But if there was a second shooter lying in wait, rising up could be suicide.
He looked at Laney. She was steady, gun ready, her eyes locked on his. No hesitation. No fear. Just fire and determination.
They couldn’t wait.
“All right,” he muttered, reaching for a fresh magazine. He slammed it into place and racked the slide. “We do this together. Sit up, aim at the tree line, and do not stop until I tell you.”
Her nod was quick without a shred of hesitation.
Harlan drew in a breath, feeling the weight of what came next. “On three,” he said, his voice low but firm. “One… two…”
He shifted, bracing himself to rise and unleash hell.
“Three.”
Harlan rose with Laney at his side, and they opened fire together. The sound was deafening inside the cab, their rounds chewing into the trees where the muzzle flashes had sparked. The answering gunfire stopped, but Harlan’s finger kept working the trigger.
He knew better than to believe the silence meant safety.
Laney stayed with him, their weapons barking in unison until the smell of gunpowder hung thick. When their magazines ran dry, they dropped back down, reloaded, and came up firingagain. The trees shredded under the onslaught, bark and leaves flying, but no more shots came back at them.
Sweat slicked Harlan’s palms as he pushed through the next mag, emptying it into the tree line. Laney did the same, her jaw tight, her eyes fierce. They reached for backup guns, switched, and kept it going.
Finally, they let the weapons fall still and slid down against the seats, lungs dragging in harsh gulps of air. The SUV reeked of cordite and heat.
Seconds stretched. No return fire. No movement. Only the faint sound of the night pressing in around them.
Harlan’s gut tightened as the truth sank in. Whoever had been out there was gone.
Their attacker had gotten away.
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Chapter Thirteen
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With every muscle in her body aching with fatigue, Laney stepped out of the SUV. It was nearly midnight, and the weight of the night’s chaos dragged heavy on her shoulders. It felt like nothing short of a miracle that she and Harlan had made it back without a scratch.
Garrett was already waiting for them at the door. He opened it as soon as they reached the porch, ushering them inside and locking up tight behind them. His expression was steady, but his eyes scanned them quickly, as if double-checking that they were really standing there and both in one piece.
“How are they?” Laney’s words tumbled out. “ How are Evie and my mom?”
“They’re fine,” Garrett assured her. “Both are sleeping in the tent room. Your mom didn’t even make it to her own bed. She fell asleep in there with Evie.” He gave a small shrug. “So unless you want to wake her up, you two are going to have to crash somewhere else.”
Relief sagged through Laney at the thought of her daughter safe, warm, and unaware of the nightmare outside. She let out a long breath of relief.
“Any new updates?” Garrett asked.
Laney shook her head. “Nothing.”
Harlan had already been filling him in, piece by piece with texts, while she and Harlan had spent hours tied up with the sheriff’s deputies, the CSIs, and the Crossfire Ops crew. The lawmen and operatives were still out there now, patrolling the grounds with floodlights sweeping across the property. The investigators had bagged casings and fragments, trying to piece together where the shooter had been and where Billy had gone.
She rubbed a hand over her face, exhaustion dragging her down. “Still no sign of Billy. Or whoever tried to kill us. Just some blood on the ground, and it’s being tested to see if it’s Billy’s.”
The words felt raw in her throat, and Garrett’s jaw tightened as if the lack of answers cut him just as deep. The silence that followed was heavy, broken only by the faint buzz of an ATV circling the back pasture. A patrol guard that had been provided by Crossfire Ops, and Laney was beyond thankful for it. Yes, they had the sensors, but she didn’t want anyone getting close enough to the house to take more shots at them.
Garrett’s gaze flicked toward the dark windows before he looked back at them. “Maybe they’ll find Billy in the morning, once there’s light. You both look wiped. You should head to bed.”
