Page 42 of Outlaw Ridge: Reed
And Reed didn’t catch another glimpse of that movement.
Hallie fanned the flashlight around the pitch-black darkness, and he saw the single window at the end of the hall. And the four doors.
All closed.
Reed motioned for Hallie to cover him, and he edged toward the first door on their right. She probably wouldn’t appreciate him taking the lead on this, but with her chest bruised all to hell and back, his aim would likely be steadier than hers. Plus, this way he had the added bonus of being able to shield her body with his.
Temporarily anyway.
If the killer was in any of the other three rooms, then he could dart out and shoot her. That’s why they had to do this fast.
With his heart pounding and his body braced for a fight, he turned the knob and pushed open the door with his foot. Hallie immediately aimed the flashlight so that it cut through the darkness, revealing—
Nothing.
The room was empty except for a sewing machine on a table positioned in front of the window. There was a small closet, but since the door was open, Reed could see it was jammed with sewing supplies and not a killer.
There was another of those creaking sounds, and Reed pivoted in that direction. So did Hallie.
And they both took aim.
Just ahead of them, the last door on the right opened a fraction, the faint sound of the movement cutting through the silence like a blade. Reed’s pulse slammed into overdrive. He didn’t see who had done it. Didn’t see a weapon either. But his gut screameddanger.
He nudged Hallie back into the doorway of the sewing room, his grip firm on her arm as he stepped in beside her. “Stay low,” he whispered, his voice tight, eyes locked on the partially open door. The storm outside raged, the thunder rumbling like a countdown.
“Who’s there?” Reed called out. “Show yourself.”
Silence was the only answer he got. The kind of silence that prickled at the back of his neck. Reed’s finger stayed poised on the trigger, his body coiled and ready. Every nerve screamed to act, but he forced himself to wait to see what was about to happen.
Finally, a voice shattered the stillness. “I didn’t do this.”
The words were hoarse, shaky, and familiar. Too familiar.
Reed’s breath hissed between his teeth. “Jay,” he spat out.
So, Jay was the killer. Well, maybe. ThatI didn’t do thiscertainly wasn’t a confession, but it could be a ploy to make them think he was innocent so he could draw them out into the open.
But Reed immediately rethought that.
Seconds earlier, Hallie and hehad beenin the open. They’d been in the hall staring toward those other doors. That would have been the ideal time for a killer to take aim at them, fire and then duck back behind cover.
So, why not do that instead of spewing out anything, knowing they’d be able to identify him? Reed very much wanted to know the answer to that, but he also wanted Jay where he could see him. And disarm him if Jay had a weapon.
“Come out so we can see you,” Hallie demanded.
“You’ll shoot me if I do that,” Jay fired back, his voice trembling, but there was still some defiance in it.
“If we wanted to shoot you, the sheriff wouldn’t be asking,” Reed shot back. He shifted slightly, keeping himself between Hallie and the partially open door. “My aim would probably be steadier than yours,” he whispered to her.
She didn’t give him a wholehearted agreement about that, but she didn’t argue either. “Be careful,” she insisted.
“You do the same,” he answered and then Reed raised his voice so that Jay could hear him. “Step out now, Jay, or I’m coming in to get you. Your choice.”
More silence followed, broken only by the steady drumming of rain against the windows and the occasional crack of thunder. Reed could feel Hallie’s tension beside him, her grip tightening on her weapon.
“Jay,” Hallie finally called out, her voice calm but firm, cutting through the charged air. “You’re not helping yourself by hiding. If you didn’t attack Mrs. Robey, prove it. Come out and talk to us.”
Another pause, longer this time, as if Jay was weighing his options. Or plotting his next move to kill them. Finally, there came the sound of shuffling, slow and deliberate.
