Page 120 of Proof of Guilt

“We have gunfire,” Cameron said to whoever he had called. Probably Gabriel, who would in turn have to hold off on sending in an ambulance.

“Can you pull her into the cruiser?” Ivy asked, as she sat up to get a better look at their surroundings.

Theo was already debating doing just that. It would be a risk, but at this point anything they did would be. The woman had clearly been drugged and was probably part of a trap to get them to stop. It’d worked, but if she was truly innocent in all of this, she could die.

He didn’t have long to dwell on his decision, though, because there was another sound. A second shot, and this one didn’t go into the woman.

It blasted into the window just above Ivy’s head. The glass held though it did crack, but it wouldn’t hold for long if the shooter kept firing into it.

And that’s exactly what he did.

“You see the gunman?” Cameron asked.

“No. But he must be in those trees across the road.” The woods were thick there, and even though the morning sun was bright, the light wasn’t making it through the dense branches and underbrush.

Who the hell was doing this?

Theo didn’t know, but at the moment their best bet for telling them that was lying on the ground, bleeding out.

“Can you open the window on the front passenger’s side just enough to return fire?” Theo said to Cameron.

Cameron glanced back at him, and he didn’t look any more certain of this than Theo felt. “You’re going to get the woman in the cruiser?”

Theo hoped he didn’t regret this, but he nodded. “Get down on the floor,” he instructed Ivy. That would not only get her a few inches farther from the window, it would free up the seat so he could drag the woman inside.

“Please be careful,” Ivy said, the fear and emotion thick in her voice. It was in her expression, too, and Theo would have liked the time to assure her this was the right thing to do, but there was nothing he could say that would take the worry off her face.

Hell, he was worried, too.

Not for himself and Cameron. But for Ivy. If she was indeed the target, then all of this could be designed to get to her.

Several more shots came at them, each tearing through the window next to Ivy. Obviously, the gunmen were focusing on her. Or else the thug wanted them to think she was the focus. Theo wasn’t going to take any of this at face value.

Cameron kept the engine running, but he moved to the passenger’s window, lowered it just enough to stick out the barrel of his gun and looked at Theo to give him the go-ahead.

Theo nodded.

And Cameron fired.

The moment the deputy did that, Theo threw open his door, and he glanced over his shoulder to make sure Ivy was still down. She was. But she was watching him and mumbling something. A prayer, from the sound of it.

Theo moved as fast as he could and hoped he didn’t do any more damage to the injured woman when he latched onto her arm and started dragging her to the cruiser. The shots didn’t stop. In fact, the gunman picked up the pace, and this time he fired at Theo. The bullets slammed into the ground, kicking up the gravel that was on the shoulder.

The woman cried out in pain, and that’s when Theo realized she’d been hit again. This time in the shoulder. Theo hadn’t needed any more incentive to move as fast as he could, but that did it.

And he got some help.

Unwanted help.

Ivy scrambled over the floor of the cruiser, and the moment Theo was back at the door, she reached out and helped him drag the woman inside. By doing that, she put herself in even greater danger. Later, Theo would tell her what a stupid thing that was to do, but then he saw the bullets slam into the ground where he’d just been. If Ivy hadn’t helped, he could be dead.

“Get us out of here,” Theo said to Cameron as soon as he had the woman on the seat.

Cameron was already moving to do that, and as soon as he was back behind the wheel, he hit the accelerator.

The cruiser sped away as the bullets continued to rip through the window.

CHAPTER NINE

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