Page 29 of Rangers Last Promise

Static crackles before a deputy responds.

I stay low and move toward the front wall, keeping beneath the windows.

Mara follows.

I look over my shoulder. “Stay behind the bar.”

“That suggestion sounded remarkably like an order.”

“It was.”

“Then the answer is no.”

She moves beside me and studies the splintered tabletop.

“The second round hit lower than the first.”

“I noticed.”

“The shooter changed his target.”

“Or fired while moving.”

She shifts closer to examine the angle. Her shoulder presses against mine.

I smell rain, gunpowder, and the faint citrus scent of her shampoo.

It has been years since I noticed anything about a woman in the middle of danger.

I don’t like that I notice it now.

Mara points toward the wall behind us.

“The first round struck there.”

A dark hole marks the wood less than a foot from where she stood before the lights went out.

The second bullet is buried inside the overturned table.

I trace the probable paths with my eyes.

“They came from different angles.”

Her gaze meets mine. “Two shooters?”

“Maybe. Or one shooter moving fast.”

“He would’ve had only a few seconds.”

“He could’ve fired the first shot from a fixed position, then moved.”

“The power went out before the first shot.”

“Which means he didn’t cut it from the street.”

Mara looks toward the hallway.

“The breaker box is behind the tavern.”