Chapters (78)
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Acknowledgments
- Discover More
- About the Author
- Also by Owen Laukkanen
Harwood smiled. Gulped a breath. Stood up again and made for where she’d been firing from. He had the bitch dead to rights now.
* * *
Perfect time to run out of ammunition.
Jess had conserved her rounds after neutralizing Cole Sweeney. Knew she couldn’t waste too many trying to tag Harwood through the trees. But Kirby was smart; he’d kept her pinned down, forced her to play defense. She’d guarded her last bullets until he reached the top of the rise, fired a couple of times and missed by quarter inches, and then she was out.
Jess dropped the rifle. Pulled a pistol from inside her jacket and let off a couple of shots to show Harwood she wasn’t done yet. Nearly caught him too; she heard him curse, loud, as bark flew by his ear, and then he leaned out with his own pistol and squeezed off a couple of shots of his own.
She backed off, farther up the rise, farther into the island. Found cover and held it and waited for a shot as Kirby advanced, fired and stayed low as Kirby fired back.
He was better than she’d expected. He stayed low and out of sight, kept out of her crosshairs, edged around the side of her cover and nearly blew her head clean off. She fell back some more, scrambling up the slope on her backside, legs churning, aiming the gun down the rise and hoping Harwood didn’t catch her first.
They traded shots again. Jess had the elevation, but Harwood had the advantage. He was gaining, close enough that Jess couldn’t turn and run, for fear he’d put two in her ass. She clawed her way backward instead, sweeping the forest, feeling in her pocket for another magazine, knowing she’d be empty again soon.
So would Harwood.
Jess backed up, found rock. Wet rock, a wall of it, and she knew where she was, knew she was in trouble. There was no way to back up this wall. No way to get away now that she’d backed into it. She was going to have to climb for her life.
She emptied the last of her clip at where she’d last seen the deputy. Then she turned and scrambled up the rock, feet struggling for purchase, her knuckles scraped raw. The rock was wet and dangerous, but she’d done this before, she and Burke on their way to the cliff, and Jess knew the path. She made the top just as Harwood came out firing some more; she dashed into the clearing and heard Harwood click empty.
Now was her chance. Jess dropped out the spent magazine. Felt in her pocket for the spare, couldn’t find it. Fuck. She looked around the clearing and saw it lying on pine needles where she’d mounted the wall. It must have dropped out when she ran.