Page 89 of Chasing Creed

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The blast was deafening!

Brodie felt Hannah tugging her toward the patio door. She couldn’t take her eyes off Sara. She stood in the middle of the backyard. Feet set apart. Arms extended. Both hands gripping the large handgun.

The first shot had bucked her backward. She stood even straighter, reset herself, and fired again.

The poor dog had flattened to the ground. Brodie pulled herself away from Hannah and raced to Shadow. She covered the dog with her body. It trembled against Brodie’s pounding chest. The backs of Sara’s legs leaned into them, as if she were still trying to protect them from whatever was in the sky.

All Brodie heard was a deep buzzing overhead. Too small to be a helicopter and too big to be a hawk. When it finally crashed, she felt the ground vibrate.

With a glance around Sara’s pant legs, Brodie recognized the object. She’d seen one similar in the Mississippi pasture.

“He’s here,” Sara turned now and squatted next to them. Her concern for the dog was written all over her face as she reached for her. She ran her hand over Shadow, calming the dog as much as searching for additional injuries.

Hannah bent over the two of them, her hand resting on Brodie’s shoulder. Brodie asked the question before Hannah got to it first.

“How do we know you’re not working with him?”

Sara’s eyes met Brodie’s, and immediately Brodie saw a glimpse of what looked like fear before Sara tucked it away.

“Because I’m on his list, too. I know. I saw it.”

“My brother and his friends will catch him.”

“They have surveillance cameras all over the property,” Hannah added.

“That drone probably disabled all of their equipment. Orlando has some of the newest and most powerful technology.”

“She’s right.”

Brodie hadn’t heard Ryder until he was standing beside them.

“Wi-Fi’s jammed,” he waited to catch his breath. “I thought it might be the storm. But this makes more sense.”

There was a distant rumble. It was the middle of the day and suddenly the sky grew dark as twilight.

Sara’s hand clamped onto Brodie’s wrist. “Thank you for taking care of Shadow. Whatever happens, I hope you’ll take her in.”

“Wait, what?”

“I need to stop Orlando. I’m the only one who can.”

“No. Ryder, tell her,” Brodie stayed on her knees, one arm hugging the dog but looking up at her brother. “We’ll get him together.”

It was at that moment that Jason came crashing through the back gate. His eyes wild until they landed on Brodie’s. Then he slowed down, taking in the sight of the crashed drone as he rushed over to them.

Sara paid little attention to the men. She wasn’t interested in being introduced or even knowing who they were. It didn’t seem to matter to her at all what they might bring to this fight.

Instead, her eyes stayed on Brodie’s. “I need to find him while he’s still relying on that drone’s jamming abilities. He’ll be downloading its data. There are thermal and infrared sensors on board. He’ll know exactly where everyone on the ground is.”

“That’s true,” Jason said. “But most of them only identify heat sources. Warm bodies. I’ll bet he didn’t count on dozens of dogs.”

Brodie watched Sara look up at Jason this time. Clearly, she hadn’t thought about that either.

“Let’s get inside,” Hannah instructed. “Sensors or no sensors, we’re sitting ducks out here.”

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