Page 68 of Hunted in Hope Town

She didn’t let herself think. She just aimed at the man in the woods and pulled her trigger. She heard something splinter, and a distant thud and crash—hopefully of a body hitting the ground.

“Kirsten!” It was the grip on her arm that finally got through to whatever shock her body had held on to. Her eyes were squeezed shut. Her finger was still tight on the trigger. Her breath held—so she let it out in a rush, opening her eyes.

Boyd stood in her vision, though he wavered a little as she worked to focus her eyes. His gaze was fierce, mouth grim. “Breathe,” he ordered.

And she was doing what Boyd said, because she’d promised Ellis she would, so she inhaled, exhaled.

“Let go of the trigger,” he told her, a little more gently this time.

She managed to loosen her grip. Her knuckles ached. Her body pulsed in time with her heart beat.

“Next time you shoot a gun, keep your eyes open,” Boyd said through gritted teeth. He was holding on to his arm like…

Kirsten made a sound of distress, her heart dropping to her toes for a second. Blood seeped out from between his fingers. Boyd shook his head.

“It wasn’t you. You were pointed in the right direction and you got your guy. Just in the future, I’d like it not to be me. So keep the eyes open.”

You got your guy. Kirsten’s gaze began to move toward where she’d shot, but Boyd was pulling her along. “There’s no one else here. I think we should double back to Ellis. I have a bad feeling someone was waiting for him too. He can handle his own, but…”

But he was alone.

Chapter Twenty-Two

The gunshots echoing through the trees sent a little trio of birds straight up into the blue sky.

Ellis couldn’t let himself be distracted by them, not while Colleen still had a gun, but his heart leaped in fear and the driving need to run toward that sound. It had to be Boyd and Kirsten. It had to be…

Them. Shooting. He couldn’t consider any other eventuality. Boyd was handling things there. So Ellis had to handle things here.

“Uh-oh,” Colleen said with a little pout. “Better run and see who it was.”

“I’m going to have to shoot you first.”

Colleen laughed. “You’re a Boy Scout, Sutty. You’re not going to shoot me if I don’t aim. You won’t be able to live with yourself if you kill me when I wasn’t making an active threat against you. You forget, I know you.”

He curled his finger around the trigger, keeping his aim steady and true. She didn’t know him. She never had. But she was right. He didn’t like the idea of killing her if she wasn’t posing an active threat.

But there was something she didn’t understand.

“I don’t have to shoot to kill.” Before he’d even finished the sentence, he pulled the trigger, aiming for her. In the same fluid motion, he charged. As long as the shot caused her to drop the gun, he could tackle her and immobilize her, and then once he found some way to tie her up, he’d find Boyd and Kirsten and make sure the gunshots weren’t…

He didn’t let himself finish the thought. Her hand was too small of a target to know for sure he’d hit exactly where he wanted.

But he’d always been an excellent shot.

He wasn’t sure where the bullet hit, but it had to have been close to where he’d aimed since Colleen screamed out in pain, and even better, dropped the gun. He was halfway across the yard. He’d reach her before she had a chance to pick it back up.

Still, he knew that wouldn’t be her only weapon, and she was still on her feet.

So he ran harder and then leaped, tackling her before she could reach any other weapons or leap for her own gun in the snow. He had her face down in a pile of it, and though she struggled pretty effectively, Ellis kept her under control by using his body weight. He ripped the tie from his coat hood out and used it to bind her arms. It wouldn’t hold forever, but it bought him some time to dig around in her coat pockets.

He wasn’t surprised to find duct tape and zip ties. But he was grateful. He replaced his makeshift tie with her zip tie, then moved down to her feet. She wouldn’t be able to do anything like this.

He rolled her over onto her back. Her face was red and wet. She was gasping for air. Wriggling against her bonds. But thankfully, they held her tight.

“I hope she’s already dead,” Colleen spat at him. “I hope you find her with a damn hole in her head.”

Before Ellis could respond to that, or—even better—walk away, he heard someone behind him. He whirled, ready to shoot.