Page 5 of Outlaw Ridge: Reed
“From what we know,” Hallie went on, “they murdered only one person at a time. But for their last one, the victim’s niece—who was a missing person at the time—had unexpectedly shown up so she was killed, too, and my parents tried to stage it as a murder-suicide. Like this,” she added in a mutter.
“You think the female victim here is related to Walt?” Aaron asked.
“Maybe, but not necessarily,” Hallie said, and she stopped and groaned before she turned to Reed. “Can Sentry give us info on Mr. Garner’s business and personal dealings? Anything that might have made him a target?”
“Of course,” Reed replied, taking out his phone to add that to the search perimeters of the background check. “Any idea why this would be happening now?” Reed had to ask her.
He had plenty of questions, but he started with that one. Because this scene had no doubt been specifically designed for her. Maybe to rattle her. To send her running. But that seemed extreme, so he went back to the possibility of this being some kind of threat to her life.
She shook her head. “Too many possibilities. This could coincide with the anniversary of the murder of one of my parents’ victims. Could be a copycat triggered because I’m back here in Outlaw Ridge.” Another pause. “Or it could be linked to my mother.”
Reed hadn’t expected her to add that last part. “How so?”
She gathered her breath. “Last month, Tami did an interview with an investigative journalist, and she’s claiming she was a battered spouse and didn’t willingly participate in the murders. She’s getting the attention of several groups who provide legal help to abuse victims.”
Shit. Reed had gone over every detail of the murders that Kip and Tami committed, and not once had this come up. Tami hadn’t mentioned it during the lengthy trials either.
“Eleven years,” Hallie added a moment later. “That’s how long the average Texas inmate stays on death row before exhausting all appeals. Judging from the legal hurdles left for her in the appeals process, my mother is about a year away from a lethal injection. I’d imagine she’s getting desperate.”
Reed was about to agree, but the sound stopped him. There was a slight click, followed by something much louder.
A thundering blast ripped through the house.
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Chapter Three
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Hallie heard the deafening noise, the explosion, a split second before the ceiling above her began to cave in. She saw it buckle, and the plaster started raining down on them. So did the wood beams that had been ripped apart and splintered in the blast.
She instinctively ducked, throwing her arms over her head as chunks of plaster and wood crashed around her. The explosion left her ears ringing, but she forced herself to stay focused. With her heart pounding, her mind racing, and the adrenaline spearing through her, she fired glances around.
Find Reed and Aaron. Get to safety.
Coughing through the thick dust already clouding the air, Hallie’s gaze darted around the room. She spotted Reed just a few feet away, dodging a chunk of the ceiling that was hurdling toward him.
“Reed!” she shouted, her voice hoarse and shaky, just as he bolted to the side. He was unharmed. Alive. For now anyway.
But where was Aaron?
She whirled around, just as something smacked her on the shoulder. A sharp pain shot through her, but she kept looking and finally saw the young deputy.
On the floor. Beneath a fallen support beam.
Oh, God. Was he alive? She had to pray that he was.
Ignoring the pain and the fact that she couldn’t breathe because of the air debris, Hallie rushed to his side, but Reed was heading there, too. Aaron was groaning, and his eyelids were fluttering. So, not dead. But definitely injured which meant he needed an ambulance now.
“What’s going on?” Hallie heard Marcie shout from the front of the house. “Where are you?”
“Stay outside,” Hallie shouted to her. “And call for an ambulance. Aaron’s hurt.”
Hallie ignored the sharp gasp she heard from Marcie, but she knew the deputy was worried about them. Shaw and Declan were, too, because she heard one of them shout out. “What’s your location?”
“We’re in the kitchen,” Reed answered. “But stay back.”
She hoped they would do just that. Hallie didn’t want anyone else in danger, and just stepping into the house could be a fatal mistake.
