Touch of Red (Tracers #12)(89)

Cameron took off. He darted behind the truck, and Brooke held her breath, waiting for Mahoney to turn around.

A few seconds later, he did. His face flushed red when he realized Cameron was gone.

“God damn it.” He stomped over to Brooke and kicked her ribs so hard she fell sideways. “Where’d he go?” When she didn’t answer, he reached down and hauled her to her feet, sending a bolt of pain up her arm.

“On the pier. Move!”

Brooke forced herself not to look in the direction Cameron had fled. Instead, she looked at the pier. She took a tentative step forward. Then another. Thoughts raced through her brain faster than she could process them.

But as her foot touched the wood, everything slowed to a crawl.

All at once, she understood. She understood the remote location, the water, the pier.

“It won’t work.” She looked at him over her shoulder. “The cadaver dogs, they can sniff out anything. Even twenty feet deep. I’ve seen them do it.”

He snugged the gun against his shoulder and took aim. “Shut up and walk.”

Brooke’s legs quivered. Her heart pounded. The blue-green water glimmered in front of her, and she thought of Sean. Her throat burned and she wished she’d told him. Why hadn’t she told him everything she felt?

He would get here. She knew it. Maybe not in time for her, but in time for Cameron.

Please, Sean. Please, please, please.

Brooke swallowed a lump of fear in her throat. She pictured Cameron making a dash for the trees, and with every drop of hope left in her, she prayed he would make it.

She forced her feet to move, even as her lungs seemed to stop working. The shimmering water was closer and closer and closer, and she desperately wished she could stop time, but she could do nothing but hold her breath and brace for the blast. How fast would it happen? Would she even hear a sound?

The end of the pier loomed in front of her, and calm settled over her. She would never take those last steps for him. She wouldn’t do it. No matter how futile it was, she was going to—

Crack.

Brooke lunged for the water.

? ? ?

The sound stole the air from Sean’s lungs. He ran toward the gunshot and heard it again as he burst from the trees just in time to see Mahoney hobbling toward a black truck, clutching his arm to his chest.

Sean raised his shotgun and fired, but Mahoney ducked behind the cover of the vehicle. He heaved himself behind the wheel, and Sean fired again, shattering the back window.

The truck peeled away in a cloud of dust.

Movement caught Sean’s eye, and he sprinted for the water.

“Brooke!”

She struggled toward the pier, using her legs to propel her.

Sean ran to pull her out. “Are you hurt?” He hauled her up and out of the water, and they collapsed into a wet heap on the wood.

“Cameron,” she gasped.

“Are you okay?” His gut clenched as he got a look at her face. It looked like someone had hit her with a baseball bat. “Jesus Christ, what happened?” He whipped out his pocketknife and cut through her bindings.

“I’m fine,” she choked. “We have to find Cam.”

Sean wiped the wet hair from her face and took a good look at her. She was clearly injured, but she was talking and breathing, and already scrambling to her feet.

“I’ll find him,” Sean said, pulling her up. He helped her off the pier and glanced around for any sign of Jasper.

“There’s two of them,” Brooke gasped. “Mahoney and Hurd. Mahoney’s in a black pickup. Hurd took off after he got paid.”

“I saw Mahoney right after Jasper shot him. He’s wounded and he’s trying to make a break for it.” Sean led her to the shed. “Brooke, listen to me. I have to go help Jasper. There’s only one road out of here, and there’s bound to be a confrontation.”

“Cameron—”

“I’ll look for him.” Sean put the shotgun in her hands and wrapped her fingers around it. “Stay here. Stay low behind this shed. Have you ever fired a shotgun?”

“No.”

Sean wished he’d taken the damn Kevlar so he could leave it with her.

“Sean, we have to find Cameron. He’s hiding. He’s—”

“First, I need to neutralize the suspects. Do you understand? If anything threatens you, point and shoot.”

She looked down at the gun in her hands. She looked up and nodded, and Sean’s heart swelled. She was bruised and beaten, but she was alive, and he was determined to get her out of here that way. Cameron, too.

He pulled his Glock from his holster and checked it. Then he kissed her forehead.

“Go,” she said.

“I’ll be right back.”

? ? ?

He sprinted for the trees, and Brooke watched him disappear into the foliage. She stared after him, trying to catch her breath. The wind whipped through her wet clothes, and she felt cold all over.

She couldn’t believe Sean was here. How had he found her? And why were he and Jasper alone?

She glanced down at the gun in her hands and pushed away from the shed. Her legs felt wobbly, but they weren’t injured. Her face was another story.

She squeezed her eyes shut and remembered the crack of gunfire. She’d thought it was a shotgun blast. But it was Jasper shooting at Mahoney. Another second or two, and she would have been dead.