Page 120 of Ground Truth

Flint held the rifle in his right hand and pointed it at Hedinger’s snarling face. “Get up.”

Hedinger didn’t move.

“Get up,” Flint demanded again.

Hedinger rolled over onto his side as if he might try to struggle to his feet. He didn’t.

He brought his left leg around swiftly and delivered a strong kick to the side of Flint’s right knee.

Flint’s knee buckled. He went down, landing on his left knee on the soft earth.

Hedinger had managed to stand. He lowered his head and prepared to charge Flint like a bull in a pasture.

Still on one knee, Flint twisted his torso, aimed the rifle, and fired.

The first bullet fired close range put Hedinger on the ground.

Flint’s left arm and right knee were throbbing. But he held his position.

If he had to shoot Hedinger again, he would.

Hedinger’s eyes were still open, dazed but staring at Flint. He blinked. Twice.

Shortly after that, he stopped breathing.

Flint waited a good long time before he lowered the rifle and checked the man’s carotid to confirm.

No pulse. No heartbeat.

Flint used the rifle like a walking stick to push himself off the ground. Haltingly, he limped back to the farmhouse.

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Chapter 57

Houston

Scarlett had sent a text an hour ago asking Flint to meet them. He’d dressed in running clothes and jogged a couple of miles to the dog park.

The run should have been easy enough. Flat ground and good pavement all the way. But covering the distance seemed much harder than it should have been.

Not surprising, really. Even Olympic athletes trained every day and began to lose conditioning after four days of inactivity.

His concussion had sidelined him too long. But the head injury had fully resolved according to his follow-up visit with the doctor yesterday, and he was determined to get back into fighting shape.

Scarlett was seated on a bench watching Maddy and Whiskers run around the track near the pond. Every now and then Whiskers would bark at another dog, which caused Maddy to clap her hands and squeal with laughter.

“Hey, lady. This seat taken?” he joked as he plopped down next to Scarlett on the bench.

Scarlett offered him a friendly smile. “How’s the running going?”

“Better and better,” he said, which would eventually be true.

“I followed up with Greta Campbell. She and Hanna are okay. Things were a little touchy on the law enforcement side. But we helped out with that. They’ll have questions to answer, but no charges should be filed against them.”

“Sounds like they’ll be okay. Drake will be grateful, too. He’ll help them work out the rest of their issues.” He tossed his chin toward Maddy. “You should forgive me for the puppy. Maddy really loves him.”

“Sure she loves him. He’s adorable. Everybody loves him.” Scarlett gave him the side-eye. “But she’s seven. Who takes care of him? Who walks him in the cold rain? Who makes sure he’s fed? Who takes him to the groomer and pays the grooming bills? He’s like having a second child.”

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