Page 84 of Love in the Storm

Asa shifted to the right with his weapon aimed at Zach. Dawson moved to the left as he radioed to dispatch.

“Known subjects. One fled the scene.”

Zach cursed as his attention jerked between the woman and the officers moving to block him in on two sides. He shook his head before jumping out the window after Bobby.

Dawson fired, but from the spray of wood particles coming from the wall beside the window, he’d missed his mark.

“Asa?” Dawson asked without taking his gaze off the window where the two subjects fled.

“Go! I’ll stay with her.”

Dawson didn’t hesitate. He pursued the men out the window without looking back.

Asa radioed to dispatch. “One female victim. Possible head trauma. Send medical. Officer Keller in pursuit of two armed subjects last seen headed northbound on foot.”

Asa rushed to the woman and pulled the strap off her mouth. She sobbed, jerking her head from side to side.

“Ma’am, can you tell me your name? Are you injured?”

“Are they gone?” she asked as she continued to sob with her head down.

“Yes. I’m here to help you.” He rounded to the back of the chair and used his knife to cut the ropes that restrained her hands. It took a few minutes and all the concentration he had left to break her free using only one good hand. “What’s your name?”

She sniffed, and her voice shook as she said, “Lauren Vincent.”

“Lauren?” Oh, man. Between the darkness and her hair covering her face, he hadn’t even recognized the children’s activities coordinator at the town library. She was one of Jacob’s favorite people in the world.

“Asa?” When her arms were free, she wrapped them around his neck and clung to him as she sobbed.

He tensed his jaw against the stabbing in his shoulder and asked, “Are you injured?”

“I don’t know,” she wailed. “He hit me in the head, and I—I—” Lauren gasped and jerked away from him. “You’re bleeding!”

Asa looked at his shoulder. The bullet grazed the edge of his vest. One inch to the left, and he might have gotten out of this with a bruise and a fractured clavicle.

Maybe he was the one who needed a medic. He couldn’t tell if the night was getting darker or if he was losing his vision from loss of blood.

Lauren put her hands around his waist to hold him up. He was twice her size, and she used all her body weight to keep him standing. “You’re swaying. Asa, sit.”

Sirens wailed in the distance, but they were drifting away instead of coming closer. The cold in Asa’s arm spread up his shoulder and neck. He widened his stance to keep his balance. “I’m fine.”

Dawson’s voice came through the radio. “Subjects eastbound on Moose Canyon Road in a blue Toyota Tacoma. Circling back to the church.”

Nancy responded, “Cody, Silver Falls, and the sheriff’s department en route.”

The sirens faded in and out as Lauren guided him toward the seat she’d been tied to. “Please, sit.”

“Blackwater PD!”

The words sounded so far away and muffled.

“Back here!” Lauren called.

Asa slumped against the wall as his legs buckled. Lights flashed in the dark room just before they were covered in darkness.

29

LYRIC

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