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“I know all of this because Emily told me. She’s standing right behind you.”

He turns, gun wavering in all directions, searching the trees and bushes in the fast-falling darkness. The forest is more shadow than light now. This is my chance, and I take it. I rush him. He turns just before I reach him, arm raised, and shoots.

Ava screams.

The blast is deafening. My ears ring, and I lose my balance for a fraction of a second and stumbled into Jeff. The gun goes off again.

We hit the ground hard. The smell of gunpowder and dust fills the air as we wrestle in the dirt. The dog barks and growls. We fight for the gun, my hand locking around his wrist. He knees me in the stomach and pushes me away.

He staggers to his feet as I reach for the gun at my waist. It’s not there. I go for the gun at my leg as Jeff lifts his arm, aims toward Ava, and shoots.

“Nooooo.” A strangled shout rips out of me.

Everything slows down.

Ava falls back, her head turning, hair flowing and covering her face, arms stretched out to her sides. She hits the ground and doesn’t move.

The eighty-five-pound dog lunges and locks his deadly jaws on Jeff’s throat. He falls back, his arms flaying, and the Glock fires again and again. I cringe at the horrible sounds of tearing flesh and cartilage.

The dog lets go. Gurgling sounds come from the bloody, gaping hole in Jeff’s throat. He twitches and goes still, his eyes open and fixed on the darkening sky. The dog whimpers and crawls over to Ava, his muzzle covered in blood.

Terrified, I run to Ava’s side and brush the hair away from her face as gently as I can. The entire left side of her head is covered in blood. It runs down her face and onto her neck. So much blood it paints my hands red.

I’m sick to my stomach. “No, no, no, God, please, no. Ava? Ava, Ava.”

The small moan is barely audible. I check her pulse, and it beats steady against my fingertips. I look over her entire body and don’t see any other wounds. Then, my gaze falls to the bulletproof vest. A round grazed the left side but missed her entirely.

I grab my phone and dial dispatch. “This is Detective Jake Knox and I need an ambulance. Now.”

I give them the location where we parked and hang up. I have to carry Ava out and meet them by the cruiser.

“Ava, please, can you hear me?”

Her eyes flutter open, and she winces. She tries to touch her head, but I grab her hand. Her eyes widen. “You’re hurt and bleeding.”

“No, I’m fine. It’s not my blood, it’s yours. What do you feel? What hurts?”

“My head hurts, and my side aches.”

“I called the medics, but I have to carry you out of here.”

She winces again. “Jeff?”

“Dead.”

“Help me up, please.”

“Let me pick you up.”

“No, I need to touch Jeff. I need to find Lynn.”

I curse under my breath but help her up. She leans heavily on me. “Don’t look.” I lower her next to his feet, and she reaches for his ankle, hovers her hand for a moment, and closes her eyes before touching him. She flinches the moment she does.

“I know where Lynn is.” She swallows and her voice cracks. “And where he kept the bodies. Call the chief.”

I grab my phone and dial.

“Knox? We got nothing. The house is clean. I—”