If I Should Die

the report of a rifle. It hit the spot where Sean had emerged.

Heart pounding, she almost didn’t hear his whistle. She quickly climbed the ladder and waited at the top. She tilted her head to spy where Sean was, but couldn’t see more than the bushes immediately in front of her.

Sean whistled again, and he was much closer than she’d thought. She counted to three, then saw Sean pop up on his knees, shielded by a boulder, firing his.45 at an angle over her head, toward the opposite side of the logging road.

She climbed out and scrambled over to him, lying low, her gun out.

Sean emptied his cartridge, popped it out into his hand, and slammed back in a reload.

“I can’t see him, but he’s shooting down at an angle-I think he’s in a tree. We can run for it because it’ll take him time to get down.” He gestured behind them. “I’m going to cover you while you run to that clump of trees. Then you cover me. Once we’re there, he won’t have a line of sight.”

Lucy nodded.

Sean used his fingers to count to three, and Lucy bolted, staying low, making herself as small a target as possible. Sean shot steadily toward the treeline until he was out of ammo; he reloaded and Lucy got into position. She could barely see the truck from where she was, but Sean had been aiming a bit south of it.

She caught his eye and nodded. She fired her Glock, calm and focused, knowing if she screwed up, Sean’s life was at risk. It angered her that someone was shooting at them; in fact she was more angry than scared.

There was one lone rifle shot, then nothing.

Lucy reloaded when Sean was on his knees at her side.

“Okay?” she said.

“Let’s go. That last one came from ground level.”

How he knew that, Lucy didn’t know, but she wasn’t going to question.

They ran through the trees in a zigzag pattern. Sean was falling behind, limping. Lucy slowed and he shouted, “Move it!”

If Sean thought she was leaving him behind, he didn’t know her. She kept the lead, setting a steady pace that pushed Sean but gave him a little slack. He had to have noticed, but he didn’t comment again. She cut through the path that the ATVs had forged the other day. There was no further gunfire, no sound of a vehicle or anyone in pursuit, but Lucy wasn’t about to stop and wait for a possible ambush.

The gully along the side of the highway was deep and muddy but Lucy jumped into it, rolling onto her stomach and looking back the way they’d come, gun ready, her eyes scanning the distance to see if anyone was in pursuit. Sean did the same less than thirty seconds later.

They both breathed heavily, but Lucy did her best to control her breathing to minimize noise. She hadn’t heard anyone coming after them, nor had she heard gunfire, but that didn’t mean someone wasn’t following, waiting to hit them after they thought they were safe.

Sean pulled out his phone. “Tim’s almost here.”

Lucy looked behind her. “Tell him we’re about fifty feet from where we found the ATV yesterday.”

Sean typed in the message while Lucy kept watch. “I don’t think our shooter followed us,” Sean said. “Once we got into the woods, there were no more shots.”

“But why shoot at us in the first place?” Lucy didn’t expect an answer. It made no sense that he’d let them go.

She heard a truck on the highway and cautiously peered behind her. It was Tim’s old red truck, followed by a newer Jeep that belonged to Adam. They drove slowly and as they neared where she and Sean lay in the gully, Sean stood up and waved. Tim pulled over.

“What the hell happened?” he asked through the open window.

Lucy jumped into the backseat and Sean into the front. “Someone shot at us as we climbed out of the mine.”

“I brought Adam for backup. Are we going back to your truck?”

Lucy deferred to Sean. He considered. “I think the guy is gone. He didn’t come after us, but he could be waiting until we return. We go back, get as close as we can to the driver’s side, and I’ll use your truck as a shield.” He glanced back at Lucy. “You stay with Tim-provide cover.”

Tim made a U-turn on the two-lane highway. Adam followed. Tim used his radio to tell Adam the plan, then added, “You go first down the logging road. Get behind Sean’s truck and take out the rifle. If someone is there, he’ll know we’re serious.”

“Got it,” Adam said, and sped past them.

The turnoff wasn’t far, and Adam made the turn in his black Jeep, driving as fast as he could on the rutted, unpaved road. Tim followed.

By the time Adam was in view again, he had the door of his Jeep open, an AR-15 over the top of the window frame, scanning the area across the logging road.

Sean jumped out and got into his own truck. He looked around quickly, assessing potential dangers, but nothing seemed out of place …

… except a blank envelope on the dashboard.

He still had on the gloves from the mine. He opened the unsealed envelope and removed a single piece of white paper on which was typed:

IF I WANTED YOU DEAD, YOU’D BE DEAD.

GO HOME.

THIRTEEN

Sean slammed the door. He handed Lucy the unsigned note as he scanned the horizon.

“We should get out of here,” Tim began. “He could be-”

“He’s gone. He gave us a warning.” Bastard.

Sean continued to assess the landscape. If the sniper was telling the truth, he intentionally tried not to hit them. But the shots came close enough to make him believe, at the time, that the shooter wanted them dead. Or maybe when he missed, he wanted Sean to think it had been planned. Either way, he was enraged.

“He was up in a damn tree,” Sean said, having a hard time reigning in his temper. “I don’t think he stayed around long enough to clean up his brass.”

He started down the logging road toward where the shots had been fired.

Tim followed. “You can’t go out there. He could still be around.”

“Dammit, Tim, he could have killed us!”

What Sean wanted to say was that the shooter could have killed Lucy. When he found out who it was, he’d pummel him. But his anger wasn’t going to help them here and now. He reined it in. “He’s gone. I’m sure of it,” Sean said with as much calm as he could summon from inside. “If there’s any evidence out there about who this bastard is, I’ll find it.” Lucy nodded at him. Sean was relieved that she understood. “Keep your eyes open, Luce.”

“Of course.”

“I’ll go with you,” Tim said. “Adam, stay with Lucy.”

Sean had identified the area where the shots originated. Heading that way, he noted three possible trees in the distance the sniper could have climbed, all the while scanning the area to make doubly sure he wasn’t wrong about the bastard’s departure.

If I wanted you dead …

First the tricky maneuver that led to his fall into the mine, then someone taking shots at him, now further threats. Sean had to find out if the vandalism was related to the shooter, because if it was that meant the dead girl was also connected.

The first tree Sean approached had a large, freshly broken branch near the ground. Sean looked up and noted several cracked branches.

“He shot at us five times,” he said. “I want the brass. There’s a good chance he didn’t wear gloves when he