“Did someone at the house return fire?” Tess asked. It was then that she found herself behind Bender, also traveling code 3.

“Affirmative,” came the reply from dispatch. “Calling party reports that they fired in self-defense.”

Bender had reached the front gate and it swung open. She guessed someone in the house saw him and opened it.

She killed her siren as she drove through the gate close behind Bender. There was an unfamiliar dark sedan in the drive. Bender parked in front of it, and Tess kept going to block the back.

Off to the right, at the corner of the house, Tess saw a crouching figure, and she realized it was Livie Harp with a hunting rifle, up and ready, as if she had someone in her sights behind the house.

“You take the house,” she called to Bender. “I’m going to see what’s going on over here.” She drew her duty weapon and jogged to Harp. “Is the shooter back there?” she asked.

Harp turned. “He took off up through the forest. I lost sight of him, but I wanted to make sure he didn’t double back. He was hit—center mass, I think—at least once, by a shotgun. It stunned him but didn’t knock him down, so he has to be wearing body armor. And I think I winged him after that.” She stepped back but didn’t completely lower the rifle.

The sheriff’s deputy had joined them. “What type of rounds were in the shotgun? Buckshot?” he asked Harp.

“Double-aught buck.”

“He’ll have a good bruise,” the deputy said, “maybe some cracked ribs, even with body armor.”

Tess considered this. Double-aught buck contained nine pellets, .33 caliber rounds, and she’d seen body armor tests conducted at the range. At ten yards there was no penetration through the vest, but she doubted it felt very good. In any event, she believed that an armed, injured man could be doubly dangerous.

“We need to get after him,” Harp insisted. She was ramped up like a crackhead.

Tess resisted the urge to be influenced by Harp’s energy and run headlong after the shooter. “Where can he go? This property butts up to BLM forest; there’s nowhere for him to go, but there are a lot of places for him to hide in ambush. We need an organized search. And I have to figure out what happened here. What kind of weapon did he have?”

“A handgun, automatic.” Harp blew out a breath, lowered the rifle, and brought a hand to her brow.

Tess hesitated, not wanting to leave Harp alone, but needing to be sure they were no longer in danger from the gunman. The deputy must have sensed her indecision because he offered before she could ask.