He only got a glimpse of the person who’d launched it, someone wearing black clothes and a mask. But whoever it was immediately stepped back, using the darkness and the white cloud of gas to hide behind.
“Caroline,” Jack said on an oath. He couldn’t see Clarie or her, but he figured this was some kind of ploy to get to her.
And it could work.
Jack had a fast debate with himself about getting into the cruiser so he could use it to get closer to the women and give them some cover. But with the uneven ground and some largelandscape rocks, he could get stuck. If that happened, he might be too late to save them.
Cursing, he turned around and started running to get back to them, but the gas stung at his eyes like acid. Plus, even though he’d only gotten a few whiffs of it, he was already finding it hard to breathe. It had to be a lot worse for Caroline and Clarie. They were right there, next to where the canister had gone off, so they were no doubt getting the brunt of it.
With that thought racing through his head, Jack cut through the same shrubs and weeds he’d just trampled through so he could make his way back to them. He seriously doubted that their attacker had simply tossed that canister just to make them more miserable than they already were. No. This was some kind of ploy—Jack could feel that in his gut.
He could hear the women coughing. That was a good sign because it meant they were alive, but their instincts would be to run. To get as far away from the gas as possible. That would take them out into the open where they could be gunned down, and they wouldn’t even be able to see their attacker.
Jack tried to keep watch around him. Hard to do, but he kept pressing. Kept moving. And his heart went to his knees when he reached the side of the porch and didn’t see either Caroline or Clarie. They’d moved.
But where?
The weather didn’t cooperate as he listened for them. The sky unzipped, the rain pounding down on him, making it hard to hear. It would clear the air, but it wouldn’t happen nearly fast enough.
Jack kept running, and he finally heard the coughing again. No sounds of a struggle with a would-be killer, thank God, and he needed to make it to them to keep it that way.
He stayed close to the wall of the inn, but that meant checking each window to make sure he wasn’t about to be ambushedwhen he went past it. He didn’t see anyone. That was the good news. The bad news was that Caroline and Clarie had likely moved to the back of the building.
From where the intruder had gotten inside.
The person could be there, waiting.
Caroline and Clarie were armed, he reminded himself, and he hung on to that thought while he kept moving.
Now it was the rain that was stinging his eyes, and somehow the tear gas was still making its way to him. There was some gas coming out of the inn, too, which Jack discovered when he hurried past the window where Clarie, Caroline and he had escaped the first canister. Even though he doubted they would go back inside with that tear-gas fog, he made a quick glimpse inside.
No one.
He could no longer hear any coughing or other sounds of movement, and he hoped that was a good sign. That Clarie and Caroline had managed to find some clear air and a safe place to take cover.
Jack considered texting Clarie to let her know he was nearby, but he decided against that. If they were hiding from an attacker, he didn’t want to give away their location. Besides, Clarie knew that Gunnar was also out here, somewhere, so she wouldn’t pull the trigger without making sure it wasn’t one of them.
He took another step and cursed when he nearly tripped over something. Not something, Jack quickly realized.
Someone.
It was a woman, and she was in a crumpled heap at his feet.
That sent his heart rate into a gallop, and he felt the cold fear ripple over his skin. No. Please. Not Caroline.
Jack dropped to his knees, and he forced himself to rein in his emotions. At least he tried to do that. It was nearly impossible tothink of the woman he loved being hurt. Or worse. To think of her dead.
But it wasn’t Caroline.
He could see that once he managed to wipe the rain from his eyes so he could get a better look. It was Clarie. And she was breathing. Thank God for that, but she wasn’t okay. There was blood on her head and in her hair, and since there was a metal pipe next to her, Jack assumed that was the weapon that’d been used to assault her.
Where was Caroline?
Jack’s gaze fired all around, but he didn’t see her, and everything inside him was telling him he had to get to her now. Still, he sent a quick text to Gunnar to let the deputy know Clarie’s location and that she needed medical help—fast. He hated leaving her there alone, but whoever had done this to her now had Caroline. Jack was sure of that.
Using his forearm to push aside the sopping wet shrubs, Jack hurried toward the back of the inn. He tried to listen for any sounds she might make. But he heard nothing. That certainly didn’t tamp down his fears.
When his phone vibrated with a text message, he glanced down at the screen and saw Gunnar’s response. I’m on my way to Clarie now.
