Caleb swiped it up and flung it at Bruce, not really aiming for much other than center mass in a general sense. It embedded itself in his thigh.
Bruce cried out, stumbling back. He collapsed against Pops’ truck where it had stopped down the embankment.
Caleb ran to the sheriff, grabbed his gun and pointed it at Bruce. But it was too late. The driver’s door shut and he hit the gas, backing it out of the dip. Spraying mud and gravel before he sped off down the highway.
Caleb raced after Pops’ truck for a few feet, until Sheriff Cartwright called out to him.
He turned back, planted his hands on his knees and took a few deep breaths.
“Let him go. There will be plenty of time to catch up with him later.” The sheriff cried out, but grabbed his radio from his belt and said, “This is Sheriff Cartwright. I need an ambulance at my location.” He paused, then Caleb heard him say. “Because I’ve been shot, Mary. That’s why.”
Caleb didn’t want to hear that they’d catch up with Bruce later. He should’ve tried to kill the guy when he had the chance. Without mercy, the way Nathan Kessler would have.
But how was he any different from the bad guys if he acted exactly as they did?
He straightened, turning around so he could take a minute and figure out what to do. The package, the thing Bruce had come here for, lay on the ground where he’d dropped it.
That would need retrieving. But first he headed for the sheriff. “First Aid kit?”
“Behind the driver’s seat.”
Caleb grabbed the little tackle box of supplies and crouched by Sheriff Cartwright, tearing away his shirt to reveal the bullet wound. No exit on the back of his shoulder. “It’s still in there.”
“No kidding.”
Caleb figured the bravado was going to be short lived when his brain caught up with how much pain he was in, and shock took over. He tore open a package and held the bandage against the wound, putting pressure on. “You with me?”
“He is an FBI agent. I verified it.”
“You’re right,” Caleb said. “He also works for the guy I was investigating. My whole team was compromised, and they tried to kill me.”
“No kidding.” Sheriff Cartwright’s brows rose. “Probably why there’s a warrant out for your arrest.”
“So they can bury the truth and pin it all on me like I’m the traitor.”
“I still have to do my job.”
Caleb shook his head. “Even knowing you’ll send an innocent man to prison, or worse—they’ll take me out before I get that far? Then I can’t tell anyone what I know, and they get to keep destroying people’s lives for profit. There’s a Virginia senator connected to this, and his brother’s company is part of Kessler’s network. That evidence is what everyone is after.”
“Does Ian have GPS on his truck?”
“It’s too old.”
Sheriff Cartwright pressed his lips together, his face pale. “Looks like you need to figure out a way to proveyou’reright and they’re wrong.”
Sirens in the distance let him know the cavalry was arriving. “Sounds like you might actually believe me.”
“Doesn’t matter if I believe you or not. The war you’ve got to fight is a whole lot bigger than one small town sheriff.”
And it was high time Caleb went on the offensive.
Chapter Sixteen
Tessa looked at the clock on the wall again, trying to focus on the book she was reading. She’d had to force herself to quit looking at her phone, even though she would hear the chime if she got a notification. Caleb should be back by now shouldn’t he?
The front door creaked and she looked over at the archway to the hall. Pops came into view, holding the wall and toeing off his boots.
“All good here?”
