Page 4 of One Final Target

Though he technically didn’t start in homicide until Monday, he’d already read through all the paperwork and the input from federal agencies. The next task on his list was setting up an interview with King herself. The shock at seeing her in the flesh took him aback.

A flicker up and off to his left caught his attention. For a split second Sam couldn’t process what he saw, but he’d been under fire in Afghanistan too often to be in denial for long. There was just enough sunlight on the cloudy day to reflect off the barrel of a gun. Someone was on the ridge with a rifle, aiming at the woman in front of him.

Sam reacted by stomping on the gas, determined to get between Jodie King and the shooter. He pressed down on the horn, hoping to distract the gunman enough to cause him to miss.

In his peripheral vision he realized he’d startled King. She lurched away, toward her vehicle. Good.

Then the man on the ridge began firing.Bang, bang, bang.The gunman squeezed off three controlled rounds.

Sam saw the dirt kicked up by bullets on King’s heels.

He jammed the Jeep to a stop as soon as he was between the ridge and King, then rolled out and drew his weapon, thankful he’d worn his shoulder rig today.

Using his door as cover, he fired his weapon toward the ridge, near where he’d seen the flash. Since he couldn’t see the shooter, the man on an elevated position had all the advantage.

After capping off four rounds, Sam backpedaled to the rear of his vehicle. He moved slowly up the passenger side, now using the entire Jeep as cover, keeping his gun up, and scanning the ridge. But the firing had stopped.

At the sound of footsteps, he glanced back. King was at his side, crouched, automatic handgun in a two-handed grip, pointed down.

“What on earth?” she asked calmly, no panic, and when Sam caught her eye, he saw only alertness, no fear. Yet there were dark shadows under her eyes.

“I saw the glint from a gun up there. He had a bead on you.” Sam turned his attention back to the ridge.

Suddenly it sounded as if the man switched his weapon to fully automatic.

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat.The hillside gunman strafed the ground in front of Sam’s Jeep, then the hood. A tire exploded; the frontwindshield spiderwebbed in several places. Sam ducked and turned, grabbing King and pulling her down and back, all the way behind the vehicle, even as he felt the searing whoosh of bullets zipping past his head.

“Get down, get down!” He dragged her down to the ground, shielding her body with his as the fusillade of bullets continued for what seemed an eternity.

When it stopped, Sam rolled off King, sat up on his knees. “You okay?” he asked, hand on her shoulder, ears ringing from the gunfire.

She pushed herself to a sitting position. “I think so.”

For a minute, silence reigned; not even an echo of the gunfire sounded in his ringing ears. Then he heard a motor start on the ridge, sounding like a motorcycle or an ATV.

“He’s splitting.” Jumping up, Sam hurried around the now-listing Jeep and sprinted up the ridge toward the retreating sound of the motor.

“Hey, be careful,” King called out.

Sam’s blood was up, pulse racing. Someone had just tried to kill him, and he was not about to let go of that bone. But when he reached the top of the ridge, all he saw was the back of a subject on an ATV, climbing up the hill, out of range of his .45 auto.

Lowering the weapon, Sam calmed his breathing. The guy disappeared into the forest wilderness behind Arrowbear. He’d have to come out somewhere between here and Big Bear. His trail would be easy to follow in the snow. Sam’s attention was drawn to the area where the subject had been hiding. He saw a pile of ejected shell casings, as well as a green camo blanket, energy drink cans, and other trash indicating the shooter had been here for a while.

Sam holstered his weapon and studied the scene. He wonderedwho on earth would be targeting Jodie King. Her whole team had died three months ago, assassinated in a bomb blast. Nothing in all the reports he’d read gave a clue as to why someone would be here, now, trying to kill her.

But someone had, and they’d come very close to hitting the bull’s-eye.

CHAPTER4

AFTER A MOMENTARY HESITATION,still processing gunshots and being thrown to the ground, Jodie sprinted up the ridge after her rescuer, her heart pounding.

When she’d twisted out of the path of the Jeep and the shooting started, she’d realized the Jeep’s driver was trying to protect her, not hurt her.

And now another realization struck like a blow: the bullets were meant for her.Why?

The man who’d come to her rescue moved and acted like a cop, but she couldn’t recall ever seeing him before. He was strong, his grip like iron. When he’d pulled her behind the car, she’d felt as weak as a child. But as strange and disconcerting as it was to have the man pull her to the ground, Jodie recognized that he wasshielding her, protecting her at the risk of his own life. A mix of emotions swirled through her, jumbling her thoughts, filling her mind with questions.

When she reached the top of the ridge, her guardian angel faced up the hillside.

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