Page 55 of Stalked at Rescue Ridge

Kade surveyed the area. He searched for any signs of a bomb on Chloe but didn’t see any obvious ones. Bombs could be small enough to go undetected by the naked eye or placed in a position to make it difficult for Kade to see until it was too late.

Damn, seeing Chloe there was a gut punch. Kade had to fight the urge to run to his sister and cut her away from the tree. That’s exactly what Carr wanted. He wanted Kade to react based on emotions. The bastard had put her out there as bait. Most people would take it. The U.S. government had trained Kade to be a better soldier than that.

Scanning the area one more time, he searched for his target. The notion that Kade had been lured out of the house was a brick on his chest. At this point, he couldn’t double back. He’d kept an eye on the house as he’d moved through the thicket. He’d had to be careful and methodical.

Carr was here somewhere. Dammit. Where?

And then he saw the glint of metal from a jacket. A button, maybe.Bingo.Carr was positioned behind a tree with the business end of a rifle aimed at Chloe’s head.

Kade’s shotgun wouldn’t have done him any good at this angle. Chloe was too close to Carr to risk a shot just as Kade had suspected would be the case.

Taking the sheriff by surprise was Kade’s best bet. Could Kade hook around with a wide enough berth to attack Carr from behind? There weren’t a lot of other options.

Carr split his attention between the cabin and Chloe. Slowly, Kade moved through the trees and underbrush. Ignoring every instinct he had to go straight to his sister, he still made good time.

He was close enough now to see Carr’s finger hover over the trigger mechanism, close enough to know a shot at this range would be deadly for Chloe. Even if Kade managed to get close enough to Carr undetected—and that was a bigif—his finger could twitch when Kade ambushed him. A slight movement would be enough to fire a shot. Hell, his reflexes would do the work for him. Carr wouldn’t even have to consciously make the effort.

A noise sounded from the direction of the house. It was the noise the truck alarm made when it was being disarmed, and the doors unlocked. Kade’s chest squeezed as he realized Bree was drawing attention toward the cabin.

“Try it, bastard. You’ll never get away.” Carr’s voice had an almost hysterical quality to it. He looked down the scope of the rifle, which he’d repositioned toward the cabin.

While his attention shifted, Kade seized the window of opportunity he had to make his move. Swiftly, he started closing the gap between him and the sheriff.

A crash sounded at the back of the cabin. The thud was quickly followed by the shrill alarm on the truck.

Kade darted from around a tree, expecting a clear view of Carr. The sheriff had moved from his position. Kade panicked. Had he made the wrong call?

And then he caught a glimpse of Carr, stalking toward the cabin like a hunter locked onto an unsuspecting doe.

Kade closed in on the sheriff from behind. The truck alarm provided cover for the occasional twig snapping. Carr slowed his pace, no doubt searching for a target at the end of his scope.

The gravity of this mission slammed into Kade in full force. Being out in the desert, the possibility of personal harm held no weight for him. After all, it was only his life hanging in the balance. He was a betting man and always went with the odds—and odds heavily favored him in a fight. Even if he’d lost, he’d known the risks when he’d joined the military. They were calculated, considering he had what he knew was the best training in the world. If he lost his own life, so be it. This was so far on the other side of different Kade couldn’t fathom it. Just the thought of anything happening to Chloe, Bree, or the baby, not to mention Rinty, could bring Kade to his knees and reduce him to a puddle.

He let those thoughts simmer inside him, causing a wave of anger so strong it brought everything into crystal-clear focus.

Carr was in view. Kade inched closer, the hunter and the hunted.

17

Kade made his move, diving straight at the sheriff’s knees and tackling him from behind. A wild shot fired as Kade spun on top of Carr and wrestled for control of the rifle. Carr had a death grip on the weapon. Kade started peeling the man’s fingers from the grip.

“You’re going to die right here, right now, or spend the rest of your life in jail,” Kade bit out.

“The hell I am.” The sheriff drew up his knee, and caught Kade where no man wanted to be hit.

Kade grunted through the pain as he strong-armed the sheriff, turning the butt of the rifle toward Carr’s face by sheer force of will. With another grunt and a pull on all the adrenaline coursing through his body, Kade slammed the butt of the weapon into Carr’s forehead.

The two battled for control as the faint blare of sirens sounded in the distance. Kade dislodged the weapon from Carr’s grip. In the process, Kade lost control of the weapon, and it went tumbling a few feet away.

“They’re coming for you.” Kade tried to throw Carr off his game. A punch landed on Kade’s jaw, causing his head to snap back. Warm liquid filled his mouth. He spit blood.

Kade tightened his arms around Carr like a clamp tightening. The sheriff struggled, desperate to wriggle out of Kade’s grasp, but Kade wasn’t having any of it.

Using his considerable strength, he clamped his legs around Carr’s to render his lower body useless.

An elbow caught Kade in the ribs, and it hurt like hell. The sheriff had serious arm strength. No doubt used to subdue his victims.

Kade thought about all the women who had lost their lives to this murderous criminal. To the families who had lost a sister, a daughter, a friend.

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