Guardian Ranger (Shadow Agents 2)

He didn’t get back. “You won’t shoot me.” So confident.

“Yes. I will.” She was just as confident. “You were the one on the side of that road, shooting at me. Not Jimmy. You.”

He still had that slight smile on his lips. “How are you gonna prove that?”

“When Jasper gets h-here, he’ll take you into custody. We’ll find Jimmy. We’ll get proof that you were behind everything and not—”

“Your Jasper’s gonna die today. Cale’s gonna die. They’ll both go out in a gun battle as they try to save you.” He gave a slow shake of his head. “But they aren’t gonna save you, either.”

Her heartbeat thundered in her ears. “I can save myself.”

“No, you can’t.” Then he lunged for her.

She shot him. Didn’t so much as hesitate. The gun blasted and her ears rang and the bullet slammed into his stomach.

His eyes widened in surprise as he looked down at the blossoming red on his shirt. Wyatt stumbled back, and she took that opportunity to slam her shoulder into him and knock him to the ground. Then she ran as fast as she could—not toward the old highway, but toward that long, black car that sat near the side of the crumbling house. Jimmy’s car. Because she could just see the top of Jimmy’s head in the car.

She yanked open the passenger door. “Jimmy!” He was inside, his hands and feet tied. And his chest was bleeding. So much blood. She reached for him, yanking the ropes free that bound his wrists. He’d taken a shot straight to the chest.

“Ms. Ver...on...” He tried to speak, but the words just came out as a rasp.

“It’s okay. I’m going to help you, Jimmy.” He’d escaped this hellhole of a ranch once. She wasn’t letting him die there. She tried to slide him over to the passenger side. Wyatt had left the kid behind the steering wheel. She’d move him over and drive them both out of there. She rushed around to the driver’s side and—

“Veronica!”

Her head jerked to the left at that bellow. Wyatt was on his feet. He had reached into his patrol car. Pulled out— Oh, no, that was a shotgun in his hands. He’d gotten a shotgun, and he was pointing it at her.

She jumped into Jimmy’s car. The back window shattered behind her. Ducking, she searched under the seat for the keys. Nothing. Not there. Not...

“I’ve got the keys, Veronica!” Wyatt called out. “Why don’t you come and get them?”

She wasn’t coming for them...because she didn’t need them.

She grabbed the wires underneath the dash. Yanked down hard. Twisted them. Jerked the ends together and...

The motor sparked to life. During all of Cale’s car talks with her, he’d made sure to teach her a few tricks over the years.

“Hold on,” Veronica whispered to Jimmy. Then she slammed the vehicle into Reverse.

She glanced up, just in time to see Wyatt standing behind the car. Aiming his shotgun at her. She slammed her foot down harder on the accelerator.

The back bumper rammed into Wyatt even as he fired the gun. The blast had her jumping and yanking the wheel to the right. The car swerved, but beneath her sweat-slick hands, she managed to keep the vehicle steady. She glanced around wildly. Wyatt had disappeared or maybe—maybe she’d just taken him out and he was on the ground. Either way, she wasn’t about to get out of the car and check. She was just getting her and Jimmy the hell out of there.

She shifted, preparing to head straight out on that bumpy drive, when a shotgun was shoved into the open driver’s-side window. The shotgun pressed right against her head. “Get out or die right there,” Wyatt snarled.

She froze.

“Get. Out.”

Slowly, carefully, she eased from the car. Jimmy whimpered beside her. “No...Ms. Ver...on...”

The right side of Wyatt’s face was covered in blood. His stomach was soaked red. But the guy was standing strong. The second she cleared the car, he jerked her against him. “Guess what?” he whispered as he put the barrel of that shotgun under her chin.

She didn’t want to guess anything. She wanted to see Cale once more. She wanted to

see Jasper. Jasper. She wanted him so much.

“It’s empty.”