Page 6 of Jina

As plans went, it wasn’t stellar, but it was the best she could do. And hopefully getting out of town would confuse the gunman too.

Could the two incidents be connected? Nah, that made even less sense than Rory coming after her all these years later. She’d been targeted by gunfire prior to knowing about the dead guy. And she was annoyed that Cole had hung around the gym waiting for a chance to interview her. His watching her hadn’t been out of any personal interest after all.

After taking the time to shower and change, she packed an overnight bag. Then tossed her laptop computer in, too, just in case. Over the past few months, her teammates had gotten into some dicey situations in which she’d helped facilitate keeping them safe. Based on the gunman who’d fired at her outside the MMA gym, it seemed to be her turn. It would be good to leave town for a few days.

The last thing she wanted was to put Mr. Glen in harm’s way.

Tiptoeing down the stairs, she headed back outside. The half-moon hung low in the sky, but there was more than enough ambient light for her to see. Still, she scanned the area carefully as she made her way to the garage.

After she dealt with Cole and his intent to interview her sister, she’d need to go back through her records to see which perp she’d put away over the past eight years may have recently been released. One of them had to be the shooter, although how he’d known she attended Mike’s MMA gym was concerning. She usually kept an eye out for anything suspicious, but the shooter must have followed her to the gym at some point. And had followed her to the duplex too.

The timing of both incidents nagged at her. She headed out of Greenland to the interstate. She’d driven the trip to Madison and back dozens of times and had to admit there was something to be said for driving in the middle of the night. There was hardly any traffic, especially once she was outside the suburb areas of the city. Smooth sailing, she thought with a sense of relief. Then she saw the signs indicating the next two exits were for the town of Peabody.

And irritably, that made her think of Cole Roberts.

Tracking her down and asking questions about the time she’d lived on the farm was a routine part of the investigative process. It bothered her that she’d assumed he was just another member of the gym when he’d come there specifically to find her.

Then again, she’d first noticed him right after she’d joined the gym four months ago. He was good-looking, but that wasn’t what had drawn her attention. She worked with good-looking guys every single day. The fact that he’d watched her with interest while staying away had piqued her interest. Stupid, really, since she still didn’t know if he was married, engaged, or seeing someone special.

And now it didn’t matter. As the detective interviewing her and her sister about a cold case, he was way off-limits.

How long ago had the dead body been found? It couldn’t have been that long, or he’d have sought her out before now. She kicked herself for not digging into the details surrounding that discovery prior to hitting the road.

It wasn’t like her to be so rattled. As one of the sharpshooters for their tactical team, she was known to be cool under pressure. She really needed to pull herself together.

She took note of a pair of headlights behind her. Far enough away that she wasn’t concerned. But then with slow persistence, the gap closed between them.

Her weapon was on her hip, but she didn’t reach for it yet. It seemed highly unlikely the shooter was behind her, but she found herself easing off the gas, hoping the driver would pass her.

He didn’t.

Tightening her grip on the steering wheel, she considered her options. Despite how she hadn’t put the top back on the Jeep, she considered going off-road. But that meant exiting the interstate first.

Or maybe not. A quick glance confirmed she was on a stretch of the highway that was rural. Flanked by farm fields on either side, there wasn’t any place to hide.

She slowed her speed again, forcing the driver behind her to do the same. Then she gunned the engine and abruptly switched lanes. It took a few minutes for the driver of the car to come up alongside her. Without glancing at him, she hit the brake hard enough to make her tires squeal in protest. As soon as he shot past her, she crossed back into the right lane and drove right off the interstate, heading straight into the farm field. There had been a barn off in the distance, and her hope was to get there before this guy could follow.

Hitting the phone button on her steering wheel, she called 911. Out in the middle of nowhere, the state patrol would have jurisdiction. She had little hope they’d get there in time, but she had to try.

“This is 911, what is your emergency?” a calm voice asked.

“MPD Officer Jina Wheeler reporting a car attempting to run me off the road. I’m—ah”—she tried to remember the last exit she’d passed—“I’m a few miles past Johnson Creek. Please send a patrol car to this location.”

“Roger that, Officer, please stay on the line as I radio for backup.”

Jina was too focused on the rocky terrain beneath the wheels of her Jeep to pay any attention to the dispatcher. Farm fields might look nice and flat from far away, but they rarely were. This field was full of soybean plants that she was ruthlessly trampling beneath the wheels of her Jeep in her effort to escape.

She didn’t pray, but the thought crossed her mind. Mostly because her teammates would have done that if they were sitting beside her. Checking the rearview mirror, she saw the headlights of the pursuing vehicle had also headed out into the farm’s field.

Persistent jerk, she thought darkly. She pressed harder on the accelerator, increasing her pace despite the way her four-wheel drive bucked and swayed over the uneven ground.

Relieved to see the driver drop back, she failed to notice the patch to her right where there were no soybean plants. Until her right tire struck the rock protruding from the earth with enough force to flip the Jeep upside down, making her teeth rattle. The airbag deployed, smashing her in the face.

Batting at the airbag, she hung there for a moment like an upside-down turtle. A sense of urgency had her reaching for the seatbelt. Bracing herself with one arm, she released the latch and managed to roll to the side rather than falling on her bruised face. Without hesitation, she crawled out of the Jeep and looked around for the car.

At first, she thought the vehicle had made it back to the interstate and drove away. Until she noticed the dark shape of the car sitting in the distance with the headlights off.

A shiver of apprehension snaked down her spine. Then a flash of anger hit hard. She eased her weapon from the holster and inched backward beneath the Jeep, using it as cover.

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