Page 60 of Maverick Detective Dad
River’s face was etched with pain, but he managed a forced smile. “Oh, it’s not over,” he said, his eyelids already fluttering down. “You didn’t win,Detective Ryland.” He said Noah’s name like venom and used his dying breath to add, “Wonder if you can live with killing Helen. For real this time. Because you won’t be able to get to her before she dies.”
Noah didn’t have time to text Grayson. Didn’t have time to do anything. Before the blast tore through the night.
Chapter Eighteen
Everly’s heart sank when she heard the explosion. Sweet heaven. Not this. Not after everything they had all been through.
“When River got me out of the SUV, he took something from his pocket and tossed it onto the backseat,” Everly managed to say while Noah pressed his fingers to River’s neck to make sure he was dead. He was.
Noah nodded, and he went to her, pulled her into his arms. There was so much emotion in that embrace. So much relief. Emotion and relief that Everly felt, too, and later, she would tell Noah just how thankful she was that they’d both made it through this. For now though, they had to try to save Helen.
“River drugged you?” Noah asked her. He hooked his arm around her waist to get her moving.
“Yes, but I knocked away the needle before he could give me the full dose.”
That was yet something else she was thankful for. She was light-headed, but it could have been a whole lot worse. If she hadn’t been conscious, she wouldn’t have been able to get away from him so Noah could take that kill shot.
With Noah’s firm grip on her, they started threading their way out of the trees. “There was no reason for River to kill Helen. He didn’t show his face in the SUV, and I’m almost positive she didn’t know who he was.”
Noah made a sound of agreement and kept moving, but she knew what he was thinking. River hadn’t tossed that explosive in the SUV because Helen could have ID’d him. No. This was one last jab at Noah and her. River might not have been able to kill them, but they would have to live with how all of this had played out.
Everly heard sirens. Both police and an ambulance from the sound of it. Her first thought was “Good,” but then she realized that Grayson or the EMTs could have been close to or actually in the SUV when the bomb went off. That got her moving as fast as she could.
Sweet heaven.
How many people had River killed with his parting shot?
As if Mother Nature decided to give them a break, the rain let up some as Noah and she came out of the trees and into the pasture. The water was still stinging her eyes, but she spotted the two vehicles on the side of the road. Noah’s and Grayson’s. She’d been right about the ambulance, too. It was right behind the second cruiser.
But her heart skipped some beats when she saw the SUV.
Or rather what was left of it.
The bomb had obviously worked because the SUV was a mangled heap with white smoke spewing from the radiator.
“Grayson,” Noah muttered.
For one horrifying moment, she thought Noah had seen his uncle’s body. But no. Not his body. Grayson was on the side of his cruiser, in a position of taking cover. He wasn’t alone either. There were two EMTs with him.
And Helen.
Grayson was holding the woman in his arms.
“She’s alive,” Grayson called out to them. “I got her out right before the SUV blew up.”
The relief hit Everly so hard that her legs gave way. Noah was right there to catch her though, and he scooped her up, cradling her against him as he made his way through the pasture and toward Grayson.
“Any idea if there are other explosives?” Grayson asked, studying them with those cop’s eyes. No doubt looking to see if they were injured.
“I don’t think so,” Everly managed to say. “I saw River throw only one thing onto the backseat.”
“River,” Grayson repeated. He handed off Helen to the EMTs, and they took her in the direction of the ambulance. “I heard the shots. I’m guessing he’s dead?”
Noah nodded, and once they reached Grayson, he set Everly on her feet. He didn’t let go of her though. “I’ll do a full report, but River was the killer, and when he tried to escape with Everly, I shot and killed him.”
“Good,” Grayson muttered, but he was still giving them the once-over. “Your faces and hands are nicked up. Is that the worst of your injuries, or are there more?”
“The worst of them,” Noah and she said in unison.
