Page 19 of Outlaw Ridge: Reed (Hard Justice: Outlaw Ridge #6)

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Hallie’s breath caught in her throat. No, no, no , her mind screamed.

Not another one . Please, not another one .

She forced herself not to give into the overwhelming dread, into the gut-twisting nightmare that just wouldn’t seem to end. She had a job to do, and to get it done, she needed whatever details Jesse had just been given.

“Where? Who?” she managed to ask.

Jesse looked as if he, too, was having to battle his own dread. “Four one two Dearborn Road.”

This time, her breath didn’t just catch. It completely vanished as the realization of that information sank in. The address was familiar because she’d been there just the day before when Corman had trespassed and been held at gunpoint.

By Helen Robey.

Oh, God. Helen lived alone so it had to be her. One look at Jesse’s face confirmed that it was.

No one said anything about the possibility of the anonymous call being a hoax. Because it almost certainly wasn’t. Hallie figured when they went to that small ranch house with the pristine front yard, that they’d find Helen’s body, and that it would be posed as one of her parents’ victims.

“Shit,” Reed said, scrubbing his hand over his face.

That expressed her sentiment to a tee. Jesse’s as well apparently because he repeated it.

“Yesterday when I was done taking her statement, I asked Mrs. Robey if she wanted a police patrol to check on her,” Jesse said, and Hallie could hear the guilt in his voice. “She refused. But I should have pushed. I should have driven back out there to check on her.”

“There’s no way you could have known this would happen,” Hallie tried to assure him, but she was sure she failed. Because the guilt was also eating away at her. Why hadn’t she even considered that the killer would go after the woman?

Because she’d gotten distracted with all the other stuff going on, that’s why.

And that meant she had allowed that distraction to lead to a fatal mistake. One that had cost Mrs. Robey her life.

“You think Corman could have killed her?” Shaw came out and asked. “He was just there yesterday, which means he knew the address. Probably knew that she lived alone and didn’t have a dog to alert her if he was breaking in.”

Hallie was giving all of that some thought. Corman had said the mysterious note left on his car had led him there. But he could have gone there to scope out the place. Or kill Mrs. Robey. And had instead gotten caught. Hard to kill a woman who was holding you at gunpoint.

“Corman could have gone back there after we released him,” Hallie admitted, and that brought on even more guilt.

Guilt that wasn’t going to help, she had to remind herself. Best not to focus on that but rather on finding the killer and getting Mrs. Robey some justice.

“I can drive you to the scene,” Reed said, and she got the feeling it wasn’t just a suggestion. One way or another, he was going with her.

“I want to go, too,” Jesse was quick to volunteer.

She’d expected that as well and nodded. “Shaw and you will go in one cruiser. Reed and I in the other.” Hallie looked at Griff. “Please let me know if you find out anything else about those photos or deep dives you’re doing.”

“Will do,” Griff replied. “Good luck,” he added as Reed, Jesse, Shaw, and she headed to the supply closet.

Even though she knew it would be painful with the extra weight pressing against her bruise, Hallie vested up anyway.

So did the others. And she traded her raincoat for a heavy-duty one that stood at least a chance of keeping her dry.

With the storm still raging, that was going to be a huge challenge.

But worse, with every passing moment, every raindrop, that storm could be washing away any forensic evidence that the killer might have left behind.

Once everyone had on their gear and backup weapons, they headed to the exit. No one rushed out though. Because they all knew this murder could be a ploy to lure them out into the open.

So, Hallie could be gunned down.

She was certain that was still the killer’s endgame.

They stood in the doorway and took a couple of seconds, checking their surroundings for any signs that something was off. Hallie didn’t see anyone out and about, and all the vehicles in the parking lot belonged to the police department or the cops on duty.

Gathering her breath, Hallie bolted out into the rain. The others did as well, and despite her small head start out of the building, Reed still got to the cruiser ahead of her. He threw open the passenger’s side door, rushing her inside before he hurried to get behind the wheel.

“You don’t need to protect me,” she reminded him.

He gave her a short but flat look before he started the engine and drove out of the parking lot. “Yeah, I do. You’re the target, not me.”

Hallie had to sigh, the sound muffled by the hard slaps of the wipers on the windshield. “The killer will make you a target, too, if you get in his way.” Her voice giving away the fear she was trying to mask.

The thought of Reed being in danger caused her stomach to clench. She knew their jobs could come down to life or death, but the stakes felt higher this time, and that was a crushing weight on her shoulders. She didn’t want him hurt.

Or worse.

She didn’t want to lose him.

And that made her silently curse. Having sex with him had broken down barriers that she should have kept in place. At least a little while longer anyway. Now, they were involved. A personal connection that the killer could exploit to make them do something stupid and dangerous.

“You don’t have to take this kind of risk since you’re no longer a deputy. The killer will make you a target, too,” she repeated, figuring it wouldn’t do any good to spell that out.

It didn’t.

Reed’s grip on the steering wheel tightened, and he briefly glanced over at her. “Then I’ll just have to make sure neither of us gives him that chance.”

Hallie met his gaze, and she saw the determination in his eyes. There was no point in arguing further. She nodded, silently acknowledging that she knew he wouldn’t be backing down, no matter what happened. But she wasn’t backing down either.

“Don’t take a bullet for me, Reed,” she insisted.

He made another quick glance at her, and something else went through his eyes. “Tell you what. Let’s neither of us take a bullet. Let’s get this bastard and put an end to the nightmare.”

Hallie was all for that. But things can and did happen. And she had a really bad feeling about this. Everything they’d done up to this point seemed to be leading here. To this showdown. If she was wrong about that though, she had another idea how to bring this to a conclusion.

“If the killer has already fled the scene, I could make myself bait, to draw him out,” she threw out there, knowing that Reed wasn’t going to like it. And she was right.

“Not necessary,” he insisted.

“It could work,” she continued. “Put me out in the open with you, Shaw, and Jesse out of sight but still spotting me. I know all of you have sniper skills. I read your backgrounds. I know you could keep me alive and capture the killer.”

Reed kept his attention on the water-logged road, but she saw the muscles flicker in his jaw. “One thing at a time,” he finally said when he took the turn to Mrs. Robey’s ranch. “Let’s deal with this crime scene, and if and when it’s necessary, we can talk backup plans.”

He stopped the cruiser in front of the house with Jesse and Shaw pulling in directly behind them. Like the road, the yard had several inches of water on it, confirming that they wouldn’t be looking for any usable footprints.

“There are no lights on inside,” Reed remarked as he scanned the house and surroundings.

Hallie was doing the same thing, and just like at the parking lot at the police station, she didn’t see anything or anyone suspicious. She certainly didn’t spot a killer ready to strike.

Reed took a flashlight from the glove compartment, shoved it into one of the pockets of his jacket, and he bolted out of the cruiser and into the thick curtain of rain. Hallie did the same, and together, they barreled up the steps and onto the porch and under the meager cover of the awning.

They both immediately drew their guns.

Shaw and Jesse exited their cruiser as well, and they were carrying some equipment with them that they’d gotten from the supply closet. “Hold up. Let Jesse and me check for explosives,” Shaw told them.

Hallie certainly hadn’t forgotten what’d happened the last time they’d gone into a victim’s house. The killer had literally brought down the roof on them, nearly killing them, wounding Aaron, and destroying the crime scene. She didn’t want any repeats of that this time.

Shaw ran the detector over the front door and shook his head. “No explosives near here.”

That didn’t surprise her. The killer wouldn’t have wanted to blow them up before they’d had the chance to discover the body and see his “handiwork” for themselves. That was all part of this. The mental torture of her having to relieve her parents’ godawful crimes.

“I want to check the inside for explosives before we all go in there,” Shaw added.

“Agreed,” Hallie replied.

She tested the doorknob. Unlocked. So, she slowly pushed the door open, the creak of the hinges nearly swallowed up by the distant rumble of thunder, and Jesse and Shaw stepped just inside to the foyer. They didn’t waste any time using the equipment to scan the house.

Of course, she thought of Aaron. Of how close he’d come to dying in a trap the killer had set for them, and she prayed that wasn’t the fate of all four of them right here, right now.

The seconds seemed to crawl by, turning into a couple of minutes before Shaw finally turned back around to face them. “No explosives,” he relayed, setting the equipment on the porch. “Now, we’ll go check the exterior of the house to see if anyone’s around.”

With the storm, that wouldn’t be a pleasant job, but it was a necessary one. The killer could be lying in wait outside. Then again, it was just as possible he could be in the house.

Reed and she stepped inside to the small foyer that was jammed with a narrow table, a coat rack, umbrella basket, and several pairs of old work boots.

Nothing here appeared to have been disturbed.

Definitely no signs of a struggle, and there would have been had the killer barged his way in.

So, had the woman let him in? Or had he gotten into the house some other way?

“Mrs. Robey?” Hallie called out, not expecting an answer.

And she didn’t get one.

She flicked the light switch on the wall, and nothing happened. Either the storm had knocked out the electricity or the killer had cut the power. She was going with option two on this.

Hallie hadn’t gone inside the house the day before, something she was regretting now since she didn’t know the layout. And the storm and having no electricity weren’t helping with that.

The only illumination came from a quick slash of lightning outside the windows that gave her a glimpse of the stairs to the second floor, a small living room, and a narrow arched opening that led to what she assumed was either a dining room or kitchen.

“This doesn’t resemble the set-up of any of my parents’ murders,” she muttered, and Reed gave a quick sound of agreement.

He turned on the flashlight, panning it around the living room and stairs. No one was there and again she couldn’t see any signs of a struggle. There were at least a dozen framed photos and two delicate-looking lamps still upright on the mantle and end tables.

They kept moving, making their way through the living room. Reed was right beside her, his flashlight cutting a narrow beam through the darkness. The smell of damp wood and something metallic hung in the air, setting Hallie’s nerves on edge even more than they already were. She knew that scent.

Blood.

She forced herself to tamp down the gut-punch reaction she had to that, and they continued walking, heading toward that arched opening.

They kept their footsteps light on the hardwood floor, the tense, almost smothering silence broken only by the storm outside and the muffled sounds of water dripping somewhere within the house.

Every piece of furniture they passed seemed like a potential trap, every shadow a threat.

She’d been right about the arched doorway leading to a dining room. Not a formal one for special occasions but one that obviously got regular use. The table and chairs were worn. Ditto for the placemats.

Hallie’s heart dropped even more when she saw the half-eaten plate of food.

Chicken and vegetables. So, not breakfast but more likely dinner.

That could mean it’d been hours since the killer had gotten in since this didn’t look staged to her, and she still wasn’t seeing anything about this that mimicked one of her parents’ crime scenes.

They started moving again, listening and keeping watch as they went through another arched opening and into the kitchen. Reed’s flashlight landed on something that made both of them freeze.

Mrs. Robey.

She was in the center of the room, tied to a chair, ropes cutting into her frail frame, her head slumped forward. Her gray hair fell over her face, hiding any signs of life—or death.

“Mrs. Robey?” Hallie called out softly, stepping closer.

Reed set the flashlight on the kitchen counter and moved to crouch beside the elderly woman. The world outside the kitchen seemed to fade, leaving only the sound of her own blood rushing in Hallie’s ears. Slowly, he reached out and touched Mrs. Robey’s wrist, feeling for a pulse.

“She’s alive,” Reed said, relief flooding his voice, and he began to undo the ropes. He glanced back at Hallie, who had already pulled out her phone to call for an ambulance.

But as she did, a sudden sound knifed through the silence. A floorboard creaking from the second floor. Just above their heads.

Someone was here .

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