Elly instantly ducked her head, wave after wave of panic washing over her at the sound of gunfire. Instantly, she was back at the side of the road watching the ice skaters as they collapsed in a crumpled heap on the flatbed trailer. Then the little boy, lying in the street crying and bleeding.
No! No! No!
“Stay down!” Joe started the SUV, shifted into gear, and hit the gas. The vehicle shot out of the driveway.
She struggled to pull herself out of the flashback and into the present. They weren’t at the parade anymore. They were at her home. “Wait!” She tried to lift her head, but he ruthlessly held it down. “What about Rhy, Devon, and Colleen?”
“I’m sure Rhy heard the gunfire.” Joe’s voice was tense with anger. “That slug barely missed you. Came through the windshield.”
It had? She didn’t feel any cold air, but that could be because her heart was thudding so fast it was as if she were running a marathon. Not that she’d ever done such a thing. Her mind whirled, images of the man she’d sketched sitting somewhere outside her family home, just waiting for her to show up.
“If you hadn’t leaned over at that moment . . .” He didn’t continue. Her cheeks burned as she realized her attempt to kiss him had saved her life.
Now they were even. Yet the grim realization didn’t make her feel any better.
Seconds ticked by as Joe navigated through the neighborhood. Sitting hunched over the center console, with her face practically in his lap, was making her feel dizzy. She needed to be able to see where they were going. Especially as she kept lurching from side to side with his unexpected movements.
Finally, she pushed at his arm. “I feel sick.”
Instantly, he let her go. She sat up but hunched down in the seat. She drew in a ragged breath, staring at the bullet hole in the windshield that was at the same level as her face. Her face! She couldn’t tear her gaze away. A fresh wave of nausea hit hard as she understood just how close she’d come to being murdered in her own front yard.
“I don’t understand.” She had to force herself to turn away. “Did the parade shooter do this?”
“Yeah, unless you have other enemies I don’t know about.” Joe’s phone rang. The name on the dashboard screen simply said Captain. Joe punched the talk button. “Elly is okay. She’s not hurt.”
“What happened?” Rhy’s tone was sharp.
“I have reason to believe the parade shooter has come after Elly.” Joe’s blunt assessment made her shiver. “She saw him up close while wearing her uniform with her name tag on. Then she worked with a sketch artist to make a decent likeness of him. I have to assume he found out where the Finnegan family home was located.”
“These types of shooters normally crave media attention. They want to go down in history,” Rhy said. “They don’t keep coming after someone who witnessed them taking random shots at strangers. Why is this guy different?”
“I don’t know.” Joe sounded frustrated. Elly couldn’t blame him. She couldn’t begin to comprehend why this was happening.
She found her voice. “I’m fine, Rhy, but I’m worried about Devon and Colleen. Maybe you should get your family out of there.”
“Or I can get Steele, Raelyn, or one of the other teammates to come sit on your house for the rest of the night,” Joe offered. “I—don’t know if you heard, but we lost Kyle.”
There was a long silence as her brother digested this. Elly knew Rhy considered his team to be like members of the family. Losing one of their own would hit hard.
Joe continued to make several turns, winding through the Brookland neighborhood. Finally, Rhy said, “I’m sorry to hear we lost Kyle. And that only makes me more determined to figure out what’s going on. According to the news, there were ten people killed and at least two dozen injured.”
“That sounds about right.” Joe glanced at her, then added, “Elly was amazing. She ran out into the street to rescue a young boy. She also saved my life.”
“And now Joe has returned the favor.” For some odd reason, she didn’t like the way he seemed fixated on those brief moments when she’d watched the shooter take aim at Joe and shouted a warning. Anyone would have done the same thing. She’d reacted without thinking, hardly heroic. “I’m sorry, Rhy. We never should have come to the homestead.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, this is your home.” Rhy sighed heavily. “Joe, please take Elly someplace safe. I’ll get in touch with the team to see who’s available to sit out here tonight. I don’t like wasting resources, though. Every cop on the street should be out searching for this guy.”
“Alert the Brookland PD,” Joe suggested. “I’m sure the shooter is long gone, but maybe they can find something, evidence that we can use to find him.”
“Did he leave anything behind at the parade?” Rhy asked.
“Not that I’m aware of. I had Raelyn and Steele out looking for signs of shell casings or anything else that might be evidence, but there were too many people and innocent victims. I believe they found some casings, but not likely all of them. I planned on having them search again tomorrow morning.”
“I’ll call Brookland, then touch base with Steele.” There was a slight pause before Rhy added, “Please keep Elly safe.”
She didn’t like hearing the worry in her brother’s tone. “I’ll be fine, Rhy. I will feel better knowing Devon and Colleen are safe too.”
“I’ll head to the American Lodge,” Joe spoke up. “I know it’s only a week before Christmas, but hopefully Gary will have a couple of rooms available.”
“Sounds good. If not, let me know and we can rent something.” The sound of a baby crying came through the speakers. “I have to go. Keep me updated.”
“Will do.” Joe punched the end call button.
She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. The bullet hole stared at her, but she decided to look on the bright side. God had been watching out for her. She was alive and so was Joe. All she could ask was for her family to be safe.
“The American Lodge, huh?” She tried to smile even though her heart was heavy. “I’ve heard so much about the place but have never been there.”
Joe nodded, glancing at her. “I know Rhy and several of your other siblings have used it before. Gary Campbell, the owner, is a former firefighter and is happy to give special rates to cops and firefighters.”
“Sounds like it’s finally my turn to check it out.” She strove to keep her tone light, despite the threat of danger. The sketch of the shooter flashed in her mind. “Do you think he saw his face on the news already?”
“That’s a good question.” Joe looked thoughtful. “It didn’t take us that long to get from downtown Milwaukee to your place. Even if the sketch went out to the media in record time, the news outlets would have had to fit the breaking news story into their schedule. It seems unlikely that this guy could have seen a news story featuring his face prior to the gunfire at the house. Not if he was stationed outside the homestead, waiting for us to show.”
A shiver rippled over her skin. The very thought of this guy sitting somewhere close to her family home with a gun was terrifying. “I hope your teammates agree to watch over Devon and Colleen.”
“They will.” Joe spoke with confidence. “Especially after the way we lost Kyle Malaki to this guy.”
She nodded. Kyle had been a nice guy. Everyone that she’d interacted with on Rhy’s team was just as honorable. She’d met Kyle on several occasions, and it made her heart hurt to know he’d been killed by an evil man with no conscience.
Yet deep down, she was selfishly relieved Joe hadn’t been hurt.
When she spied the American Lodge, she had to admit she had been expecting something more after hearing so much about the place. The two-story white building was nice enough but not large. From what she could tell, there were twenty-four rooms, twelve on each floor, all facing the parking lot.
“Gary keeps the place clean,” Joe said as if reading her thoughts. He pulled into the parking lot and stationed the SUV directly in front of the main lobby doorway. “Stay where you are, I’ll come around to open your door.”
She sighed and nodded. Joe was going above and beyond the call of duty because she was Rhy’s little sister. The youngest Finnegan. Rhy’s team would walk barefoot over fire for him.
Protesting would be useless.
Besides, the small bullet hole in the windshield was difficult to ignore. A constant reminder of the fact that the shooter wanted her dead.
Just because she’d bumped into him?
Probably. After all, he’d ruthlessly gunned down dozens of innocent people enjoying a holiday parade.
Joe opened her door. Sliding from the vehicle, she forced herself to stand on shaky knees. She needed to pull herself together. The danger was over. She waited as he closed the car door, then took her elbow to escort her inside.
A man in his midfifties was seated behind the counter. He straightened, then grinned. “Well, if it isn’t Joe Kingsley, Rhy Finnegan’s right-hand man.”
“Hey, Gary.” Joe stepped up to the desk offering a grin. “This is Elly Finnegan. I’m hoping you have a pair of rooms for us to use for tonight.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Elly.” Gary extended his hand, and she shook it. So did Joe. “Of course, I have two connecting rooms, but they’re on the second floor.”
She caught the grimace that flashed over Joe’s features. Then he nodded and handed over his credit card. “Okay, that will have to do.”
Gary nodded as he swiped the card. “I understand it’s not optimal to be on the second floor, but I have security cameras now, so that should help.”
“That is reassuring.” Joe took the two room keys and credit card Gary slid across the desktop. “Thanks.”
“The Finnegan family has been in danger more than anyone else,” Gary said thoughtfully. “Well, the Callahans had their run, too, a few years back.”
“The Callahans are second cousins to the Finnegans,” Elly said. “It’s been great getting to know them.”
“That explains why both families have similar blood running through their veins,” Gary joked. Then he sobered. “I’ll keep an eye on the security cameras tonight.”
“Take my phone number.” Joe rattled it off as Gary punched the information into his cell phone. “Call me if you see anything remotely suspicious.”
“Will do.” Gary stepped back from the desk. “Sleep well.”
Joe nodded and once again took her elbow. She did her best to ignore the warmth of his fingers radiating through her down coat. He steered her toward the car, opening the door for her.
“I can walk.” She scowled.
“I’m going to park in the rear of the building, closest to the outside staircase.” He gave her a gentle nudge. “Trust me, okay?”
“I do.” She managed a smile as she slid into the passenger seat. Joe Kingsley would protect her with his life, not because of her personally, but because of his dedication to Rhy and the rest of the tactical team.
And that would have to be good enough.
Despite being stuck on the second floor, Joe was thankful to have connecting rooms. Sharing a room with Elly would have wreaked havoc on his concentration. As if it wasn’t already hard enough not to notice how beautiful she was, and how strong.
The bullet had barely missed her, but Elly had bravely soldiered on, reassuring her oldest brother she was fine.
He wasn’t fine. Not after that near miss.
They’d already lost Kyle. He could not, would not lose Elly. As he pulled around the American Lodge, he tried to come up with an escape plan. He parked the SUV a few feet from the stairs.
It wasn’t ideal, but he was banking on Gary’s security cameras to give them a fair warning of a potential threat.
He pushed out of the driver’s side, then went around to help Elly squeeze out between the door and the building. “You must think I’m smaller than I am,” she groused.
She was perfect, but he managed to hold back from saying so. “Sorry. If we need to leave in a hurry, I want you to crawl into the back behind the driver’s seat.”
“Um, okay.” She shot him a sidelong glance. “You think we’ll have to leave in the middle of the night?”
“I’m sure you know Rhy expects us to be prepared for the worst.” He took her elbow.
“Yeah.” She didn’t say anything more as they rounded the corner of the building and took the stairs to the second floor. Thankfully, their two connecting rooms were at the top of the stairs. At least they had easy access off the second-floor landing.
Better than jumping over the railing.
He used one of the keys to unlock the first door, the one at the top of the stairs. Pushing the door open, he handed Elly the key. “This is your room. Please open the connecting door on your side, okay?”
“Sure.” She took the key and crossed the threshold. He closed her door tight, then moved to the next room.
Minutes later, he had his connecting door unlocked and opened. He listened as Elly moved around, then finally opened her side.
“So now what?” Elly gestured for him to come into her room. She’d tossed her winter coat onto the foot of the bed. “What can we do to find this guy?”
“We aren’t going to do anything.” The words spilled out before he could stop them. “This is a job for the police, and maybe even the FBI.”
“Good point.” Elly nodded. “I’ll call Brady.”
“Whoa, hold on.” He held up his hand. “Seriously, Elly, you need to let the police handle this. You did your part by helping to create the sketch. We can take it from here.”
“I’m not an idiot.” She scowled, and there was no reason that should have made her look cute. “I can help.”
He stifled a sigh. It wasn’t that he didn’t think she was smart or capable, but she was an EMT who didn’t like blood. She was as far away from being a cop as he was from being the king of England.
Yet there was no point in arguing. “We’ll see what can be done in the morning. For now, you should try to get some sleep.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Is that what you’re doing? Getting some sleep?”
It was tempting to lie, but he couldn’t do it. For one thing, Rhy hated lies, a trait that went way back to when his fiancée had cheated on him. That was well before his boss had met Devon, and in the end, things had worked out exactly as they were meant to. Secondly, he respected Elly and needed her to keep trusting him.
“No. But that’s only because I have a few calls to make.” He spread his hands wide. “Honestly, Elly, there isn’t anything for you to do. Not tonight.”
She stared at him for a long moment, suspicion clouding her dark-brown gaze. Then she turned away. “Fine. I’ll watch TV, see what the news is saying about this guy.”
“No, please.” He took a step toward her. “There’s no reason for you to watch the news. You saw the guy. You were there to witness the horror. I don’t want you to relive that.”
She grimaced, picked up the remote, and turned on the television. He wondered if she was doing it on purpose to drive him crazy. She glanced over her shoulder, her gaze weary. “The images are already seared into my memory, Joe. The minute I heard the gunshot at my family home, I was back in the thick of the terror. There’s nothing I can do to stop reliving it. Other than maybe helping to find this guy.”
He hated, hated that she would suffer nightmares over this. Yet she was right in that there was nothing either of them could do to stop it. He’d suffered his share of PTSD from horrifying calls he and the team had responded to. On particularly brutal slaying had stuck with him for a long time.
The Christmas parade shooting would likely be the same for Elly. And honestly, for him too.
“I need you to keep your side of the connecting door open at least an inch or so.” He gestured to the opening between their rooms. “I won’t invade your privacy, but I need easy access if I hear from Gary.”
“Understood.” She turned her attention to the television. He followed her gaze, catching the breaking news headline as the sketch Elly had helped create flashed on the screen.
“Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying this man,” the somber news anchor said. “Please call the tip line if you know this man’s name, where he lives, or how he can be found. He is considered armed and dangerous, so the police are asking that anyone who knows him stay away. Do not approach or attempt to apprehend him on your own. If you see him, call 911 and report the location.” The news anchor went on to repeat the phone number while the sketch of the gunman remained on the screen.
“Well, that should shake something loose,” Elly said in a low voice.
“Yeah.” He hoped that was true. He needed to believe his cop colleagues would have him in custody by tomorrow morning.
Bringing an end to the danger surrounding Elly.
He turned away, raking his hand through his hair. Crossing into his room, he glanced around. After removing his leather jacket, he decided to sleep with his clothes on in case they needed to go on the run again.
They were safe here. This random shooter would not have any way of tracking him and Elly to the American Lodge motel.
So why couldn’t he relax? He paced the length of the room, his mind going back over the shooting incident. Then he abruptly stopped.
What if the shooting wasn’t random?
He quickly crossed the room to listen at the connecting doors. Hearing the TV, he pushed her side open a bit. “Elly? Are you decent?”
“Yes, I’m dressed.” She lowered the sound on the TV.
He edged into the room. She was propped up against the headboard, pillows piled behind her back. “I have a few questions. How much time passed between the time you saw this guy and he started shooting?”
She frowned. “I bumped into him roughly fifteen minutes before the parade started. The marching band was playing ‘Frosty the Snowman,’ but they didn’t come into view right away. Maybe ten minutes passed before they made it to our section of the street. I was watching the ice skaters. One minute they were spinning around the small patch of ice, the next they were lying on the truck bed covered in blood.”
He moved closer, then dropped down onto the edge of the bed. “Do you think he shot the ice skaters first?”
Her brow furrowed as she searched her memory. “Yes. I think the ice skaters were his first victims. I didn’t realize what happened, I was so shocked. But then the gunfire continued, and people began to scream and cry out as they fell to the ground.”
The ice skaters. He pulled out his phone and searched for their names. They were local, he knew that much. And they’d been winning skating events over the past few months, which had garnered media attention.
“Gabrielle St. John and Henry Watkins.” He lifted his gaze to hers. “The woman died at the scene, right? Gabrielle?”
“Yes.” Her eyes widened. “You think the shooter killed her on purpose?”
“It’s possible.” It didn’t make sense that the gunman would kill Gabrielle and injure Henry along with so many others.
Unless he wanted them to believe the event was a random shooting, much like the other shooting events that took place across the country.
“That’s sick,” Elly whispered.
“Yeah.” Or creepily smart. He wanted to call Rhy but settled for sending an email to him and Assistant Chief Michaels instead. Rhy was on vacation, taking well deserved time off to care for his wife and newborn baby daughter. The information may or may not be as helpful as he’d hoped. But maybe once they got an ID on the guy, they’d learn his true motive. “Thanks, I appreciate the insight.”
She reached out to touch his shoulder. “I want to help, Joe. Please. I keep thinking back to the moment I bumped into him. How I instantly got a bad vibe from him. Maybe if I’d have said something, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“Even if you had mentioned brief interaction to me, there would have been nothing I could do,” he hastened to reassure her. “There wouldn’t have been probable cause to search him for a weapon. Not unless he’d done something to break the law.”
“I guess.” Her arm dropped back to her side. He forced himself to stand, to stay out of reach. “But I still want to help.”
He nodded. “We should know more tomorrow. Good night.”
“Good night.” She lifted the remote and turned the TV off.
Safe in his own room, far from temptation, he stretched out on the bed, pondering the possibility of Gabrielle being the actual target. But even that didn’t explain why the shooter had come after Elly. If he wanted this to be viewed as a random shooting event, targeting a witness only brought more scrutiny to the rampage.
He checked his phone, but there was no response yet from Rhy or Michaels.
Setting the device near his pillow so that he would hear if Gary called, he stared up at the ceiling.
He hadn’t intended to fall asleep. Not after promising Rhy he’d watch over Elly. But somehow, he did.
He woke slowly, blinking in the darkness. There was nothing but silence surrounding him. A noise hadn’t woken him. Reaching for his phone, he stared at the screen. A wave of relief hit hard when there were no missed calls from Gary.
Swinging into a sitting position, he straightened his MPD sweatshirt. Sleeping fully dressed was far from comfortable.
He stood and stretched. Before he took more than two steps, the loud crack of gunfire followed by shattering glass had him diving toward the connecting door.
“Elly!” Her name was a hoarse croak as he pushed her door open and crawled through the opening. Raking his gaze over the bed, he quickly noted she wasn’t there.
Where was she?
“Elly!” he shouted now, panicked as he continued crawling through the room, braced for the next round of gunfire. It came barely two seconds later. The bullet hit the center of the mattress. Briefly, he understood the shooter must be higher than their second-floor rooms.
“Joe! I’m in the bathroom!”
“Get into the bathtub!” He grabbed his phone and called 911 to report the gunfire. They were pinned in the room like ducks sitting in a pond. And he grimly realized they could be injured or worse before the police could get there.