Page 76 of Long Road Home

Get it together.

She didn’t want to believe her recent injuries were affecting her judgment, but she would need to be doubly careful to make sure a mistake or lapse in sense didn’t cost someone their life.

Kenna could hear the plane now. She hopped up on the lid of the trash can, got her feet under her, and did the same onto the roof. With a split second to assess the situation, she got the shotgun in front of her and ran across the slick roof to the man lying prone on the front lip about ten feet away.

She skidded part of the way, but managed to keep from yelping.

The plane circled around overhead.

As the shooter twisted around to see who was behind him, she planted her left foot and kicked him in the face.

His finger squeezed the trigger, and a series of shots popped across the open runway.

Finger on the trigger?What kind of low-budget?—

He launched up at her, letting go of the gun so it fell over the edge of the roof. She twisted her hips and slammed the shotgun into his chest. He grabbed for her, but she kept moving.

The shooter stumbled back two steps.

Their low-rent assassin was maybe five ten and looked like he belonged in a biker bar. Or on the way to one through the snow. He had the gear, so he was a local or someone who lived in a climate like this. Though his jeans were wet from where he’d been lying facedown on the roof.

He balled a fist and punched. She caught it with her shoulder, then came up in a hook with the shotgun in her hands. She slammed the underside of his chin, and his head flung back. Two steps in retreat, he stumbled back.

Kenna kicked him in the stomach, and he fell over the edge of the roof into the pile of snow under the window. The mound created from shoveling snow off the path didn’t look soft. She winced and looked for the plane. She spotted it over on the left, making its approach.

A good amount of snow had fallen in the two days she’d been resting at Kobrinksy’s. In protective custody against her will. Talking to Maizie. Checking in with Jax and his progress getting on a flight when nearly everything had been canceled.

She went back to the dumpster behind the building and jumped down. She didn’t feel as bad as she had a couple of days ago, but she also didn’t feel good.

The plane would be on the ground in a minute, so she went into the office and got scissors to cut the guy free. He must’ve interrupted that low-budget shooter and wound up getting tied up for his trouble. She found a desk phone with dial tone and hit 9-1-1, explaining someone had been hurt. She didn’t need this place crawling with cops when a high value federal fugitive was being transported through, but she also wasn’t going to leave someone injured with an assailant outside in the snow.

The guy blinked up at her.

He looked like was about to defend himself against an attack, so she lifted the badge she hadn’t managed to conveniently lose in the snow yet. “Help is on the way. Just stay here.”

She went back to the door and stepped off the porch, watching the plane touch down. The wheels skidded. The plane slipped violently from side to side.

Kenna’s breath caught in her throat.

It was going much too fast, or so she thought. What did she know?

The plane engines roared, wind against the flaps. Trying to slow down?

It careened down the runway, hit a berm of snow, and went flying the other direction. Like the ball in a pin ball machine.

Kenna only realized after she’d set off that she was running. The ground turned slick under her feet. Her winter boots had decent traction, but she slipped and slid like the airplane.

Impact hit the plane’s right side, and in a split second everything got worse.

A fireball erupted under the plane.

One wing lifted into the air, and it flipped over,landing on the roof. A wave of snow spurted out from under it as it impacted the ground.

Kenna’s foot slipped, and she went flying. Air expelled out her mouth in a cry. She landed with the gun under her and had to get her legs righted before she could push off.Ouch. Her ribs had taken the brunt of the battering from the gun and the hard ground beneath it.

Jax.

She had to get to him.

---