Moving fast, that was where he headed.
It wasn’t a standard feature in homes in this area, but he recalled Mellie saying that it had once led to a cupola. Apparently, storms had damaged the structure a century or more ago and it had been turned into a sort of widow’s walk, a flat portion of the roof surrounded by a low rail. Over the years, the stairs had fallen down, but the ceiling door appeared to still be intact.
Judson was thankful for that since he needed to try to pinpoint the location, and the identity, of this sick SOB who kept trying to kill them.
He heard another shot outside, but this one sounded as if it’d come from a different firearm. Or maybe just a different distance. He was hoping that meant Rory or Calvin had been able to return fire.
Pocketing the binoculars, Judson dragged a chair beneath the ceiling door, and, holstering his gun, he opened the door and used both hands and a good portion of his strength to hoist himself up. He immediately felt the chilly early-morning air close in around him, but he kept moving until he was on the widow’s walk.
The moment he was through the ceiling door and on the walk, he drew his gun again.
The two-foot-tall railing around the widow’s walk wouldn’t give him much cover or protection, but it didn’t obstruct his view, either. He could see nearly the entire ranch from this vantage point. Better yet, he could see the barn across the road.
Holding his gun in his right hand and the binoculars in his left, he zoomed in on the hayloft again.
And he cursed.
Because he could now see that it wasn’t a person at all but rather what appeared to be a black jacket and pants pressed against some bales of hay. There was a rifle propped up beside it, and someone had positioned a flashlight so that it spotlighted the items.
Damn it.
There was only one reason for that setup—to make them focus on the very spot where the killer wasn’t.
So, where was the SOB?
With his heart drumming faster now, Judson scanned the yard, the road and the pasture. He saw Calvin behind a sprawling oak. He had his gun, but he wasn’t shooting. However, he had his attention pinned to the area across the driveway and in front of the house.
Judson swiveled in that direction, and he spotted Rory. His fellow deputy was crouched down by one of the cruisers, but he wasn’t focusing where Calvin was. He seemed to be looking in the direction of one of the ditches.
Another shot rang out, blasting through the silence. And because Judson could see both Rory and Calvin, he knew the shot hadn’t come from one of them. It had come from the gunman, and Judson thought he or she was in those trees across from the driveway. So, he turned there to keep watch, but he was well aware there could be two attackers.
One in each of the locations that had gotten Calvin’s and Rory’s attention.
If so, one of the attackers could be trying to get into the house while the other tried to pin Calvin and Rory down with gunfire. It was a plan that could work, and that’s why Judson knew he had to give Bennie a heads-up.
Listen and keep watch for a possible break-in, Judson settled for saying.
Will do, Bennie immediately texted back.You have a visual on the shooter?
No visual, he replied.Just an estimation based on that last shot. Also, there might be two of them.
He imagined Bennie silently cursing when he read that. Cursing but staying vigilant.I’m keeping watch, Bennie assured him.
Judson was about to text Addie to give her the same warning and a reminder to stay put in the bathroom, but his phone vibrated with a text. Not from Bennie but rather Rory.
I think the SOB used the ditch to get closer to the house, Rory had messaged.I caught a glimpse of him, but I don’t think he’s in the ditch now.
He?Judson questioned.
Or maybe she, Rory was quick to reply.I only got a glimpse of someone wearing all black. I shot at them, but I think I missed.
Too bad about that. Judson wished that Rory had blown this snake to smithereens.
Watch the house, Judson advised Rory.
And he did the same. Watched and waited. Listened.
The breeze didn’t exactly cooperate with his attempts to listen. It came in short bursts, stirring the trees and rattling the shrubs and the leaves on the live oaks. Those little noises were maybe masking other sounds that he should be hearing. Like movement out of the ditch or that area across from the house.
