Ridge Creek (36 page)

Finding that my breath is now coming in short, sharp, hyperventilation
style breaths, I decide to focus on calming the fuck down.  This does not go
well.  Especially when out of the blue I suddenly hear a loud bang somewhere
out the back of the house.  My sense of direction tells me it came from
somewhere between the shed and the laundry door. 

What the fuck?

What is Jake doing?  Shooting something?  Is he that pissed
that he had to go out back and shoot something?  I once again make another
mammoth effort to slow my breathing down so that I can focus on listening for
more noises both inside and outside of the house.

Nothing.

My mind races again.  What if something is really wrong? 
What should I do? 

I decide I have two choices.  I can lie here freaking out or
I can find out and deal with it.

Resolved that I need to find Jake and find out what it is
that has upset him so much, I climb out of bed.  Throwing a loose t-shirt and a
pair of soft black leggings on, I move towards the door.  And then I stop.

Something niggles in the back of my mind that I should return
to bed and get my gun.  Something was not right about that noise in the
backyard.  Hurrying back across the room, I open the bedside drawer and pull
out my handgun.  Following all the instructions Jake taught me just hours
before, I check the barrel is loaded and click it back into place. 

Five bullets.  Five shots. Easy.

Rushing back to the door holding the gun loosely in my left
hand, I turn the handle and peer outside and down the hallway.  All is quiet. 
Which seems a little odd but not unexplainable.  Maybe Jake went out to his
shed.  Wandering down the hallway it occurs to me that Pierre is nowhere in
sight.  This again is not unexplainable.  In fact it explains the quiet.  Jake
must have taken Pierre out for a walk. 

My heart slows down and I start to feel my breathing balance
out as I realize there is not too much wrong at all.  Except perhaps for the
fact that Emma has told Jake something he didn’t like or want to hear. 

This I can deal with.

I continue to make a quick sweep of the house and confirm
that neither Jake nor Pierre are anywhere to be found.  This has to mean that
they are out walking so I head to the laundry door and without thought, head
out to the backyard.  The yard is well lit by a floodlight mounted near the
back door that points straight towards the shed.  It is because of all the
light that it only takes me half a microsecond to realize that I have made a
mistake.  A huge mistake. 

I should have paused to look around before I left the
relative safety of the doorway.  I realize this instantly as in what almost
feels like slow motion, my mind registers that something is wrong.

The first hint is that not more than two meters in front of
me, Jake’s coffee cup lays smashed on the ground.  Hot coffee, still steaming,
is soaking slowly into the gravel path.  I stare at the coffee cup in horror.

The second hint is the loud click I hear to my left, along
with a soft whimper from Pierre who is not happy. 

Not hesitating for even a millisecond I lift my gun and
point it towards the click as I swing my head to find the source of the noise. 
A man, dressed all in black with long pants and a long sleeved shirt is
standing holding Pierre against his hip while he points a gun at me with the
other. 

My mind briefly registers the man looks familiar.  Very
familiar.  He is in his early fifties and I can see that his once blonde hair
is now heavily grayed.  He has a short, neatly trimmed goatee. He also has the
most amazing cornflower blue eyes I have ever seen on a man.  This combination,
even though I am quickly coming to the realization that the shit is definitely
hitting the fan, I register make him very good looking.

Flicking my eyes to Pierre, I confirm that he looks okay. 
But where is Jake?  Deciding there is no more time to consider anything else, I
do what Jake told me to do.  I send a silent prayer to God that I don’t hit my
beloved Pierre and I aim, squeeze and shoot.

The recoil of the gun shocks me a little and I gasp as I
watch the man before me jolt and buckle over.  He drops Pierre instantly. 
Pierre squeals in pain as he hits the ground on baby legs not designed to drop
from heights.  I start to surge towards Pierre but change my mind when I see
the man straightening again.

Fuck. 

Pointing my gun back at him I start to squeeze the trigger a
second time when I feel something hit me hard from behind.  Right at the base
of my head where my neck joins to my skull.

Stars shoot from my eyes and instantly my world starts to go
black.  My last thoughts as I slump forward towards the ground are for Pierre
to run and for Jake to please God, be okay.

To be
continued June 2014…

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About the
author

C L Green grew up,
and still lives near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.

She currently lives on a small farm on the
outskirts of Ballarat with her partner Damian, her son Lachlan, her Arabian
horses and her Golden Retriever dogs.

When not writing, reading her Kindle,
riding horses or spending time with her dogs, you are likely to find her
camping on the side of the mighty Murray River.

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Discover other titles by C L Green:

Attraction Series

Natural Attraction