Afraid to Die (Alvarez & Pescoli)

“Just get under the car!”

She was already moving around the Subaru, hoping to draw fire away from her son, at the very least, to split the sniper’s attention.

“I will kill the boy!” the voice boomed. It sounded familiar. And determined. “Drop your weapon!”

“Show yourself, you coward,” she said, holding tight to her pistol.

“I will kill the boy!” To prove his point, another round was fired, the rifle cracking so loudly it echoed. Another window in her car blew out, glass raining into the snow. The passenger-side window was demolished.

Gabe let out a frightened squeal.

She yelled, “Stay down, Gabe!”

If she could get him into her car, they had a chance, could outrun the guy down the hill. She’d throw the Subaru into reverse and back down the road to the wide spot she’d noticed on her way up, turn around and they might just make it.

Blam!

This time she pinpointed the shot. At least audibly.

The assailant was definitely up the hill, where the ground crested above the road. He was probably hiding behind one of the huge trees for protection, then taking his time picking them off.

Blam!

Another shot.

Gabe covered his head.

A back tire of the Subaru deflated and Gabe, half under the vehicle, squirmed out from under it.

“No!”

Crap! Now her chances of the Outback being the getaway vehicle had plummeted. This was getting them nowhere fast. She had to do something. They were sitting ducks!

Pescoli got the message.

She’d just reached her Jeep and slid behind the wheel when the text came in.

“What?” she whispered, and started to call Alvarez when a call came in.

“Hello?” she yelled into the phone. “What the hell’s going on? I just got a text that—” Her voice faded as she heard Alvarez’s voice.

“I’m at Cougar Pass, on the old mining road. Trying to get Gabriel Reeve. Send backup. ASAP!” And then the hollow, terrifying sound of a shot being fired.

“Shit!” She clicked over to another line, dialed 911, and when the operator picked up, identified herself, all the while wheeling out of the lot.

“... I said, I’m Detective Regan Pescoli and my partner’s under fire. At Cougar Pass, off of Leland Road, I think. She’s requesting backup. I’m on my way, but we need more units. Make sure the FBI knows. We might need a helicopter and I don’t want to hear about the snowstorm. Got it?”

“Yes, but—”

“Also,” she barreled on, “I need someone to do a background check and try to locate Jonathan Oestergard. He lives out of town, the old Oestergard place on Eve’s Road, that’s right, E-V-E-S!”

She didn’t wait for a response, just clicked back, and as she turned on her lights and siren, heard more shots being fired some fifteen miles away.

By the time she got there and backup arrived, it would be all over!

“God damn it, Alvarez,” she muttered. “This isn’t the time to go all superhero!” Why hadn’t she informed Pescoli of her plans? How the hell had she ended up alone and under siege?

Because of the boy, her son.