CULLENMOVEDFASTwhen he heard the gunshot. He hooked his arm around Leigh’s waist and pulled her to the ground next to some shrubs and landscape boulders. Cecile did the same with Jamie. But the deputy wasn’t fast enough.
The bullet slammed into her shoulder.
“Cecile,” Leigh said on a gasp, and she pulled away from Cullen so she could go to her deputy.
Apparently, Dawn was trying to do the same thing. Cullen heard the cruiser door open. Heard the shot that followed. And because he was on the ground, he could see Dawn fall on the other side of the cruiser.
Hell.
There were two deputies down.
Cecile was alive. Cullen could see that. But he could also see the blood that was already spreading across the front of her coat. Cecile was also writhing in pain. Pain that would get a whole lot worse if the shooter managed to put another bullet in her.
Cullen couldn’t see Dawn well enough to know if she was alive, but she wasn’t moving. Definitely not a good sign.
“Oh, God,” Jamie muttered, and he kept repeating it.
Another shot came, this one slamming into the ground between them and Bowen.
“Get down!” Cullen yelled to his father, and he drew his gun.
But there really wasn’t any cover where he was. Ditto for Leigh, Jamie, Cecile and him. They were all literally out in the open in the yard with two injured cops and a ranch hand who looked on the verge of a full-out panic attack.
While Leigh applied pressure to Cecile’s wound, Cullen made a quick call to the police station to get them some backup. It wouldn’t take long for the other deputies to arrive, but a gunman could take them all out in just a matter of seconds.
Cullen had to do something about that. He couldn’t just let Dawn and Cecile bleed out. He glanced around, looking for a way to get everyone to safety. The cruiser was a good fifteen feet away. It was the same for Bowen’s truck. They’d be easy targets if they tried to get to them.
Another bullet cracked through the air, and because he’d been waiting for it, Cullen used the sound to pinpoint the location. The shooter was to the right of Leigh’s yard, probably in the thick cluster of oak and pecan trees.
“Get flat on the ground next to those bushes and try to crawl to the left side of the house,” he told Bowen, but his father was already scrambling to do that.
More shots came, and none seemed to be aimed at Bowen. They all came toward Leigh. Even though Cullen knew she wasn’t going to like it, he climbed over her, took aim in the direction of the shooter, and he fired. It didn’t faze the shooter one bit because he sent more bullets their way.
Making a sound of outrage, Leigh levered herself up, and she, too, fired at the gunman. Cullen figured the chances of either of them hitting the guy were slim to none, but they needed a lull in the gunfire so they could get to the side of the house where Bowen was.
“I’ll get to Bowen’s truck,” Cullen told Leigh, and he made sure it sounded like a plan of action and not a suggestion. “I’ll bring it here so we can get Jamie and Cecile inside.”
Leigh was already shaking her head before he finished. “He’ll shoot you before you can get to it.”
Maybe.Probably, Cullen silently amended. “You can try to take him out when his attention’s focused on me.”
She was still shaking her head when they heard the sound of more gunfire. But this hadn’t come from the direction of the shooter. No. This was coming from the far right, behind Leigh’s house. And it wasn’t aimed at Leigh and him but rather at the shooter.
“Bowen,” Leigh said, glancing in the direction where Cullen had last seen his father. Bowen was no longer there. Since his father always carried a gun, he’d probably gone around the back of the house so he could try to stop the gunman.
And it worked.
Well, it worked in distracting the gunman, anyway, because the shots began to go in Bowen’s direction. Cullen knew Bowen was taking a huge risk. One that Cullen hoped didn’t cost him his life. But maybe it would be enough of a diversion for him to get Leigh, Jamie and Cecile behind cover.
“Jamie, you need to stay down and move,” Cullen told him, and he hoisted Cecile over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. The deputy moaned in pain, but she was still conscious.
Leigh’s eyes met Cullen’s. It was just a split-second glance, but a lot of things passed between them. The fear. And the hope. This was their chance, and they had to take it.
“We need to get to the left side of the house,” Leigh added.
Cullen was right there with her, and once he was sure Jamie was in a crouching position, Cullen got them moving. Leigh turned, covering their backs as they hurried across the stretch of yard.
It didn’t take long for the bullets to come their way.