Chapter 5
FIVE
Cole stood guard with Titan by his side while Kianna assessed the woman. He admired her willingness to serve others. Especially when it inconvenienced her. She must be freezing now that she’d used the scarf to secure the woman’s wound. The wind picked up, and tree branches swayed.
Kianna pulled off her gloves and slid them onto the unconscious woman’s hands. “Ma’am, help is on the way. We’re going to get you warmed up and out of the cold soon.” Kianna spoke as if the woman would be able to understand everything happening, then she checked for a pulse once more.
“How far out is the ambo?” She gazed up at him.
Cole checked the time. “Five minutes.” He studied the woman’s pale face, her lips tinged blue. Even with her eyes closed, the woman seemed familiar. How would he know her?
Thomas finished talking to someone on his radio and stepped back over to join Cole and Kianna.
“Do you recognize this woman?” Cole asked. Familiarity niggled at the back of his brain. Like he should know who she was.
Thomas frowned, then took his phone out.
“Does this look like her?” He held up an image of a woman in a black button-down polo and khakis, with a set of keys and handcuffs secured to a belt loop.
Her lips were pressed in a fine line, and her arms were crossed in front of her, her brown hair secured in a ponytail.
“That’s her!” Cole pointed at the picture.
Kianna stood up. “Who?”
Thomas handed her the phone. “This is the female guard who was traveling with the convicts when they escaped.”
Kianna’s eyes widened.
Cole lifted his radio button to his mouth. “Victim is suspected to be Rainy Athers.” Once they got her to the hospital, Cole would be ready to question her. If she regained consciousness. No, she had to wake up. She was their shot at getting answers about Mackey.
“It’s believed she was in on the plan to help the convicts escape, right?” Kianna slipped her hands into her pockets.
Thomas nodded. “I want to know why she was left out here to die if that’s the case.”
Cole agreed. Had she turned on Mackey? Decided she didn’t want to be a part of his schemes any longer? Or was there something else going on?
Titan leaned back on his haunches and let out a low growl.
Cole scanned the perimeter, not sure what had the dog on alert.
Seconds later, tires crunched against the ground and lights flashed.
Kianna waved the ambulance over, and Nathan, who was behind the wheel, steered the truck off the gravel path and parked next to the bushes. He and Trace hopped out, and Kianna grabbed the medic bag from Trace while Nathan went around back to pull out the gurney.
Titan stayed in his position and snarled. “Help’s here, Tite. You know these guys. They’re the good ones.” Cole’s assurance did nothing to alleviate his partner’s sense of danger.
Cole lowered his hand to his weapon and wrapped his fingers around the base. If he’d learned anything over the years with Titan, it was that he could trust the K-9’s instincts.
What was it that—
Cole’s thoughts were shattered by a spray of bullets that pelted the air.
Titan barked and jumped to all fours.
Nathan and Trace dropped behind the gurney, then ducked around the corner of the ambulance.
“Get down,” Cole shouted. He drew his Glock and pointed it in the direction of the attacker.
Thomas had his gun drawn and took cover behind a tree, then returned fire.
Kianna let out a scream.
“We’ve got an active shooter. Backup needed west of Mountainview Ridge Overlook, stat.” Cole relayed the information to his team on the other end. He wanted to go after the attacker, but what about Kianna?
More bullets kicked up snow on the ground around them, and bark flew off the tree trunk next to Kianna.
“I see where they’re shooting from,” Thomas shouted. “I’m going in.” He took off, staying low to the ground and returning fire.
“Titan, attack.” Cole ordered his partner, and the German shepherd raced off and dashed past Thomas.
Kianna had her arms locked under Rainy’s shoulders and was pulling her behind the shrubs, toward the ambulance.
“What are you doing? You’re going to get yourself hit.” Cole hurried over to her but kept his Glock at his side.
“And leave her to take the brunt of the attack? When she can’t defend herself? Not a chance.” Lines etched Kianna’s forehead, and she winced. She lifted her arm and brushed away the hair from her face. Blood dripped from her wrist. The back of her hand was bright red.
Cole clenched his jaw. Whoever had opened fire had hit a target. Cole needed to go cover for Thomas. Make sure the shooter didn’t get away. But first, “On three.” He shoved his weapon in his holster, then took hold of the woman’s legs and hoisted her in the air.
“I’ve got the gurney,” Nathan shouted. He pushed the makeshift cot toward them while Trace covered his back, and Cole and Kianna laid the woman on it. Nathan wrapped a blanket over the lower half of her body.
“You have it from here?” Cole retrieved his weapon from its holder and glanced over his shoulder to where Thomas and Titan had disappeared.
“Go find that person.” Kianna followed Trace, who pushed the gurney, while Nathan guided it, then lifted it into the back of the ambo.
Cole didn’t wait another second. He bolted toward the tree line, keeping his gun aimed and ready. No more shots had been fired.
“I’m coming your way, Thomas,” he radioed. “What’s your status?”
“Over by the edge of the trail,” he replied.
Cole could make him and Titan out in the distance. But where was the attacker?
He approached the end of the trail that connected with the main road. A few pine trees dotted the area, and tire marks impressed the snow-covered street.
A frown filled Thomas’s face. “He got away,” the officer said.
Cole wanted to shout. Instead, he ground his teeth and blew out a breath. “A getaway car?” He pointed.
Thomas shook his head. “A nice Mercedes too. I already put a BOLO out on it. Hit a tire, so they won’t be able to get far.”
At least there was some good news.
“So that means someone else must be in on this heist. How else would Mackey keep eluding us?” Cole wished he could be in multiple places at once, but he could trust the other officers to follow the leads.
Two more cop cars pulled up, and Detective Savannah Wilcox stepped out. “Mackey’s using this storm to his advantage.” She let out a whistle.
The tables would turn soon. Once he was done here, he’d head over to the hospital to check on the status of Rainy. They needed leverage. Intel from the inside. Cole was ready to switch who was calling the shots.
“There’s several bullet casings over here.” Thomas showed Wilcox and the others to where the shooter had been staked out.
Wilcox pulled out evidence bags and took pictures before collecting the fragments. “I’ll expedite the lab request for these. Find out what gun it came from and where.”
“If we’re assuming this was Mackey, I bet he got it from the female corrections officer, Rainy Athers. I didn’t see any weapon on her person.” Cole knelt to the ground and took note of the hollow point of the bullet. If he had to guess, the caliber was a .38 auto.
Wilcox jotted down some notes, and once they were finished securing the scene, Cole and Titan got a ride back to his car from the detective.
“It’s been quite the day so far, huh, Tite?” Cole opened the back door of his K-9 vehicle for the German shepherd to climb in. Then he scooped a helping of dog food into a bowl and set it next to the dog’s kennel.
His own stomach growled and reminded him it was well past lunchtime.
Thankfully, the sky had cleared, and the roads appeared drivable now that the trucks had plowed and set down salt.
Cole would take the reprieve from the weather, no matter how short, given the time it provided for everyone to keep hunting for Mackey.
He pulled into a drive-thru and ordered two subs. One with ham and provolone, the other with turkey and avocado. The smell wafted through the interior of the car, but Cole refrained from opening the paper wrapper and chowing down.
He had a few things to take care of first.
Cole pulled into the police spot in the hospital parking garage and grabbed the bag of food. “I’ll be back, Tite.” He scratched behind the dog’s ears, then checked that the car’s heat system, adapted to keep the K-9 comfortable, was running.
There were no rules against bringing his K-9 partner into the hospital, but if Rainy was awake, Cole didn’t want Titan’s presence to intimidate her out of sharing any information. And Titan had been working hard out in the cold, so he deserved much-needed rest.
He headed to the ER check-in desk. The automatic doors whooshed open, and a blast of warmth enveloped him.
A welcome reprieve from the icebox outside.
A few patients sat in chairs, waiting to be seen.
Some rested their heads against the wall.
Others leaned over, their eyes glazed, while staring at the TV screen showing a rerun of some cooking show.
“A woman was brought in by Kianna Russell, Trace Bently, and Nathan Welch in the ambulance. Her name’s Rainy Athers.” Cole flashed his badge to the receptionist, whose nameplate read Cheryl.
The woman typed something into her computer. “She’s currently in surgery.”
Great. Hopefully she would be awake afterward, and he could talk with her. Lord, we need answers. Please help her wake up and recover. Right now, Mackey is winning, and we need Your guidance to stop him in his tracks.
In the meantime, it would give Cole the opportunity to check on Kianna. Make sure she was okay. “And Kianna Russell?” Cole tapped his foot against the tile.
“She’s being triaged. Room seven.” The woman waved him through the doors.
He walked past the nurses’ station and a man who sat on a cot in the hall, being assessed by a doctor.
“The bandage should hold up, and your arm should heal in a few weeks.”
Cole rapped on the wall.
“Come in,” a woman’s voice answered.
He pushed back the curtain. Kianna sat on the edge of the bed, and a nurse placed a piece of tape across the gauze on Kianna’s hand, then turned to discard her blue gloves in the trash.
“Hey.” Cole stepped into view.
Kianna’s eyes widened, then her lips curved up. “You’re here?” Her brow furrowed for a split second, and she tilted her head.
“You were hurt. I had to make sure you were okay.” Suddenly the heat in the room seemed to intensify, and the back of his neck grew warm.
“I’ll be right back in with your discharge papers.” The nurse waved.
“Thanks, Charlotte.” Kianna nodded, then the woman disappeared.
“How’re you feeling?” Cole didn’t dare move, unsure how she felt about him showing up.
“Just a couple of stitches. Should be all better soon.” She swallowed. “Thanks for coming. You didn’t have to do that.”
Cole lifted his hand to dismiss her comment and realized he was still holding the bag of food. “I figured you might be hungry, so I got some sandwiches.”
A slow grin spread across Kianna’s face. “Now that you mention it, I’m starving.” She laughed. “I’ll never turn down food.”
“Exactly.” Cole set the bag on the counter. “I needed some fuel before stopping to talk with Rainy. She’s still in surgery.” Except his heart was telling him a different story than his lips had uttered.
A flash of something crossed Kianna’s face, but it disappeared just as quickly.
Now that he’d seen for himself that Kianna was okay, he could relax.
Of course he’d come for the investigation.
But what he didn’t want to admit to was the swirling emotions that were brewing in Kianna’s presence. Ones that melted the icicles around his heart.