Page 86 of Fatal Intent

“Don’t I always?” She winked at her husband. “We won’t be long.”

“Grant, remember the rules for preserving the crime scene.”

“Copy that, sir.” After brushing his lips over Rayne’s in a light kiss, Grant and Teagan jogged toward the hillside where the sniper had likely made his nest.

Rayne hated Grant going without her. Teagan, however, was the logical choice of a temporary partner since she was a trained sniper.

Refocusing, she grabbed another towel from the pile in Andre’s arms and pressed down on the fallen man’s chest wound. John Bowen was losing too much blood. If the paramedics didn’t arrive soon to transport him to the nearest hospital, he might not survive.

Who was carrying out this vendetta and why? Rayne and the rest of the team had spent hours scouring through the files of the five men who died during Red Dawn and the men who had passed away since their return from the field. Nothing stood out.

She sighed. They must work faster and dig deeper. The answer they needed was in the bits of data and information Riley had gathered. They just had to find the one fact, the one connection that tied everything together and revealed the killer.

A moment later, the medics rushed to the patio led by Gabe. A flurry of activity followed their appearance. Within a few brief minutes, the paramedics lifted John onto the gurney, strapped him down, and hustled toward the ambulance.

Gabe wrapped his arm around his mother, who followed the procession, weeping. “We’ll follow them. You won’t be far away from Dad.”

Seth signaled for Elias and Iona to go with them. He motioned for Rayne, Andre and Riley to follow him inside the house.

Once in the kitchen, the remaining family members stared at them. Finally, Isabella said, “You shouldn’t be here. Haven’t you done enough to our family?”

“Izzy,” Tony murmured as he wrapped his arms around her. “They’re here to protect the family. Let them do their jobs.”

“They’ve done a horrible job thus far. Why should I trust our safety to them?”

“It’s not their fault,” Cilla said. “If anything, the shooting is our fault.”

“What? Why on earth do you say that? We had nothing to do with the creep who shot Dad.”

“Didn’t we? Grant asked us to move indoors for our own safety. None of us agreed. We made protecting the family twice as hard by stubbornly refusing to go inside. So, no, I don’t blame them.”

“Well, sorry for not toeing the party line, Cilla, but I blame Grant. He brought this trouble to our doorstep. Dad wouldn’t be in the hospital if Grant had chosen a different line of work.”

“Honey, you’re understandably upset.” Tony pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Let’s not talk about this anymore. The kids don’t need to hear this.”

Cilla clapped her hands to get the attention of the children. “Come on, guys. Let’s go into the den to watch a movie.”

“But I’m hungry,” one little girl whined.

“We can bring the food inside,” Riley said. “How about a picnic in the den?”

“Yeah!” The children raced from the kitchen, voices pitched high in excitement.

“If the den has carpet, maybe Miss Helen has an old sheet we can spread out to protect the floor.”

“I know where one is located,” Cilla said. “Tony, why don’t you and Izzy fill plates for the kids. Maybe if we give them bottles of water, they won’t spill too much.”

“Excellent idea.” Tony went to a pantry and began grabbing small bottles of water while Rayne and the others ferried the food, paper plates, and eating utensils from the patio and set everything on the spacious kitchen counter.

Within minutes, the children were occupied with a movie and their meals. Just in time, too. Rayne eyed the two detectives who were speaking with Isabella about the shooting.

“Your brother Gabe and your mother are at the hospital with your father. So where is your other brother, Grant?” the older detective asked.

An excellent question. She glanced out into the backyard. Where were Grant and Teagan? She just hoped they wouldn’t run into any trouble.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

GRANT QUARTERED THEarea in front of them as he and Teagan jogged toward the high ground where she suspected the sniper had taken his shot. Teagan ought to know since she was a trained sniper. He’d witnessed some incredible shots by Seth’s wife. It was rare for her to miss her target.