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“Agreed, but I can’t see him,” she said in a hushed whisper.
She followed Lachlan’s gaze, noting the large old tree with thick winding roots.
She nodded.
“I’ll go first and then cover you,” Lachlan said, giving her orders once more.
She bit her tongue.Not the time and place to argue, Bethenny.Regardless, he seemed genuine, not on an ego trip as so many of her colleagues had been in the past.
It was a sensitive topic for her. Against all odds, she’d made lead homicide detective in Los Angeles, but no one had opened doors for her. She’d been banging them down her entire career and was sick of it. She had no time for female inequality in the workplace.
But she pushed those thoughts aside. Her sole focus right now needed to be on getting to that tree and in a better position to fire her weapon.
Bethenny inhaled a deep, steadying breath as she looked at the mirror. Still no movement. “I can’t see anyone,” she said.
Her eyes darted to the tree. She wasn’t in a good position to cover Lachlan, but he moved into a crouch, keeping his head below the fallen log shielding them.
Then he sprang to his feet and darted toward the tree. Bullets hit the ground around him and Bethenny’s heart was in her throat.
He pushed his back against the tree, breathing hard.
Their eyes met and he nodded.
Her hands trembled as she crawled to where he’d been crouched seconds ago.
“On the count of three,” he said and she nodded, listening for his cues.
“Three, two, one!”
She launched to her feet, diving for the tree as Lachlan stepped around, firing in the direction of the shooter. A few bullets hit the log, but the shooter was clearly blocked by Lachlan’s fire.
Lachlan pulled her in, their breaths ragged and wheezy from the explosive action.
She waited for gunfire, but none followed.
Bethenny surveyed the trees around them, looking for their next point of cover as a crack of thunder echoed around them and rain began to fall in thick sheets.
The advantage of the storm was that it would make it easier for them to sneak up.
The disadvantage was that it made it harder for them to see and hear.
She looked to Lachlan, but he was busy looking for their next source of cover.
Bethenny wished they’d been more prepared for this mission. Earpieces would be useful; more weapons would be useful. Rain gear too. But, they were going to have to make do, and given the circumstances, even she had to admit they were working well as a team.
Steady breaths, steady heart, steady mind.
It was the motto she’d repeated to herself many times over the course of her career.
Lightning lit the sky, highlighting the lack of surrounding trees, and a sinking feeling settled in Bethenny’s chest, but she only allowed herself to feel it for a fraction of a second. Storming or not, the shooter was close by, and Bethenny was not going to give up now.
She motioned toward a tree to their right; Lachlan hesitated, uncertainty written all over his face.
But he wasn’t calling this shot. She was.
She wiped the rain from her face and darted for the tree. As she did, she saw a black hood bouncing when the shooter ran between two trees.
His back was turned to her and she sprinted forward, Lachlan right beside her.
