hardens. “You don’t think I am?”
“I think you’re too close to this town and too convinced we can handle the battlefield because it’s home turf.” I shove a hand through my hair. “He’s been inside the school. He fired in town and still got away.”
“And you think dragging Elena and T.J. out under pressure fixes that?” Buck demands.
“This doesn’t end by backing up,” Calder says. “It ends when we find him and stop him.”
I trust both of these men with my life, but they’re dead wrong if they think I’ll gamble Elena’s. “She’s not a tactical asset. She’s not bait.”