He couldn’t think of a thing to say. So he opened the door for her, wondering if there was a way he could be put on the protection detail. If they spent time together, he could figure her out. Perhaps show her a card trick or two. When was the last time he’d even done a card trick?

Sound echoed and he halted and focused a second too late. A body rushed straight into him and gunfire popped several times. Confusion blew through his head, fuzzing his vision. That was gunfire. Somebody had shot a gun.

Pain exploded in his abdomen and he fell back, not understanding what had just happened. A woman screamed from far away and then something hard imploded on his cheekbone as he hit the cold tile in the entryway. A figure jumped over him and he caught sight of somebody wearing black socks and boots. Panic rippled through him and he tried to grab the ankle, but his arm wouldn’t work.

The woman screamed again and the smell of copper filled his nostrils. His body seized and his nervous system misfired.

Heat and then freezing cold burst through his gut.

Then he felt nothing.

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

Laurel didn’t enjoy driving but was feeling warmly amused by Huck’s displeasure at being in the passenger seat. The man did have control issues, but he seemed to have them under control. She barely kept back a laugh at her own joke.

Most people didn’t think she was funny, and they were probably correct.

His phone buzzed. He pulled it free of his pocket and glanced at the screen before hitting the speaker button. “Hey, Monty. You’re on speaker with Laurel and me. You okay?”

“There are reports of shots fired at the Forest Ridge subdivision and units are headed that way right now,” Monty said, his voice high and thready.

“Any idea of which house?” Huck asked, motioning for Laurel to turn the vehicle around.

Without questioning him, she took the next exit, pressing the gas pedal. Shots fired?

“No,” Monty said. “Just a couple of 911 calls and nothing else.”

Huck set the phone on his leg. “Shots fired in Forest Ridge. Call Walter.”

Laurel swiftly hit a button on the dash and the phone dialed loudly.

There was no answer.

“We’re about twenty minutes away from Forest Ridge if we break all speeding laws,” Huck said, glancing at the sign as Laurel drove back down the other lane of the interstate.

She clutched the wheel and drove faster, her mind spinning. “We need a location for those shots.”

Huck nodded.

Raised voices sounded in Monty’s background. He coughed. “Uniforms are five minutes away from the scene.”

“Send everybody,” Huck said. “I’m not waiting to find out. I want our team out there and now.”