Page 24 of Lone Star Rescue

“Move,” Rafe ordered.

He didn’t wait for her to comply though. He took hold of her again, initiating a combat-style crawl behind a large landscape boulder. Across from them, Davy and Sanchez did the same, taking cover behind Davy’s truck.

She wasn’t sure Davy was even armed, but Sanchez had drawn his gun. He wouldn’t have a clean shot at their attacker though, not unless the woman came out from that van or if he moved out. Bree was hoping he wouldn’t do that. She had no idea just how good of a shot this woman was, but Sanchez wasn’t wearing any kind of protective gear to stop bullets.

None of them were.

Bree made a quick glance behind them and saw that the two CSIs, the second bomb expert, and the other fireman had all dropped down to the ground as well. The bomb guy, too, had pulled a gun, but his angle for a shot was even worse than Sanchez’s. Their best bet right now would be just to stay down, especially since the bullets hadn’t gone in their direction.

“You bitch,” the woman yelled. And she fired another shot. This one hit the boulder and sent shards of the rock flying.

Since Bree was the only woman in the vicinity, that meant this attack was likely directed at her. Sweet heaven. But why? She didn’t know the shooter.

Did she?

“Stay here,” Rafe whispered. “I’m going to try to get behind her.”

Bree had no idea how he could do that since they were pretty much out in the open except for the boulder. Once he left cover, he’d be an easy target.

Except he wasn’t the target.

She was.

Still, if this woman was unstable, there was no telling who she might shoot to get to Bree. “Be careful,” she added to Rafe as he got into a crouching position.

Then, he launched himself out into the open like a sprinter in a race, and he ran. Fast. And not in a straight line either. He was zigzagging toward the bomb squad van, which was the vehicle nearest them.

Bree held her breath, praying that he didn’t get gunned down. The woman did fire a single shot at him, missing him, but then she turned the gun back in Bree’s direction. Two more shots slammed into the boulder, and Bree heard the rock crack.

Mercy.

If the shots managed to take off enough chunks of it, she’d be a much easier target to kill. And it was obvious this woman wanted her dead.

“Who are you and what do you want?” Bree shouted.

She had a twofold reason for the questions. First, she wanted to distract the woman so she wouldn’t shoot Rafe. That was top priority right now. But Bree also wanted answers to know what she was up against.

“I want you to die for killing my husband,” the woman yelled back.

“Your husband?” Bree asked, and there was surprise in her voice because she had no idea what the woman was talking about. She’d never killed anyone, not even in the line of duty.

“My husband,” she said, the last word trailing off into a sob. Bree could hear the woman crying now and mutteringsomething Bree didn’t catch. However, she did catch the next part. “Gavin is dead, and you killed him.”

Gavin. So, this was his wife, Patricia.

“I didn’t kill him,” Bree insisted.

“You did,” she shrieked. “I know you did. You made him write that note, and you murdered him. Now, you’re going to die, too.”

She fired more shots, enough that Bree thought she had probably emptied the clip. If she’d come for revenge though, she would have perhaps brought more ammunition.

“I didn’t kill Gavin,” Bree tried again. “But I believe someone did. I’m investigating it.”

“You’re covering up what you did,” was her response.

There was no reason in her tone. She was hysterical, and in that moment, Bree knew there was nothing she could say to make Patricia understand that she hadn’t murdered Gavin.

But someone had convinced her of that.

---