AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER58
Gabe stopped his truck behind Danni’s car. He’d just stepped out of his vehicle when he heard gunshots. Glad he’d had the foresight to take his backup handgun with him, he gripped the weapon and prayed. God, please help me out here. Where is she?
More shots, rapid-fire, glass breaking. As Gabe moved toward the house, he saw a man down, dead or alive, he didn’t know. He had to find Danni.
He hurried to the front door and prepared to enter when more firing sounded from a courtyard on his right.
“You can run but you can’t hide.”
Moore.
More gunfire. Gabe opened the gate and crept into the courtyard. In an instant, he saw Danni, maybe fifteen yards away, taking cover behind a tree. Then he saw Moore advancing toward her.
“I got you now,” Moore crowed.
“No.” Gabe raised his gun. “I’ve got you.” He fired twice.
+++
Danni looked in the direction of the shots that had saved her life and there was Gabe. Astonished, she let out the breath she’d been holding, stood, slid around the tree, and grabbed the gun from Moore. He was moaning, moving one arm, clearly hurt and out of it.
Gabe was at her side. “You okay?”
Relief rolled over her in a wave. His eyes said so much and she wanted to throw herself into his arms as he gripped her arm. Sirens split the air; the cavalry had arrived. Danni settled for the grip of his hand. She remembered the dream she’d had, the one where Gabe got his head lopped off. Like in the dream they’d both confronted a form of evil. Thank the Lord, it hadn’t turned out like her dream. Here in this courtyard, they’d stopped the evil Jareb Moore attempted to perpetrate on an innocent family. Hopefully he’d live to face the consequences of his rampage.
“I’m fine, but there’s still a lot to do here.”
“Yep,” he said, clearly understanding they were both on the job now. “I’ll keep an eye on him. You go bring in the troops.”
“Deal.” She left the courtyard to direct arriving units.
+++
Chaos reigned as police and fire personnel poured all over the mayor’s property. While Gabe watched Moore’s medical assessment, Danni took a team into the kitchen for Hoffman. He’d passed out, but he was alive. He roused when paramedics touched him.
“How do I communicate with your sister in the panic room?” Danni asked him.
She was met with a confused stare. “Intercom,” he said finally. “There’s an intercom.”
With uniforms at her side, Danni found the panic room in a large closet off the master bedroom. Moore had shot away most of the drywall. Shell casings and drywall dust littered the floor. The panic room had metal walls, which showed through in many places. Based on the piles of casings, he’d stood around the corner and fired; it was a miracle he’d not been hit by a ricochet. And amazingly he hadn’t destroyed the intercom. There were dents in it, but it was mostly intact.
Danni hit the button. “Mayor White, it’s Danni Grace. The threat has been neutralized. You can come out now.”
Several minutes passed before the door opened. A security guard came out first, followed by Mr. White, then Mayor White and Leonard.
Pale with fear, White asked, “My brother?”
“He’s being treated.”
“And the lunatic?”
“In custody.”
She looked around at the damage to the bedroom closet, the bullet casings, and gave a sort of a grunt before collapsing in tears into her husband’s shoulder.
Danni watched her. “I know this is an emotional time, but there are questions that need answers.”
“It was Uncle Ira’s fault,” Leonard said, his face shades of black and purple as the bruises from the night before aged. “All of it.”
