Page 50 of Outlaw Ridge: Hayes

“I haven’t moved anything,” Logan went on, “but I can see the top three bodies are all males. Can’t tell about the two beneath them, but the sleeve of that denim jacket belongs to the one on the bottom.”

Hayes saw the jacket. Or rather he saw what was left of it. It was going to take a lot of work to get out the bodies while preserving the evidence.

“I don’t have to tell you the cause of death,” the doctor continued. “At least not on the top one. Blunt force trauma.”

Yeah, Hayes could see that, and staying on the makeshift stepping stones that the CSIs had arranged, he moved around the pit, looking for anything that might tell them who these people were.

Hayes whirled to his left when he caught some movement from the corner of his eye. Not the CSIs. They were on the opposite side. This was someone in the trees. Someone who sure as hell shouldn’t be out here.

Cordelia.

He saw just a glimpse of the woman’s face before she ducked out of sight.

“Everyone get down,” he managed to say.

But he was already too late.

A bullet came right at them.

Chapter Seventeen

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The bullet slammed into a heap of rocks right next to where Jemma was standing. Mere inches away. And the sound of the blast and Hayes’ shouted warning were more than enough to get her moving.

Jemma dropped to the ground, cursing the pain that jolted through her when her vest rammed into the tender bruise on her collarbone. Still, it was mere pain and not a fatal shot.

More bullets came, thick blasts that tore through the air and smacked into the limestone ground.

Hell.

Was Cordelia doing this?

Jemma had caught just a glimpse of her stepmother just moments earlier, but she hadn’t been able to see if the woman was carrying a weapon. But why else would she be out here if not to kill them?

“Everyone, get into the pit,” Hayes ordered.

She had two horrifying thoughts—that he wanted them to get in there with the rotting bodies and that he was still in the line of fire.

But thankfully he wasn’t.

Hayes had already taken cover behind an outcropping of rocks, too, and he was motioning toward one of the other pits. It was damn close to the edge of the bluff, but it was deep enough that several people could easily fit inside.

Dr. Logan and the CSIs scrambled into the pit, just as more shots continued. Instead of focusing on the potential threat on them or the nightmarish images of the other attacks, Jemma instead concentrated on trying to pinpoint the shooter. There were so many trees and shrubs, but she thought their attacker was in some mountain cedars that were straight ahead.

Hayes must have thought that was the position, too, because he levered himself up from the rocks, and he fired in that exact direction. Jemma rolled to the side enough for her to do the same. Hayes shot her a glance, maybe to warn her to stay down, but, of course, there was no way she could do that. This attack was no doubt aimed at her, and she had to do something to stop it.

Together, Hayes and she returned a volley of gunfire, and it must have been effective since their attacker stopped shooting. Jemma figured that was only temporary, but she had to hope they’d managed to shoot the SOB so he or she couldn’t continue trying to kill them.

With the silence closing in around her, Jemma listened, trying to shut out the sound of her own heartbeat thudding in her ears. Her ragged breathing was loud, too. But even over those sounds, she had no trouble hearing Ruby speak through the earpiece.

“Who’s firing at you?” Ruby blurted.

“Unknown,” Hayes responded.

“Are you hurt?” the woman pressed.

“Not for the time being. But Cordelia’s here in the woods,” Hayes quickly tacked onto that.

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