Present Danger by Elizabeth Goddard (shoe dog free ebook .txt) 📗

“Terra.” Jack gripped her shoulders. “Breathe, Terra. We have to get out of here. But I need to warn the other deputies on their way, if it’s not already too late. I need to tell them before my radio is toast.”

Crouching, he reached across the seat to grab the mic and radioed again for backup. “Officers in danger. We’re being fired upon with an assault rifle!”

Jack relayed numerous codes to warn the deputies and also ask for additional backup. Then his radio squawked its last.

The gunfire continued to demolish Jack’s vehicle. No chance they were getting in a shot. Not here.

“Go . . . go into the cornfield.” He shoved her away from the vehicle and covered her as she plowed into the six-foot-tall cornstalks.

He urged her forward as if the tall plants could somehow protect them against bullets. “Let’s go. I can’t let anything happen to you. I won’t.”

“Then we’ll protect each other.” She gasped for breath. She’d seen something similar happen before, and that ended in tragedy.

God, please don’t let it end that way this time!

She and Jack pushed deeper into the cornfield, running down rows. The tall plants and thick green leaves slapped her face as she ran.

“I’m not sure the corn will protect us from the onslaught,” she said. “If we have to face off with him, I’m not carrying an assault rifle. You?”

He swiped the sweat from his face. “It doesn’t matter. All we need is to be strategic.”

“Strategic. You mean like make our way around behind him? Ambush him?”

“No, I’ll be the one to make my way around behind him. You’re getting somewhere safe.”

“What about waiting for backup?”

“I’m not sure if he’s going to give us a chance to wait. It’ll take a few minutes for others to get here.”

Terra knew what could happen while waiting for backup. People could die.

“You’re not leaving me, Jack. I’m your backup. We’re in this together. Let’s hide in the cornstalks and wait for him to come find us. If he comes, we’ll be ready for him.”

She crouched down, then lay flat on her belly.

Jack dropped next to her. “I don’t like to cut and run.”

“I don’t either. But staying next to your vehicle would have been suicide.”

“Listen,” he said.

Silence filled the night. No sound of gunfire. Nor sirens. Nothing.

“He must be checking the vehicle to confirm we’re dead,” Jack whispered.

“He’ll be coming for us.”

“Or if he’s smart, he’ll get into that truck of his and get out of town. He has to know that law enforcement is going to rain down on him from all corners of the state. Why would he do something like this?”

The truth was, they knew next to nothing about Leif Morrisey.

Jack’s face was close to hers. He held his weapon at the ready and eyed her. He pressed a finger to his lips. A breeze blew through the cornstalks.

Time to listen.

Someone made their way through the corn. More like marched without fear.

Leif was coming for them. Indignation settled in her gut. If Owen knew what his friend was up to, he would stop him. If anything, Leif should be running from them. Terra squeezed her weapon, wanting to shift her position, but that would make too much noise. Even in the cool of the evening, sweat crawled over her back and dripped down her temples.

Jack motioned for her to get up. She scrambled to her feet, quickly and quietly, and backed away from her hiding spot, this time careful not to disturb the plants. If Leif decided to fire his weapon into the field, they would be at risk.

Sirens resounded in the distance. Finally. But would they arrive in time?

Jack tucked her behind him. She stepped into a wider row of mowed stalks.

The corn maze.

The footfalls sounded closer. Terra ran with Jack, following the corners and curves of the maze. She gasped for breath.

They were making entirely too much noise.

“The more distance, the better,” Jack whispered. “But we’ll follow the maze, and then head back toward the road. Backup has to get here soon.”

“I have no idea which way the road is. Do you?”

Jack slowed to a stop and stepped into the cover of the cornstalks, pulling her with him. Weapons drawn, they stood perfectly still and quiet.

Sirens sounded louder.

The movement in the cornstalks sounded distant. Leif was now the one on the run. Jack pushed back out into the maze and she followed, though still wary of more assault-grade gunfire.

“We can’t let him get away, Jack. He has to be behind the murders.”

“The roads will be blocked, and he’ll know that. My bet is he’s going to try to get back to his vehicle and go through the cornfield. Or to that farmhouse. He could take hostages.”

“We need to make our way there to warn them.”

Jack once again slowed and held his hand up. Through the cornstalks she could see the road, and Jack slowly approached. They should have at least heard Leif’s truck. And if not, then he was on foot.

An engine roared to life.

Jack stepped out of the cornfield and onto the road. He aimed his weapon.

Terra stood by his side, her weapon ready.

Leif swerved out of the field and onto the road. Jack aimed for the man himself while Terra aimed for the tires, but neither of them fired since the truck disappeared down the county road, heading in the opposite direction. Jack limped around as if he would climb into his own destroyed vehicle and opened the door. It fell away and clanked to the ground.

Jack collapsed to his knees and hung his head.

Terra raced to his side. “Jack, it’s okay. We did all we could.”

He slumped to the road.

“Jack?”

Terra lifted the bomber jacket and saw the blood.

FIFTY-THREE

Jack!” Terra’s voice sounded as if it were coming from down a long tunnel.

“I’m okay,” he said. “It’s just a flesh wound. A graze.”

“You are not okay!”

“Maybe I’m a little dizzy.” He felt like a complete wimp. He’d let that guy get the best of him. He’d really