Page 26 of Crosshairs

Someone was here.

Ainsley unsnapped her holster and pulled her gun, holding it with two hands as she turned and scanned the room. “I know you’re here. Show yourself.”

Her voice echoed in the empty room. Had she imagined someone was here? If so, why did she still feel as though her heart would jump out of her body? Keeping her gun raised, she slowly walked toward the entrance she’d come in.

A blow struck her from behind. She stumbled and caught herself.

Linc!She had to get his attention.

Ainsley squeezed the trigger, the report echoing in her head. Another blow to her arm, and her Sig skittered across the floor. A sweaty arm snaked around her throat and held her fast, blocking her airway.

She kicked at her assailant’s legs, and he lifted her off the floor. Ainsley elbowed his ribs.

He swore and squeezed tighter. She kicked the back of a pew,but the more she moved, the less air she had. Black dots filled her line of vision.

Ainsley fought the blackness encroaching her brain.No!She would not die this way. She let her body go limp. His grunt was one of surprise as she slipped out of his grip. Before he could clamp back down, she jerked back and headbutted him.

Her assailant bellowed and yanked her in the crook of his arm again. “You’ll pay for that.” The guttural voice didn’t even sound human.

Ainsley struggled to get loose. Lack of oxygen to her muscles drained her strength, but she kept fighting him. Once, she thought Linc called her name. Then again.

It was the last thing she heard before pain shot through her head and she blacked out.

13

Blood dripped from Maddox’s nose as he bolted out the door behind the altar. He grabbed a handkerchief from his back pocket and pressed it against his nose. He’d barely gotten out before the other ranger busted through the front door.

The bleeding staunched, he peeked around the corner of the church building and ducked back. The third ranger ran toward the front door. When he disappeared, Maddox slipped into the woods beside the building, a plan already forming in his mind.

14

After hearing the gunshot, Linc raced across the cemetery. He bounded up the church steps and shoved the door open. It took precious seconds for his eyes to adjust to the change in lighting, and then he saw Ainsley’s crushed hat on the floor. Just beyond, she lay in a heap. He reached for his Glock that wasn’t there, and for the first time in three years, he regretted not carrying one. But could he even use a gun if he had it?

He pushed the thought away and rushed to Ainsley, kneeling beside her. His heart ratcheted down a notch when he felt a strong pulse beating in her wrist.Thank God.Linc cradled her in his arms, dismayed at the intensity of his feelings for this woman who had rejected him. He thought he’d buried them for good.

She groaned, and then her eyes fluttered open. They were unfocused. Concussion maybe? Suddenly she swung at him, her fist just missing his jaw as she fought to get out of his embrace.

He pinned her arms to her body. “Ainsley, it’s me, Linc,” he said softly. “You’re all right. No one is going to hurt you.”

She stilled in his arms, her body tense. “Linc?” she whispered.

“It’s me. You’re safe.”

She tried to move and groaned. “My head. It’s killing me.”

Gently he ran his fingers over her head, and she yelped when he found a goose egg at the back. “You’ve been hit. I heard the gunshot and came as fast as I could. What happened?”

Ainsley leaned against his chest and sucked in a deep breath. “I couldn’t breathe. He ... Something hit me from behind, then knocked my gun out of my hand.” She swallowed. “Then he used some kind of choke hold.”

He tightened his arms around her. “Did he say anything?”

Ainsley shuddered and took another breath. “That I would pay for headbutting him.”

“Did you recognize his voice?”

She smoothed her fingers across her forehead, massaging it. “No. The voice wasn’t normal, more like a growl.”

They both turned toward the sound of the front door opening. “Find my gun,” Ainsley whispered.

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