Page 64 of Deputies Under Fire
Rory whirled around at the sound of footsteps, and the adrenaline shot through him. Unnecessarily, though, because it was Bennie.
“Judson’s keeping an eye on the road and Arnette…” Bennie said, but his words trailed off when he got a glimpse of Ike and those IEDs. “Hell,” he muttered.
That summed up Rory’s feelings, too, and he debated their next step. If Helen was indeed somewhere on the trail, and she was the killer, Rory needed to neutralize her before the bomb squad arrived.
Especially if she had a detonator for those IEDs.
“Wait here for the bomb squad,” Rory told Bennie, and he looked at Ike. “Don’t move. Don’t try to get out of those ropes. Don’t even kick out your feet.”
Because if he did, Ike would almost certainly set off one of the IEDs.
Ike muttered something that sounded like agreement. Whether it was or not, Rory needed to get moving.
“Eden, with me,” he said, motioning for her to follow him up the trail. “I don’t want to go too far,” he added to her in a whisper. “I don’t want to risk the killer going after Bennie.”
“Yes,” she answered so quickly that he understood that possibility had already occurred to her.
They didn’t say anything else. They just took slow, cautious steps up the trail toward that blind curve while they tried to keep watch around them. He didn’t know what game the killer was playing, but he sure as hell didn’t like any part of this.
He paused for a moment when he heard something. A rustling sound in the bushes to his left. But moments later, a rabbitdarted out and disappeared into the woods. Normally, that wouldn’t have put a hard knot in his gut, but even a creature as small as a rabbit could set off one of those IEDs.
And there might be more than just the ones surrounding Ike.
Unlike the spot where Ike’s truck had been left, this part of the trail wasn’t nearly as visible from the road. The killer could have taken his time here. But when had she or he brought in the IEDs? Maybe that had been done during the night, and then they could have been positioned once Ike was here.
Rory drew in a long breath when he reached the curve, and even though he knew Eden wouldn’t like it, he stepped in front of her, trying to shield her in case they were about to face down a killer.
Eden didn’t balk, though. Instead, she turned to the side, watching their backs while they kept moving. Good. He didn’t want them ambushed, and like that rabbit, the killer could be hiding in the underbrush, ready to spring.
But no one did.
And no one was on the other side of the curve, either.
Of course, that didn’t mean Helen hadn’t been here, but she could be long gone by now. Rory didn’t think so, though. He was pretty sure they were being watched, but he couldn’t see or hear anyone.
Not at first, anyway.
There was more of that rustling sound. Not on the trail, but to the left side of it. Bringing up his gun, he whipped in that direction, and spotted Helen.
She was there, standing by a tree.
And she had a gun.
Chapter Seventeen
Eden jolted when she saw Helen with that gun pointed at them, and she was already dropping to the ground, catching hold of Rory to pull him down with her. She wanted both of them out of the line of fire.
Mercy, her heart had jumped to her throat, and it wasn’t budging. It was stuck there like a rock. Of course, she’d known the killer could be Helen, but it still had been a shock to see her and that weapon.
Rory immediately rolled to the side and came up, taking aim at his aunt. “Put down your gun,” he shouted.
But Helen didn’t respond. Didn’t move.
The woman stayed seemingly frozen there against the tree. No. Not frozen, Eden realized. But Helen was unable to move.
“I think she’s been taped to the tree,” Eden muttered.
The clear, wide kind of tape used for securing packages. It was hard to tell from this distance, but Eden thought she could see the light on the shiny surface. If that was it, then her neck had perhaps been taped as well, since her head was upright. The gun could be taped in place, too, since it was aimed outward, but Helen wasn’t adjusting it so that it would be aimed at them.
