Page 28 of Knife to the Heart

The female officer, whom Cannon had called Julia, unholstered her weapon as she inched to the automatic doors. A frigid wind gusted through the ER as she stepped through. “He’s right. Someoneisout there.”

Rosalie caught a quick, bright wink in the trees and drew her weapon. “Get down.”

Darting outside in a crouch, she took cover behind the coffee kiosk stationed next to the doors. She nodded to Julia, who had positioned herself behind a recycling bin and pointed her gun toward the trees. Across the parking lot, she spotted a brief flash of something glinting off the moonlight.

“Twelve o’clock halfway up the tallest evergreen,” Wulf said from inside the foyer.

“Got it.” As she aimed for the target, a shot, then another, penetrated the night. She ducked farther behind the kiosk before popping back up to fire. A dark figure fell from a tree as screams pealed from inside the ER. She looked behind her. Shred fell against Barnett’s arms, blood fanning across his sweatshirt.

Another shot popped into the air. She whipped back to the trees. Branches rustled as another dark figure fell to the ground. She turned toward Julia to congratulate her on the excellent shot. Before she could even shoot a thumbs-up, another shot blasted from the left.

Rosalie took aim at a dark figure running from the trees and fired. She hit her mark squarely in the back. The gunman stumbled. She squeezed the trigger again and again until hewent down. Two officers jumped from approaching patrol cars and surrounded the fallen hostile.

Adrenaline surged through her as she turned to Julia.

Flashing lights danced on the blood-splattered glass wall. The metallic smell tainted the pure air. Rosalie dropped to the fallen officer and pressed her hands over the crimson stain on her upper thigh. Warm blood seeped between her fingers as Cannon sank to his knees next to her and pressed his palm over the top of her hand.

As he barked orders and pleaded for Julia to wake up, Rosalie read the four letters on the name badge pinned to the officer’s uniform—Ford.

ELEVEN

Rosalie wrinkled her nose at the stench of beer, marijuana, and male bodies that needed a shower. Once Officer Ford—Cannon’s sister, for God’s sake—and Shred had been taken to surgery, she’d quickly discovered that Shred was Logan Henley, a twenty-year-old college student from outside of Denver. It only took seconds to pinpoint his last location. Minutes later, she was on the road, followed by Cannon’s friend, Officer Grady Dalton, to a condo rental near the base of the mountain.

Unlike Cannon, Grady hadn’t tried to step in front of her when she’d taken the lead and announced, “FBI.” He’d even offered an approving whistle when her stern look had halted the two college kids from trying to bolt. Her badge and Julia’s bloodstains on her blouse had likely helped too.

Was Julia holding up okay in surgery? How was Cannon? She tabled those thoughts for later and focused on the people who could shed insight into what the hell had happened tonight.

“We have a few questions for the two of you.”

Their wary gazes darted to her, then back to Grady. She couldn’t blame them for finding the man intimidating. Every inch of him, from his military-style buzz cut to his shiny blackboots, screamed small-town cop. His piercing gaze suggested a not-so-small background.

She’d been amazed to learn that Easton was his younger sibling. While Easton barely reached six feet, Grady towered well above. Easton’s blue gaze set in a fair, all-American, football player type of face made you wonder what he was up to. Grady’s tanned skin, sharp, angular jaw, and intense chocolate eyes made you wonder what secrets he hid.

Rosalie pocketed her badge and turned her attention back to the duo on the worn couch. “Do you know where your friend Logan is?”

The stocky one wearing a T-shirt with a drawing of a baseball catcher on it that said, “Thou Shalt Not Steal,” craned his neck to the open front door. “He was supposed to be back hours ago with?—”

The taller one with a blue T-shirt that said, “Life’s a Pitch,” nudged his friend. “Shut up, dude.”

She hovered her hand by her gun. “Life’s about to get a lot…pitchierif you don’t tell us where Logan went tonight.”

The color drained from the catcher’s face. “Is he in trouble? Logancan’tafford to lose his baseball scholarship. He just went out to get some weed. Marijuana is legal here.”

Rosalie sighed. These boys weren’t terrorists. Or even criminals. “Did Logan mention meeting anyone to get the marijuana?”

The catcher’s gaze darted to his friend. They shared a wide-eyed look before they nodded to each other in agreement. “Logan said he met a man this morning in the parking lot of the ski resort. The guy had given him a bunch of cash to do a simple job.”

“Did he mention this man’s name?”

“No. He wouldn’t tell us anything else about it, and he was grumpy all afternoon. Didn’t even want to board. When we gotback from the mountain, he went out to get more weed and beer. That was hours ago.”

Grady scanned the room and let out a low whistle. “Condos this close to the mountain aren’t cheap, and your equipment out on the porch is top of the line. Any idea why Logan needed extra cash?”

The two boys shared a look again. “His girlfriend is pregnant. They don’t want to tell their parents yet, so they aren’t using their family’s insurance to pay doctor bills. He needed cash because he didn’t want Gina going to a free clinic.”

“Crap,” Rosalie muttered under her breath. Shred had a girlfriend he cared about. A baby on the way. And now he faced imprisonment, maybe death, likely because of the monster she hadn’t caught yet.

Her phone buzzed with a text. Motioning to Grady to keep an eye on the two, she checked it. The message from headquarters said the FBI database had identified the snipers as known terrorists rumored to have departed from the same organization as Malgor.

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