Chapter 19 #4
She exhaled sharply, then smirked. ‘Don’t worry, boys, I’ve got Hayden wrapped around my little finger. The man’s so riddled with guilt, he wouldn’t suspect a thing if I told him I was grieving over Jack every night. He feels sorry for me. That’s leverage. And I intend to keep using it.’
Trev gave a nervous laugh. ‘We’ve been doing the same to Molly. Scaring her, mostly. Texts. Strange noises at night. Nothing to hurt her, just enough to keep her quiet. Same with that new vet, Brianna. We figured if she spooked easy, she’d back off.’
Logan steadied his recorder, every line hitting harder than the last. He caught Hayden’s eye, then shifted slightly and pulled out his phone.
‘I called it in to my team at Huntingvale station late last night,’ he whispered. ‘They’re staged and ready to move as soon as I give the word.’
Hayden leant in, keeping his voice low. ‘Smart thinking. We’ll have them boxed in from both sides if this goes sideways.’
For several tense minutes, the group of five continued bickering.
There were accusations flying, voices rising, fear thickening in the heat.
Sharon tried to wrangle control, but Len kept snapping, Joe was pale with panic, and Craig’s hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
Trev kept glancing towards the horizon, like he was expecting someone to appear.
Then there was the crack of tyres on gravel and a sudden rush of movement from the ridge.
Uniformed officers emerged from the cane in swift, synchronised formation, some on foot, others flanking from vehicles rolling in fast.
‘Police! Hands where we can see them!’
The clearing erupted into pandemonium.
Sharon stumbled back with her eyes wide.
Len cursed and bolted, only to be tackled mid-stride by two officers.
Joe dropped to his knees, hands up, shaking like a leaf.
Trev sprinted for his ute, but a female constable came in hard and brought him down with a fierce tackle.
Craig fumbled beneath his jacket, hand going to the waistband of his jeans.
A gun. He yanked it free, arm jerking up.
And then he pointed it squarely at the young female constable tackling Trev.
Hayden saw it first.
A flicker of movement. A shimmer of metal.
His pulse detonated.
It was as if the world fractured around him, splintered into a blur of sound and light. The glint of a gun. The female constable, oblivious. Logan now on the ground with Trev and the constable, focused only on subduing the man and protecting his fellow officer, not on the danger fast approaching.
Hayden’s instincts roared to life. His blood surged like fire, breath vanishing from his chest. He had to move.
Now. He sprinted, heart hammering, adrenaline blinding.
His boots tore through dry grass and soil, the distance collapsing beneath his strides.
Craig’s gun tracked his target like a predator, the barrel swinging straight for Logan.
Hayden didn’t think. Didn’t speak. He launched himself forwards, a missile of raw purpose.
This wasn’t just instinct. It was devotion.
Determination. It was everything he hadn’t known he’d been carrying – all that anger, all that loyalty, all that need to protect, to not lose someone else.
Brianna needed her father. He slammed into Logan just as the gun fired.
A bullet screamed past them, tearing into the bark of a tree with a spray of splinters.
They hit the ground hard. The air left Hayden’s lungs in a rush.
Logan grunted beneath him, stunned but already moving, twisting around as his hand went for his firearm.
Craig stood frozen for a half-second, gun still up, locked on Logan, his finger twitching on the trigger.
He looked manic, with sweat dripping from his brow, eyes wild, one foot already shifting for a better stance as he aimed.
Then – boom!
Logan’s shot was clean. Precise.
Craig let out a strangled cry as the bullet punched into his lower leg, just below the knee. The impact sent him sprawling, his scream torn from his throat as he collapsed sideways into the dust, the pistol flying from his grasp.
‘Weapon down! Suspect injured!’ an officer called, rushing in with two more uniformed men.
Logan stood as the chaos broke, his badge gleaming in the sun, voice cutting through the commotion. Calm. Authoritative. ‘This is over,’ he said. ‘Every word you just said, all of you, it’s caught on tape.’
Shaken but with adrenaline rushing in his veins, Hayden stepped in beside Logan, his fists clenched but steady. Sharon, her eyes wide with fury and disbelief, looked from the tape recorder now clutched in Logan’s hand, to the sea of officers swarming her crew.
‘You played me, Pierce,’ she hissed.
Hayden didn’t flinch. ‘No. You played yourself.’
Logan turned slightly and looked at Hayden. ‘You saved my life,’ he said, voice low but firm. ‘I owe you.’
Hayden gave a slight shake of his head. ‘You’d have done the same.’
Logan nodded once, the gratitude in his eyes saying more than words. ‘Still. Thank you.’