Page 54 of Crosshairs

“He says not.”

Connie’s snort indicated what she thought of that. “And you believed him.” It wasn’t a question. “Oh, that’s right. He’s a Kingston, so of course, he wouldn’t lie.” She jumped up, her hands fisted.

Her body jerked just as a rifle reportsplit the night air. Connie fell face forward to the ground, a red stain spreading on her white tank top.

Ainsley whipped her gun from the holster, scanning the area.

“Getdown!” Linc yanked her arm.

Ainsley dropped to the ground and dialed 911 as another bullet whizzed over her head. When the operator answered, she reported what had happened and gave their location. As soon as she ended the call, she crawled to where Connie lay.

Linc had already reached her and had his finger on her wrist. “She has a pulse, but it’s weak and fast,” he said.

Connie didn’t seem to be bleeding out. Maybe a main artery hadn’t been hit. “An ambulance should be here soon.”

She scanned the wooded area behind the mobile home. Except for the barking dog straining against his chain, nothing moved, not even a leaf. “Do you think he’s gone?”

The door to the mobile home opened. “Mom? What’s going on?”

Ainsley had forgotten the other daughter. “Stay there—don’t come out!” she yelled. “There’s a shooter!”

The girl slammed the door, leaving a deadly quiet. Then, the high-pitched whine of a motorbike broke the silence. Ainsley turned her head toward the woods again. “You think there’s a road behind the woods?”

“Could be. I’ll crawl to the trailer and ask the girl.”

“I’ll do it,” she said.

“You have the gun—you need to stay here and protect Connie.”

He was right and she nodded. Ainsley wanted to know why he didn’t carry a gun—another one would have been handy just now. She kept a watch on the woods, but nothing stirred.

When he reached the mobile home, Linc eased up the steps and banged on the door before he opened it and disappeared inside. Seconds later, he reappeared. “There is a road,” he called out. “Pretty sure our shooter is gone.”

The faint sound of sirens reached her ears, and relief swept through her. She felt Connie’s wrist again. Her pulse raced.Lord, help her.It was the second prayer that had crossed her lips today.

“Hang on,” Ainsley said. “Help is coming.”

An hour and a half later, she was sitting in Nate Rawlings’s SUV relating the details of the shooting. Now she understood why her grandmother had sung the Adams County sheriff’s praises yesterday when Ainsley made her list of people in Natchez to contact. Nate, as he’d said to call him, was easy to talkto, and she could take a page or two from his low-key questioning that helped her to recall details she’d missed when his deputy took her statement.

He looked up from his notepad. “Your statement dovetails with Linc’s. One more time, did you see anything out of the ordinary before Connie Hanover was shot?”

“Not one thing,” she said. “Like I said, the shots came from the wooded area, and the shooter could have been on a motorbike—we heard one leave on the road behind the woods.” She glanced out the side window to where Linc and Sam were searching for one of the spent bullets.

“Do you think this shooting had anything to do with Hannah’s death?”

“Since a motorbike was heard the night Hannah died, it’s possible. But ...” Ainsley had given Nate the details on the case as well as the case that followed her from East Tennessee. “I can’t rule out this had nothing to do with Hannah and everything to do with Troy Maddox.”

Nate made a few more notes. “How would he have known you were going to be here?”

“That’s the big question. And brings it back to it possibly being linked to Hannah.” She cocked her head. “Are either of the Hanovers involved in anything illegal?”

“As far as I know, not in years.” He palmed his hand. “I’ve only been sheriff six months, but I’ve lived in Adams County most of my life except for a stint in the army. While Connie’s never had any problems with the law, Wally was a different story. As a teenager, he was in and out of trouble, but as far as I know, that was in his past.”

So it was possible someone was out to get the Hanovers. Wally Hanover could have crossed someone in a deal and this shooting could’ve been revenge. She had another thought. “Does Wally Hanover’s alibi check out?”

“Yeah. A deputy checked the factory where he works. Wallyclocked in at seven, and several people saw him loading out trucks.”

Scratch the husband as the shooter.

---