Page 61 of Among the Innocent

“Dalton, Henry could be in trouble.”

Against his better judgment, he agreed. He and Leah raced out to the SUV, and he hit the lights, flying down the road toward Henry’s location.

Both their radios squawked to life at the same time. “Help me. I’m shot.”

“That’s Henry,” Leah exclaimed.

Dalton responded, “We’re on our way, Henry. Where’s the perp?”

“I don’t know.” Dalton barely recognized Henry’s words, which were slurred. “I stopped the driver of a stolen car on our watch list and he shot me. I’ve lost a lot of blood.”

“Ambulance is en route,” Leah reassured him. “Hang on ... it won’t be much longer.”

“Where were you shot?” Dalton wanted to keep Henry talking until they reached him. He spotted the county road and whipped onto it. Behind him another siren screamed toward them. Ethan.

“My shoulder.”

Dalton spotted Henry’s cruiser. “I see you.” He screeched to a halt behind Henry and grabbed the first aid kit from the back.

Henry was slumped sideways in his seat and unconscious.

Dalton shook him. “Wake up, Henry. I need you to stay with me. Leah and I are here. Paramedics are on the way.”

Henry wasn’t wearing a bulletproof vest. If the bullet had been a few inches to the right ...

Dalton unbuttoned Henry’s shirt and moved it out of the way. The bullet had not exited his shoulder.

“Here.” Leah handed him gauze to pack the wound.

Ethan reached them. “Ambulance is right behind me.”

The young officer opened his eyes and looked straight at Dalton. “I recognized him.” Henry gathered a couple of breaths. “It’s the same person who was driving the truck we impounded. I stopped him near the lake when we found the car. The truck that was registered to a woman. He said it was his sister’s truck.The face was the same, but now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure he was wearing some type of wig before to disguise his appearance. Chief, this is the killer.”

Dalton’s gaze shot to Leah briefly. “We’ll need to find the name on the registration.”

Henry had stopped the killer and almost died. Dalton had little doubt this was the work of John.

“He’s driving a dark blue, two-door compact car.”

The ambulance arrived. The three stepped away to let the ambulance crew work.

“He’ll ditch the car soon,” Leah warned.

“Get an APB out on it right away,” Dalton told Ethan. “We need to catch him before he unloads it.”

Ethan turned away and enforced the command.

“He’s spiraling.” Leah shielded her eyes and panned the countryside. “That should work in our favor.”

“But he’s not ready to give up on the game yet.” Dalton had no doubt the killer had planned his next victim, and he believed it was Justine. He watched the paramedics prepare to take Henry to the hospital, then went with Leah to have a word with them before they left. “How is he?” Dalton asked the senior paramedic.

“Very lucky the bullet didn’t hit any major arteries,” Adam Reece told him. “He’ll be sore for a while, but he should be back on his feet in no time.”

“I’m sure Henry’s glad to hear that.” Dalton leaned over to speak with his officer. “Take care of yourself. Get some rest.”

Henry nodded and was wheeled away into the ambulance.

This part of the countryside was remote. Isolated. “Chances are he wouldn’t head back to town with the car stolen now that he knows we’ll be looking for it and him. It’s too big of a risk.”

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