“There are no deals,” Will screamed. He jabbed the gun farther into Emma’s skin. “Now drop your gun before I kill her.”
A guttural growl came from the trees. Reed caught sight of a flash of brown as it leaped out of the woods and tackled Will. Emma went flying toward Reed and he caught her.
Sadie! The dog sank her teeth into Will’s arm, and he screamed. The gun, held in his other hand, went off. A bullet flew wildly, whizzing past as Reed tugged Emma into the woods for safety. A flash of blue appeared in the distance.
Dean? Reed raised his weapon, but the gait of the other man set his mind at ease. It was Austin. Backup had finally arrived. Sadie had been with his cousin, but the dog must’ve broken away when she heard the screaming. She’d rushed ahead to protect her mistress.
Sadie gave a yelp.
“No!” Emma screamed. “Sadie!”
Reed spun in time to see the dog fall back. Will sprang to his feet. Reed fired his weapon, but the other man was a moving target. He darted into the trees.
“Austin, he’s on the move. I’m going after him.”
Reed dashed after Will. They needed the man alive. He was the only one who knew where Lily was.
TWENTY
Emma rushed to Sadie’s side. The dog was already on her feet. There wasn’t any blood. Chances were Will had hit her with the butt of the gun. Sadie whimpered slightly when Emma touched her shoulder, confirming her suspicions.
Relief was short-lived. No other law enforcement stormed the clearing. Austin had disappeared with Reed after Will. The chief deputy had been alone. Will’s iron clasp around Emma’s chest must’ve interfered with the listening device. When things went silent, Cooper and the rest of the team hadn’t known what was going on. Austin probably came quietly to investigate.
“Cooper, if you can hear me, Will Norton is the killer. He’s escaped. Reed and Austin are in pursuit.”
She reached into her pocket and pulled out Lily’s lamb. She let Sadie sniff it. “We need to find Lily, girl. I know we’ve only done this in training, but I’m relying on you.”
The dog’s brown eyes seemed to mirror Emma’s own worry. Based off Will’s actions, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t hold Lily hostage. She needed to find her little girl and she needed to do it now. There was no time to wait.
She gave Sadie the command to find. The dog took off into the woods. Emma bolted after her. “Cooper, I’m in the woods. I’m following Sadie in the hopes that she’s tracking Lily.”
She prayed they could hear her. Running through the woods while SWAT was storming the area was a bad idea. She could be accidentally shot by friendly fire. Still, it was a risk she had to take.
Sadie stopped, taking a moment to lift her nose to the air. Then she altered course slightly, taking them farther into Judge Norton’s property. Sweat dripped down Emma’s back. Her head ached. The wound in her scalp started bleeding again. Still, she pressed forward.
When her dog picked up the pace, Emma did, as well. Tree branches smacked her face. Her feet—clad in the stupid flats—slid along the pine needles. She tripped, flying forward. Her hands instinctively went out to brace herself. She hit the ground with a bone-jarring force. She sucked in a breath. Glancing up, she found herself face-to-face with a set of empty eyes.
Deputy Dean Shadwick. Dead.
Emma recoiled. Her stomach heaved. The man had been shot several times and left to rot half-hidden under a bush. From the looks of it, he’d been murdered recently. Maybe only hours before.
Will was cleaning house. Eliminating any threats against him. Emma staggered to her feet. A fresh sense of urgency fueled her steps. She feared her instincts were right and Will would use Lily as leverage to save his own skin.
In the distance, Sadie barked. The dog had passed over Dean as if he didn’t matter. Hopefully, that meant Sadie was only tracking Lily’s scent.
Shots echoed in the woods. Emma’s heart stopped. They hadn’t been close, but there had been several. She sucked in a breath as a few more followed.
Were they from Reed? Or from the SWAT officers? Or was that Will shooting? He’d been out to kill Reed. He wasn’t going to give up easily. The worst-case scenario played in her head like a horror movie on fast-forward. Emma said a quick and desperate prayer.
The forest was dead silent. She waited two more breaths. Then Sadie barked again. Emma ran toward the sound.
A break in the trees appeared. A rustic cabin sat among the towering pines. The windows were sealed with large boards. Heavy chains and locks kept them from being opened. Sadie sat next to the building and barked once more. When the dog spotted Emma, her tail thumped.
“Good girl, Sadie.” She patted the dog’s head before circling around the building, looking for a way inside. It didn’t appear as if anyone had used this cabin for a long time. Some of the shingles were missing from the roof and the wood siding was rotting. Yet several cameras hung from the rafters.
She rounded the corner. The cabin had a broken front porch. The only door was closed off by a heavy wooden bar across the front. Emma swallowed. This didn’t look like a simple attempt to keep people out of the cabin. No. These were the kind of measures taken to keep someone in.
She gripped the wooden bar across the door and shoved. It wouldn’t budge. The thing had to weigh more than she did. The wood bit into the palms of her hands. Her muscles trembled. Still, it wouldn’t move.
Sadie growled. Emma spun.
Will stood at the base of the porch. His arm was bleeding and scratches from running through the woods marred his face. His hair stood up on end. He looked wild and unhinged. Her gaze shot to the weapon pointed straight at her
