Annie lowered her arm back to her side. So, this was the infamous Ian Ward she’d been warned about, son of the Lake Lumin Wards, the only multimillionaires in the county, with their racehorse dynasty and sprawling stables south of town. He didn’t look like much, certainly not the heir of millionaires, this sour-faced string bean of a man with a receding hairline and the fading tattoo of what must be his family crest visible over the collar of his shirt.
“Well”—he cast a glance over each shoulder at his companions—“I’m sure we’ll all sleep a lot better at night knowing that even though there’s a murderer on the loose, we’ve got the protection of Anne of Green Gables on our side.”
His friends snickered, and a strange sound escaped Annie’s lips,a bark caught somewhere between a scoffing laugh and a snort of disbelief.
“Excuse me?” she managed. The barb had broken the skin, a reference to the fiery red-haired heroine for which her mother had named her.
“No offense,” Ian said, lifting his hands in an exaggerated gesture. “I’m just saying, pretty strange coincidence that we trade out one of our male officers for a female, and, lo and behold, we get our first murder in town.”
Annie was so befuddled by the man’s sense of logic that she simply stared at him in open-mouthed disbelief.
“You can’t be serious,” she said when she found her voice again.
Ian lifted his upper lip in what Annie supposed was meant to be a smile. “It’s a pretty strange coincidence, is all I said.”
Annie felt the indignation rising in her chest as his friends laughed again.No. Tamp it down. That’s just what he wants, to see you lose your temper so he can call you hysterical.
She forced a smile. “Maybe it was more providence than coincidence. I’m not sure how many men could have hiked sideways across Lewis Ridge to reach the crime scene. You know, uswomenwith our lower center of gravity and better sense of balance.”
Ian laughed, throwing his head back to reveal molars studded with dark fillings. “Oh sure, better sense of balance. I’m sure you could take down a whole roomful of murderers with that. Ain’t that just what this town needs, boys? A well-balanced lady cop?”
The last two words were sneered. An insult. A slur, and Annie squared her shoulders automatically. Her anger was just below the surface now, red and simmering, but she forced herself to keep eye contact.
“Ah, that’s right”—she nodded—“you’d have done a better job than me if your daddy had been able to buy your way into the uniform.”
Surprise flickered across Ian’s features. He hadn’t banked on her knowing this embarrassing bit of information about him, and withsatisfaction, Annie watched the scarlet flush that rose on his cheeks. His friends went silent, their faces unsure, and Annie knew this was her moment to bow out, before they had a chance to react.
“Have a nice day, gentlemen,” she said icily, grabbed her bags, and turned to walk away.
Ian and his friends immediately stepped around her, blocking her path forward, and Annie’s stomach tightened like a clenched fist.
She could feel it coming, the pressure rising like mercury in a thermometer. Men like Ian Ward did not enjoy being put in their place and never surrendered the last word without a fight.
She could step off the curb and walk around them. There were no cars coming, but escape from the situation was secondary to what really needed to happen. Bullies didn’t back down until they were stood up to.
“I said, let me by.”
Ian leaned forward, and Annie felt his breath on her face. “You know… I don’t think I will.”
An unpleasant chill raced along her spine as she set the bags down again. There was a can of bear spray in her belt. With deliberate slowness, she slid it out and lifted it into view. Her Ruger was in the Jeep, but the small red canister was usually an equally effective deterrent.
“I said, let me by.”
Ian stared at the spray, jaw clenched. “Rethink that move, Annie.”
The world around her screeched to a halt, and Annie watched in what felt like slow motion as Ian reached a hand around his back, grasping for something in the waistband of his jeans.
A gun. It had to be a gun.
On instinct, Annie mashed her finger down on the trigger of the pepper spray, but nothing happened. She hadn’t used it in months. It was clogged, or broken, or empty. She had nothing with which to defend herself, and she could see it now, the black grip of the firearm as Ian pulled it from behind his back.
A fraction of a second passed, and then, moving so fast she barely saw him coming, a man sprinted across the street.
Daniel Barela was a blur in her periphery, spry arms and legs and the quick flash of a white shirt as he barreled toward Ian. Lunging with impossible speed, he ducked at the last second and slammed his shoulder into Ian’s chest with the force of a linebacker.
Ian went airborne with a shout and the gun he had pulled free flew up into the sky as he was knocked sideways. It skittered across the sidewalk, and both of his friends made a move for it, but Annie was faster and snatched it up. She flicked off the safety, held it high overhead, and fired a warning shot that made both men jerk backward.
“That’s enough!” she shouted at Ian and Daniel, who were wrestling on the sidewalk. They kicked their way apart, each man rising slowly to his feet.
