Page 147 of D for Dead

Thunder growled overhead and he questioned the wisdom of not bringing a jacket. The night was warm and he hadn’t thought he would need one. It looked like he could be wrong.

Wagner had been stationing cruisers outside the house and he briefly wondered which of his deputies had pulled the first shift. It wouldn’t be the irritating Benson, as she’d been on shift and annoying him with calls throughout the day. As he pondered the question, he heard a rustling sound in the distance.

Was someone in the woods?

He shone the flashlight ahead of him, saw only trees and bushes. Then the crunch of feet against leaves; the sound of heavy breathing. Who the hell was out here in the middle of the night? He swung the beam around again, this time highlighting the figure heading madly towards him.

Amy Gallaty? What the hell was she doing out here in the woods?

He kept the beam trained on her as she ran towards him, almost collapsing in his arms.

‘Jesus, Amy? What happened?’

She was struggling to get her breath, glancing behind her, terrified.

‘It’s Troy Cunningham. He’s after me. You have to help me, please.’

Declan flashed the beam in the distance, saw she was alone. ‘Hickok called, told us you were missing. Is Officer Boaz with you?’

‘He’s hurt. Troy hurt him. He might have killed him.’

She looked about ready to lose it and that wasn’t going to help either of them while they were out here, so Declan tentatively put his arm around her, the gesture making him feel awkward. Offering comfort was something he wasn’t good at.

He glanced around, knowing he had to get her out of the woods.

‘Come on. There’s a deputy at the Johnson house. We can get a ride back into town.’

‘No!’ Amy pulled away, flinching as if he had hit her. ‘He’s dead. Troy killed him too.’

‘The deputy’s dead?’

Shit.

‘Yes, I found him. It was just me and Troy.’

‘He took you to the house?’

‘Yes, me and Officer Boaz, but he’s hurt pretty bad. He might be dead. We have to go into town. We have to get help.’

‘Is Officer Boaz at the Johnson house?’

‘Yes. Come on.’ She sounded impatient, irritation overtaking her fear. ‘We need to go get help.’

Declan nodded, pulled out his gun and clicked off the safety. ‘Okay, but first we have to go check on Officer Boaz. We can’t leave him.’

‘No, we have to get help.’

‘Amy, I have a gun. I will keep you safe. Town is a twenty-minute walk. The house is only two minutes away. If Troy is there, I’ll take him down.’

‘I’m not going back there.’

‘We can’t leave until I have assessed the situation.’ When she shook her head, looked like she might lose it again, he forced himself to soften his tone. ‘Look, I can’t leave you out here, especially not if Troy is looking for you. I promise I will look after you.’

She looked doubtful, which had his temper rising. Why did no one think he was capable of doing his job?

The sky lit up with another flash of lightning and the first spits of rain started to fall. Wasting time fighting, he was going to get wet. Declan hated getting wet.

‘Come on, Amy. Trust me. We need to go check on Officer Boaz and stop Troy.’