Another shotgun round smacked into the horse—it wouldn’t shield him for long. Shotgun Annie jumped over Gage’s body and was pursuing him. Ice leaped away, firing his handgun blind, but making her duck, and sprinting toward the side of the house, his only chance to escape. Breath barely back, he dived behind cover with another shotgun blast raining down on him, pellets smacking the corner of the house.

When Ice had hit the ground and turned, he realized his mistake in cutting right. The women had effectively cut off any hope of escaping to the car. He peered around the corner of the house and fired blind as the shotgun barked again.

“Ahh,” he screamed as buckshot tore through the edge of the building and into the side of his face and arm. They now stung like the pain in his shoulder.

He could hear the woman racking more rounds into the shotgun. He barely held on to his gun before turning and sprinting to the back of the property, into the forest, away from the crazy woman and her shotgun. When the shotgun went off again, he was out of range of the pellets.

“I’m getting my rifle,” he heard the woman yell. “You’re dead meat!”

Ice didn’t look back. He needed to get out of harm’s way and regroup.

31

Tess was in Shady Cove, had just pulled into the parking lot of the Maple Leaf, the hotel Jim Smith listed as his residence, when the radio sounded with an emergency tone. She stopped in front of the office, tense and alert.

Shots fired.

And she recognized the address—Faith’s Place. It was now after 8:30 a.m. The drive back would take her at least ten minutes.

Work crew forgotten, she shifted her vehicle into reverse, flipping on her lights and sirens, tires squealing as she merged back onto Highway 62. She heard a sheriff’s deputy, the one assigned to Shady Cove, also indicate that he was en route to assist, but he was farther away than she was.

This had to be about Chevy. Tess now regretted agreeing to keep the sheriff in the dark. It was kind of like the kid taking the car without his parents’ permission. It’s not a problem if he manages to return the car without anyone noticing, but if he crashes the car, then he’s in trouble. Tess felt like that kid, and while her first prayer was that everyone at Faith’s Place was okay, she knew this would be a jurisdictional nightmare.

Lights and sirens blazing all the way from Shady Cove to Rogue’s Hollow, Tess amped up the radio volume, waiting for any update.

“One shooter is down; one fled to the rear of the property.”

“Are any of the residents of the house injured?” Tess asked.

“Unclear at this time.”