Chapter Seventeen
Livvy heard the sound and knew exactly what had happened. Someone had fired a shot at them.
And Sunny had no doubt been hit.
That scream was one of intense pain.
Drawing her gun, Livvy whirled around and saw the blood already spreading over the shoulder of Sunny’s camel-colored coat. Yes, she’d been shot. Maybe not a fatal wound. Not yet anyway. But the shooter obviously wasn’t done.
In a blink, another shot rang out just as Grace hooked her arm around Sunny and dragged her to the ground. She didn’t stop there. Grace pulled her behind some weed-filled shrubs. Not much cover, and it was obvious Sunny was the target since a third shot went in her direction.
Livvy and Ethan got moving, too. They scrambled behind the meager cover of a toppled front-porch railing. No way would it protect them from bullets. Ditto for where Sunny and Grace were. And that meant they had to spot the shooter and stop him or her now before the worst happened.
Before someone got killed.
She thought of her baby. Of the risk and danger that her precious child was in.
Ethan was no doubt doing the same because he positioned himself in front of her.
Protecting them. Livvy was thankful for that, but at the same time, she was terrified for him.
After all, they were only a few feet from Sunny, and the shooter might decide to take them all out.
The cruisers were parked to their right and were too far away for them to reach. Trying to get to them would make them easy to pick off, especially since Sunny probably wouldn’t be able to move fast enough.
More shots came, slamming into the ground right by Sunny and Grace. Sunny screamed again, and Livvy prayed she hadn’t been hit a second time. Prayed, too, that they’d all make it out of this alive, away from this hellish place where two women had already died.
But who was doing this? Who was shooting at them?
Livvy hoped she got the chance to learn the answer to that, and maybe then they could make an arrest and get some justice for Zadie.
She heard Grace murmuring something and realized she was calling for an ambulance and backup.
Good. Sunny would need to get to the hospital, and they could use help stopping the shooter.
The problem with that was the ambulance wouldn’t be able to approach the house as long as there was active gunfire.
And there was plenty of that.
There were two more shots, and Livvy used the sound of it to try to pinpoint their attacker.
The wind and Sunny’s screams weren’t helping with that.
Ditto for her own gusting breath and pounding pulse.
Her teeth were chattering as well from the cold.
But when there was another blast from a gunshot, Livvy whirled in the direction of the cornfield.
She was certain the shooter was in there, but from her angle she couldn’t see who was doing this. Apparently, neither could Ethan because he levered himself up a little. Just as a bullet slammed into the house right next to them. Livvy took hold of his shoulder and hauled him back down.
“See anyone?” Grace asked.
“No,” Livvy and Ethan said in unison.
It was Ethan who added, “But I think the shooter is at my ten o’clock.”
Livvy thought that as well, and what she wanted to do was to send some shots of her own in that direction.
But it would be a huge risk to do that since the shots could end up hitting someone traveling on the road.
There was also the possibility that if they did aim at the shooter, then he or she would just move farther to the left and take up cover behind the bulletproof cruisers.
Sunny finally stopped screaming, the sound of her voice trailing off into a whimpering sob. She had to be terrified, not just of being killed but bleeding out right here where her sister had died. Maybe her injuries weren’t life-threatening, and the ambulance would be able to get to her in time.
Two more shots came, and these hadn’t been aimed at Sunny but at Ethan and her. So, now they were the targets, too.
Of course they were.
The shooter obviously didn’t want to leave any potential witnesses behind. Too bad they hadn’t actually seen anything to help them identify the person who was doing this. That way at least she might know exactly why they were all in danger.
“How’s Sunny doing?” Livvy muttered to Grace when there was a lull in the shooting.
“I think I’ve gotten the blood flow slowed down some,” Grace replied.
Livvy glanced over at them, and while she couldn’t see Sunny because of Grace being in front of her, Grace was no longer wearing her jacket. She’d likely pulled it off to use as a compress on the wound.
“I’m going to have Sunny crawl under the house,” Grace let them know. “Livvy, I want you to do the same. Think of the baby,” she added, knowing that saying that was more effective than giving an outright order.
Livvy peered behind her at the narrow opening beneath the house. Only about a foot high, which meant she’d have to squeeze underneath it. It would definitely get her out of the direct line of fire, but she didn’t want to think of all the critters lurking there.
From the corner of her eye, Livvy saw Grace maneuvering Sunny through that narrow opening. And yes, she saw the blood now, too. Maybe Grace had indeed managed to staunch it some, but Sunny was definitely still at risk of bleeding out. They needed to put an end to this now.
“What if we fire shots into the ground of the cornfield?” Livvy asked. “We could keep our aims low so there’s no risk of hitting anyone who might be driving by on the nearby road.”
Grace volleyed glances at both the cornfield and the direction of the road, and after a few moments of thought, she nodded. “Maybe it’ll hit the SOB, and if not, it might at least send him or her running.”
That was the idea, and while Livvy didn’t relish their attacker escaping, it would be the first step in getting Sunny the help she needed.
“All right, Ethan and you fire,” Grace instructed. She couldn’t do the same without moving out into the open.
Livvy and Ethan took aim to do just that.
But there was movement in the field. Someone was running toward them, shoving the cornstalks aside.
If this was the shooter, then this wasn’t an attempt to escape.
It was more like a last-ditch effort to take them out while knowing he or she would be gunned down.
But Livvy didn’t intend for them to be taken out.
She held off shooting. Ethan did as well. And they kept their weapons aimed at those moving stalks.
Finally, someone burst through them, and Livvy stopped herself from pulling the trigger when she saw the woman.
Vernice.
Not armed. Or at least not holding a gun.
That was because her hands were duct-taped together at the wrists in front of her.
There was also a swath of the tape across her mouth.
Her eyes were wild, terrified. And while the woman appeared to have been attacked, or something, Livvy knew this could all be a ruse.
Vernice stumbled forward, tripping in the shallow ditch that separated the road and the cornfield. She fell hard near the back end of one of the cruisers. The side of her face slammed into the ground, but she immediately tried to get up, craning to look at something or someone behind her.
“Stay low, Vernice,” Ethan shouted to her. “Try to crawl to this side of the cruiser.”
The woman’s head whipped up, and she speared Ethan’s gaze with those wild eyes. If this was indeed some kind of ruse or trap, then Vernice was very convincing at playing her part.
She managed to lever herself up enough to scramble by the cruiser. Not exactly a safe position since if there was a shooter, he or she could move further down the cornstalks and get to her.
But Livvy was guessing that wouldn’t happen.
After all, if the shooter had wanted Vernice dead, she wouldn’t have made it this far.
There was another shot, and it slammed into the house right above Ethan’s head. Livvy caught onto him again and yanked him down. Since Vernice obviously hadn’t fired it, that meant she wasn’t the shooter.
Well, not for this round anyway.
But Livvy still didn’t trust her. After all, that memory of Vernice peering in through the bathroom window was crystal clear now. The woman had witnessed Livvy’s mother being murdered and hadn’t done a thing to stop it.
In the distance, Livvy heard the wail of the sirens. She noticed Grace texting someone. No doubt telling them to hold off on their approach until she could give them the all clear.
Whenever that would be.
Livvy kept her attention pinned to Vernice, and she saw the woman manage to lift up her hands. She caught hold of the edge of the tape on her mouth, and inch by inch, she worked it off.
“Help me,” Vernice blurted the second she could speak. “He’ll kill me. He’ll kill all of us.”
“Who’s he?” Ethan demanded, and he thankfully didn’t bolt out to try to help Vernice.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. A man wearing a ski mask and a heavy coat. He attacked me at my office and drove me here.”
Maybe. But Livvy still wasn’t going to accept whatever the woman was saying as gospel.
“Does he want you dead because you witnessed Chloe murdering my mother?” Livvy couldn’t stop herself from shouting. “You saw everything, and you did nothing to stop her. Nothing!”
A loud sob tore from Vernice’s mouth. “Oh, God. You remember. I knew one day you’d remember.”
Every muscle in Livvy’s body tightened to the point of being painful. The anger roared through her, quickly spinning into a hot rage. Or at least it would have had Ethan not touched her arm. That gentle gesture was enough to remind her to rein in her fury over what Vernice had done.
“She’ll pay for that,” Ethan murmured, his voice a soothing balm to her tangle of emotions.