Hearts in the Crosshairs (18 page)

He scurried toward the women’s tent, bending low. Soft rustlings came from within.

“Penny?” he called softly.

“Yeah. What’s going on?”

Dave breathed again. “Gunshot. I’m not sure where Jerry is.”

“I know I’m technically in charge here, but I’ll defer to you,” Penny said, sounding shaken.

“Call Augusta. Both of you get down to the shore. Stay
away from the fire. Try not to let yourselves be seen or heard. If I don’t show in five get moving.”

“Got it.”

Dave scanned the area around him. He had to find Jerry—fast.

“You heard him,” Penny whispered.

“Yeah. I’m tying my boot.” Jillian fumbled with the laces in the dark.

Penny spoke into her radio. “We have a shot fired by an unknown shooter near the camp,” she told the officer at headquarters two hundred miles away.

“Stay in contact. I’ll put the backup team in motion now. Call if not needed.”

“I copy. We may need to go silent for a while.”

“Check in within ten minutes.”

Penny signed off and made some rummaging noises in the darkness.

“I’m ready,” Jillian whispered.

“Let me go out first. Keep low and look ahead for cover.”

“Are we safer in the open?” Jillian’s heart thundered as she rose and felt for Penny. Her hand grasped a fleecy sleeve.

“We’re sitting ducks in here.” Penny edged to the tent flap and stood still for several seconds before she cautiously unzipped it halfway.

Jillian waited behind her, tense and shivering.

“Okay,” Penny whispered over her shoulder. “Let me get behind the picnic table. If everything’s quiet, follow me.” She ducked out of the tent.

Jillian crouched at the flap and peered outside. The moon shone over the lake between wispy clouds. After Penny’s footsteps ceased, all was still. Jillian sucked in a breath and dashed out of the tent. She bumped the edge of the picnic table bench and fell headlong next to Penny.

“You okay?” Penny laid one hand on her shoulder.

Jillian rolled over and looked up at her. “Yeah.” She’d probably have a beauty of a bruise on her shin tomorrow. “Do we know where Dave is?”

“No.” Penny raised herself to look over the top of the table. Jillian lay still, trying to calm her heart and the sound of her breathing. After a long minute, Penny whispered, “Our next cover is that stunted tree where we hung our dish towels.”

Jillian looked toward it. “All right. You first?”

“Yeah. Get ready, but stay here until you’re sure I’m safe behind the tree.”

Penny took off, a dark shadow in the moonlight. Jillian watched her shape meld with that of the little pine. She held her breath and waited, sending up a prayer. The lake was choppier than it had been earlier. If they had to flee the camp tonight, they’d have a wild ride.

She pushed up off the ground and sprinted for Penny’s hiding place.

“Good job,” Penny whispered, pulling her in behind the tree.

After two more moves, they had only one more run left to the canoe.

“When I get there, I’ll drop on this side of it,” Penny told her. “Wait a good minute. When you come, jump right over me and lie down in the bottom of the canoe.”

Jillian gulped. “Got it.”

Penny started to rise, then froze. Jillian looked beyond her and saw a dark form racing from the trees on the other side of the beach to the canoe.

J
illian grabbed Penny’s wrist. “Did you see that?”

“Yeah.” Penny eased back down behind the boulder that sheltered them. Jillian peered into the dimness. A man’s form rose just beyond the canoe. He raised an arm as though beckoning to them.

“It’s Dave.” Relief washed over Jillian. She wanted to leave the rock and dash into his arms.

“Okay, this is good and bad. We now know where Dave is, but if Jerry was okay he’d come straight to us. You go first, and I’ll cover you while you run. Keep low and jump into the canoe.”

“Right.”

Penny put a hand on her back. “One, two, three.”

Jillian took off running. As she neared the canoe, she heard only the waves, but Dave knelt beyond the craft, aiming his pistol toward the tents. She dashed across the gravel strip and grabbed the gunwale, rolling headfirst into the canoe. The thump of her landing could probably be heard all the way down the lake. She lay panting in the bottom, staring up at a cloud oozing across the Little Dipper.

“You okay?” Dave asked.

“So far.”

“Here comes Penny. Keep down.”

Jillian lay still and listened to Penny’s crunching footsteps.
The canoe shuddered as she careened into the side and crouched, panting.

“Where is he?” Penny asked.

“Jerry or the shooter?”

“Either one,” Penny said.

Dave was silent for several seconds. Jillian stirred and raised her head until she could see his profile, still wary as he covered the shadowy camp with his weapon.

“Jerry’s dead.”

Penny swore.

A sick feeling settled in Jillian’s stomach. She swallowed back bile and waited for Dave to speak again.

“He was shot fifty feet behind your tent.”

“And the shooter?” Penny asked.

“I heard something, but I couldn’t get close. I think we should pull out.”

“We’ll make good targets out on the water.”

“I know. But it’s just the three of us. We can’t stand him off all night. And if there’s more than one…”

“What if he’s waiting down the shore in the trees?”

Dave hauled in a deep breath. “I’m open to suggestions.”

Penny was silent.

Jillian cleared her throat. “Dave’s right. We can’t stay here. If we could get to the warden camp—”

“Dispatch has sent out backup,” Penny said. “They could be almost to the cottage by now.”

Dave kept watching the campsite. “But will they be able to get up here in the dark?”

“Do you think they’d send a helicopter?” Penny asked.

“I don’t know. It would take a while to get one.”

Jillian bowed her head.

“If we head out toward the opposite shore, maybe we can get out of range,” Penny suggested.

“Not if the shooter’s got a rifle, but…yeah, that’s probably our best bet.” Dave looked down at Jillian and their gazes locked. “We will do everything we can to get you out of this, Jillian.”

“I know.”

“Do we have life jackets?” he asked.

“There’s only one in here.”

“I put the others in the tent earlier,” Penny said.

Dave nodded. “Okay. Jillian, get that jacket on. Penny, on my count, get in the canoe.”

“We should shove off first. It’s too far up on the beach.”

Dave looked toward the camp. “You get in and—”

“No, it will be too heavy for you then.”

Jillian quickly pulled on the lifejacket and fastened it. After a moment’s silence, Dave said grimly, “Jillian, curl up in the bow.”

As she huddled down in the front end of the canoe, another gunshot rang out. She rolled into a ball and wrapped her arms around her head, wishing the life jacket were a bulletproof vest. Several shots were fired in quick succession, and the canoe lurched sideways. She felt it settle as more weight was added, then a shove freed them from the shore and they floated on the waves. Water splashed on her and the canoe rocked so violently she gasped and opened her eyes. Dave tumbled into the canoe and groped for a paddle.

“Can you help?” he yelled.

“Yes.” Jillian unfolded herself and took the end of the paddle he held out.

“Stay as low as you can. Penny’s hit.”

Adrenaline surged through Jillian. Penny lay still on the floor of the canoe. Dave sat far too tall in the stern as he began to stroke, bringing the craft around and aiming it away from the beach, toward the stream at the lower end of the lake.

Jillian dug her paddle into the water. The waves buffeted them, hitting the canoe nearly broadside. She prayed in spurts.
God, help us! Help Penny. Let us live.

From the shore, she heard the faint report of another gunshot.

After paddling frantically for twenty agonizing minutes, Dave slackened his pace and gulped air. Jillian looked back at him and he held up a hand. She laid her paddle across the gunwales and rested, breathing in deep gasps.

Dave wished they were farther down the lake. But Jillian had held her own, and they seemed to be safe for the moment. Unless more assassins waited along the shore. He’d followed Penny’s advice and turned them out toward the middle of the lake. The most dangerous part of their journey would be the run down the stream.

He pushed the call button on his radio. The dispatcher answered immediately.

“We’ve had more shots fired. One officer wounded. We’re evacuating by water.”

“What about Bronte?”

“Safe so far.”

Jillian’s eyes widened and he would have burst out laughing if they weren’t in danger. Later he’d have to explain about the code name.

“Do you think you can check on Penny?” he called to Jillian.

She shipped her paddle and scrambled to the middle of the canoe. “Penny, do you hear me?”

She moaned and shuddered.

“She’s alive,” Jillian said. Her eyes were huge in the moonlight. “Thank God.”

Dave exhaled. “Yeah. Look, I hope we’re going to get out of this…How deep is your faith, Jillian?”

“Bone deep. No matter what happens, I’ll be all right.”

He could tell she meant it. She trusted God to take care of her, not Dave Hutchins. That was as it should be. “I want you to take this.” He reached under his jacket and pulled a handgun from his belt. “It’s Jerry’s gun.”

She stared at him, then slowly reached for it.

“Here’s the safety.”

She nodded. “It’s like Brendon’s pistol.”

“Good. You know how to use it.”

“Yes.” She unzipped a pocket at the side of her sweatshirt, shoved the gun inside and zipped it again.

“Great.” Dave picked his paddle.

“Her pulse is strong,” Jillian called a moment later.

Dave nodded and concentrated on his paddling rhythm. He heard Jillian speaking to Penny, but he wasn’t sure if she responded.

As he put all his strength into paddling, he realized that if they survived, he couldn’t go back to the way things were. Everything was different now, he thought. No matter what happened with his job, he and Jillian had to be together.

He paddled on, seeing and hearing nothing out of the ordinary. After a long time, he felt the current pulling them toward the outlet stream. The rough water would make the downriver ride dangerous. A large rock stuck up out of the water close beside them, and he used his paddle to push them away from it.

“Jillian!”

Her head jerked up.

“I need you to steer.”

She climbed onto the thwart in the bow, took the paddle she’d stowed, and leaned forward, watching for rocks as she stroked.

They moved with the current now, into the rushing stream.
Dave back-paddled, trying to slow their headlong pace. A tiny flash of fire caught his eye on shore and he heard the hint of a
boom
over the loud, swirling water.

“Get down!”

She looked back at him. The bow slammed into a rock and the canoe rolled. Dave dove forward for Jillian as they plunged into the icy water.

Jillian surfaced, choking on frigid water. Her body slammed against a rock. The padded life jacket protected her some, but the current pulled at her clothing, and her feet felt clumsy inside her hiking boots. She clawed at the rock, trying to keep her position on its upstream side. The water was deeper than she’d imagined.

Something hit her in the back, and the air rushed out of her lungs. She turned and saw Penny, half-submerged and not fighting the stream. Jillian reached out and grabbed her sleeve. Penny’s weight and the water pulled against her, but she found purchase on the rock and held on.

In the nightmare of cold, roaring water, she heard her name.

“Here!” She struggled to better her hold on Penny, and hiked the detective’s limp body up against the side of the rock. With Penny’s head out of the water, Jillian indulged in a few deep breaths. She wriggled around until her arm clutched Penny firmly across her chest. She clenched a handful of the woman’s fleece pullover, determined not to let go.

Her feet, braced against the submerged rock, slipped again. She tried to hold on to the rough surface above water, but her free hand groped thin air. As the water tore her away from the rock, Penny plunged again beneath the surface. Jillian held on, kicking with all her might. The life jacket couldn’t support them both. She sank deeper, knowing that she couldn’t let go of Penny.

No way could Dave right the canoe alone. He clung to the side of the nearly submerged craft as it sluggishly moved downstream. The stern got caught on a rock, and he swung around with the slender boat, until the bow caught on another rock and lodged there. For the moment at least, the canoe held on the obstacles, and the water rushed around and over it. A paddle drifted past, and Dave lunged for it.

He pushed himself along the side of the canoe. Suddenly he found he could stand up. Though the current pulled relentlessly at his frame, he could stand against it. He staggered to a rock and hauled himself onto it, shivering all over.

“Jillian!” He looked downstream and saw her, just yards away, clinging to a boulder midstream and holding Penny’s head above the surface. As he watched, she lost her grip, struggled, then swung into the current. Both women disappeared beneath the water.

Dave leaped off the rock into the numbing water. Using the paddle to steady himself, he lumbered toward them.

Jillian managed to slow her passage by throwing herself against every obstacle she encountered. Against all odds, she held on to Penny. Dave’s lungs burned as he inched closer to them. When he finally came within six feet of Jillian, he called her name again.

She turned her head, startled, and he shoved the canoe paddle toward her. She grabbed the end with one hand, and Dave waded to her. He fell against her, pinning her and Penny against a rock.

He caught his breath. “I’ll take Penny. Can you make it to shore?”

“I don’t know,” Jillian said, close to his ear.

Dave looked around. They were closer to the north shore, and he was glad. The last shot had come from the south side.
But the stream wasn’t that wide. Anyone with a rifle could pick them off from either bank.

“Come on. If you can’t make it, wait for me. I’ll come back. Use the paddle if it helps you. If not, let it go.”

“Can we get the canoe?”

He looked upstream. “I don’t think so. It’s too far back there, and I’m not sure we could right it.”

“And we shouldn’t go back that way anyway.”

He nodded.

“Go,” she said.

He put his arms around Penny’s rib cage and hoisted her in a fireman’s carry. Slowly he felt his way, one precarious step at a time, through the roiling water. He didn’t dare look back. If Jillian tried to follow but lost her footing…
Lord, I can’t bear to lose her now.
Guilt pummeled him. He’d come to protect Jillian, but he was leaving her in peril to rescue Penny.

He staggered to the bank and lowered Penny onto the shore. She groaned and her eyes flickered.

“Penny, I’m going to help Jillian. I’ll be back.” Dave turned away and pulled up short. Jillian was only a yard behind him, pushing against the water, using the paddle to propel herself toward him. He leaned toward her, holding out both arms. She grabbed one hand, and he pulled her in.

“Thank God!” He held her against him for only an instant. “Come on. Get out of the water. Up you go.”

With fading strength, he boosted her up beside Penny, then crawled out and lay in the weeds, gasping.

After a minute, Jillian said, “He’s out there.”

Dave sat up slowly, looking toward the stream. “Can you walk?”

“I think so. But Penny—”

“I’ll carry her. Where’s her wound?”

The moon broke through the clouds, and Jillian’s eyes glistened in its light. “Her abdomen. She needs help fast, Dave.”

“Can’t help it. We’ll have to walk.”