Page 54 of Chasing Creed

Creed had no idea what that meant. The girl was “the package?”

In his gut, he knew this property was being used for nefarious business. Why padlock a house that looked like it could collapse on itself?

And Perry? Creed only remembered Sheriff Daniels saying that he trusted the man. Something about hiring him when he recently became sheriff.

“The go-between,” Creed stopped at the back corner of the house. “And now, the clean-up guy.”

Perry stared at him. It was obvious he didn’t like that moniker. He pulled down the brim of his cap. His eyes slatted. Jaw clenched. Creed could see it. The man wanted to shoot him right here, right now. He didn’t need any target practice, because everything would be close contact: execution style.

Perry would easily shoot him and Kyle and even Norwich. He’d come back and kill Grace, too. Creed could see all of that in the guy’s dead eyes as they continued to narrow and stare at him. Now, he wondered if Perry was even a real deputy.

“Let’s just move along,” he finally told Creed and held the gun up as a reminder. He glanced back at the road. There was a hint of urgency in that glance.

“You got a story ready for the rescue crew?” Creed asked.

“Stop jabbering and get moving.”

Creed kept his stride with his head up, eyes down. He searched and scanned the ground. Everything looked different after the downpour. Long grasses flattened with debris and twigs woven in-between. Ten feet out. He recognized nothing!

He glanced back at the corner of the house only to be shoved by Perry.

“Hold on a minute.” He stopped and held his hands up. “Everything looks different in the dark,” he told Perry with his back to the man so he couldn’t see Creed’s eyes desperately searching the ground. “I need to find the same spot to enter the woods. If I choose the wrong one, we’ll both end up lost.”

Just when he thought he’d overshot the area, he saw a piece of metal peeking out.

“There it is,” Creed pointed to an opening between the trees only twenty feet away. As Perry leaned to see where Creed was gesturing, Creed side-stepped. In the same motion, he twisted around and grabbed Perry’s arm.

The man had already lifted the gun. Finger on the trigger. The first bullet whizzed past Creed’s ear. The second grazed his left arm, hot iron racing through his skin.

The pain took him by surprise. Instead of trying to disarm the man, Creed shoved him.

Perry stumbled backward. His feet high-stepped and his arms windmilled as he tried to regain his balance. The whole time, he still gripped the revolver, ready to fire again. One last step and a violent metallic click-click-clash thundered in the grass.

The scream sent birds flapping and critters skittering.

Creed dropped to his belly while Perry unloaded the gun. Shots recklessly streamed everywhere. Creed waited until the last bullet had been fired. Until the scream transitioned into whimpers.

While he crawled around the house, he heard new noises. Still on his knees, he could see the front yard had filled with rescue vehicles. Headlights blazed in different directions. Maybe a dozen uniformed crew members moved quickly, pulling out and assembling equipment.

Before Creed stood, he felt a large man towering over him. Huge combat boots inches from Creed’s hands. He looked up to find another gun barrel. This one pointed at his head. In the stream from headlights, he saw the man’s “don’t mess with me” expression along with the STATE PATROL cap.

They had to have seen Perry’s county sheriff’s SUV. They must have heard the gunfire and Perry’s screams. How in the world would he convince them he wasn’t the bad guy? Still on his knees, Creed simply held up his hands.

That’s when he saw the giant of a man had a phone in his other hand, pressed against his face. The gun never left its position. Nor did the man’s eyes.

“Okay, hold up a minute. Describe, please.” While he listened, he finally seemed to give Creed his full attention. He pulled the phone away and asked, “You Ryder Creed?”

Creed managed to nod.

“Before you tell me what the hell just happened behind that house, someone wants to talk to you.” He handed Creed the phone. “Talk. Then be ready to go in ten.”

The man turned and left to join the others.

Creed sat back on his haunches. His fingers trembled when he lifted the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

“Ryder, are you okay?” It was Norwich. “I heard gunshots.”

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