Page 52 of Marked For Revenge

It took Harley a moment to realize Aaron meant that for Ava. Obviously, Aaron had gotten some things twisted up.

Or maybe this was all an act to make them think he was innocent.

But if he was the killer, if he’d been the one who’d taken his own son, then where was Caleb? Harley certainly didn’t see him. It was possible, though, that Aaron had gagged him and stashed him behind one of the trees.

“I didn’t take Caleb,” Ava stated, her voice as cold as winter. “But if you did, you’d better tell me where he is now.”

“I don’t know where he is,” Aaron insisted.

Ava kept her gun trained on him. “Then why are you out here?”

Aaron fluttered his hand toward the road. “I got a text from Caleb. He said he was in trouble and told me to come here.”

“Right,” Ava muttered, the skepticism coating that one word. Harley was right there with her. That wasn’t likely to have happened.

Unless the killer had forced Caleb to send that text.

But Harley immediately discounted that. Unless Aaron had already been in Silver Creek, he wouldn’t have been able to make it here ahead of Ava and him.

“It’s true,” Aaron argued. “I can show you the text.”

“Texts can be faked,” she argued right back. “This place isn’t exactly on the beaten path. How could Caleb give you directions to get here?”

“He said I’d see a truck on the side of the road,” Aaron answered without hesitation. He started to lower his arms, but Ava made a quick motion with the barrel of her gun for him to keep them in the air. “Caleb told me once I saw it that I was to park and wait. But then I saw you dragging him into the woods. What the hell happened, Ava? What’s going on?”

If Aaron’s story was anywhere near true, then the killer had to be the one who’d lured him here. But why? So Aaron could be killed, too, or was the killer looking to pin all of this on him? Of course, it was entirely possible that the story was all a pack of lies to get Ava and Harley to lower their guard so that Aaron could try to kill them.

Aaron huffed then he groaned. “I saw the truck on the road and the Hummer behind it. I saw the wreck. Was Caleb hurt? Tell me,” he practically shouted when Ava didn’t immediately respond.

“I don’t know if Caleb is hurt, and I don’t have him,” she repeated. “Do you?”

She was no doubt looking for any signs that Aaron was lying. “You said you were parked just up the road?” Ava asked.

Harley cursed, and while he kept watch, he whipped out his phone to text Theo to let him know about the vehicle. He didn’t want the killer using it to try to escape with Caleb.

“Yeah. Not far,” Aaron verified. He groaned again. “What’s going on?” This time his question was more like a plea. “Does the killer have Caleb?”

Before Ava could answer, Harley heard a sound coming from the area where they’d last seen Caleb. It was just a quick movement.

Then the bullet came right at them.

Chapter Sixteen

The bullet slammed into the tree just to Ava’s right, less than a foot away. She automatically went to the ground, protecting her stomach, while she glanced over at Harley to make sure he was okay.

He was. For now anyway.

Like her, he dropped down, bringing up his gun to aim in the direction of where that shot had been fired. At first she thought it’d come from Aaron. But she could still see both of his hands, and Aaron didn’t have a weapon.

“What the hell?” Aaron yelled.

He sounded genuinely shocked, but Ava knew that could be faked. Aaron could be calling the shots here, literally, since it could be his hired gun who’d just pulled the trigger.

A second shot came, this one blasting into the tree directly behind Harley and her. Aaron yelled out his question again, adding some vicious anger, and he went to the ground, scrambling to the side of the tree.

“Are the cops shooting at us?” Aaron shouted.

Ava didn’t answer, but she knew it wasn’t Theo or Quentin who was doing this. No way would either of them take that risk even if they had spotted Caleb with the killer. This wasn’t a case of friendly fire. Just the opposite. These shots were coming from someone who wanted them dead.

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