The officer abruptly dove to the side, tucking and rolling along the ground before he stopped moving and continued firing. The cop took so many shots it was impossible for Cam to count them. He couldn’t even guess at how many bullets the cop had left in his clip.
To draw the cop’s attention from Evie, Cam returned fire. Because the officer was stretched out on the ground, he made a smaller target.
But Cam had been trained by the best. He fired again, just as the face of the officer was revealed as the clouds moved away from the moon. He thought he heard a muffled grunt, but then more gunfire rang out.
Something struck Cam hard in the chest, sending him stumbling backward. He wasn’t sure how he remained on his feet, but he did. He took aim again, determined to eliminate the threat for good when Evie cranked the wheel of the SUV and drove straight at the location of where the cop was stretched out on the ground.
The SUV struck the man lying there with a sickening thump-thump. Even then, Evie didn’t stop. After she rolled over the officer, she put the car in reverse and backed over him again. Then she drove over him a third time, clearly determined to make sure he was no longer a threat.
The still form of the man on the ground didn’t move, yet Cam didn’t lower his weapon. He pushed himself to walk closer, although his movements felt slow and sluggish, like wading through hip-deep water.
Why was that?
Evie abruptly stopped the SUV and pushed the car door open, her stricken gaze searching his. “Cam?”
“Stay inside.” Cam’s voice was hoarse, and he belatedly realized he was woozy. He tried again. “Stay inside the car, Evie. Call 911.”
“Cam, are you okay?” Evie’s voice held concern. “Are you hit?”
He was going to say no, then belatedly realized he must have been hit. Something had stopped him in his tracks, nearly knocking him over. He slowly became aware of a burning pain across his chest. It was difficult to breathe, and he couldn’t seem to continue walking toward her. Lifting his left hand to the source of the pain, he grimaced when his palm came away sticky with blood.
Too much blood.
Cam swayed, striving to stay upright, but a second later, he felt his knees give way.
The ground rushed up to greet him.
He groaned, still struggling to breathe. Staring up at the cloudy sky, he grimly realized he was wrong about Dan Johnson and Rick Thomas being involved.
Dead wrong.
The killer was their former classmate, police officer Kyle Abernathy, married to high school teacher Beverly and father of two children. Kyle who was sworn to uphold the law had undoubtedly used his badge to lure unsuspecting young women into trusting him. Only to end up as one of his many victims.
The good news, he thought as the darkness obscured his vision, was that thanks to Evie’s quick thinking, Kyle Abernathy would never kill anyone ever again.
15
“Cam!” Evie bolted toward Cam, her heart thudding painfully in her chest. What if Kyle killed him? Kyle had fired so many times she wasn’t even sure how she and Bruno had managed to avoid being hit. That they’d survived was only because of God’s grace. She dropped to her knees beside Cam’s body and took a long deep breath before feeling for a pulse. The rapid beat of his heart was thready and weak.
In the light of the moon, she could make out a dark puddle of blood congealing on his chest. He had been shot! She couldn’t see how bad the wound was or how much blood he was losing. “Hold on, Cam, do you hear me?” She balled his shirt up and pressed it over the entry wound on the upper left side of his chest. Exit wounds were usually worse. Keeping him on his back so the weight of his body would add pressure might help.
Bruno came over to sniff at Cam, then he whirled and trotted toward Kyle’s prone figure in the dirt.
Glancing at her dog, she belatedly realized she needed to make sure Kyle was no longer a threat. Was running over someone enough to kill him? She had no idea. She didn’t want to leave Cam but forced herself upright.
She crossed the yard with trepidation, half expecting Kyle to jump to his feet like some evil killer in a horror flick. Bruno sniffed at Kyle, then sat and barked as if to let her know he was the killer.
“I know, boy. Good job.” Reaching Kyle, she swallowed hard as she saw the indentation from the SUV tire tracks crisscrossing his body. She’d done that. Granted, Kyle had shot at her several times, but she’d run him over.
More than once.
He’d deserved it, she’d only been trying to survive, but somehow that didn’t make her feel any better. She bent to feel for a pulse but found nothing. Her vision blurred as she realized she’d killed him.
Lord Jesus, please forgive me!
On the heels of that prayer, her thoughts abruptly cleared. Kyle was dead, but Cam wasn’t. She rose and turned away, trying not to think about what she’d done. She had no doubt Rueger would be upset at how things had gone down, but that wasn’t her concern.
Bruno stared up at her in the darkness, his eyes gleaming. Pulling herself together, she abruptly veered toward the rental house, knowing she needed to get towels. Her only goal now was to stabilize Cam until the ambulance could arrive.
