Page 62 of Scent of Evil
When she reached to open the window, he quickly shook his head and put a finger to his lips. He didn’t want Amanda to do anything to draw Decker’s attention.
Then he heard an approaching car engine. It was so close Justin knew it had to be coming down the driveway. The Explorer must have been parked on the other side of the cabin, and he hoped Trevor was there, watching the newcomer. Griff was too smart to simply drive up to the cabin like this, so it had to be someone else.
An accomplice? It was the only thing that made sense.
At that point, several things happened at once. Raine shouted, “Decker, come out with your hands up!”
Followed shortly by a burst of gunfire along with shattering glass.
Pulling his weapon, he used the butt of the gun to break through the glass of the window. Amanda backed away, glancing fearfully over her shoulder. He wasn’t sure who’d joined the party, but he knew there wasn’t a moment to waste. He cleared away the broken glass from the window with his gun, then held out a hand to Amanda. “Hurry,” he hissed when she didn’t move fast enough.
Eyes wide with fear, Amanda crawled through the opening. He reached in to help pull her through, then turned and carried her away from the cabin, heading to the closest group of trees. He set Amanda down.
“Sit here. This is Stone, he’ll stay with you, okay? Friend, Stone. Friend.” Amanda sank to the base of the tree, looping her arm around Stone’s neck. The yellow lab sniffed her, then looked up at Justin as if understanding the search game was over. At least for now.
“Good boy, Stone. Guard, okay? Guard.” With that, he turned and ran back toward the cabin, unable to leave without knowing Raine wasn’t hurt.
Or worse, dead.
15
With her back pressed against the wall, Raine drew a deep breath and quickly peeked around the broken glass of the patio door to see Decker. He was slumped against the edge of the sofa, a hand to his chest. He wasn’t dead, but he appeared to be critically wounded. She was about to rush inside to provide medical assistance when the front door of the cabin burst open, and another man ran into the room.
She gasped when she recognized her boss, Mike Rowe. Seeing him gave her pause. Had he come to back her up after all?
Sensing something was off, she didn’t call out or announce her presence. Hanging back, she watched with growing horror as Rowe crossed over to Decker, scowled with annoyance, and pointed his gun at Decker’s head. Then he pulled the trigger, planting a bullet in Decker’s brain at point-blank range.
What in the world? Raine eased back from the shattered patio door, her heart hammering against her ribs. Her boss was involved! Griff had been right about Decker having an accomplice. The reason Decker had remained one step ahead of them this entire time was because Rowe had helped the convict escape.
And he’d now silenced the guy permanently to prevent him from talking.
She drew a deep breath and quickly turned and peered into the cabin, hoping to catch Rowe off guard. “Mike, drop your weapon!”
Her boss’s head snapped toward her. Instead of dropping his gun, he shifted to fire at her.
She beat him by a nanosecond, firing off two quick shots in rapid succession before ducking back around the corner of the cabin.
Rowe let out a muffled grunt, indicating he’d been hit. Unless he was feigning injury? There was only one way to know for sure. She waited several long seconds before risking a glance around the corner.
Her boss was on the floor, leaning against the sofa, his hand pressed to the wound on his chest. When he saw her, he grimaced. “You shot me.”
“Drop your weapon,” she repeated.
Behind Rowe, she caught a glimpse of Justin coming in through the front door, his weapon held at the ready. He gave her a nod, indicating he’d gotten Amanda out of there, and she was grateful for his help.
“You’re surrounded,” Justin said. “Drop the weapon.”
After a long moment, Rowe weakly tossed the gun aside. He scowled again. “You shot me, you idiot. I’ll have your badge for this, Whitman.”
She ignored the threat, swiftly entering through the broken door and getting close enough to kick the gun away from her boss. “Mike Rowe, you’re under arrest for aiding and abetting a convicted felon and for shooting and killing Decker.”
Despite the blood coagulating on his chest, her boss didn’t back down. “I was here to help you, Whitman. I took out Decker to save you. You shot the wrong perp.”
“I don’t think so.” She glanced at Justin as he joined her, before turning her attention back to her boss. “I never told you the location of this cabin. Oh, and here’s FBI Agent Griff Flannery now. I bet he didn’t tell you about this location either. That means the only way you could possibly know about it is if you had arranged to meet Decker here all along.”
“Rowe?” Griff had come inside behind Justin, gaping in surprise at the scene splayed before him. “What in the world is going on?”
“I watched him plant a slug in Decker’s forehead, killing him. He’s been a part of this all along.” She holstered her weapon and gestured to the kitchen. “Get me a towel, will you? As much as I don’t like it, I need to help stop the bleeding.”
