Page 94 of Betrayed

Chapter Thirty

Logan jumped off his motorcycle and dropped to the ground. Another shot whizzed past.

Reaching under his t-shirt, he drew his pistol.

He opened fire into the woods, the direction the shots had come from. He hated not seeing his target, but at least he knew there was a thick growth of trees there and not a house.

Logan loosed two more shots then paused. No shots returned. Maintaining his aim at the dark woods, he took his phone out and dialed 911, barely looking down.

He reported it and said, “Plain clothes officer in pursuit.”

Logan grabbed his stronger flashlight from his saddle bag. After moving his bike to the side of the road, he ran into the woods, sweeping the 1300 lumen beam to and fro, gun trained in the center of the light, ready for whatever he might spot.

Inside the tree line, the beam hit a speck of blue, catching his eye. He approached.

Not seeing the shooter, he inspected the object.

A gun lay on the ground. And not just any gun. One with a robin’s-egg-blue extended magazine, mag release, and trigger. Was that AJ’s gun?

He squatted and held his hand near the barrel without touching it. It was warm. Someone had tried to kill him with his wife’s gun. What on God’s good earth was happening?

That meant—Logan jumped to his feet—AJ’s stalker was … Logan ran into the woods. “Where are you? Show yourself.”

Logan kept the beam going back and forth. He had to find this guy.

A car started in the distance and squealed its tires as it drove away.

“No!” Logan kicked at the underbrush, then turned and went back to his motorcycle and the scene to wait for backup.

He walked up to his bike as Officer Stillwater arrived. Two more officers showed up before Stillwater could even shake Logan’s hand.

“You okay?”

“I don’t know how he missed me. Grateful nonetheless. So grateful.”

“Did you see the shooter?”

Logan shook his head. “But looks like he ditched the weapon. The same one we reported stolen from my wife’s nightstand two nights ago.”

“Show me.”

A few more officers arrived while Logan showed Stillwater the Smith & Wesson.

Stillwater squatted by the pistol. “Guess we’ll find some nine millimeter bullets over there.” He pointed toward a streetlamp across the road.

Logan analyzed the trajectory. “Yeah, and some more in these trees where I shot at him.”

“Let’s get out of here and let evidence collection work it.”

As if on cue, the CSU van drove up.

The men went back to the road. Logan said, “I need to call my wife.”

“My advice, for what it’s worth—call someone to get her and bring her here. Don’t let her drive right now, even if a stalker wasn’t after her.”

Logan nodded. “Good thought.” He stepped away and called Will.

AJ had tried to doze, but it wasn’t working. Anxiety ate at her stomach. Logan told her he was leaving on time. He should have been to her dad’s already. Why wasn’t he here? Maybe she should call him.