Turner’s heart stopped the instant he heard the gunshot. He didn’t stop to think, he just ran toward where the sound originated from.
Someone tackled him from the side, and he went down. Beneath Elliot.
“Don’t move, Barratt. We don’t need you barreling in there, getting your ass shot, too,” Elliot hissed. “Let Jake and I handle this.”
Turner fought his way out from under the other man. “I have to find her!”
“No kidding. But if you get yourself killed, you won’t be much good for her.”
He knew Elliot was right, but logic and heart weren’t always in agreement. He wanted to yell her name, but didn’t.
“We have a man down!” Jake called quietly from the den off to the left of the main entryway. “It’s Buchanan, and it doesn’t look good. At least two GSWs.”
Turner rushed to the other room. He bit back the nausea when he saw the blood pooling beneath Carl. Jake already had his phone out, calling it in.
“Annie has to be around here somewhere.”
“And so does the shooter,” Elliot said. “You’ll do what I say. That means staying behind me. Better yet, stay with Carl.”
He looked at his old friend. He couldn’t deny that he was torn.
“I have to find her, El. I have to.”
Annie ran up the stairs and back through the house. “Turner!”
She kept running, until she saw the three men in the middle of the living room. Annie didn’t stop to think. She just leapt.
Turner’s arms were there to catch her. She sobbed his name.
He pulled back. “Are you hurt?”
“I’ll live. I have to help Carl!”
Elliot grabbed her arm and turned her. “Who did this to you? Is the house empty?”
“Basement. He’s…dead. I think. He fell. I didn’t go down to check. I just ran.” Annie hugged him one more time, then fell to her knees next to Carl. Jake had already begun first aid. Annie looked at Turner. “Get me some towels from the kitchen or something. We need to stop the blood and get him to the hospital.”
The men did as she instructed while Elliot took off toward the basement, his gun drawn.
Annie could have told him not to bother.
Dennis Lee Arnold wasn’t going anywhere.