Page 50 of Search for the Truth
A gunshot.
After that, no one stayed quiet.
Chapter Thirteen
Ray McClennan hadn’t expected Liam to be waiting for him inside the house. That much was evident when Liam had slid behind him, gun raised and pressed it to the small of his back.
“Don’t move.” Liam’s voice had been deathly quiet, but he knew Ray heard him loud and clear.
It’s just that the man didn’t care to listen.
He spun around while throwing himself off-balance on purpose. It was a wild move that might have had him dodging a bullet had Liam intended on shooting the man on the spot. There were two reasons why he didn’t want to use a gun if he could help it.
One, he didn’t know exactly where the Bennet family was inside the house, and no matter how great his aim was or how close he was with his target, there was always the possibility that something could go wrong. He didn’t want to chance an accident with Blake, Lola, or the kids close by.
Two, and this was just as strong as a point as the first, Liam didn’t want the men outside to know that their presence was needed. He wanted them to keep standing next to the trees while they thought Ray had everything handled.
A shot going off in the night surely would do the opposite.
So Liam kept his finger away from the trigger and instead dealt with Ray with the length of his arm and elbow.
He used this and his sheer weight as a battering ram. Instead of going forward, however, he smashed into the man’s side and threw him into the laundry room’s wall.
Something cracked, but Liam wasn’t in the position to inspect. He just knew that Ray hadn’t been put out of commission. The man swung his elbow out with undeniable panicked strength. Liam was too close and took the hit to the side of his face.
Pain burst along his cheek.
He didn’t have time for it either.
Using his gun as a fist, he brought its butt against Ray’s shoulder. It was such an odd spot, but the sudden force did wonders. Ray grunted and tried his best to grab the new pain while also trying to dance away from it.
Space bloomed between them, and in that space, Liam was able to see that Ray wasn’t one of the men without a weapon.
He had a gun.
The shot was quick but sloppy. It could have been a kill shot, easy, but Ray was still operating like he had been caught off guard. Instead of a direct chest or head shot, pressure pushed into Liam’s right arm. Liam lost his grip on the gun.
So he kicked it away from both of them on reflex as Ray lunged forward with his left.
Liam’s hand wrapped around Ray’s wrist, and he pulled back with all his might. This time he knew the cracking he heard was the man’s bone.
Ray howled in pain. More importantly, he dropped his gun to the wood floor.
Liam kept going. He brought Ray’s broken wrist and arm with him as he got behind the man put him in a hold. His plan was to use his knee and the hold to put Ray on the floor.
He never could have accounted for what happened next.
A man wearing a rain slicker and a head so bald it shone with the limited light appeared in the back doorway. He was built like the letter T, and although he wasn’t the same height as Liam, he wasn’t far off either.
He also had a gun that he didn’t hesitate to use.
Liam had no room to move once the gunshot split through the air.
Neither did Ray.
Still pinned against Liam’s chest, Ray took the full force of the shot to the chest, and it pushed both men over, Liam hitting the floor hard. The air left his lungs. He struggled to stand and breathe all at once, coughing and trying to pull Ray out of the way at the same time.
He was left unprotected. Vulnerable. An easy target.
