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Time slowed. Everything around them seemed to stop, plunged into an ether with the consistency of molasses. Light glinted off the claw of the hammer as it began to descend. A breeze ruffled the hair near Josie’s ear. She swore she heard her late grandmother’s voice. It was just a whisper, but it sounded as clear as anything Josie had ever heard.
Not yet, dear.
The hammer’s trajectory was suddenly knocked off course, jerking to the side. A large figure slammed into Archie Gamble’s body. Josie was relieved of his weight. At first, she thought she was hallucinating. Then time sped up again and her senses returned. A dog started barking ferociously.
In a swirling heap beside her, Luke and Gamble struggled, wrestling around on the floor. The hammer lay a few feet from them. Luke was bigger than Gamble, but his hands weren’t equipped for fighting and Josie knew he hadn’t been in a physical confrontation in almost a decade. Blue stood back, hackles raised, barking and snarling, long strings of saliva shooting from his mouth. Josie tried to stand up and fell. The fight had taken more out of her than she realized.
She looked around for Brooke but she was gone. Josie crawled around, looking for her pistol. Gamble managed to squirm away from Luke. He lunged for the hammer with his uninjured hand and grasped the handle. He was on his feet before Luke could recover. The leg that Josie had struck earlier buckled a little, but Gamble stayed upright. Even as her hands searched the floor for her pistol, Josie watched in horror as Luke’s feet scrabbled, pushing his body until it hit the wall. He didn’t try to get up. He couldn’t.
The panic had him again.
Josie recognized it from the day outside of Gamble’s house. It was the hammer, she realized. They’d never talked about it, but it was likely that a hammer had been used in the torture sessions that had shattered his hands. His eyes were locked on the blunt end of it, pointed down at him as Gamble loomed.
“Son,” he said. “By the time I get done with you, there won’t be anything left of those things you call hands for any doctor to put back together.”
Josie called, “Luke!” but even if he’d been able to hear her over Blue’s barking, he was too far gone to register her voice. She had to abandon the search for the pistol and go at Gamble again. Luke was defenseless. He wasn’t going to come out of this. Josie staggered to her feet and charged at Gamble but before she could get there, Blue launched himself, barreling into Gamble and knocking him to the floor.
Blue was a blur, biting at Gamble, tearing flesh, making noises that Josie would never have imagined the sweet dog capable of making. Gamble squirmed and struggled under the dog, grunting.
Josie spotted her pistol near where Luke had fallen. She stumbled toward him, dropping to her knees again. The gun was right next to him. She cupped his cheeks and talked into his face, his unseeing eyes. “Luke, it’s okay. This is almost over.” She reached down next to him and touched her pistol. “My gun is right here. I’ve got this—”
Blue yelped. A sound that sent a wave of nausea and horror right through Josie. Now everything seemed to move at warp speed. There was a split second of silence. Gamble grunted. Blue yelped again. Luke blinked. Awareness flashed through his eyes. Josie felt his warm palm over hers.
Then the gun was gone from her grip. Luke pushed her aside. Josie said, “Luke!”
Blue had started to limp away from Gamble, whimper-snarling back at him as he went. Gamble got to his knees, hammer in hand. Blood flew from his various wounds with each movement. Blue had done a number on him.
Luke pointed the pistol at Gamble. “Don’t touch my dog, you son of a bitch.”
Then he fired a shot into Archie Gamble’s chest.
FIFTY-FOUR
Outside of Brooke Sullivan’s home, at least a half dozen emergency vehicles had amassed. Lenore County Sheriff’s deputies, Denton cruisers, and ambulances. Brooke had been loaded into the back of an ambulance where EMTs were checking her over. Noah pulled up shortly after, as well as Chief Chitwood. Over their protests, Josie refused to be checked out by the EMTs until Blue was taken care of. Luke had stayed inside the house, sitting on the floor, cradling him and crying into his fur, just feet from Archie Gamble’s body.
Noah gently took her face in his hands, grimacing. Gamble’s blood was drying on her face, but she still tasted it in her mouth. “You’re hurt.”
“No,” Josie said. “I’m fine. Not my blood. Please, we have to help Blue and Luke.”
Noah found some water and a towel. Josie cleaned herself up as best she could while she, Noah and the Chief discussed the situation.
Once they had a plan in place, Noah walked Josie back inside. She knelt beside Luke and touched his shoulder. He flinched but relaxed when he looked up and saw it was her. “Luke,” she said. “Brennan is outside in one of our cruisers. He’s going to take you and Blue back to Denton. I’ve already called our vet. Her name is Dr. Courtney Capone. She’s the best there is, and she’s waiting at the hospital for you two to get there.”
Noah said, “Full lights and sirens.”
Luke nodded wordlessly. Together, Josie and Noah helped him and Blue up and walked him out to where Brennan waited. Once they were gone, Noah took Josie by the shoulders and looked her over. At his touch, a tremor went through her. She had almost died. Would have died if it wasn’t for Luke and Blue. Noah leaned in, pressing his forehead against hers. He snaked a hand around the back of her neck. They breathed into one another while Josie fought off a tidal wave of emotion. Raffy was still out there. Jasmine and Sam Toselli were still out there. Alive, hopefully.
“Ahem,” Chief Chitwood coughed.
Josie and Noah parted and looked over at him. “I made the rounds here. Looks like Gamble left his house with his trusty hammer to come here. We have no idea why. Not sure who he was after—Brooke or Raffy—since he had no way of knowing Quinn would be here.”
Josie touched a tender spot in the center of her forehead. Only now were all the sore places on her body starting to announce themselves. “He didn’t exactly stop to ask questions.”
“Seeing as he left his house with a hammer,” said the Chief, “I think he was out for blood. Any blood. Luke and Blue tracked him here through the woods. Patrol units couldn’t keep up with the dog.”
“What the hell happened to my back-up unit from Lenore County?” Josie complained.
“He was late,” the Chief said.
