The man, who spoke in a low, whispering rasp, quickly took several steps back and, Jack was sure, out of his reach. The man remained behind Jack so he couldn’t get a good look at his face.

Jack lifted his hands and let his 9mm dangle from his finger.

“I said toss the gun.” Again, the rasping voice.

Frowning, Jack did as he was told. This wasn’t going down the way he had imagined. He had to turn this around—and fast. He considered taking the action route—diving and rolling to grab his gun again. Could he disarm this man without getting shot in the head?

Or he could use the psychological method. “You shoot a cop, and they’ll hunt you down. You’ll be looking over your shoulder until the last day of your short life.”

“I’m already looking over my shoulder.”

“Who are you?” Jack wanted answers, and he needed to distract the man. “Come in, and we can help you. Whoever you’re running from, we can help you.”

“You can’t help me.”

In his peripheral vision, Jack saw movement.

Terra.

Blood roared in his ears. If Terra drew the man’s attention, he would shoot Jack first and ask questions later. Or she might shoot and kill the man, and they would still need answers.

He would have to risk it. No other choice.

A twig snapped.

Jack threw himself to the ground and rolled as gunfire rang out—the man had taken a shot at Terra and was now on the run. The guy dashed through the trees. Once again, the chase was on. Jack snatched up his gun and sprang to his feet as Terra rushed forward, gasping.

“Let’s go.” He took off after him.

After twenty minutes of running and searching the woods, he stopped to visually search the area as he caught his breath.

“I think we . . . lost . . . him.” She spoke the words between gulps of air.

“He was running for his life.” Jack still hadn’t caught his breath yet.

“You want to keep searching?” she asked.

“Yes. Let me call in search helicopters and K-9s.” Jack had a feeling it was probably already too late. He ground his molars. He had let the guy slip through his fingers.

“Good.” Terra exhaled. “Because right now, it looks like he’s a murderer.”

His stomach clenched at her words. He shot her a look. “Neva Bolz?”

Terra gave him a grim nod. “When you ran after him, I had to check the house to make sure Neva didn’t need assistance, and . . . I found her in the kitchen.”

“I’m sorry.”

“A police cruiser, responding quickly to my initial call for backup, appeared moments later, and then I left to find you. At first I thought I’d lost you, but I heard a lot of movement and followed that. Then I heard your voice.” Lifting her hand, she shaded her eyes.