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Arnez regrouped from the laser lights, shifted, and shot at the drone. The drone moved fast to evade, just as it’d been programmed to do. Then, Arnez moved his attention back to the van.
Jericho fired.
The shot was off, not hitting Arnez in the neck as Jericho had planned but rather in the chest. Since Arnez was wearing Kevlar, he wasn’t hit, but the impact knocked him back, and he fell. Jericho heard the man’s groan of pain, and the cursing that followed.
He also saw Arnez get up.
And start to run.
Impressive, since the fall and the shot to the vest had likely knocked the breath out of him, and he was loaded down with the protective gear. Still, nothing seemed to be broken because Arnez broke into a flat-out sprint.
Jericho wanted to go after him. Wanted it bad. To put an end to this here and now. But that would mean leaving Rachel alone.
No way could he risk that.
Because the actual killer—whoever the hell that was—could be lurking around here, too. In fact, Arnez could be working with the killer to make sure Rachel and he died right here on this road.
“Spike, send the drone in pursuit of the sonofabitching, dickhead suspect. I want to see where he goes.”
Jericho worked his way to the front of the van and climbed up so he could turn on the tractor. Thankfully, the key was still in the ignition so once it was on, he pressed the accelerator to get it moving. It did. Slowly. But the tractor finally went forward enough and into the ditch.
Jericho hurried back into the van, hoping like hell there wasn’t another attack since he no longer had a window on the driver’s side. He raked aside as much of the safety glass as he could and drove away. He needed to add a Texas-sized thanks that the van was actually still drivable since he wanted to get the heck out of there fast and not have to wait for backup.
“Spike, tell backup that I’m en route to the Canyon Ridge Hospital,” Jericho instructed.
He had a quick glance back at Rachel to make sure she was all right. She was hanging in there though she was nowhere near her usual steady self.
“We’ll be at the hospital in less than five minutes,” he told her, hoping that would get her to focus on that and not the fact they’d come close to dying.
Again.
“The drone is in pursuit of the dickhead,” Spike let him know. “I’ve alerted backup and Ruby and have sent them footage of the attack for their assessment. My own assessment is that your van appears to be in need of repairs. Lots of clanging noises coming from the engine. Want me to arrange for another vehicle to be brought to you when you reach your destination?”
“Yeah, do that,” Jericho responded. Because Rachel and he were going to have to make a return trip back to his house, and Jericho preferred having all security measures in place for that.
The knot in his gut eased up some when he drove into the hospital parking lot and saw not one but three cruisers, and Deputy Alice Wright was at the ER doors where it appeared she was waiting for them.
“Your security system contacted Bree,” the deputy was quick to say. She stopped, muttered some profanity under her breath when she saw the state of the van. “Was either of you hurt?”
“We’re fine,” Rachel said, already hurrying toward the door. “Where’s my aunt? How is she?”
“The doctor just came out to talk to Bree,” Deputy Wright said, running to keep up with Jericho and Rachel.
Jericho did a quick scan of the ER waiting area. No other patients, but there was a nurse in a reception booth. Along with Bree, he also saw Woody and the young blonde about eighteen or so standing next to him. He had no idea who she was, but there was enough of a family resemblance to make Jericho believe this was probably Woody’s granddaughter.
Woody shifted, turning toward them. And that’s when Jericho saw something.
There was blood on Woody’s shirt.
And Rachel noticed all right because she gasped.
The doctor might have heard the sound because he immediately shifted from Bree to them when they raced toward him. According to his nametag, he was Dr. Tim Milbrath.
“Tilda’s fine,” the doctor was quick to say. “I’m guessing you’re her niece?”
Rachel nodded.
“As I was just telling the sheriff, she was shot in the shoulder. A clean through and through.”
