Page 20 of Outlaw Ridge: Reed (Hard Justice: Outlaw Ridge #6)

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Reed snapped back to a standing position and grabbed the flashlight. He still had his gun gripped in his right hand, and he gave the Glock an adjustment, getting it ready in case he had to use it.

But he didn’t see anyone, and he didn’t hear anything else.

Hallie and he stood there, waiting. Listening. But after several long moments, there still wasn’t another sound.

“Go ahead and call for an ambulance,” he whispered to Hallie.

Mrs. Robey needed medical attention, and she needed it now. Unfortunately, she might not be getting it until Hallie and he made sure it was safe for the EMTs to come into the house.

Hallie made the 911 call, requesting an ambulance. “I’ll text Shaw and Jesse to let them know we heard something. One of them should come in to be with Mrs. Robey, but, I want the other one to stay outside in case it’s the killer and he tries to escape from an upstairs window.”

Good idea. He didn’t want a repeat of what had happened after the killer had tried to gun down Hallie. If they’d caught the killer then and there, then Mrs. Robey wouldn’t be barely clinging to life right now.

Praying that he didn’t add to the woman’s injuries, Reed holstered his gun and passed the flashlight to Hallie so he could free up his hands.

With some effort, he got the ropes off Mrs. Robey.

She practically tumbled into his arms, and he eased her onto the floor, shucking off his jacket so he could cover her with it.

With her gray hair no longer hanging in front of her face, Reed could see several angry-looking gashes on her head and the blood that had oozed and then matted around them.

Blunt force trauma.

The sonofabitch had tried to beat her to death.

Her eyelids fluttered, and her mouth began to move so Reed crouched beside her, pressing two fingers gently to her wrist again to check her pulse. It was still there. Barely. She certainly wasn’t getting any stronger.

“Mrs. Robey, who did this? Can you tell us?” he asked.

Reed hadn’t expected a response, but her eyes opened, and he could see her trying to focus. Trying to communicate something. She murmured one word before slipping back into unconsciousness.

“Run.”

Hell. That definitely hadn’t been what Reed had wanted to hear, and he wasn’t going to do that. Not a chance. He would do everything to save her, and that meant making sure it was safe for the EMTs to get to her.

Hallie obviously had the same thought because she fired some glances around the room. “No other way in here other than the backdoor.” She went over to make sure it was locked. It was. “We’ll have to make sure whoever’s upstairs doesn’t get back down here to the kitchen.”

Yes, because the killer might try to finish off Mrs. Robey. And that’s where Shaw or Jesse came in. The woman wouldn’t be alone, and if the killer managed to set fire or some other sick, twisted move, then the deputy stood a chance of getting her out.

Hallie and he started moving, making their way back through the dining and living rooms. Keeping watch in case the killer had sneaked down the stairs and was lying in wait for them.

They had just reached the still open front door when Reed heard Shaw say from the porch, “It’s me.”

Shaw came in, the rain dripping from his parka. “Jesse’s keeping watch. Where is Mrs. Robey?”

Reed tipped his head to the kitchen. “Stay with her until…well, until,” he settled for saying.

“Good luck,” Shaw murmured, heading toward the injured woman.

There was another creaking sound, and Reed knew it had definitely come from upstairs so that’s where Hallie and he headed. Lightning flashed outside, briefly illuminating the steps and the landing on the second floor.

And that’s when Reed saw what he’d missed earlier.

The water on the steps, likely from wet shoes. And then he saw more on the landing above them. It was just a smear of motion. Maybe even a shadow caused by the storm that then disappeared out of sight.

But Reed didn’t believe it was a shadow.

Apparently, neither did Hallie because that got them moving even faster, and Reed didn’t have to tell Hallie to be careful.

She knew the risks. Knew they could be walking straight into the line for fire.

That’s why they stooped lower when they reached the top.

Best not to make themselves easy targets.

Thankfully though, no one shot at them.

And Reed didn’t catch another glimpse of that movement.

Hallie fanned the flashlight around the pitch-black darkness, and he saw the single window at the end of the hall. And the four doors.

All closed.

Reed motioned for Hallie to cover him, and he edged toward the first door on their right.

She probably wouldn’t appreciate him taking the lead on this, but with her chest bruised all to hell and back, his aim would likely be steadier than hers.

Plus, this way he had the added bonus of being able to shield her body with his.

Temporarily anyway.

If the killer was in any of the other three rooms, then he could dart out and shoot her. That’s why they had to do this fast.

With his heart pounding and his body braced for a fight, he turned the knob and pushed open the door with his foot. Hallie immediately aimed the flashlight so that it cut through the darkness, revealing—

Nothing.

The room was empty except for a sewing machine on a table positioned in front of the window. There was a small closet, but since the door was open, Reed could see it was jammed with sewing supplies and not a killer.

There was another of those creaking sounds, and Reed pivoted in that direction. So did Hallie.

And they both took aim.

Just ahead of them, the last door on the right opened a fraction, the faint sound of the movement cutting through the silence like a blade. Reed’s pulse slammed into overdrive. He didn’t see who had done it. Didn’t see a weapon either. But his gut screamed danger .

He nudged Hallie back into the doorway of the sewing room, his grip firm on her arm as he stepped in beside her. “Stay low,” he whispered, his voice tight, eyes locked on the partially open door. The storm outside raged, the thunder rumbling like a countdown.

“Who’s there?” Reed called out. “Show yourself.”

Silence was the only answer he got. The kind of silence that prickled at the back of his neck. Reed’s finger stayed poised on the trigger, his body coiled and ready. Every nerve screamed to act, but he forced himself to wait to see what was about to happen.

Finally, a voice shattered the stillness. “I didn’t do this.”

The words were hoarse, shaky, and familiar. Too familiar.

Reed’s breath hissed between his teeth. “Jay,” he spat out.

So, Jay was the killer. Well, maybe. That I didn’t do this certainly wasn’t a confession, but it could be a ploy to make them think he was innocent so he could draw them out into the open.

But Reed immediately rethought that.

Seconds earlier, Hallie and he had been in the open. They’d been in the hall staring toward those other doors. That would have been the ideal time for a killer to take aim at them, fire and then duck back behind cover.

So, why not do that instead of spewing out anything, knowing they’d be able to identify him? Reed very much wanted to know the answer to that, but he also wanted Jay where he could see him. And disarm him if Jay had a weapon.

“Come out so we can see you,” Hallie demanded.

“You’ll shoot me if I do that,” Jay fired back, his voice trembling, but there was still some defiance in it.

“If we wanted to shoot you, the sheriff wouldn’t be asking,” Reed shot back. He shifted slightly, keeping himself between Hallie and the partially open door. “My aim would probably be steadier than yours,” he whispered to her.

She didn’t give him a wholehearted agreement about that, but she didn’t argue either. “Be careful,” she insisted.

“You do the same,” he answered and then Reed raised his voice so that Jay could hear him. “Step out now, Jay, or I’m coming in to get you. Your choice.”

More silence followed, broken only by the steady drumming of rain against the windows and the occasional crack of thunder. Reed could feel Hallie’s tension beside him, her grip tightening on her weapon.

“Jay,” Hallie finally called out, her voice calm but firm, cutting through the charged air. “You’re not helping yourself by hiding. If you didn’t attack Mrs. Robey, prove it. Come out and talk to us.”

Another pause, longer this time, as if Jay was weighing his options. Or plotting his next move to kill them. Finally, there came the sound of shuffling, slow and deliberate.

The door opened a little wider, and Jay stepped out, his hands raised to shoulder height. His face was pale, his hair damp and plastered to his forehead, likely from the rain. His clothes were smeared with something dark—mud, maybe, or something worse.

“There,” he said, his voice tight. “See? No weapon.”

Reed’s gaze swept over him. “Turn around. Slowly.”

Jay did as instructed, his movements jerky but compliant. Reed stepped forward, keeping his gun trained on Jay, while Hallie held her position.

“What happened?” Reed demanded. “Start talking. Now .”

Jay swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “I got a call from Mrs. Robey,” he said, his voice cracking. “She said she had to talk to me, that she had some proof that Hallie knew about her parents’ murders.”

Hallie groaned and belted out some profanity.

“I know now that it was a trick,” Jay blurted before Reed or she could say anything. “Someone made her say that. Probably while holding her at gunpoint. It was all a trick meant to bring me here so I’d be charged with her murder.”

“Keep going,” Reed ordered when Jay fell silent.

“When I got here, the power was out, and the door was open. I went in and found her…in the kitchen. I took out my phone to call for help, and through the window I saw someone in the backyard. I couldn’t see the person’s face, but I ran outside after them.”

“You ran out unarmed after a person you believed had just murdered someone and set you up?” Reed asked, and he didn’t bother to tone down the skepticism.

“No. I had my gun with, but I lost it. The ground was pure mud from all the rain, and I slipped and fell. The gun flew from my hand. Then, someone hit me with a stun gun. I didn’t see who. And I lost consciousness. The next thing I know, I come to up here, and I can hear Hallie and you downstairs.”

“Convenient story,” Reed muttered. “If that’s what happened, then where’s your car?”

Jay shook his head. “I parked it off the road. That’s what Mrs. Robey told me to do when she called me,” he tacked onto that when Hallie and Reed groaned. “She said she didn’t want anyone to know she was talking to me, that it could get her killed.”

If any of this was true, then it meant Mrs. Robey might be able to tell them who’d orchestrated it. Well, she could if she lived, that is. But Reed wasn’t about to buy Jay’s story. The man had motive to come after Hallie, and he might not care who else he had to kill to get to her.

“We’ll ask Mrs. Robey if that’s what happened,” Reed let Jay know. “She’s alive, by the way,” he added, and as if on cue, there was the wail of an ambulance siren in the distance.

Jay’s gaze darted to the stairs, and that was possibly guilt or panic that Reed saw on the man’s face. “I found her like that in the kitchen. I swear. Whoever jumped me must have done it. I-I didn’t even untie her because I was afraid I’d leave my prints on the rope.”

Reed exchanged a quick glance with Hallie. “It already looks bad,” she stated. “Let’s find out just how bad. Come downstairs with us, and keep your hands where we can see them.”

Jay didn’t budge. “You set this up, didn’t you.” He aimed a hard glare at Hallie. “This way, you silence me behind bars, and no one ever learns the truth about you. You lying—”

Jay stopped his rant when the door to his left flew open. Reed couldn’t see who’d done that, but he pivoted in that direction. Hallie did, too. And Jay started to run. He didn’t make it even a single step before the gunshot blasted through the hall.

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