Page 14 of Outlaw Ridge: Shaw (Hard Justice: Outlaw Ridge #5)

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Ava had no trouble hearing that thick blast of gunfire that cracked through the air. She was already stooping down on the platform, aiming the flashlight on her phone at Shaw, but that got her dropping even lower. She went belly down.

Just as there was another shot.

This one slammed into the wood right next to her, kicking up a spray of splinters and coming way too close to hitting her.

She heard Shaw curse. Then, heard him scrambling to get to her, but Ava knew she had to do something right away or she was going to be shot.

Someone was obviously trying to kill her, and while she wanted to try to get a glimpse of the person, it could turn out to be a fatal mistake.

She scrambled beneath the raised portion of the platform, trying to flatten out her body as much as possible.

She was likely out of the line of sight of the shooter, but her only protection was the old wood, and bullets could easily get through that.

Not just to her either.

But to Shaw.

At that reminder, her head whipped up, and she saw him scrambling to get to her. Her stomach did a nosedive though and she gasped when she spotted some blood on his head.

“Were you shot?” she couldn’t ask fast enough.

“No. You?”

She shook her head. “And I didn’t get a look at who’s doing this.”

“The killer’s doing this,” he snarled. “Or a hired gun. Stay down,” he tacked onto that, and he continued moving.

It took her a moment to realize he was trying to get past her in the narrow space. No doubt so he could confront the shooter. No way did Ava want him to take that kind of risk.

“What the hell’s going on?” she heard Owen ask through her earpiece.

She certainly hadn’t forgotten about him, but hearing his voice was a reminder that Shaw and she weren’t alone in this. They had help and backup.

“Is that gunfire?” Owen demanded.

“It is,” Shaw verified. “What’s the location of that second heat source the drone picked up?”

“Behind a trio of trees about twenty yards from your location,” Owen replied after a short pause. “Judging from the position of your own heat source, he’s at your nine o’clock. I’ll get Lexa and Jemma to come up behind the shooter. What about the victim?”

There was enough light for her to see the dread that crept into Shaw’s eyes. “Dead, I think. The heat source was coming from some hand warmers stuffed into a sleeping bag.”

Owen cursed, and Ava silently did as well. If the victim was already dead before Shaw and she had even arrived, then this was likely a ruse. Something meant to draw them out so they could be shot.

But why?

This wasn’t the way the riddle killer had played the game in the past. So, why had the rules changed? Maybe because the person thought Shaw and she were getting too close to the truth? They weren’t. But the killer might not know that.

There was another shot. Then, another. Both slammed into the wood, sending out more splinters and coming too damn close to Shaw and her.

Shaw practically crawled over her, shielding her with his body, and Ava hated that he was putting himself at risk like this. “We can both return fire,” she managed to say. “We know his location.”

Of course, that might be “her” location since two of their suspects were female. But she had no idea if either Lorelei or Valerie had any firearms training that would allow them to launch an attack like this.

“Too risky,” Shaw insisted just as there were two more rounds of gunfire.

“The shooter’s moving closer,” Owen warned them. “He’s out from behind the trees and is coming right for you.”

That got Shaw moving even faster. He was going out there. And despite the Kevlar vest, he could be killed. Shaw no doubt knew that, but it didn’t stop him. He scrambled his way past her and into the opening of the platform.

Ava had seen Shaw in rescue mode too many times, but this was her first glimpse at the trained military warrior. The former Combat Rescue Officer who clearly had one mission on his mind.

To eliminate the threat.

He moved fast, almost a blur of motion. Shaw levered himself up, his torso rising up above the platform. In that span of a second or two, he was already in position. Already pulling the trigger of his Glock.

The shots were like thundering booms. So loud. So fast. And the gunman responded by returning fire.

That caused her heart to skip a couple of beats, and Ava barely suppressed a scream. She wanted to shout at Shaw to take cover. But any sound she made right now might distract him. And get him killed. So, she clamped her teeth over her bottom lip and prayed.

Shaw didn’t stop with those two shots, and he definitely didn’t drop back down to get out of the way of gunfire. Ava saw him make a quick adjustment, and he sent off another round to their attacker.

Ava heard a different sound then. A sickening thud, and she was certain it’d come from a bullet slamming into flesh.

“Shaw,” she murmured, unable to stop herself from rushing to the opening.

She had to fight through the panic, through the horrible fear that Shaw had been shot. She bolted toward him, into the opening, and that’s when she could see that he had his gun trained on something.

The person who was now lying on the ground.

Still in panic mode, Ava’s gaze flew over Shaw, checking for any signs of injury. But other than that cut on his head, he wasn’t hurt. She couldn’t say the same for the person about ten yards away from them.

“Shooter’s down,” Shaw said, no doubt to give a status report to Owen. “Any other unidentified heat sources in the area?”

“None,” Owen assured him.

So, this person had been acting solo, and Ava was very eager to find out who’d just tried to murder them. Apparently, Shaw was as well because with seemingly no effort, he bounded out from the platform and landed on a grassy clearing that lay between them and the shooter.

Ava climbed out, too, and despite there not being any other heat sources nearby, she kept her gun ready just in case there was a surprise attack.

“Lexa and Jemma are approaching from the south,” Owen let them know.

Good thing, too, because Ava’s nerves were still zinging, and the sound of approaching, running footsteps didn’t help. But she soon saw the two deputies hurrying toward them.

“Either of you hurt?” Jemma called out.

Shaw gave Ava another of those once-overs. “No,” he told Jemma, and then he continued toward the shooter.

The person was face down, sprawled out on the ground, and the bulky black hoodie covered the head so Ava couldn’t tell who this was. She thought of their suspects. Grant, Lorelei or Valerie and realized it could be any one of them.

When Shaw reached the shooter, the first thing he did was move the scoped rifle that was still gripped in the person’s hand. Then, he stooped down to touch his fingers to the neck.

“Dead,” he confirmed.

Using the barrel of his Glock, Shaw gently moved the hoodie to the side so he could see what there was to see of the person’s face. Ava stepped away from the platform so she’d be able to have a better look as well. She still hadn’t managed that look before she heard Shaw curse.

“What’s wrong? Who is it?” Ava blurted, hurrying closer so she could see for herself. And she saw all right.

The person on the ground, the shooter, definitely wasn’t who she’d been expecting to see.

“Isn’t that the missing woman?” Jemma asked. “Molly Carrington?”

“It is,” Ava confirmed, and her gaze drifted back to the platform. To the body that was there.

Since that wasn’t Molly, then who was this other person? And why had Molly just tried to kill them?

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