Page 26 of Outlaw Ridge: Reed
Reed doubted Hallie would be thanking him for bringing her here any time soon, or for the x-rays she was now getting, but this was necessary, and everything else would have to wait.
For them, anyway.
All the other deputies weren’t in the wait mode though. He knew from the texts and calls he’d been getting that they were working hard to find the shooter and drag his cowardly ass into jail. Since it’d been nearly an hour since the attack, Reed figured the asshole was long gone, but Shaw, Declan, and the others would try their best to locate his trail.
Despite the gunman’s escape, they’d gotten damn lucky. No one else had gotten hurt in the attack, including the elderly woman who’d been inside the house at the time the shots hadbeen fired from her roof. If she’d come running out, she might have been gunned down.
Lucky break number two, and it was a biggie was that Hallie was alive. He could have easily lost her to that bullet if it’d landed just a couple of inches higher and hit her neck.
Reed wouldn’t be forgetting that anytime soon.
“You still there?” Jesse asked, coming back on the line.
“I am. Give me good news,” Reed replied.
“Sorry, don’t have any. Just got the intel from those doing the canvassing of Sadler Street. None of the neighbors saw anyone coming or going from Marsha’s place or the roof of that house where the shooter was. Six people were home, and when they heard the shots, they took cover and called the cops.”
Reed was glad they’d done that. The gunman had been perched in the proverbial catbird seat so any kind of civilian heroics could have gotten them killed. Still, he wished that one of them had caught a glimpse of the guy.
“We do have some shell casings collected from the scene,” Jesse went on a moment later. “Maybe the shooter was stupid enough to leave his prints on at least one of them.”
“Yeah, here’s hoping,” Reed muttered, knowing that was a long shot. This attack had been planned, which meant the shooter had almost certainly taken the precaution of gloving up before he’d touched the ammo.
“Yeah, here’s hoping,” Jesse repeated, not sounding any more confident about that than Reed had. “Now, about the Easy Store where Luther claimed he found those pictures. The automatic monthly payment has been coming from an account in the Caymen Islands for the past fourteen years. Only one name on the account. Mary Hollister. I got Griff to do some digging, and he believes the account belongs to Tami.”
No need for Jesse to explain who Griff was. He was the Strike Force tech guy for exactly this sort of stuff. The county crime labwould have eventually found the info, but Griff Abrams could manage it a whole lot faster.
“I’ve texted the news about the account to the sheriff,” Jesse added. “And she said not to shut it down yet. But to monitor it.”
That was smart because it was possible Tami could be using that secret money for other things. Like maybe paying Crowe to create this campaign of her so-called innocence.
“Anything new on Aaron?” Reed asked Jesse, and he glanced at the corridor that led to the patient rooms.
“Nothing more than what we got this morning. When I get a break, I’ll head over there to check on him.”
Reed considered saying that he’d visit the young deputy as well, but with his crappy mood, he wouldn’t be bringing Aaron any joy, that’s for sure. Best to wait another day or so until this nightmare was over.
Of course, he was being optimistic that this would all be resolved in such a short period of time. But for everyone’s sake, Reed hoped it would be. Three people were already dead. Hallie and Reed were injured. And a lot of bystanders had been traumatized. He didn’t want a repeat of any of that.
His phone dinged with an incoming call, and when Reed saw Owen’s name on the screen, he said a quick goodbye to Jesse and answered it.
“How’s Hallie?” Owen asked.
“To be determined. But obviously she’s taking this hard.”
“Yes, she would.” Owen paused, gave a frustrated sigh. “I didn’t know she’d have to face a shitstorm like this when I hired her. This feels like my fault. If I hadn’t brought her into this, she might not be in danger.”
Reed hated this blame game because this wasn’t either on Hallie or Owen. “I’ll tell you what I told her. It’s the killer’s fault. And who’s to say he wouldn’t have done this even if she hadn’t become sheriff? Luther’s article could have been the trigger, andthe killer could have come after her, no matter what her job title. What matters to the killer is that she’s Tami and Kip’s daughter.”
Owen made a sound of agreement that was still tinged with the guilt he obviously continued to feel. “Just let Hallie know that I’m backing her a hundred percent.”
“I will,” Reed assured him just as the door to radiology opened.
The nurse he’d seen earlier, Bella Cruz, peered out at him. “Sheriff McQueen said you’d be out here waiting. She’s in the changing room.”
“Gotta go, Owen,” Reed blurted, and he went past the nurse and toward the small room where he’d left Hallie to undress for her x-ray.
The door was slightly ajar, but Reed couldn’t see Hallie through the sliver of space so he knocked softly. “Hallie?”
