Chapter Twenty-Eight
A female scream wailed over the storm. The panic and desperation in it pulled at Sharp’s soul.
Olivia lunged for the landing, but he caught her arm and held her back.
He was the only one armed. He knew it was pointless to ask her to stay behind, but she was sensible enough that she’d allow him to go first.
He led with his handgun, stepping softly but swiftly onto the landing.
He took in the scene in a quick visual sweep.
Empty living room and kitchen combo. Glass doors opened onto a deck.
A large man stood in the doorway, his back to Sharp.
He could see no weapon, but that didn’t mean the man, presumably Tim Brown, didn’t have one.
Where’s Zoe?
He couldn’t just shoot a man in the back. He took three steps toward the large shadow, then raised his handgun and shouted, “Freeze!” Out of more than two decades of habit, he almost said police but choked that off at the last second.
The man whirled to face him. He was a big, big dude. Sharp recognized his face from the articles on the Brown case. Tim Brown. Wait. Was that a knife?
“Who the fuck are you?” Tim called.
“A guy with a gun,” Lincoln answered. “Where is she?”
“Help!” Zoe’s shout sounded from outside the door. Tim’s bulk blocked Sharp’s view of her.
“Drop the knife and step away from the door.” Sharp squinted. He needed light. He needed a better view of Zoe. He couldn’t shoot Tim for fear of hitting her.
Sharp moved left to see Zoe on the wrong side of the deck railing, barely holding on while the storm lashed at her.
The deck lights turned on. In Sharp’s peripheral vision, he could see Olivia at the wall, her hand poised over a switch. As if she could read his mind.
“Fuck you.” Tim took a step in the other direction, toward Zoe.
He raised the knife and slashed it at her.
With no room to move, Zoe barely evaded the strike.
Sharp couldn’t let Tim try again. Now that he could see both of them, Sharp pulled the trigger.
Tim flinched. Was he hit? Or just reacting to the noise?
Sharp hoped the bullet went right through Tim’s rotten heart.
But he didn’t drop. If he was hit, the shot must have struck him in a less vital area.
“Come on, Tim,” Sharp shouted over the wind. “You don’t have to die tonight.”
Tim glanced back. “My life is ruined. I don’t care if I die. As long as I take this bitch with me.”
Before Sharp could react, Tim rushed forward and hopped over the railing. As he jumped off the deck, he grabbed Zoe by the arm and pulled her with him. Branches crashed, and bodies tumbled.
No!
Sharp rushed onto the deck. Grabbing the railing with both hands, he stared down the slope. But all he saw was rain and forest. Zoe and Tim had disappeared into the darkness.