Page 114 of Deathmarch

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Harper heard shouting from behind Dusty’s house where a light was on, so instead of trying the door, he darted around the building.

The corner floodlight blinded him to what lay beyond its glaring circle. He hurried past and saw a shadowy figure running across the neighbor’s yard with a gun in his hand.Dusty.

Where the hell was Allie?

Then Dusty stopped and pointed the damn gun into the gap between two houses.

“Freeze!” Harper pulled his own weapon and aimed.

Dusty’s head swiveled in his direction, and then his gun did too, a second before the man fired off a round that went ridiculously wide because the idiot hadn’t taken the time to aim.

Harper did.

And he dropped his man.

He kept his Beretta pointed at the guy’s chest as he marched toward him. “Dusty Chotkowski, you’re under arrest for murder and kidnapping.”

“Help me!” The man clutched his side, wide-eyed and gasping for air, red spreading under him on the half-frozen ground. “You shot me! Help!”

His gun lay a few feet from him where it’d fallen from his hand. Harper kicked it farther away before he stepped all the way up to the man who was screaming at him, unintelligibly now, losing it.

Even over all that, Harper could hear cars squealing to a stop on the street, doors slamming. Reinforcements.

“I’m in behind the neighbor’s!” he shouted and glanced back.

Mike rounded Dusty’s garage first, gun drawn, ready to assist. “Where’s Allie?”

“Shooter down,” Harper yelled over. “Call an ambulance.”

While Mike did that, Harper crouched next to Dusty, holstered his weapon, and compressed the bullet hole with his palm, one hand on top of the other.

Then Joe Kessler was there. “Where’s Allie?”

“Haven’t seen her. Here, take this over.”

Harper wiped the blood on his pants as he stood, then took off running toward the dark gap between the houses. He could barely see anything. “Allie? You can come out. It’s safe. It’s Harper.”

“I know.” Her voice was shaky. “Give me a minute.”

He stared in the direction of the voice.

She was crouching in the bushes, a long, broken branch in her hand that she held like a sword. She gripped it hard, steady. She’d been planning on going down fighting.

He wanted to gather her up and never let her go.

“It’s all right.” He didn’t step closer, gave her that minute she needed. “He’s not coming after you. It’s done. Over.” He wished he could see her better. He had a flashlight on his belt, but didn’t want to shine it into her face. “Are you hurt?”

“Did you shoot him?” She stood slowly. “Is he dead?”

“He’s not dead, but he’s not getting up. Joe has him. Everyone’s here. You’re safe,” he repeated.

“He was going to kill me.” For a moment, she held her makeshift weapon higher, but then she tossed it away. “That rat bastard wasn’t going to trade me for the gold. He changed his mind.”

“I’d shoot him again if I could for that.” Harper walked up to her and drew her into his arms. “He’s not going anywhere near you again. He’s going to spend the rest of his life behind bars. Armed robbery. Kidnapping. Murder. Attempted murder of a police officer, since he shot at me. He’s done. Finished.”

“I tried to get help, but the neighbors weren’t home,” Allie said against his chest.