Page 25 of Maverick Detective Dad
“No weapon,” Theo muttered.
The words had barely left Theo’s mouth when Noah got himself and the man moving as well. Noah hurdled across the ditch, dragging George along with him, but the man’s right leg fell in, causing the muddy water to slosh up around them. Theo didn’t miss a beat. He took George’s left arm, and Noah took his right. They ran toward Everly, and all the while Noah prayed he could get her out of harm’s way in time.
In the distance, Noah heard the wail of the sirens. That was both good and bad news because it meant backup would soon be there. But it was bad as well since the lawmen could be riding straight into an explosion.
“I’ll take the driver,” Theo assured Noah. “You get Everly.”
Since that would get them on the move the fastest, Noah went with it. Thankfully, Everly was already getting to her feet and they hurried, ducking behind one of those bunker-like hills. Knowing that Theo would be checking their surroundings for any signs of danger, Noah took out his phone and made a quick call to the Silver Creek dispatcher to alert Grayson and the Bulverde cops about the danger on the road.
“Oh, God,” Everly said, her voice trembling.
Noah still hadn’t put his phone away, but he snapped toward her to see what’d caused that reaction. She had her attention frozen on some papers that they’d obviously stepped on when they’d dropped down on the ground. Except it wasn’t papers, he realized when he had a closer look.
It was photos.
At least a dozen of them. Specifically, black-and-white photos of Everly’s car. Ones taken after the accident that’d killed Helen. Whoever had put the pictures there had enhanced them, coloring the dark splotches of blood a bright red. Helen’s blood. It had been on the road after the EMTs had rushed the dying woman away.
Noah felt his own slam of memories and knew it had to be even worse for Everly. Added to everything else that was happening, he thought this might spiral her into having a panic attack.
“This is what the killer wants,” Noah told her. “He wants you so upset that you can’t think straight.”
She looked at him, their gazes connecting, and she nodded. It wasn’t a particularly strong nod, but it was confirmation enough that she was likely going to pull herself together.
Noah continued to keep watch, all the while hoping the dispatcher had managed to get in touch with whoever was in the cop car that he could hear getting closer. Closer. But he continued to brace himself for an attack. One that could come from many directions. He was especially worried about a group of thick trees about thirty yards away. It’d be a perfect place for a sniper to hide.
That thought had barely had time to cross his mind when Noah heard the sound. Not gunfire. No. This was much louder, and he could have sworn it shook the ground beneath them.
With his gun ready, he peered over the embankment and saw something he sure as hell hadn’t wanted to see.
The truck and cruiser had just exploded.
Chapter Eight
While Grayson drove Noah and her toward the Silver Creek Sheriff’s Office, Everly sat in the backseat of his cruiser and balled her hands into fists to stop them from trembling. She silently cursed her reaction. Cursed even more that she’d nearly crumbled when she’d seen those blasted photos.
She’d left the Ryland ranch to go to the interview with River, knowing that the killer could use the trip as a chance to come after them.
And he had.
The bait had worked. Not as they’d planned though. It had drawn out the killer all right, but instead of Noah and her catching and stopping him, he’d come very close to ending four lives. Plus, the lives of the two Bulverde cops who’d been in the approaching car at the time of the explosion.
In this case, hindsight was her enemy because it was causing all of this to eat away at her. She couldn’t help but think if Noah, Theo and she had stayed put just one more minute in the cruiser, or if it’d taken slightly longer to rescue the driver of the truck, they would have been blown to bits along with the two vehicles.
Thankfully, none of them had gotten any serious injuries, though the truck driver had been taken to the hospital for a possible concussion. Theo, Noah and she had made it out with just a few scrapes and bruises, none of which had required medical attention. They’d gotten lucky.
But they hadn’t gotten the killer.
He was still out there, no doubt trying to figure out another way to come after them. That’s why Grayson and Noah were continuing to keep watch around them. Everly was, too, but with her rattled nerves and the adrenaline still firing through her, it seemed as if every fence, tree and ditch could be hiding a killer.
At least Ainsley and everyone at the Ryland ranch were safe as well. Everly had called Noah’s mom as soon as her voice had been steady enough to have an actual conversation. There’d been no sign of trouble there, thank goodness, but Darcy had obviously been shaken after hearing about the collision.
Megan was safe as well. Shortly after Grayson had arrived on the scene, Noah had gotten a call about that from Detective O’Malley who’d informed him that the woman had arrived safe and sound and was now in protective custody.
Since Noah had opted to ride in the backseat with her, no doubt to try to make sure she didn’t lose it, he reached over and took her hand. Something he’d been doing a lot since this whole ordeal had started. Everly didn’t mind. In fact, she welcomed it. Noah and she were in this together, and he was probably the only person in Silver Creek who totally understood what she was feeling.
Too bad her feelings weren’t limited to just their dangerous situation.
This closeness with Noah was stirring other things, too. The heat, yes, but it was more than that. Once, she’d been in love with him. That’d been years ago and when they had been teenagers, but she had loved him. And she had to make sure that didn’t happen again. She just couldn’t see them having a future together since it would only trigger the nightmare memories for both of them. They were responsible for a woman’s death, and that wasn’t ever going away.
