Chapter 71
The sheriff’s car already had snow tires on it, so Sean picked up speed quickly when he drove away. He checked the vehicle’s systems for a GPS tracker for the other vehicles on the console computer, but the systems were slightly different from the ones he was used to.
Sean wasn’t as familiar with the area as he was with his own county, but he did know where Johnson’s sheriff’s station was located.
Sean considered calling the deputy over the radio, pretending to be one of them, but wasn’t sure if the deputy escorting Jennie and the others would recognize his voice or not.
It was often hard to tell who was talking over the radio, but Sean didn’t want to take the chance.
If anything, he’d wait until he was closer to the vehicle or the station before he made a move.
Ideally, Sean wanted to intercept the deputy before they reached the station, but he saw no sign of the vehicle on the road.
Sean pushed the car as hard as he could despite the snowy conditions.
He also kept an eye on the fading light, mindful of the kidnapper’s sundown deadline. But for now, his priority was Jennie.
Sean was less than a mile from the sheriff’s station when he finally saw the vehicle up ahead. It was a prisoner van.
Sean pulled up behind the vehicle, making sure he wasn’t visible from any of the van’s mirrors. So far, the driver didn’t seem to notice that it wasn’t Sheriff Johnson behind the wheel and pulled into the station without incident.
Only a couple of personal vehicles sat in the parking lot, but for the most part, it looked barren. But then Sean noticed a few pedestrians walking up, and he figured they were residents looking for information about when the roads would be plowed and things would reopen.
Sean followed the van into the parking lot, but instead of pulling into a space, he blocked it in from behind. This might have alerted the deputies riding inside, but Sean never gave them a chance to respond.
Sean quickly stepped out of the vehicle, gun up and armed, as he approached the driver’s side. “Hands out of the window!” Sean barked. “Let me see your hands!” But as Sean neared the window, keeping a wide berth, he saw the passenger-side door open and the deputies gone.
By the time Sean made the connection, the pair of deputies had already moved into position: one at the front, and one at the back.
Sean noticed just in time and ducked behind the vehicle’s front driver’s-side wheel for cover.
Sean slipped in the snow, his boots losing traction on the frozen pavement.
But when he was on the ground, he saw the shoes of the deputy at the van’s hood moving quickly up the side of the van underneath the carriage.
Sean couldn’t get to his feet in time, so he remained on the ground, gun up and aimed, and when the deputy stepped around the van, he pulled the trigger, dumping three rounds into the deputy’s chest.
The deputy flung backward, stunned by the gunshots, and it gave Sean time to get to his feet. He spun around as the second deputy turned from the back of the van.
The second deputy fired first, but he missed. Sean didn’t.
Two bullets struck the second deputy in the chest and gut, and he dropped to the snowy pavement.
He turned to the deputy closest to him, who was at the front of the van, and kicked the gun out of reach, then did the same to the second deputy’s weapon as the pair writhed on the ground, gasping for air and groaning in pain.
Like Sheriff Johnson, the deputies had been saved by Kevlar.
Sean flipped the deputies onto their backs, unsure if any of the bullets had gone through, but considering they had taken Jennie here under the pretense of threatening to hurt her, he didn’t care.
Once the deputies were cuffed and Sean confirmed they were still breathing, albeit raggedly, he moved toward the back of the van, but before he put his hands on the handle, there was another gunshot.
Sean ducked behind the sheriff’s vehicle, keeping behind the van between himself and this new shooter. Sean poked his head around the back and saw that one of the pedestrians, an older man, probably in his sixties, had a handgun out and was aiming it in Sean’s direction.
“Put the gun down!” Sean ordered. “I’m with the sheriff’s department!”
“You were just shooting at the sheriff’s department!” the older man said.
Sean understood how this looked, and given the circumstances, he probably would have done the same thing.
But Sean still had his badge on him, and he held it up for the older man to see.
“This is mine! I’m Sheriff Callahan from Deerfield County!
It’s got my picture on it.” He flung it over the car, and it landed near the older man’s feet. “Take a look!”
Sean waited, watching as the older man carefully picked up the identification. He studied it for a minute but didn’t lower his weapon.
“You mind telling me why you just shot those deputies, Sheriff Callahan?” the older man asked.
“It’s a long story,” Sean said. “But the short version is that Sheriff Johnson has been running drugs through The Bonnie Hotel. I caught him, and he tried to frame me for it.”
“Sounds like something a guilty man on the run might say after just shooting a deputy,” the old man replied.
“It does,” Sean said, and then he took a gamble and slowly stood, holding up his weapon. “But a guilty man would have shot you dead by now. And believe me when I tell you that I’m a good shot.”
The older man considered this and then lowered his weapon, too.
Sean then gestured to the van. “There are some people inside who were wrongly detained. I’m going to let them out. Don’t shoot.”
“All right, Sheriff,” he said and then walked over, but he still kept his distance.
Sean unlocked the back door and opened it, finding the guests inside with their heads down, all save for one.
Jennie had her head up, staring at him with relief.
“Thank God,” Sean muttered under his breath.
Jennie was the first to stand and rushed toward him, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing him tight.
The other guests, all in the throes of bewilderment and confusion, slowly stepped out of the van and joined them in the parking lot.
“Is everyone all right?” Sean asked.
The group nodded, still trying to connect the dots.
Sean gave them a summary, hoping it was enough to calm them down, but they were still a bit shocked by the gunfire.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Jennie said, placing her hand on Sean’s chest.
“Is anyone else hurt?” Sean asked.
Everyone slowly checked themselves, patting absentmindedly as they shook their heads, but then Julie looked at Tim and pointed at his shirt.
“Oh my God, you’re bleeding!” she said.
The best man frowned, and then he saw the blood stain on his shirt over his left breast. “Oh, that—it’s nothing.” He quickly tried to cover it up, but there was something in the shape of the stain that caught Sean’s attention.
Without a word, Sean put Jennie behind him and then quickly approached the best man, opening his shirt and exposing the scratch marks on his chest. Sean stared at the marks, looking just like the fingernails of the dead bride, and then looked into Tim’s eyes.
The moment he did, the best man tried to punch Sean in the face, but Sean was too fast.
Sean easily tripped Tim up by his ankles and slammed him onto the pavement. The concrete stunned him, and Sean quickly restrained him. Once he was secure, Sean stood up, and the moment he looked to Julie, she immediately understood.
“It was him?” Julie asked, and then she cleared her throat. “You son of a bitch!” She charged over and kicked him in the ribs.
Sean let her have the first two for free before he pulled her back.
“You monster! You murdered her!”
Julie’s anger eventually collapsed into a puddle of tears and grief, and then everyone remained in the parking lot of the sheriff’s station, catching their breath as Sean tried to figure out what to do next.