Page 86 of Home Town Knight

Norris inched forward, presumably to check on Sykes.

With a violent flash of movement, Sykes lunged. Grabbed Norris and hauled the undersheriff partway into the driver’s seat. There was a gunshot. Keira ducked against the side of Sykes’s SUV.

“Sykes is shooting at us. What thefuck. ” Owen drew his weapon and shoved his door open. “Stay down,” he said to me, and then he was out on the road, aiming his gun at Sykes. But the trooper was using Norris as a shield.

Sykes fired again. Owen dashed behind Keira’s vehicle. Then leaned out, but he couldn’t fire. Not without hitting his undersheriff. Keira was in the same dilemma.

Then a different sound rang out, a loudsnap,just as one of the taillights on Keira’s vehicle exploded. I flinched. My eyes darted toward the trees, where the shot had come from, but I couldn’t see the shooter.

“That was a warning,” Sykes shouted. “You won’t get another. You’re surrounded.”

Keeping Norris in front of him, Sykes pushed out of the driver’s seat. He pointed the gun at Norris’s head. The undersheriff’s eyes bulged with panic.

“Turn over the reporter, and the rest of you live.”

My stomach lurched.

“Absolutely not.” Owen’s voice was as hard as granite. “I will not negotiate with a witness’s life.”

Sykes pointed the gun downward. Fired. Norris screamed, and his leg buckled. Sykes had shot him.

I pressed my hands over my mouth, trying not to throwup. Keira leaned out from her hiding place, desperately trying to line up her aim. Owen did the same. I felt their horror and frustration, a visceral match to my own. Blood had already soaked the lower part of Norris’s pant leg.

“If you don’t surrender Genevieve Blake, Linscomb’s other leg will be next. Or maybe my friend will put a round in the sheriff’s head.”

“No,”I screamed.I crawled across Owen’s cab and pushed open the driver’s side door, where Sykes would be able to see me. Holding my hands up, I stepped out onto the road. “I’m here. Stop!”

Owen’s head whipped in my direction. “Gen, no! Get back in the car.”

“Don’t do it,” Norris said hoarsely as he tried to stay standing.

Owen’s jaw was clenched tight. “Genny, please.” He spoke through his teeth.

But I couldn’t let this happen. Couldn’t watch someone die for me. And if it had beenOwen? I wouldn’t survive that guilt anyway.

“I’ll go. Don’t hurt them.”

Owen’s eyes squeezed closed, his expression tortured. Then pure rage overcame his features. “Sykes, if anyone touches her, I will kill you.”

“You’re in no place to threaten me, Douglas. My friend could take you out in an instant if he wanted.”

“No way,” I yelled back. “If I give myself up, you’re letting the others go. That’s the deal.”

If that sniper had wanted me dead, he could’ve killed me the moment I’d stepped into the open. But he hadn’t. They wanted me for something. That was my only leverage.

Sykes sneered at me over Norris’s shoulder. “Shut up and get in the sheriff’s vehicle, little girl. Start the engine. Get ready to drive.”

“Gen—” Owen started, but I was heading back to the SUV. I couldn’t look at him. Couldn’t bear to see the anguish on his face.

If this would save his life, and the lives of his officers, I had to do it. No matter the risk. With that sniper in the woods, this was their only chance.

More shots rang out, and I screamed, terrified I’d see Owen or the others collapse onto the road. But the sniper had targeted the tires of the other vehicles. Owen and Keira had ducked, but they were otherwise unharmed.

“Get moving!” Sykes shouted at me.

Trembling, I climbed into the SUV and twisted the key. As soon as the engine rumbled to life, a figure clad in dark clothes dashed out of the woods.The shooter. I watched, spellbound with fear, as he crossed the road. He kept his rifle aimed at Owen. Then shot another of the back tires on Keira’s vehicle as he passed.

The shooter rounded the SUV where I sat and got into the passenger side. He tugged down the fabric that covered the lower part of his face. It washim. The man who’d killed Ace Tucker at the Alpine. Who’d come to Last Refuge likely meaning to kill me.

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