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“Drop your weapon,” I said in a clear voice. “The sheriff is on his way.”
Brett jumped and turned, firing immediately without even looking where he was shooting. I managed to duck back out of the hallway and hit the floor as bullets slammed into the wall and ceiling in the general area of where I’d been standing. Part of my brain scrambled to figure out where Augie was up there. Could he have been hit? Surely we would have heard a scream. I forced myself to focus.
“Drop your fucking weapon, asshole!” I yelled. “This doesn’t end with you getting what you want. Too many people know. My boss at Landen knows all about Marco and CSP!”
I needed them to leave, to get far away from Augie. Obviously I wanted them arrested, but it was way more important to get them out of the house right now and away from the man trapped in the attic.
“Go now before the sheriff arrives,” I suggested. “I won’t follow you.”
“He’s lying, Marco,” Brett said. “He’s the only one with the proof. He told me so himself. We need that drive.”
The other man spoke up, his words directed at me. “I’ll shoot you now, claim you’re the intruder, and then take the drive from your cold, dead body. Then I’ll shoot Augie to get rid of the last witness.”
I was such a fucking idiot telling him I had a USB drive. If I lived long enough to see Augie again, I’d have to tell him to dump my ass. No one deserved to be stuck with someone as reckless as I had been that night.
“Give us the drive,” Marco barked. “Slide it over here and no one gets hurt.”
I tucked in my chin and squeezed my eyes closed while silently cursing myself. Where the hell was there a USB drive in this house? Could I get to one in time to fake it? No. What the fuck could I do to get them away from Augie?
When I opened my eyes, the glint of metal reminded me of the key I now wore. It was the second key to the writing slope which was tucked safely away in the old floor safe.
“It’s in a safe in the barn,” I called out. My brain rushed to catch up with my mouth. “I have the key. I’ll take you out there.”
It didn’t have a key. It had a combination, and I didn’t know it. I’d politely looked away when Augie had stashed the box in there earlier in the week. I just needed them out of the fucking house.
“Prove it,” Marco called out.
I slipped the key from around my neck and held it out in front of the open doorway to the hall. “The key. Brett probably knows about the safe in the barn. It’s pink.”
Brett mumbled sounds of agreement to his buddy.
“Go get it,” the man shouted. “Go get it and come back.”
“No deal,” I ground out. “I’m not leaving you in here alone.” We all knew the words I hadn’t said.
Alone with Augie.
“Go get the goddamned drive!” the man shouted. “Or I’ll bust this fucking door down and yank that scrawny ass out of his fucking bed and hold this gun to his head.”
“He went out the window,” I said, hopefully loudly enough for Augie to hear and make his way out of the damned house. “I’m sure he’s intercepted the sheriff by now.”
A gunshot rang out, and I hit the floor. I scrambled to the open doorway and peered around. There Marco stood aiming high into the bedroom door before taking another shot.
Brett screamed for him to stop. “You’ll kill him!”
Now that he’d opened fire, I had no qualms shooting the fucker. I aimed at his right shoulder and took the shot. He screamed like a holy terror and dropped his weapon before crumpling to the ground in shock.
Brett turned and fired at me out of reflex, shooting wildly again into the walls and ceiling. I waited for his magazine to empty before rushing him and tackling him to the ground.
Footsteps thundered toward us from behind me. “Cross County Sheriff—drop your weapons!”
I recognized Seth’s voice. “Two handguns not including mine. Both on the ground. Unsure of other weapons.”
Until I was sure both guns were secured, I wasn’t taking my hands off Brett Stiel’s wrists where I had them pinned to his lower back.
As soon as Seth leaned over me to clip handcuffs on Brett, I jumped up and backed off. One of the sheriff deputies was dealing with Marco, who continued to scream in pain.
“He fucking shot me,” he yelled. “Arrest him.”
Seth gave me a look. “You know you have to come in and help us sort this shit out.”
I was already trying to shoulder my way through the bedroom door when I grunted in agreement. The wood was splintered where bullet holes had torn chunks out of the thing, but it still stayed strong.
