She’d caught the shooter off guard, and Micha wrestled his gun free. He pressed it into the guy’s chest and sat back. “Don’t move or I shoot.”
The guy relaxed, his arms dropping to the wet ground.
Micha took a good look at his face. Not Layne. Not Buck. Not even Norman Nicks. Even if he didn’t fit the description of these three guys, this guy was older. Micha would put him in his sixties.
He risked a quick glance at Ava. “You were supposed to stay put.”
“I couldn’t. Not when I might be able to help.”
“Well, you did. Thank you.” He hated to admit that he was saved by a girly girl and would like to think he could’ve taken the guy without help, but he would never know.
She came closer and looked down on the shooter. “Who are you?”
He sneered at her. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“I would.”
“Too bad.”
Micha didn’t want to waste time arguing but got to his feet. “You can put the safety on your gun, Ava, and we’ll head back to the fishing shack to call Russ.”
Micha nudged the shooter with his foot to his side. “Get up and don’t give me a reason to use this.”
The older guy pushed to his feet, surprisingly agile for his age.
Micha pressed the gun into the guy’s back. “March to the shed.”
He strode ahead, dragging his feet, but Micha prodded him to keep going. His head swiveled as he walked. Likely looking for a way to escape.
“Forget about running,” Micha said. “Do it and you’re a dead man.”
They moved over sodden soil, Ava coming behind them. Through the rain. The sound of rushing water covering any other noise.
They reached the door and stepped over the threshold.
Micha glanced at Ava, who closed the door behind her. “No electricity. Get my phone from my lower pocket on my right side. Use the flashlight app to look around. See if there’s a lantern or candles. Something to help us see.”
She kept her chin up and glared at the man as she skirted him to reach Micha. He pushed out his leg to give her better access to the pocket just above his knee. She unzipped it with a trembling hand.
Everything in him screamed to punish this man for scaring her like this. He could hardly wait until this was over and he could hold her. Comfort her.
She got out the phone and turned on the light and shone it on the wood walls. One held cabinets with a countertop littered with fishing gear. Various poles hung on another wall. Paddles on another.
“There.” She shone the light on a stool near the door revealing what looked like a battery-powered lantern. She rushed over to it and more light soon flooded the space.
“Good work,” Micha said. “Now find something I can use to restrain this guy.”
She picked up the lantern and moved over to the counter. She set it down and pulled out drawers to search inside. “Nothing.”
“What’s that in the corner?” he asked. “An anchor with rope?”
She took the lantern to shine it on the space, revealing the rusty anchor and thick rope as he hoped.
“Back away, Ava, and I’ll secure him.”
She left the lantern and crossed the room.
Micha poked the guy in the back. “Over there now and have a seat. Back to the anchor.”
