Page 86 of Last Chance Christmas

The dog bolted past the bushes.

Cole ran after Titan, his weapon drawn.

“I need backup near Greenleaf Road.” Thomas spouted off the coordinates of their location, then jogged after Cole.

Kianna took off after them.

“Over here.” Cole’s voice carried through the air, breathless.

Kianna dashed past a few trees before coming to where Cole and Thomas crouched.

A woman lay on the ground, her jacket covered in snow. Blood seeped through and covered her arm. More red droplets lay on the ground.

Kianna unraveled her scarf. The fabric would work as a tourniquet and tide them over until the ambulance came and she had more supplies.

“She’s unresponsive.” Cole glanced up and frowned.

Kianna knelt on the woman’s left side. Her face was pale, her brown hair matted and tangled.

She pressed her fingers to the woman’s neck. “There’s a pulse, but it’s light. She’s ice cold too—no doubt hypothermic.”

“This has Mackey written all over it.” Thomas grimaced. Then he pressed the button on his radio. “I need an ambulance, stat. Unresponsive female. Bullet wound and hypothermic.”

“Can you help me lift her off the ground so I can wrap this around her shoulder?” Kianna asked Cole.

“On three. One, two, three.” Cole held the woman’s upper body while Kianna worked to secure the scarf and keep the bleeding at bay.

Now they needed to wait for the ambulance and pray the woman woke up. She was the best chance they had of learning Mackey’s whereabouts and what he had planned next. For Jaxon’s sake and the safety of the other children in Last Chance County, Kianna would do everything to keep this woman alive and not let justice fade away.

Five

Cole stood guard with Titan by his side while Kianna assessed the woman. He admired her willingness to serve others. Especially when it inconvenienced her. She must be freezing now that she’d used the scarf to secure the woman’s wound. The wind picked up, and tree branches swayed.

Kianna pulled off her gloves and slid them onto the unconscious woman’s hands. “Ma’am, help is on the way. We’re going to get you warmed up and out of the cold soon.” Kianna spoke as if the woman would be able to understand everything happening, then she checked for a pulse once more.

“How far out is the ambo?” She gazed up at him.

Cole checked the time. “Five minutes.” He studied the woman’s pale face, her lips tinged blue. Even with her eyes closed, the woman seemed familiar. How would he know her?

Thomas finished talking to someone on his radio and stepped back over to join Cole and Kianna.

“Do you recognize this woman?” Cole asked. Familiarity niggled at the back of his brain. Like he should know who she was.

Thomas frowned, then took his phone out. “Does this look like her?” He held up an image of a woman in a black button-down polo and khakis, with a set of keys and handcuffs secured to a belt loop. Her lips were pressed in a fine line, and her arms were crossed in front of her, her brown hair secured in a ponytail.

“That’s her!” Cole pointed at the picture.

Kianna stood up. “Who?”

Thomas handed her the phone. “This is the female guard who was traveling with the convicts when they escaped.”

Kianna’s eyes widened.

Cole lifted his radio button to his mouth. “Victim is suspected to be Rainy Athers.” Once they got her to the hospital, Cole would be ready to question her. If she regained consciousness. No, she had to wake up. She was their shot at getting answers about Mackey.

“It’s believed she was in on the plan to help the convicts escape, right?” Kianna slipped her hands into her pockets.

Thomas nodded. “I want to know why she was left out here to die if that’s the case.”