Page 87 of Home Town Knight

“Don’t do anything stupid.” His voice was harsh. Gravelly. And completely emotionless. “Or your boyfriend is going to be a splatter on the asphalt.”

Awful images surfaced in my mind. Tucker’s body on the ground. Ellis’s. And years before them, my dad, dead because his heart gave out. I pictured Owen joining them, and fury burned through my insides.

I was still shaking, but the anger helped me to focus. “I won’t cooperate if you hurt him. Or anyone else.”

“That’s not up to you. You’ll do what we say.”

Still using Norris as a shield, Sykes edged toward the vehicle where I sat. He had to make it past Keira and Owen,who were pressed up against the other SUVs, each aiming their weapons back at Sykes. But Owen kept glancing over at me. Like he was contemplating some brave, reckless charge in the hopes of saving me.

Suddenly, the undersheriff lashed out at Sykes. Slammed his elbow into the other man, spinning to knock aside the arm holding Sykes’s gun. Sykes was knocked off balance. Took a step to the side.

The moment Norris wasn’t in the way, both Owen and his deputy fired. Sykes had no chance to get off another shot. He hit the ground.

“Get us out of here,” the shooter barked at me. “Now. Or the sheriff dies.” He pointed his rifle through the windshield at Owen.

I threw the SUV into reverse. I twisted the steering wheel, shoved the gearshift into drive, and took off down the road. Driving away from Owen. He was safe, and that was what mattered.

Even if it meant I was now alone with a killer.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Owen

Genevieve was gone.

The taillights of my SUV receded, Gen at the wheel. A killer beside her.

Immediately, I jumped into Keira’s vehicle. Her keys were still in the ignition. But when I tried to turn the car and drive, the flat tires squealed in protest. I could destroy the wheels by trying to follow Genevieve and the killer, but I’d never catch up to them.

My fist slammed against the steering wheel. “Fuck!”

Gen was gone.Gone.

That word repeated horribly, endlessly, in my mind. I had to find her. Iwouldfind her. And I’d punish the man who’d taken her.

I got out of the car, slammed the door, and stared at the scene in front of me. Keira had run to Norris and was checking on him. Sykes lay motionless, a pool of blood spreading around him. Keira and I had both gone for kill shots. We’d had no other choice.

I helped Keira get Norris into the car. It didn’t look like the gunshot had hit anything vital, so he was lucky. But he needed medical care. Paramedics were already on their way,since I’d called them after we’d initially seen the disabled vehicle.

“Contact dispatch,” I told Keira. “We need to track my vehicle and send someone after Gen.Now.”

While she handled that, I fired off two texts. One to Dean, giving him my location and begging him to come get me. Then to the Protectors’ secure text thread, giving them a code we’d designated for emergencies. I told them Dean’s address. Whoever could respond would meet me there.

I glared at Sykes’s lifeless body. I’d told him I would kill him.

But I was still responsible for not seeing his deception before. I’d sat across from Sykes in Jessi’s Diner yesterday and had no clue he was spinning so many lies. He’d told the truth about Rossiter stealing the coin, but he’d hidden the far more shocking truth. He’d been working with the killer.

Sykes and Rossiter had been first on the scene of Ace Tucker’s murder. No way that was a coincidence. What else in the investigation had Sykes interfered with? Did he know about Stillwater? Was Sykes the corrupt official that Stillwater had paid off? That didn’t fit the info Gen had given me. As a trooper, he had limited power. But either way, it didn’t matter right now. Sykes was dead. A killer had taken Genevieve.MyGenevieve.

Find her, my heartbeat pulsed.Save her.

Dean arrived shortly after the paramedics. I saw his car pull up. “I need to go,” I told Keira. “You’re in charge.”

“What? Sheriff, I?—”

“I’m going after Genevieve. Make some excuse to the others. Tell them you have no idea where I went.” I took off my uniform jacket. Tossed it into her backseat, followed by my wallet with my badge inside. “But I amnotletting that man hurt her. I don’t care what I have to do. I can’t be the sheriff right now. If I have to answer for it later, so be it.”

Whatever she saw in my face was enough to quiet her protests. “Okay. I’ll do what I can. Are you calling Trace and Aiden and River? They’re going to help you?”

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