Chapter Thirty-Six
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Cassie raced up thewet road, panic streaking through her.She’d heard the shots.The impact of what had sounded like his truck hitting something.
Cass, I love you.
He hadn’t answered her after that.Now there was nothing from the other end but silence, punctuated by muffled gunshots.
Gavin’s call came through on her vehicle.“Cass, what the hell’s going on?”
“They ambushed him on Cedarwood Road.There was shooting.I called 911, but I think he was hit, and now he’s not answering.”She pressed her lips together to hold back a sob.
“Deck and I are on our way,” he said grimly.
“I’m ten minutes away.Where are you?”
“More like twenty.”
Cassie wanted to scream.Too far away.They were all too far away, and there was zero chance the cops would get there before the rest of them did.“Call the others.”
She ended the call and pressed harder on the accelerator, pushing her driving skills to the limit on the wet roads.She was the closest one to Tristan.His only hope.She had to get there in time to even the odds and hold off the shooters until Gavin and Decker got there.
Her lungs and belly were so tight she could hardly breathe.She just wanted him to be okay.Because if he wasn’t...
No, she told herself with a grim shake of her head.She couldn’t think that way.She wouldn’t lose him.Not now.Not when she’d finally found the courage to let him in and handed him her heart in the process.
Rain beat against the windshield as she turned onto the feeder route that would lead her to Cedarwood Road.She passed the few, slower-moving vehicles in front of her, ignoring the blare of horns when she crossed the double solid line and sent water spraying over them.
Finally, Cedarwood was up ahead.She turned east and sped up the hill, heart hammering.There was no one behind her.She didn’t know how far up Tristan was, but it had to be close to the T at the end.
Cresting another hill, she spotted the vehicles below.
She tapped her earpiece.“Gavin, you copy?”
“I copy.”
“I see them up ahead.The gray car and an SUV are blocking both lanes.Tristan’s truck is...”She swallowed.“The front end is crumpled against a tree.I don’t have a visual on him or anyone else.”
“We’re eight minutes out.Hang back until—”
“There’s no time.I’m going after him.”She tapped her earpiece and pulled over at the far shoulder about fifty yards from the vehicles.Moving fast, she opened her door, weapon up and ready.
She didn’t hear anything except the rain.Didn’t see anything until she crept close enough to see past the damaged rear end of the car.A man was lying face down on the wet pavement near the front of the SUV.
Her heart stopped beating for a moment until her brain computed that he had dark hair.Not Tristan.
Her gaze darted all around as she made her way to him, ready to fire.A pistol lay inches from his right hand.She kicked it away, sent it skidding out of reach under the SUV.The man didn’t so much as twitch.Now she could see the blood spreading around his body.
She moved past him, her breathing unsteady, her insides twisted into a burning knot.Where was Tristan?
Her gaze caught a flash of motion up ahead in the trees.She moved toward it, angling to the right to keep that area in front of her.
A shot ripped through the woods.
