Page 16 of Deputies Under Fire (Renegade Canyon #2)

Eden drew her gun, too, and she fired glances all around them. She expected gunfire, but she couldn’t see a shooter, only the thick woods that were on both sides of the road.

Woods where a killer could hide and lie in wait.

No way had kids done this. A spike strip wasn’t easy to come by, and she knew in her gut, this wasn’t a prank. It was a way to pin them in place while someone moved in for the kill.

Not Diedre, or even Helen, since Rory had taken the shortest route possible for the return trip home, and neither woman could have gotten ahead of them. But either or both of the women could have hired someone to do this. The same could be said for their other suspects, Ike, Frank and even Carter.

Any one of them could be responsible.

“Siri, call police dispatch,” Rory instructed his app, and the sound of his voice cut through the heavy silence that’d settled inside the cruiser. The dispatcher answered on the first ring.

“This is Deputy Rory McClennan,” he said. “I’m requesting immediate backup to the Old Sawmill Road about a half mile from the east side of the bridge on Dead Man’s Bend. My cruiser has been disabled by two spike strips stretched across the road. Tell responding officers to approach with caution.”

“I’ll get someone out there right away,” the dispatcher assured him, and Rory ended the call.

Eden knew it would probably take only about ten minutes for one of their fellow deputies to respond, but those minutes would feel like an eternity. Added to that, the only risk wasn’t from a possible shooter.

No.

They were on the back end of Dead Man’s Bend, which was essentially a steep, blind curve.

The cruiser was straddling the center line of the road with no shoulder to speak of that could be used as an emergency lane.

They could be hit by another vehicle, and delivery trucks used this route to bring supplies into town.

The cruiser was bullet-resistant, but it certainly wouldn’t withstand a head-on collision with a semitruck.

Eden listened for any possible threat. An oncoming vehicle. A shooter. But she heard and saw nothing.

Maybe this was the attack, having them locked in place like this. If the attacker had done some research, then they might have learned if a truck was indeed heading their way. No more would need to be done to either seriously injure or kill them. And the attacker could simply just walk away.

“Open your door just a fraction,” Rory instructed. He was not only glancing all around them, but he also had his head lifted and was listening. “Not enough so that a shot can get through. But keep it open in case we have to run from the cruiser.”

That definitely wasn’t something she wanted to do. Because a shooter could just gun them down. Still, they might not have a choice in the matter if they were about to be struck by another vehicle.

She opened her door less than an inch while he gave the voice command to the phone app again, making a second call to Dispatch.

“Alert responding officers and any and all traffic that my cruiser is disabled in the center of the road,” Rory said the moment he was on the line.

The dispatcher would no doubt do her best to make that alert, but it would be next to impossible to get out the word to everyone.

“Also remind any responders that there could be a shooter or explosives in the area,” Rory added.

“Explosives,” she muttered.

Dreading what she might see, Eden looked out the window and down at the part of the spike strip and road that was in her line of sight.

And her heart sank.

She’d been so intent on checking the woods for an attacker or listening for a truck that she hadn’t thought to look for a threat much closer to them.

“I think there’s an IED on the spike strip just a couple of inches outside my door,” she said to Rory.

He scrambled over the console to have a look. Rory was right in her face, so she had no trouble seeing the confirmation in his eyes. He immediately pulled away, scrambling back to his own side to gaze out his side.

And he cursed.

“There’s one here, too,” he said.

The adrenaline had already been slamming through her, but that bit of info gave her another round of it. Something she definitely didn’t need. Her body was already in the fight-or-flight mode, and she couldn’t do either.

“Are there explosives?” the dispatcher asked.

“Yes. Get the bomb squad out here now,” Rory ordered, “and block off the road in both directions.”

“Will do,” the dispatcher said before ending the call.

Again, that was going to be a long shot to accomplish the roadblock. Things like that took precious time, and anyone who did respond to block it off could be walking straight into an ambush.

“I don’t see a timer or detonator on the IED,” Rory muttered.

“Neither do I,” Eden acknowledged. “So maybe it’s like the one at the barn. If we step on it, it goes off.”

He made a sound of agreement and looked her in the eyes again. “If we have to get out, jump over the IED that’s on your side of the cruiser, but watch where you step. There could be other devices.”

She got another rush of adrenaline, and Eden had to try to stop the worst-case scenarios from playing out in her head. If she and Rory were both killed, Tyler would be an orphan. He could lose both of his parents in a blink.

And for what?

So a killer could throw chaos into the murder investigation? Or was this more personal than that?

She thought of their names being on Ike’s hit list. A list that Brenda might have composed simply to set up Ike. But what if she hadn’t done that? What if the killer had been the one to set her up?

If so, the list could be real.

With Rory and her the targets.

That thought was flashing through her head, but Eden forced herself to focus on a backup plan. Rory was clearly doing the same.

“If someone starts shooting at us,” he said, “don’t try to return fire. Shut your door and get down. Because a bullet could set off the IED.”

Definitely not something she wanted to happen.

As close as the IEDs were to them, the cruiser would be blown up. Maybe they would be, too. But at least there was a chance the cruiser would protect them enough so they could stay alive.

“If you hear an approaching vehicle,” he went on, “try to get out and dive to the side of the road.”

Again, not something she wanted to happen. Not with the threat of a shooter or more IEDs.

The seconds crawled by, and when her lungs started to ache, Eden had to remind herself to breathe. Had to try to settle her heartbeat, too, because it was thudding in her ears, blocking out too many sounds.

But she did hear one sound.

A welcome one.

It was a police siren, and it was coming from the direction of town. Seconds later, they got a call from Livvy.

“Are you two all right?” Livvy asked the moment Rory took the call on speaker.

“Been a whole lot better,” Rory replied. “Are you solo?”

“No. Bennie’s with me. We’re about three minutes out. What will we be up against when we get to you?”

Rory huffed. “Not sure, but for certain there are two IEDs and two spike strips. Slow down well before you get to Dead Man’s Bend.”

Livvy muttered some profanity. “We’re working on the roadblock,” she explained. “But it’s not in place yet.”

Which meant the worst-case scenario could kick in.

“No sign of who did all this?” Bennie asked.

“None,” Rory replied. “And I can’t see a vehicle on either of the two trails that are visible from where we’re stuck.” He paused. “It’s too risky for you to come close to us. You’ll have to wait for the bomb squad.”

“Understood,” Livvy murmured, and there was a whole lot of regret about this in her voice. “But Bennie and I can help if there’s gunfire.”

“No, you can’t,” Rory said quickly. “All a shooter has to do is hit the IED with a bullet, and the whole area can blow up.” He stopped, gathered his breath. “For now, just stop anyone from coming closer and plowing into us because that can detonate the IEDs, too.”

Livvy cursed again. “All right,” she said, and Eden didn’t think it was her imagination that Livvy was trying to steady herself. “Once we have a visual on you, I stop and we wait.” She paused. “ETA on the bomb squad is fifteen minutes.”

Eden was surprised it was that short amount of time. The bomb squad was a county unit, and they were based in a town on the other side of Renegade Canyon.

“Sit tight. We’ll be there soon,” Livvy added before she ended the call.

The silence came again, but Eden had thankfully tamped down enough of her body’s reactions so she could hear better.

And she continued to keep watch since she didn’t want a shooter darting out from the woods for a sneak attack.

After all, the plan might not be to kill them here, but rather to take them elsewhere so their bodies could be staged like Mellie’s and Brenda’s.

With the barn gone and the CSIs still crawling all over the site, the killer might have to find a new location, though. But there were plenty of other barns that might be a good substitute.

Every muscle in her body went on alert when she heard something.

The sound of an engine.

“Hell, it’s not Livvy and Bennie,” Rory groaned.

No, it wasn’t. This sound was coming from the opposite direction, and it didn’t take long before the vehicle rounded the curve.

Sweet heaven.

It was a Mack truck.

“Move now,” Rory shouted, and they reached for their doors at the same time.

Eden shoved open her door, hurdling over the IED and praying. She was doing so much praying. She dived to the ground on the side of the road. There was a steep slope, and she didn’t have time to look for IEDs.

Or anything else, for that matter.

When she hit the ground, she just kept moving. Kept sliding down, down, down. So fast. And she couldn’t stop before her arm slammed into a tree. The pain shot through her, from head to toe.

And her gun went flying.

So did plenty of other things.

Eden heard the sickening screech of tires. Heard the impact, too, of the Mack slamming into the cruiser. Metal crunching metal.

Then, the explosion.

The horrible blast tore through the air, shaking the very ground beneath her and knocking her into the tree again.

Her training kicked in. Her survival instincts, too, and she forced herself to get up so she could grab her gun. The thoughts and fears were slamming into her now.

So many thoughts.

So many fears.

For the driver of that truck. Of the possible IEDs that could be planted around her. Of a killer who could be waiting to strike. But there was one thought that stood out above all others, and it was screaming through her head.

Rory.

She had to get to Rory.

Keeping watch where she stepped, Eden scrambled back up the slope. Not easily. It was one step forward and two steps back in some places, but she finally made it up to the top.

And her heart went into overdrive.

It was a war zone. Parts of the truck and the cruiser were everywhere. The cab of the truck was still intact, though, thrown yards away from the collision, and she could see the driver, bleeding but still held in place by his seat belt.

He’d need medical attention right away, but Livvy and Bennie would be calling for an ambulance. They could deal with the driver. She had to get to Rory.

“Rory?” she called out, silently cursing when she realized her voice had almost no sound. Not enough breath.

Dodging the debris and hoping she didn’t step on another IED, she made her way across to the other side of the road. Eden was about to make another attempt to call out to him…

But then she saw him.

There was blood on his head. On his arm, too. But he was alive and moving up the slope toward her.

Eden went to him, and she let relief claim every part of her body and soul. She pulled Rory into her arms and held on tight.