Safety Breach

Oh, mercy. She hadn’t even thought of that. But she should have. Eric had succeeded in rattling her, and he had likely figured that was the first step in getting to her.

“Don’t bring anything with you,” Kellan instructed when she reached for her purse.

Yes, because Eric could have planted tracking devices on clothes or anything else in the house. She’d had her purse with her when she’d gotten groceries, but maybe Eric had managed to put a tracker on it before that quick shopping trip. Or even while she was at the store. She couldn’t take her phone either because he could use it to pinpoint her location. Then, he could follow wherever Kellan was taking her.

Kellan motioned toward his brother, and Owen got out of the car. Like Kellan, he already had his weapon drawn, which meant any of her neighbors could see that and become alarmed. Maybe alarmed enough to come outside and try to figure out what was going on. No one had shown much interest in her in the nine months she’d been there, and now wouldn’t be a good time to start.

“Move fast,” Kellan said, and that was the only warning she got before he took hold of her, positioning her right next to him. He opened the door and got them moving.

“Aww, don’t be that way,” someone said.

Eric.

The voice came from behind them, from inside the house, and Kellan must have recognized it, too, because he dragged her to the ground next to the concrete steps.

“Don’t leave before we have time to play,” Eric joked.

And the killer laughed just as the shot blasted through the air.

Chapter Two (#u8757b407-d5b3-5821-ae6b-f2fa092a480e)

Hell. Kellan wanted to kick himself for not getting to Gemma sooner so this wouldn’t happen.

But he hadn’t been sure who he could trust, hadn’t known how the info about Gemma’s location had been breached. His brother Jack was a marshal and would have been his normal contact for something like this, but Jack was in Arizona escorting a prisoner. That’s why Kellan had tried to handle this himself.

Now none of that mattered because they could both be gunned down by a serial killer.

Kellan scrambled over Gemma, pushing her all the way to the ground so he could cover her with his body. It wasn’t an ideal position, nothing about this was. They were literally out in the open with only the steps for cover. That wouldn’t do squat to protect them if Eric came around the side of the house and through a back door. Of course, if he did that, then Owen would see him.

“Were either of you hit?” Owen called out.

Kellan shook his head and hoped that was true. Beneath him, Gemma was trembling. No doubt reliving a boatload of memories, too. But he couldn’t tell if she’d been injured, and Kellan didn’t want to risk moving off her to find out.

While Owen made a call, no doubt to get them backup, his brother had taken up cover behind the door of the unmarked cruiser. It was bullet resistant, which meant if Kellan could get Gemma to it, she’d be a whole lot safer than she was here. But there was a good twenty feet of space between them and Owen. That was twenty feet that Eric could use to gun them down.

Well, maybe.

When Kellan had searched Gemma’s house, Eric hadn’t been inside. And Kellan had shut and relocked the open window along with checking to make sure no other locks had been tampered with. So, how had Eric gotten in?

Or had he?

There was something else off about this. The angle of the shot seemed to have been all wrong. It was hard to tell, but instead of coming from inside the house, the bullet had been fired more to the left side of it. If that’s indeed where the shooter was, then he and Gemma wouldn’t have been able to see him. Neither would Owen—which could be the exact reason the shot had been fired from there.

And that led him to something else that didn’t fit.

Eric himself.

There was no reason for Eric to put himself in the middle of what could turn out to be a gunfight. Way too risky. No, he was more the lay-in-wait type, and if he’d truly wanted Gemma dead, he would have just waited inside and shot her when she’d opened the door. That would have given him a minute or two to flee before Kellan had even arrived.

So, who’d fired the shot? And where the hell was Eric?

“I think the voice we heard could have been a recording,” Kellan whispered to Gemma.

She went still, obviously giving that some thought, then nodding. A recorder wouldn’t have been that hard to hide if Eric had indeed managed to come in earlier through the window. Also, it would give Eric an advantage if they thought he was inside the house. That’s where they would be pinpointing their focus when the real danger could be at the side of the house. Or even across the street from them.

That sent Kellan snapping in that direction. “Get down!” he yelled to Owen. Kellan hadn’t actually seen anything, but a year of chasing Eric had told him to expect the unexpected when dealing with the snake.

Owen did drop down, putting his body behind the door. Just as another shot came. And just as Kellan had thought, this one came from a house directly across the street. This time, he got a glimpse of the shooter who’d fired out the second-story window. A bulky guy dressed all in black, and he was using a rifle with a scope. If Owen hadn’t ducked when he had, he’d be dead.

Which might have been Eric’s intent all along.

In addition to being a snake, Eric also liked to torment his victims, and killing Owen would have definitely accomplished that. Along with adding another huge layer of guilt and grief they were already feeling because of his father’s murder.

“Hold your position,” Kellan instructed Owen. “How long before the local cops get here?”

“About five minutes,” Owen answered. “I’ve texted them to let them know about the gunfire.”

That meant Austin PD wouldn’t come in with guns blazing. They’d stay back, evaluating the situation while trying to figure how to get Gemma safely out of there. Kellan and Owen would be doing the same thing. Because Kellan didn’t want anyone dying today. Eric had already claimed enough lives.

Another shot came—again from the second floor of the neighbor’s house. The bullet blasted into the stone steps just inches from where he and Gemma were. Owen pivoted and returned fire. It worked because the gunman ducked out of sight. That didn’t mean he was leaving, but the guy might think twice before appearing in the window again.

“I need to stop this,” Gemma whispered, and she mumbled something else he didn’t catch. “One of my neighbors could be hurt.”

That could have already happened. The shooter could have harmed or killed anyone else who happened to be in that house just so he could use the window to launch the attack. However, it was also possible that her neighbor was working for Eric. Or maybe Eric had simply hired some thug to break into the house and fire the shots. Either way, Kellan wasn’t seeing how Gemma would be able to do anything to put an end to this.

However, Gemma must have thought she could do something because she moved, levering herself up on her arms and lifting her head. “I’ll try to bargain with Eric. It’s me he wants.”

Kellan put her right back down on the ground. “You don’t know that. Don’t get Owen and me killed because we’re trying to protect you.”

Yeah, it was harsh, but it worked because Gemma stayed put. Besides, it was partly true. He didn’t wear a badge for decoration, and that meant he’d do whatever it took to keep her safe.

Even though Kellan seriously doubted that it was possible to negotiate with Eric, he took out his phone. He was about to shout out for Eric to call him, but before he could do that, his cell rang, and he saw Unknown Caller pop up on the screen. He hit the answer button and put it on Speaker so he could keep his hands free in case he had to return fire.

“Want to talk, do you, Sheriff?” Eric asked.

Just hearing the sound of the killer’s voice caused the anger to roar through Kellan. He hated this man for what he’d done, and Kellan wished he could reach through the phone line and end this piece of slime once and for all.

“Call off your hired thug,” Kellan warned him.

“I will...in about four minutes, give or take some seconds. That’s about when the city cops will get there.”

Kellan wasn’t sure if Eric had heard Owen say that, but it was just as possible the shooter across the street had relayed that info to him. Not just that info, either, but every move they were making. It was highly likely that Eric wasn’t anywhere near Gemma’s house.

“Why are you doing this? Why now?” Kellan demanded while he continued to keep watch around them.

That included keeping watch of Gemma.

Her breathing was way too fast now, and it was possible she was about to have a panic attack. God knew what kind of psychological damage had been done to her because of what had happened a year ago. Of course, she was hearing the voice of the man who’d nearly killed her, so Kellan doubted she was going to have much luck reining in her fear.