Page 21 of Outlaw Ridge: Reed (Hard Justice: Outlaw Ridge #6)

───── ? ────

Hallie heard and saw the bullet slam into Jay’s shoulder. He made a sharp sound of pain, his eyes already wide with shock, and his legs buckled. Jay sagged to the floor just as Hallie saw something else.

“Gun!” Hallie shouted, her voice echoing down the narrow hallway.

Someone had stuck out their hand, and that hand was holding a weapon. One that took aim at Reed and her.

And the person pulled the trigger.

The shot slammed into the wall right next to where they were standing, forcing them to dart back into the sewing room.

“Did you see who fired?” Reed asked, his voice dripping with fresh adrenaline and the fierce tension of the fight.

“No. Only the hand.”

And while she couldn’t see that hand at the moment, another shot came their way. Then, another.

In between the deafening blasts, Hallie could hear Jay moaning in pain.

Maybe bleeding out, but it was also possible that this injury was an act.

Despite how real it had looked, and it looked damn real, it could be part of a ruse that Jay had set up to kill them.

He could have hired a henchman willing to carry out this sick plan to murder her.

“Help me,” Jay begged.

Hallie wasn’t completely immune to that pain she thought she heard in his voice, but she stayed put. Listening. She also fired off a text to Jesse and Shaw, to warn them to stay put, that there was an active shooter in the house.

It wasn’t safe for the EMTs to come in.

Wasn’t safe for Shaw or Jesse to do that either since it would mean coming up the stairs where they’d be an easy target for whoever was in that back room at the end of the hall.

“You’re letting me die,” Jay howled.

Reed muttered some profanity and made a quick glance down the hall. He got an equally quick response of another shot being fired at them.

“It’s me you want,” Hallie shouted to their attacker.

She stepped into the doorway, peering out for a second as Reed had done moments earlier. Just enough time for the shooter to have possibly gotten a glimpse of her.

Of course, Reed moved in right next to her and gave her a scowl, but she had to do something.

The longer this standoff went on, the longer it’d be before the EMTs could get in to tend to Mrs. Robey.

The longer Jay would continue to lie there and bleed, too.

But there was an even more important reason to end this.

The killer had to be stopped.

If that was Jay, then they already had him in their sights. And a paid hired gun might be willing to surrender. Or take the bait and come out for her with guns blazing. If so, she knew she could count on Reed to end this here and now. No way would he let her be gunned down.

And she felt the same way about him.

Yes, her aim might not be as good as his because of her injury, but she’d do anything in her power to get them both out of this alive.

She put the flashlight on the floor to free up her hand, and she nudged it with her foot so that it rolled out into the hall. It landed just right, creating a spotlight on Jay and the door of the room where the shooter was hiding.

“Well?” she taunted. “I’m right here, you sniveling coward. It takes a big man to club Mrs. Robey. Or to cower in a room while firing off shots.”

Because she was still in the doorway, she saw the movement. So fast. Like that shadowy blur on the stairwell earlier. Someone wearing a ski mask and dark clothes swooped out from the room at the end of the hall.

A man.

But she couldn’t tell who it was.

In a blink, the man dropped down, dragging Jay in front of him as a human shield. Hallie could see the blood that had already soaked through Jay’s shirt and his face was pale with shock and pain. The man pressed the barrel of his gun directly against Jay’s temple.

Reed and she both stayed back but took aim at the armed man. This possible henchman. Or he could be the real deal.

The killer they’d been searching for.

“Drop your weapons,” the shooter barked, his voice sharp and commanding. “Or I’ll kill him.”

Hallie froze, her weapon trained on the shooter, but her mind latched right onto that voice.

“It’s Luther,” she said, not in a whisper either, but plenty loud enough for him to know that she knew who he was.

“Yeah,” Reed replied. “The sonofabitch is the killer.”

She had to agree with that, but Hallie wasn’t sure why the man had created this nightmare. But she soon got an inkling of that when Luther shouted, “Idiots, you were supposed to gun down Jay. You were supposed to do your jobs and kill the asshole.”

“He wasn’t armed,” Hallie pointed out. “And he didn’t shoot at us, you did.”

“You were supposed to kill him because you hate him, and he’s trying to ruin you,” Luther insisted. “Then, you could have found me gagged and cuffed with his DNA all over me to prove that I was going to be his next victim.”

So, Luther had intended on walking away from this. But it was a bad plan since it hinged on her killing someone she considered an enemy.

“Did you do all of this for my mother?” she shouted.

She heard the bitter rage and disgust in her voice and had to fight to put a leash on it. It wouldn’t do for her to lose it. Not when so much was at stake.

“Of course, I did,” Luther yelled back. There was rage, too, and not a leash in sight. He was letting it spew out like venom. “You should have done it for her. You should have tried to save her.”

“She didn’t need saving,” she was quick to let him know. “My mother is guilty of every single life that she and my father took.”

“Liar,” Luther snarled. “Lying bitch. Tami was abused, and she was forced to do what she did.”

“Tami picked out the victims,” Hallie reminded him. “And she conned you. Did she tell you to kill me?”

“She didn’t have to. I understood that someone had to eliminate the threat to her appeal.

And that’s what I did.” There was pride now mixed with the rage.

A bad combination. “I’m eliminating anyone in those pictures.

Anyone who can claim they heard or saw something at that party to dispute Tami’s appeal. That included your worthless father.”

“The pictures,” Jay muttered. His eyes were glassy now, and he sounded shaky as if he was going into full shock.

“Yes, the pictures,” Luther spat out like the profanity that he added to it. “Tami thought anyone there might have… misinterpreted her relationship with her husband. He was a vile, abusive man who beat her into submission.”

Ah, Hallie got it then. Tami hadn’t been submissive at that party. Just the opposite. Something must have happened that could have been used to have her appeal denied. So, she had wormed her way into the heart and mind of this reporter and sent him on a quest to do her dirty work.

“You had my father murdered,” Hallie stated.

“Easy to do if you know the right people. Or the wrong one,” Luther bragged. There was an arrogance in his tone now. He was proud of what he’d done for the woman he believed he loved. “He deserved to die.”

“Easy to set up Corman going to visit Kip and Mrs. Robey, too,” she added.

“Damn right. That loser is so eager beaver to find out any dirt about you that he jumped at that fake message from your father. And the one leading him right here. Having Corman show up at the prison and here took some of the focus off me. You know it did.”

It had, and it ate away at Hallie like acid to think that her mother had managed to instigate more murders using Luther. As if Tami hadn’t already killed too many before she’d landed in jail. Now, she had Luther killing on her behalf and would continue that if they couldn’t stop him.

But how?

The hallway was too narrow, and there was no cover. Any wrong move could get Jay or them killed.

“Let Jay go,” Reed said, his tone low and dangerous, while his gun remained steady in his grip. “This doesn’t end well for you.”

Luther yanked off his mask and sneered. “You shoot, you hit him. You don’t shoot and back the fuck off, and I walk out of here.”

They couldn’t let that happen. Luther would regroup and come after them again. Or someone else.

“Throw out your guns,” Luther ordered, jamming his gun even harder against Jay’s head. “Tell your other deputies to stand down. Jay and I are leaving, and after I’m outside, I’ll let him go.”

No, he wouldn’t. Jay was a dead man if they let Luther drag him out of here at gunpoint.

Hallie’s heart pounded as she searched for a way to bring this to an end. Her gaze flicked to Reed, who gave her a subtle nod. “Toss out your gun,” he mouthed. “I’ll do the same.”

“Luther will know we have backup weapons,” she reminded him in a whisper.

Another nod. “But we need to let him believe that he’ll stand a chance of walking out of here with Jay. He’ll want to believe it,” Reed amended. “So, we’ll throw out both of our guns.”

Hallie felt the fresh fear slam through her. She didn’t want to face down a killer unarmed, but Reed was right, their guns weren’t going to help them right now. But once Luther was moving with Jay in tow, then they would have the chance to overpower him.

She hoped.

“I’m tossing out my weapons,” Hallie said, her voice steady despite the tornado of emotions slamming through her. She slowly crouched, setting her primary and then her backup on the floor.

“Now, mine,” Reed added, sliding his guns across toward hers.

“Smart,” Luther spat out, his chokehold tightening on Jay’s throat as he hauled Jay to his feet.

Jay groaned, his face pale and slick with sweat, his hands weakly clawing at Luther’s arm as Luther started walking, dragging Jay right along with him.

That’s when Hallie spotted the Kevlar vest and neck guard that Luther was wearing.

He’d obviously come prepared for shootout, and he wouldn’t be easy to kill, not with his head hidden behind Jay’s.

Reed shifted subtly, and Hallie felt his body tensing like a coiled spring. “Let’s talk to Luther. Let’s distract him,” he mouthed.

Hallie launched right into that. “You don’t have to do this, Luther,” she said. She stepped out just a little further, lifting her hands into the air to show him that she wasn’t armed. “Let Jay go, and we’ll work this out.”

Luther barked a harsh laugh. “Work this out? You think you can just arrest me and everything will go back to normal? No. I know how this ends if we play things your way.” He inched closer, dragging Jay with him as he shifted his body to maneuver around her to get to the stairs.

“You’re right,” Reed said, lifting his hands, too. “It doesn’t end well. Not if you keep this up.”

Luther’s eyes darted to him. “Stay back!” he snapped, adjusting his hold on Jay.

Reed took a single step forward, hands still raised. “You’re not walking out of here, Luther. Not with him. You know that.”

As Reed spoke, Hallie moved ever so slightly, her foot brushing one of the guns on the floor. Her fingers curled into a fist, drawing Luther’s attention to her for a heartbeat.

And that was all Reed needed.

He lunged, his hands a blur as he grabbed for Luther’s wrist and the crook of his arm. The speed and surprise knocked Luther off balance, and Jay slipped free, crumpling to the floor with a gasping cough.

But Luther dropped, too, scrambling toward the guns.

Hallie was already in motion, snatching her backup weapon from the floor and leveling it at Luther just as the man latched onto one of the guns. She didn’t give him a chance to take aim at Reed or her.

She fired while Luther was still moving.

Her bullet slammed into his chest, and she heard that sickening thud. Not of the shot going into flesh but into the Kevlar. Even at this close range, the vest had stopped the shot, but Luther howled out, gasping in pain.

She knew what he was feeling. That scalding burn of the hot metal against his flesh. And she felt no sympathy whatsoever. Neither did Reed. He kicked the gun from the man’s hand then Reed latched onto him.

“Don’t move, Luther,” Hallie warned him. “Next time, it’ll be a head shot.”

Luther struggled, his face twisting in rage, but Reed didn’t let go. He twisted Luther’s arm behind his back, forcing him to his knees with a pained grunt. “It’s over,” Reed growled.

He shoved Luther all the way down on the floor, put his foot on his back to hold him in place, and Reed scooped up his gun. She kicked the others away from Luther so he wouldn’t be able to grab them.

Keeping her eyes on Luther, Hallie crouched beside Jay, checking his shoulder. He was barely conscious and was losing a lot of blood. “He needs those EMTs now,” she relayed to Reed.

“Shaw, get the EMTs in here,” Reed called out, yanking a pair of zip ties from his pocket that he used to cuff Luther’s hands. “We have the killer.”

She heard the relief in Reed’s voice when he said those last four words. We have the killer . And Hallie felt some of her muscles unclench.

This is over,” she said, meeting Luther’s cold, hard glare with one of her own. “You’re going to answer for every single thing you’ve done.”

Luther glared at her. “I don’t think so,” he said as she heard a soft pop come from his mouth.

“Hell,” Reed blurted. “I think he’s got a poison capsule.”

Luther’s glare turned to a twisted smile as he closed his eyes. Before the EMT even reached the top of the stairs, Hallie was certain that Luther would be dead in a matter of minutes.

And she was right.

───── ? ────