Elly’s heart thundered in her chest as Joe navigated the suburban neighborhood that wasn’t far from the precinct. She wanted to believe they would find and arrest the shooter, but despite Rhy’s wise words, she couldn’t imagine this guy would allow himself to be caught so easily.
He’d avoided detection so far, hadn’t he?
The houses in this area were closer together than where they lived in Brookland. She frowned, wondering if the shooter lived in the neighborhood too. The same way Eloise and Kyle had.
But if that was the case, why hadn’t anyone turned him in to the authorities? Neighbors would obviously know each other. Or at least see them coming and going on occasion. It was inconceivable that anyone would secretly harbor a cold-blooded killer.
“You’re still wearing your vest?” Joe glanced at her as if to see for himself.
“Yes.” She was glad that Joe and the other guys were equally outfitted. Not that a vest would save them from a shooter aiming for their heads. She swallowed hard and pressed a hand to her stomach.
Rhy had once mentioned that head shots were difficult to make because the target was so small. And that cops were trained to aim for center mass, chest and abdomen. She hoped and prayed this shooter would do the same.
She couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to Joe. Or anyone else on the tactical team.
Joe pulled over to the side of the road. “Her house is the brown ranch second in on the left side of the street. Keep your head down, Elly.”
“Okay.” She ducked in her seat, hugging her knees. “I didn’t see anyone, though, did you?”
“Not yet.” His tone was tense, and she belatedly realized her talking was a distraction. Something he and the rest of the team could ill afford. She tried to hold back from asking any more questions, although it wasn’t easy. She was naturally a chatty person.
The possibility of this being a trap gnawed at her. Hard to imagine that Eloise would have done such a thing, but obviously some people had no moral code.
Like the shooter himself.
A shiver skimmed down her spine. She didn’t like this one little bit.
“Grayson and Steele are here,” Joe said for her benefit. “They’re going to canvass the area.”
“By themselves?” She turned her head to look up at him. “They should wait for more backup.”
“Raelyn and Brock are en route.” His expression could have been carved from stone. “I’m sure other officers will arrive on scene soon too.”
She was glad more team members were on their way. “What about Eloise? What if the shooter is inside?”
“Good point. I’ll check.” Joe made the call, a few seconds passing before he said, “Eloise, are you okay?”
She strained to hear the response but couldn’t. Likely the frightened woman was hiding in the bathroom as Joe had instructed her to do.
“Okay, sit tight. We don’t see anyone out here yet, but I have the team encircling the area.” Another pause, then he added, “We’ll let you know.”
“She’s okay, then?” Elly asked as he put his phone away.
“Yeah.” Joe sighed. “It looks like the immediate area is clear. Maybe he took off, or maybe she saw someone else. I’d really like to go inside to talk to Eloise in more detail.”
“You should.” She understood he was holding back because of her. “I’ll be fine.”
Joe held her gaze for a long moment. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then turned away and slid out from behind the wheel. “Grayson? I want you to stand guard over Elly. Raelyn and Brock, I want you stationed on either side of the property. Steele, you cover the back. I’m going in to speak to Eloise.”
“You shouldn’t go in alone,” Steele said. “I’ve cleared the back. Let me come with you.”
Elly held her breath, praying Joe would go along with that plan. She didn’t know why she had a bad feeling about this.
“Fine.” Joe’s tone was clipped. “But I want Raelyn and Brock to keep an eye on the rear side of the house too. Maybe position yourselves catty-corner so you can watch both the back and the front.”
“Done,” Brock agreed.
“Let’s go.” Joe slammed the car door shut. Elly lifted her head just enough to watch Joe and Steele approach the brown ranch to speak with Kyle’s widow. She thought about how Kyle had tried to talk to her before he’d died. He’d called her name.
Or maybe he’d mistaken her for his wife, Eloise.
She replayed those frantic moments in her mind. Kyle had recognized her, calling her Elly. He’d been to the homestead often enough.
She’d assumed Kyle had wanted to give her a message for his wife, Eloise. But what if he’d been trying to warn her? Mere seconds before he’d lapsed unconscious and died in the street.
She told herself not to think about all the blood oozing from Kyle’s body. She needed to stay focused on what had happened that night.
It didn’t seem likely that the shooter would come to the parade simply to kill Kyle while he was on duty. Why not take the cop out when he was working on the yard or running errands? As it was, the bullet had struck Kyle in the upper thigh, right beneath the location of the vest, which is why he’d bled out. That didn’t seem to be a shot taken on purpose.
Or was it?
She didn’t know what to think. Or what to believe. But something wasn’t right here, and the longer Joe and Steele stayed inside, the more she felt certain this was a setup.
“Grayson?” She lifted her head to glance around. Grayson stood with his back to the passenger-side door.
He turned to glance at her briefly, before turning to scan the area again. “Stay put.”
She swallowed a wave of frustration. She opened the door, bumping into him. There was just barely enough room for her to squeeze out of the vehicle to stand beside him.
“What are you doing?” Grayson’s eyes widened in frank alarm. “Get back inside the car, Elly.”
She ignored him. “I think this is a trap. I want you to call Joe, get him and Steele out of there.”
“They’re cops; they can take care of themselves.” Grayson scowled. “Are you trying to get me fired? Joe will slice me to ribbons if you get hurt.”
She grabbed Grayson’s arm. “Listen, I was there when Kyle died. He tried to tell me something but could only say El. I think he wanted to warn me about Eloise. His wife!” She shook his arm with frustration. “Please call Joe. Hurry!”
Grayson looked torn but reluctantly reached for his phone. From the corner of her eye, she glimpsed a hint of movement. Without thinking it through, she threw herself at Grayson with enough force to knock him off balance. They tumbled to the ground, her landing on top of Grayson, covering him with her body as the sharp crack of gunfire rang out.
Joe watched Eloise flinch at the sound of gunfire, the blood leeching from her face as if she herself had been struck. Alarm bells jangled loudly in the back of his mind.
From the moment he’d stepped inside the ranch house, he’d noticed something was off about Eloise.
She’d been nervous, avoiding direct eye contact. And now he knew why.
This was a trap! And he’d fallen for it.
“Steele, grab her!” Joe spun on his heel and bolted for the door. “Elly!” The shout was little more than a strangled sound.
Behind him, he heard the scuffle as Steele grabbed Eloise. His gaze was focused on the SUV. It appeared empty.
Where were Elly and Grayson? He searched frantically for them and for the shooter.
Had they both been killed?
No, please, Lord Jesus, no! Don’t take Elly from me!
His heart thundered in his chest as he ran toward the SUV in a crouch. At some level, he was aware that the other team members had come running at the sound of gunfire too. They had spread out, surrounding the SUV. But he’d gotten there first. He cautiously crab-walked around the back of the vehicle to reach the other side.
Two people were lying on the ground. It took him a minute to realize that Elly was on top of Grayson as if protecting him.
What in the world? It should have been the other way around!
Even as he crept closer, Grayson shook Elly off, causing her to slide onto the ground. In a quick movement, he rolled and crawled over her. When Elly grimaced as if in pain, he couldn’t stand it.
“What happened? Is she hit?”
“I don’t know,” Grayson said, clearly upset and frustrated. “She plowed into me, catching me off guard just as the shot rang out.”
For not being a cop, Elly sure had Finnegan cop instincts. It was both admirable and infuriating.
“I’m fine.” Elly’s strained voice belied her words. But at least she was able to talk. That was slightly reassuring.
“Where’s the shooter?” He directed the question at Grayson or one of the other teammates, but it was Elly who answered.
“I saw movement from the light-green house behind us.” Her voice was muffled. “I didn’t see his face though.”
“Backup has arrived,” Brock shouted. “We’ll find him!”
Joe was torn between checking Elly and searching for the shooter. With Grayson covering Elly, he forced himself to join the hunt.
This time, they could not let him get away.
Joe shot to his feet and sprinted toward the pale-green house, sweeping his gaze from side to side as he held his weapon ready. He slowed his pace upon reaching the building and took a moment to peek around the corner.
Nothing.
Gritting his teeth, he continued along the side of the green house, keeping a wary eye out for any sign of movement. Things had happened fast, yet he also knew the guy could have left the area immediately after taking the shot at Elly.
They had to find him. They just had to!
But as he came around the back side of the green house, he met up with Raelyn. She shook her head, indicating she hadn’t seen the shooter either.
“Keep searching,” he ordered, even though he felt certain they’d missed him. “I need to check back with Elly.”
“Will do.” Raelyn was joined by Brock, and the two team members fanned out to continue scouring the area. Joe noticed even more team members had arrived, Jina and Flynn were there too.
The entire tactical team had responded to his call for help. It was humbling, yet they still didn’t have the shooter in custody.
And he feared they never would.
As he jogged back to the SUV, he saw Steele had dragged Eloise outside in handcuffs. It took all his willpower not to punch the woman who’d baited them into coming.
Setting Elly up to be shot and killed.
“Who is he?” He stormed toward Kyle’s widow. “You know him, don’t you? You’re about to go down for aiding and abetting a murderer. Who is he?”
“Stop, please,” Eloise begged. Her eyes filled with tears, but Joe couldn’t come up with any sympathy for her. Not after this.
“Tell us who he is!” Joe was hanging onto his temper by a thread. “Right now!”
“Ashton James.” The name was a choked sob. “He threatened to kill me. I had to call you to get you to come out to the house. I didn’t have a choice!”
She had plenty of choices but hadn’t made the right one. He nodded at Steele who pulled out his phone to get the name of Ashton James run through the system. “Where is he? Why is trying to kill Elly Finnegan?”
“I don’t know,” Eloise whimpered. “He’s crazy. I told you he threatened to kill me if I didn’t call you.”
“Why would he do that?” Joe strove for patience. “How do you know him?”
Eloise squeezed her eyes together, tears leaking down her cheeks. He was about to grab her and shake the truth out of her, when she finally said, “Ash is a former boyfriend of mine. He’s a cop from Detroit. But he used to work here, in Milwaukee as a police officer.”
Detroit? “Then why is he here?”
“I—uh, started seeing him again recently, but then broke things off. I could tell he wasn’t right in the head. To be honest, he seemed okay with it. He left me alone, and I figured that was the end of it.” She gazed imploringly at him. “I never expected him to lash out like this, killing a bunch of innocent people at the parade. I swear to you, I had no idea that was his plan!”
Maybe she hadn’t known that Ashton James was capable of something like that. But her excuse wasn’t good enough. Not by a long shot.
“Why didn’t you tell us about this after the Christmas parade shooting?” he demanded. “We could have had him in custody by now.”
“He— I wasn’t sure at first. I was supposed to be at the parade, too, but didn’t go.” Eloise was looking at each of the other teammates surrounding her as if seeking support. She didn’t get any. “The sketch looked like him, but I was afraid that if I said anything, he’d come after me. Then I began to wonder if he’d planned to kill me that night too. Along with everyone else he’d taken out.”
Joe remembered how angry Eloise had been that they hadn’t gotten the shooter in custody. Had she really cowered inside of her house, waiting for them to find the guy? Without any help from her? Anger swirled in his chest, and it was all he could do not to unleash his fury on her.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He couldn’t change the past. But he wasn’t going to let her get away with it either.
“Eloise Malaki, you’re under arrest for aiding and abetting a murderer,” he said flatly. “You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right . . .”
“I know my rights,” she interrupted. “I was married to a cop. But this isn’t my fault. I didn’t know Ash would do this!”
Joe recited the rest of the Miranda warning, then added, “You knew this guy’s name all this time and didn’t tell us. We could have had him in jail within hours if we’d had more information. If he’s hurt anyone else, that’s on you, Eloise. I hope you can live with yourself for the role you’ve played in this shooting.” Full of disgust, he turned away, catching Elly’s gaze. She looked upset at the interchange between them.
Of course, Elly with her soft heart would have some sympathy for the woman.
She was a better person than he was, that was for sure.
“Where is Ashton James now?” Steele demanded. “Where can we find him?”
“I—don’t know. He mentioned staying at a trailer park, but I was never there.” Eloise sounded subdued, as if the magnitude of her situation was finally hitting home. As it should. The public would not be happy to know there was a killer on the loose for almost three days because Eloise had kept her mouth shut.
Maybe the charges against her wouldn’t stick, but that was the least of his worries. They still had to find this guy. And fast.
“Okay, we need to spread out and check all the trailer parks.” He had no idea how many there were. “Call dispatch, have someone run them through the system.”
“There’s a trailer park about three miles from here,” Raelyn said. “I know where it is, and it’s close enough for him to use it as a hiding place. We need to get there ASAP.”
“Go. Take several team members with you.” Joe wanted to ride along, but when he glanced at Elly, he noticed the pained expression on her face. And the way she had one hand braced against the side of the SUV.
“Elly?” He rushed toward her. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m fine.” She didn’t sound fine, just the opposite. From here, she appeared pale and fragile. “Just short of breath. Must be all the excitement and the rush of adrenaline.”
“Are you sure you’re not hit?” He ran his gaze over her, kicking himself for not examining her more closely.
“I didn’t see any blood,” Grayson said with a hint of defensiveness. “I checked.”
Joe ignored him, still irrationally angry that Elly had been the one to jump on him, protecting a cop rather than the other way around. Then again, he knew Elly had amazing instincts. She’d saved his life, too, that fateful night.
Grayson didn’t look happy at being caught off guard either.
“Hold still.” He ran his fingers along the front of her vest but didn’t find anything concerning.
Then he turned her around to check her back. Along her left side there was a gouge in the vest that had been made by a bullet.
“You were hit!” He hadn’t meant to sound accusing, so he did his best to soften his tone. “I’m sorry, but you should have told me, you were struck by a bullet. You might have internal bleeding.”
“I was?” She looked confused. “I didn’t feel anything. Other than hitting the ground with Grayson.”
Adrenaline could mask pain, so he believed her. “Okay, but what about now? Where do you hurt?”
“I, uh, maybe my ribs.” She tried to reach over but froze and grimaced. “Um, yeah. That hurts.”
Grayson looked upset. “I didn’t realize. I’m sorry.”
He managed to let his teammate off the hook. “She’s talking, which is a good sign. Might have a couple of cracked or broken ribs from the impact of the slug. Call an ambulance, we need to get her to the hospital.”
“Roger that.” Grayson made the call as other officers converged on the area.
“I screwed up, Joe,” Elly said in a low voice. “I should have considered that Kyle might have been the shooter’s target. I thought Kyle wanted me to tell his wife he loved her.”
“It’s not your fault,” he hastened to reassure her. “We all went down the path of believing the skaters had been the real targets.”
“I think Kyle tried to warn me about Eloise,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “Do you think he knew about her affair? About Ashton James? Maybe he even saw him?”
“I don’t know.” He wished Kyle had mentioned it to him.
“I keep running through those last few seconds in my mind. Kyle’s expression was urgent, as if he really wanted to tell me something.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “It never occurred to me that he’d been hit on purpose.”
“I didn’t go there either, and I’m a trained cop.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, offering his support. She gratefully leaned against him. “Don’t beat yourself up, Elly. We’ll get him.”
“I wonder if Ash kept coming after me because he assumed Kyle had told me his name,” she said half to herself. “I never could figure out why I was a threat.”
“That theory only works if Kyle knew about the affair.”
“Kyle did know about Ash,” Eloise said.
He turned his head to stare at her. Another detail she’d failed to mention. “What makes you say that? What did he say to you?”
“Just that he saw Ash’s name on my phone. And knew that we’d exchanged text messages.” Eloise hunched her shoulders. “Kyle knew I used to date Ash when he was still working as a cop here in Milwaukee. I told him we were just friends, but I’m not sure if he believed me.”
“Did Ash ever threaten to hurt Kyle?” he asked. “To kill him?”
“No.” The way Eloise avoided his gaze wasn’t reassuring. He had a feeling the guy had threatened Kyle. And that Eloise had kept her mouth shut about that too.
He hoped the DA would throw the book at her and made a mental note to ask Elly if either Bax Scala or Maddy Sinclair could take the case. Eloise needed to be held accountable for her actions. Or lack thereof.
What if Ash had succeeded in killing Elly? The mere thought had him breaking out in a cold sweat.
He loved her.
A weird calmness washed over him. Loving Elly felt right. And if he were honest, he’d admit he’d been fighting his feelings for her for months now.
Because of Rhy being his boss. And that wasn’t fair to Elly. Or to him.
The arrival of the ambulance interrupted his thoughts. He almost groaned when he saw Colin jump out from the rig and run straight toward Elly.
“What happened? How badly are you hurt?” Colin asked.
“I’m fine. Just sore.” Elly’s smile looked strained.
There was no point in varnishing the truth. He stepped forward. “A bullet creased the back of Elly’s vest. She’s short of breath, and her ribs hurt.”
“A bullet?” Colin narrowed his gaze. “You were supposed to protect her.”
“He did,” Elly insisted. “I’m standing here, aren’t I? Besides, I’m the one who got out of the car against Joe’s and Grayson’s advice.”
Colin huffed but let it go. “Let’s get you to the hospital.”
Joe walked alongside. “I’m coming with you.” When Colin looked as if he might argue, he added, “Ashton James, the shooter is still out there. We have officers searching for him now that we have a name and possible location. But I’m not leaving Elly’s side until he’s arrested.”
Colin sighed. “Fine. I guess that’s what Rhy would want.”
“He would,” Joe agreed.
“I’m right here,” Elly said testily. “Does anyone care what I want?”
“Not really.” Colin opened the back door of the rig. “Hold on. We need the gurney.”
Joe stood to the side while Colin and a female paramedic pulled out the gurney, got Elly to lie down, then put her back inside the rig.
He jumped up beside her, taking her hand. He’d keep his promise to stick to Elly like glue.
And mentally prepared himself to face his boss’s wrath over her injury.