Page 85 of Storm Warning

“Chill. Am I informing you about what we found or not?”

“Tell us,” Tall man ordered.

Andre scowled. “How about introducing yourselves with your credential wallets first? I’d prefer to know who we’re talking to.”

Tall man showed his credentials, as did his partner. “I’m Jay Nicholson. My partner is Drew Conley. Now talk. What did you find across the street?”

“Spent shells and plenty of bruised and broken branches and stems from bushes plus footprints leading away from the crime scene.”

“Show me,” Nicholson said. “Green, monitor the ladies.”

“No need. The ladies are coming with us.” Andre stared at the detective. Even with the extra protection of the SUV, Andre didn’t want to chance the shooter or his partner coming back and shooting the women. Besides, Riley and Iona would pitch a fit for being treated as delicate flowers incapable of protecting themselves, which they most definitely were not.

“Whatever. Follow me.” Nicholson’s voice was a near growl. “Conley, bring up the rear.”

The operatives trailed behind Detective Nicholson, who followed Elias’s directions to the shooter’s position.

After they reached the place where the shooter had set up, Andre wrapped his arms around Riley from behind, making sure his body covered hers. Although he hadn’t seen signs of the shooter repositioning for another shot, the skin on Andre’s nape prickled as though someone watched from the darkness.

Elias pointed out the spent shell casings littering the ground, and the broken or bent grass blades and foliage. The footprints showed the shooter had known Elias and Andre were hunting him and he’d left in a hurry to avoid being exposed.

Nicholson examined the items Elias pointed out to him and turned to look at his partner. “This is where the crime scene team should start.”

“I’ll let them know. What do you want to do now?”

“Follow the trail, except we can’t leave the Whitmore house unattended until the crime scene team descends on the place. No one in their right mind would attempt to break in and damage things or perhaps plant something inside with a bunch of crime scene investigators examining everything in the house.”

“We can split up. One of us will stay at the house while the other follows the trail.” Conley eyed Elias and Andre. “I would imagine one of these gentlemen would be a great help, especially if their girlfriends are here under my protection and Green, too.”

Iona rolled her eyes. “Ever heard of women’s lib, buddy? Riley and I can take care of ourselves. Go with your partner. We’ll hang out here until you get back.”

“Pass.” Nicholson glared at Iona. “I don’t know what your game is, lady, but I’m not falling for it.”

“No game. Just a desire to go back to the hotel and take a nice, long and hot bath.”

“Come on, Iona.” Riley turned toward the Whitmore home. “Let’s go back to the house. We’ll let the powerful men go on the dangerous tracking mission while we hide in the house like delicate hot-house flowers.”

Andre flinched. Oh, man. Iona and Riley were not happy about the arrangements. While he agreed with them, the detectives didn’t know the capabilities of the women. If he had to guess, Andre would say Iona and Riley were better trained thanthe detectives. Too bad the women couldn’t show the men what they were capable of.

He bent and brushed a kiss over Riley’s mouth. “Stay alert. We won’t be long.” He stepped back. He watched them walk across the street and return to the Whitmore home. Within a minute, they were inside.

Elias clapped him on his uninjured shoulder. “Let’s get going. I don’t want them out of our sight for long.”

“Yep.” Although Andre preferred not to have anyone behind his back that he didn’t know and trust, he joined Elias and they set off on a parallel path to the trail left behind by the shooter. The trail stopped at a curb on a street on the next block.

“He had a vehicle parked here.” Conley looked around the area. “There’s little chance of finding a security cam covering this part of the street.”

“Check the traffic cameras,” Nicholson said. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and see more than a blur. Come on. We need to go back and bring the CSIs here to process the trail our shooter took.”

“They’ll have a fit since the scene is spread out over two blocks.”

“They’ll do their jobs, or else.”

Andre rolled his eyes. This exchange didn’t fill him with confidence that the police department would solve this case and nab the culprit. “Need us for anything else?”

Nicholson shook his head. “Stop by the station tomorrow morning to sign your statements. The station is on the corner of Fifth and Main.”

“We’ll be there.”