Page 123 of One Last Chance

“I’m okay.”

But she held him back just as hard, her arms viced around his neck, shuddering a little.

She finally pushed away, met his eyes. “You got Parker?”

“Yeah. She’s not shot, but she’s wounded.”

“I saw him—he’s out here, wearing camo. But I might have shot him, so?—”

“What were youthinking?” He didn’t mean for it to just erupt out of him, but maybe the adrenaline and the panic and—“You could have gotten killed!”

She just stared at him, blinking.

“You don’t just go running after a serial killer, alone, in the woods—that’s crazy. That’s?—”

“My job.” She pierced him with a look. “This is what I do, Axel. This is my life. This is who I am.”

And he knew that. Really. Except—“What am I supposed to do with that?” And although she took a breath to respond, he couldn’t stop. “I can’t . . . I can’t . . . I’ve been crazy for the past two hours, trying to get to you, and I can’t . . .”

“What? You can’twhat?”

A shot sounded. It ricocheted through the woods, and he grabbed Flynn and shoved her to the ground, his body over hers. The chill of the river had turned to sweat, his heart lodged in his throat.

Silence resounded in the wake of the shot, and he just stayed there, down, holding on to her, hating his answer. Instead, “You okay?”

She pushed away from him. “Yeah?—”

A scream came from Parker’s nest.

He scrambled to his feet, turned. Parker was out of the nest and running hard for the river.

“Parker!”

Another shot, and this one exploded a tree limb over her head. She tripped, fell?—

He took off after her, hitting away the branches, crunching through the loam, breaking out of the forest.

But Parker had scrambled back up, fleeing to the water.

“Parker! No!” He glanced back—aw,Flynn wasn’t on his six.

Parker hit the rocky shoreline.

Another shot broke the air. Return gunfire, little pops—“Flynn!”

Parker stood at the edge of the river, teetering.

“Parker! Stop!”

He caught up and grabbed Parker a second before she leaped. “You can’t go in—you’re not strong enough!”

“Run, Axel!”

Flynn.Heading toward him in a sprint.

“I’m out of pellets!”

Another shot, and Flynn ducked. But the motion tripped her up.

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