Page 14 of Home Town Knight

And he had a rifle with a large scope slung across his chest.

The shooter went straight to the truck, stepping over his victim’s body, and grabbed the duffel on the tailgate. Then bent to search the victim’s coat and took whatever he found inside the dead man’s pocket.

I realized my hand had drooped and my camera was pointing at the snow instead of the shooter. My hand lifted to get him in the shot.

But at that same moment, the man’s head turned. He stared straight at me. Lean, razor-sharp cheekbones. Thick brows over merciless eyes.

I gasped and pulled back around the corner of the building.

His boots crunched fast through the snow. Heading across the parking lot.

Coming for me.

I ran full-out for the lobby entrance. Grabbed for the door handle. Locked. Dammit, I’d forgotten to wave my key.

Panting, I fished the card from my pocket. Waved it over the card reader.

It wasn’t working.

The footsteps in the parking lot picked up speed. The phone almost slipped from my free hand, and I shoved it into my pocket. Frantically, I pushed the keycard up against the reader, and it finally turned green. The lock clicked open. I threw the door wide and dashed into the lobby.

The office door beyond the reception desk was unlocked. I barreled inside, shocking the night manager, who was relaxing and watching something on his phone.

He jumped up. “What the hell!”

I slammed the door and twisted the lock. “Call the police. There’s been a murder. And the killer is right outside.”

CHAPTER SIX

Owen

When my phone started ringing,I was on Dean’s couch.

“Hello?” I croaked. I sounded rough, and I felt it too, despite getting a few hours of sleep. As a Marine, I’d learned to compartmentalize. Sometimes bad shit happened, and you still had to get some sleep in order to face the next shitty day.

It wasn’t even five in the morning. The sky was dreary and gray. And judging by this sudden call from dispatch, my morning wasn’t getting any better.

“Sheriff, we have CSP on the scene of a homicide. Gunshot. I just texted you the address.”

I cursed. “I’m on my way.”

I grabbed my belongings, hastily folding the blankets I’d borrowed to crash on Dean’s sofa. My friend opened his bedroom door and looked out. My phone must’ve woken him.

“Hey, heading out?” Dean asked.

“Yeah. I gotta run.”

“How was your night, though? Fun?” He scratched his messy hair, yawning. “Surprised to see you here at all.”

I winced. Thankfully, my back was to Dean, so he didn’t see.

Last night, aftershehad kicked me out of her room while I was still in my underwear, I’d tugged on my clothes as fast as I could and gotten the heck out of there. Dean had already been asleep when I’d used my emergency key to his place, and I’d collapsed on his couch, my mind carefully blank.

Better than thinking about…her.

I was trying to avoid contact between my brain cells and her name for as long as possible.

I never liked to hear that someone had died in my county. But at the moment, it wasn’t a bad excuse. “I’ve got a homicide scene. State patrol is waiting for me. No time to chat.”

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