Page 32 of Lone Star Showdown

Hell.

There was a tractor sideways, blocking the entire road. The bridge didn’t have any emergency lanes so Jericho had no choice but to slam on the brakes. And make a split-second decision whether to hit the tractor or the concrete bridge rails.

He opted for the tractor.

The van was heavy, with plenty of reinforcements to make it bullet and crash resistant, and if they broke through the railings, they’d plunge into the creek. An especially deep part of the creek. They’d sink like a stone. At least with the tractor, they stood a better chance, and the braking slowed them down enough to minimize the impact.

Hopefully, it did anyway.

Rachel gasped, clearly bracing herself for the collision. And it came all right. The van slammed into the tractor.

In a flash, the airbags deployed, but the impact slung them around like ragdolls. Jericho didn’t even take a second to gather his breath. He batted down the airbag, drew his gun and did a snap assessment of their situation. The front end of the van was damaged, but the engine was still running.

Beside him, Rachel was attempting to shove aside her own airbag. She hadn’t quite managed it.

When the first shot came.

The bullet slammed into the window right next to Jericho’s head. The glass held, thank God, but the safety glass webbed, making it impossible for him to see. Of course, the airbags were an obstruction, too, and he couldn’t tell if someone was coming for them toward the front of the van.

“Are you all right?” Jericho managed to ask. He got out of his seatbelt and moved onto the backseat to put some distance between him and the window in case some bits of glass flew out.

“Yes,” she said, the strain and fear in her voice. She climbed into the backseat with Jericho when he reached for her. “You?”

“Fine,” he assured her. Now, he had to make sure they both stayed that way.

More shots came, these blasting into the same spot as the other, and it allowed Jericho to pinpoint the location of the shooter. In the woods to his left. His guess was someone had climbed into a tree and was firing at them with a sniper rifle.

“Spike, call for backup and deploy a drone,” Jericho ordered. “Give me a visual and a distraction.”

Spike’s response was immediate. “Backup alerted. Drone is now deploying,” it said.

Seconds later, Jericho heard the whirring noise of the compartment on the top of the van opening. The sound of the drone quickly followed.

Two more shots came, both slamming into the window. Jericho was actually thankful for that since he thought this SOB might see the drone and try to shoot it down. He needed it operational so that Rachel and he could get out of this.

“What will the drone do?” she asked.

“Get me a picture of the asshole trying to kill us and then hopefully send some laser lights right into his eyes. Wait here and stay down,” he tacked onto that.

She opened her mouth, no doubt to question why he was going to risk leaving the van. But she didn’t. Rachel knew it would take a while for backup to arrive, and the gunman likely had lots and lots of ammo. The proof of that was a series of more shots, each of them tearing into the driver’s side window. The glass finally gave way, shattering across the front seats.

Jericho waited, his attention pinned to the dash, and he saw exactly what he’d expected. The drone had captured a live feed of the shooter.

Arnez Becker.

It was Arnez all right though he was covered in a lot of gear. A Kevlar vest and a tactical bulletproof helmet. It was hard to tell, but Jericho thought he also had on some protective riot leggings. The outfit didn’t make him untouchable, but there weren’t a lot of exposed parts.

The man was perched on a thick tree limb, and he had a high-powered hunting rifle aimed at the van. Or rather it was aimed there until he spotted the drone. He shifted, taking aim at it just as the drone speared out some flashes of light.

And, yeah, right in the asshole’s eyes.

Arnez wobbled and damn near fell out of the tree while he groped around to keep his balance. He kept hold of the gun though, which meant the man was still a threat.

Jericho intended to do something about that.

He opened the sliding door on the passenger’s side, and using the van itself for cover, he moved so he could still see the dash monitor.

And take aim at Arnez.

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