Grayson by Delores Fossen Page A

mumble of disgust, and she was positive she was the cause. He wanted to be in the heat of this investigation, but here he was driving her to Austin instead. She turned to face him, to tell him that he could just drop her off in Austin and leave. Not that it would do any good—he would insist on staying. But she had to try. This investigation was important to both of them.
    However, before she could launch into another argument, she heard the sound.
    It was a thick, hard blast.
    At first she thought maybe they’d had a blowout. But the second sound was identical.
    “Get down!” Grayson shouted.
    Just as a third blast ripped through the truck window.
     
     
     

Chapter Seven
     
    Grayson slammed his foot onto the accelerator to get Eve and him out of there, but it was already too late.
    He heard the fourth shot, and he also heard Eve repeat his shouted command of get down. But he couldn’t duck out of sight. He had to fight to keep them alive. He pushed Eve down onto the seat so that she wouldn’t be hit with the bullet or the broken glass.
    But the bullet didn’t crash through the glass.
    It hit the tire.
    Grayson’s stomach knotted, and he felt his truck jerk to the right. He fought with the steering wheel and tried to stay on the road, but it was impossible. The now-flat tire and metal rim scraped against the gravel shoulder.
    “Hang on,” he warned Eve.
    They were going to crash.
    He couldn’t avoid that. However, the crash was the least of Grayson’s worries. Someone had shot out the tire, and that someone was no doubt waiting for them. That meant Eve was in danger all over again, and Grayson cursed the bastard responsible for that.
    There were no trees near the road, thank God, but there were clusters about a hundred yards off the road. That’s probably where the gunman was hiding. And then there was the creek directly in front of them. He didn’t want to go there because there were some deep spots in the water that could swallow them up.
    “We have to jump,” Grayson told her, and he pumped the brakes to slow the truck as much as he could. However, he didn’t have much control of the vehicle.
    Jumping was a risk, but the greater risk would be to remain inside so the gunman would have an easier chance of killing them. Besides, there was that potential for drowning.
    Eve didn’t answer, but she nodded and caught on to the door handle.
    “When you jump out, run toward the trees to the right,” he added. “And grab my cell phone.”
    Grayson took out his gun. Eve grabbed the phone.
    “Now!” He barreled out at the same time as Eve, and he hit the soggy ground ready to fire. The truck gave Eve some cover for just a few seconds, until it plunged nose-first into the creek.
    The gunman fired, the shot kicking up mud and a clump of grass several yards in front of Grayson. Grayson returned fire, a single shot, praying it would buy Eve enough time. He could hear her running, but he had to do everything to keep the gunman’s attention on him.
    Grayson spotted the gunman, or rather the sleeve of his jacket. He spotted Eve, too. She had ducked behind an oak and had taken out her own gun from her coat pocket. She leaned out and took aim at the gunman.
    What the hell was she doing?
    That knot in his stomach twisted even harder. She had purposely left cover, the very thing he didn’t want her to do. Grayson frantically motioned for her to get back. But she didn’t. She fired. Her shot slammed into the tree where the gunman was hiding. The bullet didn’t hit him, but it caused the man to jump back.
    Even though Eve’s diversion could have been deadly, it was exactly what Grayson needed because he scrambled toward Eve and dove behind the tree. He also caught on to her and pulled her deeper into the woods. He damn sure didn’t want her to get hurt trying to protect him.
    “Stay back,” Grayson warned her in a rough whisper. But he soon realized that staying back might be just as dangerous as staying put.