Page 55 of Lone Star Hostage

Presley immediately felt the hit of adrenaline. The fight or flight mode kicked in. And he was going to fight. Damon was one of the missing pieces of this deadly puzzle. A piece who likely had a boss right here, right now.

But which one?

And he couldn’t even rule out Olivia from his suspects’ pool.

Yes, it was her car that had just blown up, but judging from the location of the fire, the explosive device had been set in the front of the vehicle. From the looks of it, it’d caused a lot of damage to the engine. Not much to the rest of the car though. So, Olivia or a henchman that she’d hired could have planted it, knowing she would not only be unharmed but that she would now look like a victim rather than a potential killer.

“He’s not alone,” Billie murmured, and she pointed just to the right of the tree where Damon had disappeared.

Presley had to pick through the smoke again, but he finally saw the woman, and he had no trouble whatsoever recognizing her.

Hattie.

So, maybe Damon had arrived with his boss, and if so, Ari, Olivia, and Jesep might all be innocent.Might. But Presley wasn’t willing to trust the three of them just yet.

“Everyone move away from the car,” Presley shouted. “And stay down. Ari?” he called out when he could no longer see him.

The man didn’t answer. However, there was a sound. And it was something Presley sure as hell hadn’t wanted to hear.

A gunshot.

It cracked through the air and slammed into Ari’s car.

That got everyone diving to the ground, including Angel, Billie, and him. They landed in the yard next to Victoria and Joe. Barely in the nick of time. Before more shots came. Then, even more. A barrage of gunfire that had to be coming from an assault rifle.

It was possible Damon and/or Hattie had put a stash of ammunition in those trees. Since they weren’t on his land, that meant he didn’t have security sensors there to monitor it.

“Local cops, fire department, and bomb squad are on the way,” Angel said. “Their ETA is about twenty minutes. But I’ve alerted them that there’s an active shooter in the area.”

Which meant the responders wouldn’t be able to get too close. Not near enough to help anyway, and Presley didn’t care much for them being only yards from Olivia’s car where there could be another explosive device.

Presley levered himself up enough to take aim and fire at the trees. The response was immediate. More gunfire. And a lot of it.

He looked back at his house. Getting inside was out of the question since Damon or Hattie would be able to shoot them. Still, he had to do something.

“I’ll crawl to the side and then behind the house and try to sneak up on him,” Presley insisted.

Billie immediately took hold of his arm. “And I’ll go with you.”

Presley had a debate with himself about that. Because he still couldn’t see Jesep, and he had no idea what Olivia’s or Ari’s intentions were.

“I’ll stay put and handle anything that comes up,” Angel offered. “And I can give you some cover by firing into those trees.”

Presley didn’t doubt Angel’s abilities, but he could essentially end up guarding five people. Or being right in the midst of a killer.

“I’ll handle anything that comes up,” Angel repeated, his gaze sliding to Victoria for a second. “I’ll also get Ruby to send out a drone so we can pinpoint the location of these asshole shooters.”

Presley nodded. Then, he gave a second nod to Billie before they went into a commando crawl. Damon or Hattie must have seen them because some shots came their way, slamming into the ground right next to them. Angel helped with that by sendingsome rounds into the trees. That stopped the shooters enough for Billie and him to scramble for cover by the side of the house.

“Once we get to the backyard, we’ll follow that line of oak trees,” Presley let her know.

Since the trees were spaced about ten feet apart, it wouldn’t give them complete cover, but it might be enough for them to make it to the wild shrubs and underbrush. After that, they would have to make their way inch by inch toward Damon and Hattie.

They ran to the back end of the house, dropping down again to crawl their way to the trees. Presley could still hear plenty of gunfire, both from the shooters by the trees and from Angel. He could also hear the slight dings of his security system alerting him that he was triggering the motion sensors. Presley turned that off since it was a distraction.

When they’d reached the line of oaks, Billie and he stood and began to thread their way from one to the other. No shots came their way, so that let him know Angel’s diversion was working.

Either that or else Damon or Hattie was waiting for them to get closer so they could gun them down.

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