better to do that in the hospital where they could take care of her and make her comfortable. Not on the side of the road with the stranger who had done this to her.
Before he could say anything, several rocks and a boulder rolled down the hill from the direction where she’d come. Running. Bleeding. Had someone been chasing her?
Did they hurt her?
They could be watching what was happening, even now.
Aiden was helpless to both safeguard her and take them down. He would stay with her and protect her. That was the most important thing right now. Until backup came, there wasn’t much he could do except that.
As soon as back up arrived, he stood. Aiden waved the officer over and saw an ambulance pull in behind them.
It was Frees who’d been sent. As he hustled over, Aiden got up and jogged across the street.
“Stay with her. I need to check out the area.”
Frees was the one who normally jumped at the chance to chase down a suspect rather than take care of a victim. That was just how he was wired. And when the job was done, no one complained. Aiden didn’t wait around to see his colleague’s customary frown. There wasn’t time for that. Not when there could be a third party out here who meant intentional harm.
Aiden raced up the embankment and into the trees on the far side, where she’d come from.
There were ranches and farms in this area, as well as a ton of open land. The terrain was rocky and steep, but he raced up the hill anyway. Whoever saw two cops and an ambulance pull up wasn’t waiting around to try and get that woman again. They were probably long gone. Which meant he had to catch up, or he would never find who had been chasing her.
In the moonlight, on the top of the hill, he spotted a dark figure moving fast. Aiden called it into Frees on his radio, then raced after the guy as quickly as he could.
Branches whipped his face and clothes. Considering what he had done to that woman, Aiden, almost in relief, took the blows as his due punishment and moved as fast as he could despite the sting.
Elbows tucked, he pumped his arms and legs.
He crested the hill and saw a farmhouse below, yellow light in the window. Aiden didn’t look overlong at the light so he’d still be able to make out the route in front of him. Thank You for the moonlight. The path was uneven and fraught with rocks, changes in elevation, and possibly a dangerous suspect.
A dog barked.
The dark figure he chased ran for a car parked by the house. Intercepted by the dog, the figure stumbled. Aiden picked up his pace, faster than he would normally run. He nearly rolled down the hill but managed to catch himself before he tumbled.
There had been far too much injury and danger already this year. Aiden wasn’t prepared to add to the tally. Things were going to be different from now on.
“Stop! Police!”
The man dove for the driver’s door and yanked it open.
“Stop!”
Aiden pulled his weapon and held it. The dog barked. He didn’t want to get bitten, something that’d happened to several officers in the department.
The man twisted before he got in. Aiden saw the glint of a gun a second before the barrel exploded with a flash.
He dove to the side and only barely avoided the shot as he rolled. Aiden came to a stop on his stomach with his arms out ahead of him, elbows braced on the frozen ground. He squeezed off two rounds, but the man had already shut the door. Aiden caught the front quarter panel with his round and realized he might be able to disable the car.
Dog tags jingled.
He moved his finger off the trigger as the dog trotted. He didn’t want to shoot the animal. The car engine revved and it sped away, spraying gravel as the driver turned in an arc and headed down the driveway road.
The rapid sniff of a dog muzzle neared him.
Aiden held himself still. “Hi, dog.”
The animal slowed.
Aiden lifted his hand and let the dog smell it. Then he got up, slowly. He didn’t want to startle the dog and kick off something else he’d have to deal with. But the dog trotted off on his own.
Aiden moved over to see what the dog had raced back to. A dark lump lay on the ground.
He grasped his radio. “Dispatch, come