“Good, because I’m on my way there now.”
Jack didn’t curse, but that was what he looked like he wanted to do. “Describe the person and the vehicle that’s following you so I can get someone out to help you.”
Silence from Scotty, for a long time. “No. Don’t send anyone. I don’t want to be gunned down or anything. But tell me what’s going on. Why is this happening? And I want to hear the answers from Caroline, not you.”
Caroline tried to tamp down the whirlwind of thoughts in her head so she could figure out the right thing to say to him. Shealso tried to steady her breath and her pulse. This wasn’t the time for a panic attack.
“I think someone hacked into either WITSEC files or a Justice Department computer,” she explained. “Did you do that?”
More silence, and like Jack, Scotty cursed this time, too. “You know I’m not going to admit to that. I could go to jail.” But then Scotty paused. “Is that why someone’s after me?”
It wasn’t exactly a confession, but it was close enough. “Who hired you to do that?” Caroline pressed.
But that only caused Scotty to curse even more. “I need your help, not your questions. You need to get out here now and meet me.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Jack spoke up. “Where are you?”
Caroline could tell from Jack’s rough tone that he wanted that location so he could call in some of his fellow lawmen, but Scotty didn’t answer. Not his question, anyway.
“No!” Scotty yelled.
And Caroline heard something else. The squeal of brakes. The sound of a collision. She also heard Scotty groan, and there was no mistaking that he was in pain.
“Scotty?” Caroline practically shouted.
She repeated his name over and over again, begging him to respond, but she only got more of those moans. The seconds dragged by. Seconds where Scotty could be dying.
“How bad are you hurt?” she pressed. “Tell me where you are, and I can get you some help.”
Still, no answer, and she couldn’t even hear the moans now. Caroline was about to ask Gunnar to try to trace the call, but he spoke before she could say anything.
“We just got a 911 call about a car accident on the east road, just outside town limits,” Gunnar said. “A car hit a light pole.”
All of her muscles tightened and twisted. Including the ones in her chest. Caroline had to fight just to drag in a breath. Oh, God. Something bad had happened.
“I’m dispatching an ambulance,” Gunnar added, “and I’m on the way there.”
Gunnar was already heading for the door when Jack went after him. “It’s possible there was an armed suspect in pursuit of the driver. It could be dangerous.”
Too dangerous to get an ambulance in there, but the cops would clearly have to respond.
“Help me,” Scotty finally groaned out. “I’m dying. Help me.”
Caroline figured Jack would give her grief over what she was about to demand, but she was going to do it anyway.
“If Scotty’s really dying,” she whispered, “I need to try to talk to him. He won’t talk to you,” she added when Jack opened his mouth. “But he might tell me what he did and who hired him to do it.”
Oh, Jack definitely didn’t like that, but he couldn’t argue her point. This might be their best chance at finding out who had tried to kill them. Of course, there was also a good chance they could be put in another dangerous situation.
“I need you to go with us,” Jack told Kellan when he came into the bullpen. “I’ll explain along the way.”
Kellan didn’t hesitate. He hurried toward the door, and the four of them raced out to get into the cruiser. The rain had slowed to just a drizzle, but Jack figured it was only a lull. The storm air felt heavy and the clouds looked ready to burst.
Gunnar took the wheel with Kellan in the front seat, and Jack and she got in the back. While Jack filled Kellan in, Caroline kept her attention on Scotty.
“Are you still there?” she asked Scotty. She kept a tight grip on the phone. “How badly are you hurt?”
“Bad,” Scotty managed to say through another of those hoarse groans.
