Page 46 of Shadow of the Moon

She stared up into Dev’s face for a long moment, before motioning to the far corner. “If you need to go high, those are the stairs. On that far wall,” she pointed beyond his shoulder, “there’s a ladder up to the cupola. It’s not very big, but it’s sturdy, and you can see everywhere on the ranch.”

Dev swallowed and gave her a single nod. “Go in the house and lock up. Who was it that left a while ago?”

“That was the housekeeper and her son. They always leave later.”

“Okay,” Dev murmured. “You should go. Lock the doors and don’t let anyone in. If you hear gunfire, take cover.”

“Don’t shoot my dad,” the girl pleaded. “I think he’s up there with him.”

Wincing, Dev shifted. “You need to try to get him down to the house. If he shoots at me…”

The girl blinked her big eyes. “I understand. I’ll try.”

Unable to do otherwise, he gave her a nod. “And I’ll try not to kill him if he stays,” he promised. “Go get safe.”

The girl took off at a run, dust flying up behind her boot heels. Devlin watched until she got into the house before heading for the stairs. “Did you catch all that?”

Amberly laughed on the other end of the line. “Yes. Way to put you in a pickle.”

“I’m not in a pickle,” he murmured. “If he raises a weapon in support of Regent, I’m going to drop him.”

“Yes.”

“Are you down the mountain?”

“I am,” she confirmed. “Ready to tear in and get you.”

“Okay. Love you, babe.”

“Love you too,” she breathed.

Then he turned the com unit off. He needed to concentrate for a while.

Climbing the stairs into the hayloft, he tried to be quiet. Hopefully, the girl would stay in the house and keep her mouth shut about seeing him. Just in case she didn’t, though, he needed to hurry up and get into position. The secondary ladder was where she said it was, and he climbed up to a plank walkway, which spanned the width of the barn. Right in the center was another ladder up into the cupola. It was a tight fit, but he managed to get situated, pushing one of the little vented doors open. Then he fit the muzzle of Requiem through the opening.

This was perfect.

There was a bit of an angle up to the cabin, but the wind was quiet. He put his eyes to the night vision scope and focused.

Half a dozen men sat on the front porch of the cabin. Dev wondered if it had been a manager’s cabin, or something. Maybe an old bunkhouse, and they were all staying there. One of the men stood and walked out into the yard, answering a call. Was that Chris? For the girl’s sake, Dev hoped the man listened and went home.

Within just a few minutes, after talking to the men again and laughing, the man headed down to the main house and disappeared inside.

The timing wasn’t going to get much better. Yes, there were a lot of men on the porch, but if they all decided to turn in and headed inside, it would be a lost shot.

Snugging the weapon to his shoulder, he plotted out the targets. Regent would be first, of course, then he’d work to the right, where the easier targets were. Even though he had a suppressor on the end of the weapon, as soon as he fired, he would be exposed. There was only so much muzzle flash and noise that could be obscured. He expected return fire.

Dev took a few deep breaths, his heart racing. Finally, after all this time, he was going to take out Cole Regent, the man who had basically destroyed his life, whether or not he realized it. Dropping the crosshairs onto his head, Dev rested his finger on the trigger, and slowly squeezed.

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