Settling an Old Score - Delores Fossen Page 0,8

Also in the distance. But it had no sooner rung out when Eli finally saw something. Not Kellan or Gunnar. This was a man wearing camo who was doing a low military-style crawl on the ground by a line of trees on the side of the house. He was close.

Too close.

Eli shifted and took aim out what had once been a window. It was now just a gaping hole from the other rounds of gunfire. And he waited for a clean shot, maybe to the guy’s shoulder. Something to slow him down enough so that Eli could get out there and disarm him.

His phone beeped with a text message, and since Eli didn’t want to take his attention off the crawler, he slid his phone across the floor to Ashlyn.

“It’s from Kellan,” she relayed a moment later. Her breath gusted even more. “He had to kill the shooter.”

Eli groaned, but he’d known that could be the likely outcome. That’s why it was even more important to keep thug number two alive.

“Kellan and Gunnar are on the way back here,” Ashlyn added.

“Text him back and tell him that I’ve got the gunman in my sight, and he’s on the west side of the house in the cluster of pecan trees.”

He immediately heard her do that, and Eli knew it would send Kellan and Gunnar that direction. Maybe if the thug knew he had three lawmen bearing down on him, he’d surrender.

Or not.

No sooner had that thought popped into Eli’s head, the gunman moved out of the crawling position to crouch behind one of the trees. No doubt getting into position to continue the attack. Continuing it didn’t take long, either. It was only a couple of seconds before the guy leaned out and took aim at the house.

Eli couldn’t risk another bullet being fired this close to the house, because it could go through the walls and hit the baby. That’s why Eli fired first. His shot slammed into the guy’s shoulder, just as he’d planned, but the gunman didn’t go down. Instead, he lifted his gun again, ready to take the shot that Eli couldn’t let him take. Eli tapped his trigger again, sending another bullet into the man’s chest.

That put him on the ground.

Cursing, Eli took out Ashlyn’s gun, and as he’d done with the phone, he slid it across the floor to her. “Stay put,” he warned her, and hoped that she would listen. She probably would only because she wouldn’t want to risk taking the baby outside.

“Be careful,” she said, but that didn’t sound like her first choice of things to tell him. Right now, she likely just wanted him to stay alive so there’d be someone to help her protect the baby.

When she peered out from the sofa to get the gun, he saw the uncertainty in her eyes. Probably because she knew that his going out there was a risk. One he had to take so that he could get to the shooter before the guy bled out. A dead man wouldn’t be able to give him any answers.

“Kellan’s almost certainly already done it, but go ahead and call for an ambulance,” Eli instructed.

Eli heard her do that, too, while he did a quick mental check of the security of the house. The place was all locked up except for the front window with the shattered glass. It wasn’t a big enough hole for someone to climb through, but he’d need to keep watch just in case there was a third thug, lying in wait.

That definitely didn’t help loosen the knot in his stomach.

Eli unlocked the front door, glanced around. And he listened. There was nothing other than the groans of pain coming from the injured gunman. Those moans let Eli know that the guy was still alive. Probably still armed, too, and that’s why Eli couldn’t just go charging toward him.

He gave the living room one last glance to make sure Ashlyn was still behind cover. She was and was no longer peering out from the sofa. And with that safeguard ticked off his mental to-do list, he walked out on the porch. His foot brushed against the side of the baby carrier, a reminder that it needed to be processed for trace and fiber evidence, and he took the steps one at a time while still keeping watch.

The gunman groaned again, and as Eli got closer, he saw the guy was lying on his back and clutching his chest. And yeah, he still