Page 56 of Lone Star Hostage

Presley had to push that possibility aside and keep moving. He thought of that glimpse he’d gotten on Damon. Of the Kevlar vest. The man had come prepared so it was possible that he’d added other measures.

“Watch for explosives,” Presley whispered to Billie.

She muttered some profanity and slowed her pace even more, no doubt checking the ground for each step they took. Presley was doing the same, and it slowed them down considerably.

They finally reached the last tree and had to get down on the ground again to go through the underbrush. Definitely not an easy journey with the branches of the shrubs jabbing at them.

With each step forward, the sound of the gunfire got louder, and Presley was able to pinpoint the shooter’s location. It was directly ahead in the thickest part of that tree cluster.

Since Billie and he couldn’t go straight toward it, they had to venture off to the side again. Coming at it from an angle where hopefully they wouldn’t be seen. They were still a good fifteen yards away when Presley caught some movement from the corner of his eye.

Billie and he immediately dropped down, turning their guns in that direction.

And Hattie came running out from the trees.

Presley took aim at her, but he didn’t pull the trigger.

“Does she have a gun?” Billie blurted. “I can’t see a gun.”

“Neither can I,” Presley whispered.

“Help me,” Hattie shouted.

She wasn’t running toward Billie and him but rather in the direction of the house, and as she got closer, Presley could see that her hands had been duct-taped together in front of her.

Hell.

Hattie wasn’t the boss. She was another victim. Well, maybe she was. He had to consider though that this could all be a ruse to draw out Billie and him.

“Help me,” the woman shouted again.

There was some movement in the trees, and Presley adjusted his aim there. But no one came out. However, a bullet did.

Someone fired. And the shot slammed into Hattie. The woman shrieked in pain as she tumbled to the ground.

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Chapter Twenty

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Billie’s instinct was to run to Hattie and try to help her, but her training overrode that. She stayed put, first assessing the situation by pinning her attention on the movement that she’d seen in the trees.

Because that’s where the shooter was.

He could be waiting for Presley or her to come out from cover so he could gun them down. But waiting wasn’t going to help Hattie. No. Presley and she had to act now.

“Keep Damon or whoever the hell that is occupied,” Presley insisted before Billie got the chance to say the same. “I’ll get to Hattie.”

Billie didn’t try to stop him. And she tried not to think of the danger he was putting himself in. Instead, she immediately took aim and fired a shot into the trees. She didn’t send out a stream of gunfire the way their attacker had. She didn’t have enough ammo on her for that, but she could create enough of a distraction for Presley to get closer.

She hoped.

Pulling the trigger on a second bullet, she rolled to the side. Good thing, too, because the gunman returned fire, and a bullet slammed into the exact spot where she’d just been. So, the shooter had her in his line of sight.

Good.

That meant he wasn’t focusing on Presley.

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