Chapter 3
“Wait. Let’s get out of here first.” Micah grabbed her arm and tugged her toward the back door.
“We can’t just leave her.” She tried to dig in her heels to stay put. Her flat work shoes slid across the floor as he pulled her forward. “We have to stay . . .”
“Nothing will change the fact that she’s dead.” His grim expression held regret. “Please, Bryn.”
Numb, she gave up, allowing him to pull her toward the back door. The backyard was quiet, but she felt certain the police would be alerted to the gunfire soon, if they hadn’t been already. This was a nice neighborhood where gunfire was most likely an anomaly.
“What if we run into the shooter?” She kept her voice as quiet as possible.
“Stay behind me.” She belatedly realized Micah held a gun in his hand. “And keep your eyes open for anything suspicious.”
She stumbled, reaching out to grab onto his jacket.
He didn’t slow his pace, continuing to move through Lori’s backyard to the property next door.
At first, she was confused, they’d parked directly behind the house that bumped up against Lori’s property.
Then she realized he didn’t want to take the most direct path to the location where they’d left the car.
The shot had come through the front door, but what if the gunman had made his way back around the block to wait for them?
Scanning their surroundings, she strained to see through the darkness. Her mouth was dry with fear as she expected the gunman to pop out from behind a house or tree at any moment.
Micah slowed to a stop near the far corner of Lori’s neighbor’s house. She huddled beside him, trying to hear beyond the thundering beat of her own heart. For long seconds, Micah didn’t move.
Then the faint wail of police sirens drifted through the air. She was glad someone had called the authorities and hoped the sirens would chase off the gunman.
Micah must have had that same thought too. He waited a beat, then straightened. “Ready? Let’s go.”
He darted away from the house toward the street where their car sat waiting. She glanced over her shoulder to see if the owners of the home next to Lori’s were watching.
The edge of a curtain moved. She winced and ducked her head to hide her face, realizing her red quilted jacket was easily recognizable. It couldn’t be helped, but she still wished she’d worn something more subdued and less noticeable.
“Wait.” She stopped near the car. “Maybe we should stay and talk to the police. Let them know what happened.”
“No. I want you to be safe.” Micah wrenched open the passenger-side door for her. “Get in, okay?”
She hesitated but then did as he asked. The detective who’d grilled her for hours had given her his business card. Once they were far enough away from the gunman, she could call him.
Obviously, Detective Holbrook wouldn’t be happy to learn she’d left the scene of Lori’s murder. Their leaving would only make her look guilty, even though she was the victim here as much as Lori was. She swallowed against the lump of fear that had risen in the back of her throat.
Micah slid in behind the wheel and pulled away from the curb. She glanced back at the house but didn’t see anyone peering out at them. She rubbed her temples, wondering if the owner of the property had already gotten their license plate number.
If so, the police could pull them over at any time.
Why was this happening? Who had shot and killed Lori? It had to be the same man who’d fired at her, but why?
“We need to talk to the police.” She turned in her seat to look at Micah. “I feel terrible that we left Lori lying on the floor.”
“I understand your concern.” Micah’s gaze darted between the road before them and the rearview mirror. “My primary goal is to keep you safe. It won’t take long for the gunman to realize he killed the wrong woman.”
“The wrong woman?” The blood drained from her face as his comment sank deep. She pressed her palm to the center of her chest. “You mean he thought Lori was me?”
“That’s the only thing that makes sense.” Micah glanced at her and shrugged. “You both have red hair.”
“Dear Lord Jesus,” she whispered. “That’s terrible. It’s my fault Lori’s dead!”
“Don’t, Bryn. The gunman killed her, not you.” He glanced at her, his blue eyes softening. “I know how you feel, but he’s the one who pulled the trigger.”
“We shouldn’t have gone there to talk to her.” She pushed the words past the lump in her throat. “We should have left the investigating to the police.”
“Maybe, but there’s no way we could have anticipated this outcome.” Micah took her hand in his. “Nobody knew we were going there. It was a last-minute decision for both of us to make the trip. That tells me the gunman was keeping an eye on the place.”
“Why didn’t he shoot me when he had the chance?” She gripped Micah’s hand tightly, needing his support. “He would have had a clear shot when we stood at the front door.”
“I’m not sure, but keep in mind we came at the property from the street behind hers. Maybe he was caught off guard when we showed up. And I stood behind you the entire time. It could be that he wasn’t ready to take the shot until Lori had invited us inside.”
“I don’t believe this.” She stared blindly out the passenger-side window as Micah drove through the back streets of the subdivision. It occurred to her that he was avoiding the main street they’d taken to get there. No doubt an attempt to avoid the police response.
It was as if she were a fugitive from the law. Only she hadn’t done anything wrong. She hadn’t hurt anyone or stolen any money. She was innocent. She’d never broken the law in her entire life!
Yet, somehow, that didn’t seem to matter. All signs pointed at her being involved with Damien’s embezzling scheme.
To the point that he may have hired the gunman to take her out of the equation just so he could claim she was the guilty one.
Micah’s hand tightened around hers. “Don’t stress. We’ll figure this out.”
“I’m not sure about that.” She drew in a long shaky breath. “What if the gunman planted evidence in my house?”
He grimaced and shrugged. “He may have. But don’t worry about that now. I’m going to help figure out who is behind these attacks.”
It took a moment for her to remember how he’d told Lori he worked as a private investigator. “Are you really a PI?”
“I am, yes.” He flashed a lopsided smile. They were far enough away from the crime scene that he appeared more relaxed now. “But mostly I work for Grayson’s Guardians.”
She frowned. “I’ve never heard of them.”
“Rex Grayson is our boss. He was the captain of our team when we were in the army.” His expression turned grim. “He was there when we lost Tommy. And the other members of our team.”
“I see.” Tommy had mentioned his captain, but she hadn’t paid attention to the man’s name.
“Rex will support us through this,” Micah continued. “The company does fairly well.”
Her brow furrowed. “You mean people normally pay you and your boss to provide security?”
“In a nutshell, yeah. But you don’t have to worry about paying anything. This one is on us. For Tommy.”
She wanted to protest at the idea of Micah working for free, but her financial situation was tenuous at best, so it wasn’t like she had a choice but to accept Micah’s help.
“Thank you.” Her voice was a hoarse whisper.
“Hey, it’s not a problem. This is the least we can do.” He squeezed her hand reassuringly. “Tommy was like a brother to me. To all of us.”
She bowed her head, struggling with her emotions. If Tommy were still alive, she probably wouldn’t even be sitting there. Their parents had died from cancer within a year of each other. Tommy was her only family, and after he’d been killed, she’d been desperate to start over someplace new.
Madison Wisconsin had seemed like the ideal place. When she’d been offered the position as Damien’s assistant, she’d jumped at it. She’d used the life insurance money from Tommy’s death to buy the house.
Now she felt certain she’d have to put her home on the market sooner than later. Before she got too far behind on the monthly mortgage payments.
Tears pricked her eyes. It seemed so unfair to be forced to sell her home when she’d done nothing wrong.
Well, nothing other than being foolish enough to date her boss. Although she couldn’t be sure that would have mattered. If Damien wanted to frame her, he could have done that whether they had dated or not.
She should have been smart enough to call the police right away. Or she should have gone to Richard to let him know Damien was missing.
Now she was the one left looking guilty.
Should she call Gwen? They’d grown close over the past several years of working together.
Yet remembering Gwen’s suspicious gaze made her think Gwen believed Richard’s version of the story.
Wave after wave of despair washed over her.
Even though she knew it was fruitless, she couldn’t stop from thinking about all the things she should have done differently.
With an effort, she pushed those useless thoughts aside and tried to find solace in her faith. Prayer had always helped her before, so she needed to lean on God’s grace and support now.
Why God had put her on this path, she wasn’t sure, but all she could do was trust in Him.
And in Micah’s ability to keep her safe while uncovering the truth about where Damien was and what had happened to the missing money.
Micah wanted to call Rex to update his boss on the recent shooting. He drove through Lori’s neighborhood until he was close to the medical center.
From there, blending in with the other cars on the road was easier. Still, he kept a wary eye out for any indication they were being followed.
He waited until they were on the outskirts of town before releasing Bryn’s hand so that he could make the call using his SUV’s Bluetooth connection. Thankfully, Rex answered immediately, his voice alert. “Mick? What’s going on?”