Page 142 of Proof of Guilt

One of the security cameras.

He’d shot out the one in Gabriel’s backyard. That portion of the laptop screen went blank.

“The security system is still on,” Theo reminded Ivy when she made a slight gasp. “If anyone tries to get into the house, the alarm will sound.”

Plus, there were five other cameras and motion detectors. Theo figured, though, that the shooter would try to take out most of them.

And he did.

The next round of gunfire destroyed the camera on the side of the house, the one that had allowed them to see the rifleman.

“He’s setting up an attack,” Ivy said, her voice a little shaky, but she kept a steady grip on the gun she was holding.

Theo hoped like the devil that she wouldn’t have to use the weapon. While he was hoping, he added that maybe the ranch hands would spot this snake before he could get anywhere near Ivy.

They lost a third camera with the next shots. This one near the front porch, and it meant they now had a huge blind spot in the area that divided the two houses. Since that was also where the shooter was, Theo doubted that was a coincidence, and it meant the gunman would probably try to make his way to Gabriel’s.

The silence came, and in many ways it was worse than the shots. As long as the guy was firing, Theo had known his location. Now he had no idea where the shooter was. However, he kept watch on the three other cameras since someone could be coming from that direction, too.

There was some movement on the screen from the camera on the other side of the house. Not an attacker. It was Al Talley, one of the ranch hands. He was at the back of a shed, and since Theo hadn’t spotted him earlier, it meant Al had probably been in the shed itself. Maybe the gunfire had drawn him out.

Hell, or Al could have heard the sound of someone approaching.

Theo was about to text Gabriel to see if he knew what was going on, but the next shot stopped him cold. Because this one didn’t go downstairs. It slammed into the window just a few feet from the shower. The bullet tore through the chunk of glass and sent it flying across the room.

“The shooter knows we’re in here,” Ivy whispered. Her grip tightened on the gun. She made a strangled sound of fear that came from deep within her chest.

Yeah, he did. That probably meant he was using some kind of thermal scanning equipment that could pinpoint them. The next shot proved it, too, because it tore through another chunk in the window, and the gunman kept firing, kept chipping away at it until the entire floor was littered with the sharp glass.

“Why didn’t the breaking window trigger the security alarm?” she asked.

“Probably because this one wasn’t wired into the system.” It couldn’t be lifted, which meant it wouldn’t normally be a point of entry for someone trying to get in. It still wasn’t, not with those jagged shards of glass sticking out all over.

“We’ll just stay put,” Theo said when the shots moved from the window to the wall. The wall adjacent to the shower. “The bullets can’t get through the stones.”

He hoped.

But the shots sure as heck could cause debris to fly through the air. It seemed as if the guy was trying to rip his way through the wall.

Theo’s phone dinged, and he saw Gabriel’s text message pop up on the screen. Are you both okay?

Fine, for now, Theo texted back.

He caught on to Ivy and lowered her until they were lying on the shower floor. It was larger than average size, but there still wasn’t a lot of room with both of them in it. They were practically wrapped around each other.

I have a deputy and one of the hands moving in on the shooter, Gabriel added in his text a moment later. I think we can get this snake.

Theo was about to answer, but then he heard a strange sound. Definitely not an ordinary bullet this time. It was something else. Something that was about to make their situation a whole lot more dangerous than it already was.

A small metal canister.

It dropped onto the floor and started spewing tear gas.

Theo tucked the laptop under his arm, yanked Ivy to her feet and they started running. But it was already too late. The tear gas was burning their eyes and causing them to cough. Slowing them down, too. Not good. Because the gunman started firing bullets again, and this time Ivy and he were right in the path.

He crouched as low as he could, making sure Ivy did the same, and Theo somehow made his way to the door. The moment he had it unlocked and opened, he scrambled out in the hall, shutting the door behind them so it would hopefully contain some of the tear gas. Not all of it, though. It was already starting to seep right out at them.

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