Page 471 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

“About a minute. He pulled out from a dirt road we passed.” Gavin weighed his options. This street passed by Claire’s property. He needed to deviate. A road with better lighting would be a good start. If he could get a view of the license plate, they could get an ID on the owner.

The rear window of their patrol truck shattered. Gavin instinctively grabbed Claire and pushed her down into the seat. “He’s shooting at us.”

Several more bullets slammed into their vehicle. Anger, piping hot, raced through Gavin’s veins. His foot pressed down on the accelerator as he tried to put some distance between them and the shooter. Dangerous, given the wet road conditions andthe chance of black ice, but he didn’t have a choice. The madman behind them was determined to hurt Claire at any cost.

Icy wind whipped into the truck through the broken rear window. Gavin didn’t hit the brakes as the road curved. His mind raced as he ran through various evasive maneuvers. He prayed no one was coming in the other direction on the road. The last thing they needed was an innocent civilian getting caught in the shootout. Claire rapidly spouted off their location and the situation to dispatch.

The truck behind them increased his speed. Gavin gripped the steering wheel. “Stay down!”

Another spray of bullets rocked their vehicle. Gavin swerved to make them a harder target to hit. The windshield shattered, spraying squares of glass in all directions. One sliced his cheek, another his hand. He barely felt the cuts. “Claire, you okay?”

“I’m not hit.” She stayed low and pulled her weapon. “You?”

“No.”

He gritted his teeth as Claire turned and returned fire. The truck behind them immediately backed off. It then took a sudden turn toward the lake. With horror, Gavin realized where the shooter was going.

Claire’s family. Jacob. He’d taken the turn that would lead to her parents’ house.

Gavin slammed on the brakes. The seat belt dug into his shoulder and smoke drifted from the tires as the scent of rubber filled the air. He maneuvered the damaged patrol truck into a three-point turn. Every precious second it took made his chest tighten. In the passenger seat, Claire was speaking frantically to her father, telling him to move to a secure location in the house.

She hung up. “The trooper assigned to guard my family is doing a perimeter check of the property.” She radioed into dispatch, ordering them to contact the trooper.

Somewhere inside his head, Gavin was grateful for her quick thinking and level headedness. It allowed him to focus on driving while she coordinated the safety of everyone else. The frigid air flying in through the shattered windshield iced his hands. His fingers grew numb.

He turned onto the Wilsons’ property and blew past the main office. The lights were out. Claire’s dad had given his staff a few days off and arranged for the few renters they had to stay at a hotel. It was good foresight on his part.

Gavin took the fork toward Claire’s childhood home. The lights in the pretty log cabin shone like a beacon in the dark. He increased his speed. A flash of chrome on a side street caught Gavin’s attention.

The black truck.

Gunshots erupted. The steering wheel under Gavin’s hands jerked as several bullets hit the tires. He struggled to regain control of the vehicle, but it was impossible. They went into a spin. Metal crunched and more glass shattered as the patrol truck slammed into a pine tree. The engine sputtered and then died.

Claire. Gavin sucked in a breath and turned his head. His airbag hadn’t deployed, but hers had. He pushed it out of the way. “Claire.”

She lifted her head and blinked at him. White powder covered her face and a scratch from the glass marred the bridge of her nose, but recognition flared in her beautiful eyes. “I’m okay, Gavin. What happened?”

The black truck pulled out from a small side road. The shooter had laid a trap, using Claire’s family against them, and Gavin had stupidly fallen for it. He fumbled with his seat belt. Numb fingers slowed his movements. “Get down, Claire.”

He spared a quick glance in her direction. She was slipping low in her seat, reaching for her weapon. Gavin’s fingers finallyfound the button and his seat belt released. He pushed open his door with one foot while pulling his gun.

“Texas Ranger,” he screamed, loud enough for the driver of the truck to hear. “Come out of your vehicle with your hands up.”

On the other side of the car, Claire had also opened her door and, like Gavin, was using it as a shield. Her gun was trained on the truck. Gavin’s heart thumped once. Twice. He thought for a second the driver was going to listen to his instructions.

Then the motor revved. Gavin fired his gun, but the truck kept coming. He was on a collision course with them.

No. Not them. With Claire. The angle of the truck would put the brunt of the impact on her.

Gavin didn’t have a second to shout a warning, but in his head, he was yelling Claire’s name. He threw himself clear of the open door, just as the criminal’s vehicle rammed into the patrol truck. Metal screeched. Asphalt bit into Gavin’s skin as he rolled across the road. Pain ricocheted through his shoulder. His gun tumbled from his fingers.

He landed in the grass on the opposite side of the street. Gavin lifted his head and his heart stopped. His vision narrowed to the two vehicles mashed together on the other side of the road. Claire’s side of the patrol truck was crumpled against the trees. If she hadn’t moved in time, she’d been crushed.God, no. Please, no.

Gavin stumbled to his feet. His gun lay on the road in the opposite direction. The black truck reversed in preparation to slam into Claire’s vehicle again.

One step. Two. He wouldn’t make it to the weapon. There was no choice. Gavin screamed and raced for the side of the truck. He would stop the man with his bare hands if he had to. The driver turned. Gavin glimpsed a black ski mask.

The wail of sirens erupted through the night air. Relief rippled through Gavin. Backup was coming.