Page 53 of Marked For Revenge

“Ava?” somebody called out.

Her heart thudded when she realized it was Caleb. He was alive, but he sounded frantic. Of course he was. If he was close enough to the gunfire, this had to be terrifying for him.

She wanted to answer, but she knew she couldn’t. Not when the killer might be using Caleb to try to pinpoint her exact location.

“Ava’s here,” Aaron shouted back. “I’m here, too. It’s me... Aaron,” he added, though she thought he’d been about to say your dad. “Where are you? We’re worried sick about you.”

The words had no sooner left Aaron’s mouth when there were more shots. Three back-to-back blasts that tore through the woods, splintering the bark on the trees. Wood and leaves flew, and Ava sheltered her eyes and her stomach as best she could.

A sickening dread washed over her. Harley and she were in grave danger. That meant so was her precious baby. So was her son. She could lose everything right here, right now, without even knowing who was responsible for the hell they’d been going through.

So many dead women. So many ruined lives. And she still had no idea why the killer was after her.

“Aaron,” Caleb responded, but this time his voice was different. Not so much frantic or terror but hesitation.

Ava tried not to think of what was being done to Caleb to make him call out to her. Maybe the killer was hurting him. Maybe killing him.

No, she couldn’t go there. It would only cause her to lose focus, and she needed every bit of her attention and cop’s training if they stood a chance of getting out of this alive.

“No,” Caleb said, and he seemed to be arguing with someone.

If it was the killer in on that argument, then that might account for why there hadn’t been any shots fired in the last couple of seconds. Then again, it could be a ploy by the killer to draw them out, to make them believe they wouldn’t be gunned down.

“Keep watch,” Harley murmured to her.

He touched her arm, just a touch, but that was enough to help steady her. Well, steady her until she realized Harley was on the move. He stayed hunkered down, but he left the cover of the tree and darted to another one. Then another. He was making his way in the direction of where they’d heard Caleb.

Mercy, Harley had to stay safe. He had to come back to her. This didn’t have anything to do with them having had sex. No, this was about her feelings for him. She was still in love with him and she needed the chance to tell him that.

“Caleb?” Aaron called out again. He groaned when Caleb didn’t respond.

Ava silently had a much worse reaction. Terror for her son. But she continued watching, looking for the killer. She also kept an eye on Aaron, wishing that she could just frisk him to make sure he wasn’t armed. He hadn’t turned his back to her once so, for all she knew, he could have a gun in the waist of his jeans. He could be waiting for the perfect moment to kill her.

But if that was so, it meant he wasn’t working alone.

With the explosives expert almost certainly dead, it was possible that Aaron had hired some muscle to carry out this sick plan.

“The person with Caleb had your face,” Aaron muttered. “I thought it was you. I thought you’d lost it and wanted him out of the way.”

Her face. That would certainly mesh with how the killer had staged his other victims. A mask of her face to carry out all those murders. And now this. The killer was using her face while doing heaven knew what to her son. Caleb would know it wasn’t her, but that likely wouldn’t be of much comfort now.

She thought of the other two suspects. Marnie and Duran. Thought of her father, too. If Aaron had been duped into coming here, then it was likely one of them was behind this. Not her father though. He wouldn’t have dirtied his hands this way, but Duran, yes, he could absolutely be the one who’d grabbed Caleb and pulled him into the woods. Marnie, too. One of them could be out there right now, waiting to put the finishing touches on this plan of terror.

A gunshot blast cut off those thoughts and had Ava’s heart dropping. Please no, not Harley or Caleb. She pivoted in the direction of the sound but didn’t hear anything to indicate one of them had been hurt. No sharp sounds of pain, no one dropping to the ground.

She could no longer see Harley, but she believed she could hear his footsteps about fifteen yards away. Maybe he was moving so he could then circle back to Caleb and whoever was holding him. Or the footsteps could belong to the killer. If so, he didn’t appear to be dragging anyone in tow. So, if that was indeed what was happening, then where was Caleb?

Since Quentin had been hit with a stun gun, the killer might not have hesitated to use it on Caleb. That would be especially true if Caleb was fighting to get free. Added to that, it hadn’t worked to lure her out when Caleb had shouted for her, so the killer might have just stashed him somewhere to use her for another ploy.

“Caleb?” Aaron repeated, his voice a weak sob now.

Ava ignored the man so she could focus on Harley and the direction he was going. Even though he was no longer close to her, she could maybe still give him some kind of backup. She had to keep watch for Theo, too. It would take him a while to get out of the cruiser and then deal with Quentin, but after that, the sheriff would no doubt be making his way toward them.

Another shot came at them.

But not at her.

Ava quickly realized that when she heard Aaron howl in pain. Her gaze fired over to him and she saw that he’d been shot in his right shoulder. The blood immediately started to spread over his shirt. Not gushing, but this didn’t appear to be just a graze or a flesh wound either.

---