Until he added that last part, he could practically feel the argument Livvy was about to dole out. But the truth was that staying put was not only the safe thing for her to do—it meant she could watch his back and maybe stop anyone else, including him, from being shot.
Ethan glanced around himself again, assessing his surroundings. There were five rooms on each side of the corridor in both directions for a total of twenty, and about half the doorswere open. It was possible that some of those were empty or that patients had tried to barricade themselves in.
But it was equally possible that the shooter was in one of them.
He eased away from the wall, and keeping his steps as light as possible, Ethan started moving. With rooms on both sides of him, he had to go slow, checking each one before continuing. When he reached the sound of that movement, he stopped and listened.
Footsteps and whispers.
The door was partially open but not wide enough for him to see inside. Gathering his breath, Ethan eased it open with his boot, automatically bringing up his Glock.
And he took aim.
A female nurse and a patient were cowering on the side of the bed. Not Sunny. Nor was the shooter in sight.
Where is he?Ethan mouthed.
The women were clearly terrified, but the nurse motioned toward Ethan’s left. So, that was where he went. Still keeping that slow pace, he checked the next room. Empty. And he kept moving.
He cursed, though, when he sensed movement behind him and saw that Livvy had stepped out into the hall. Hell. He didn’t want her in the middle of this. But Ethan didn’t get a chance to make it clear he wanted her behind cover.
That was because of the muffled scream.
It was coming from just one room over, and Ethan hurried there, pulling up by the door frame and peering inside. His stomach dropped when he saw the woman in the corner of the room.
And the ski-masked man behind her.
He had his arm hooked around her neck and a gun pressed to her head.
Again, the woman wasn’t Sunny. But Ethan knew her. She was Leslie Stewart, the high school librarian, and he had a vague recollection of someone saying she’d needed an emergency appendectomy.
“Help me,” Leslie muttered, and the woman’s face was a mask of sheer terror.
The man shifted the gun toward Ethan. And fired. Ethan ducked out of the way barely in time, but the bullet shattered a chunk of the doorframe. He prayed the shot hadn’t gone into the room across the hall and injured someone there.
“I’m Deputy Oakley, Renegade Canyon Sheriff’s Office,” Ethan called out. “Put down your weapon.”
He hadn’t expected that to work. And it didn’t. There was the sound of more movement, and several moments later, Leslie and her captor appeared in the doorway.
“Come at me and she dies,” the man snarled.
Ethan couldn’t see his eyes. Heck, nor any part of his face or hair. And he didn’t recognize the voice.
So, who was this?
Soon he hoped to get the answer to that, but for now, Ethan was forced to duck into the room across the hall for cover. The gunman took cover, too, by keeping his back pressed to the wall as he dragged Leslie along with him to the next room. Clearly, he was looking for someone, and Ethan decided to test some waters.
“If you’re here for Sunny,” Ethan called out, volleying quick glances into the hall, “she’s been moved.”
That stopped the thug in his tracks, and it gave Ethan some critical info. Yeah, the guy was here for Sunny, which meant this was likely connected to Sunny’s attack and Zadie’s murder. It was possible her killer was right here, just a few yards away from Ethan.
“Where the hell is she?” the gunman snapped.
“In here behind me,” Ethan lied without hesitation. He definitely didn’t want this SOB checking any of the other rooms since Sunny would be in one of them.
Ethan glanced out in the hall again and saw that the gunman had turned in his direction. His gun was aimed at Ethan, too.
The man still had Leslie in a chokehold, but the woman’s gaze met Ethan’s. Just for a split second. Enough time for him to motion for her to drop down. It was a risk. Anything they did at this point was. But at least Leslie wasn’t in the immediate line of being shot in the head since the gun was no longer pointed at her.
