Page 40 of Crossfire Creek Siege

He turned toward Rena and Gage. “She doesn’t step foot on these grounds.”

“You think she’s here to finish what she started?” Isla asked.

“I think she’s desperate,” Noah said. “And desperation makes people dangerous. For all we know, this is some kind of last-ditch play to get close, plant something, take another shot at us.”

The sheriff’s eyes narrowed at the screen where Corrine still waited at the gate. “She’s got nerve, I’ll give her that.”

“Yeah,” Gage muttered, gaze fixed on the monitor. “Let’s just make sure that nerve doesn’t come with a trigger.”

On the still-silenced monitor, Corrine’s smooth, slick demeanor changed. Obviously, she was annoyed with the wait. She got out of her car, slamming the door hard enough to make the security feed vibrate, and she stalked toward the gate. Her sunglasses were gone now, eyes sharp and gleaming with indignation.

“She won’t get past the guards,” Isla pointed out.

And she wouldn’t. Two Crossfire Ops sentries had already stepped forward. They were wearing full gear, stances wide and firm, rifles ready but lowered. They didn’t move as Corrine shouted something inaudible from the camera feed, her hands slicing through the air in furious gestures.

Noah reopened the comms, his face appearing on the small screen by the gate. “What do you want, Dr. Astor?” His tone was flat, controlled, but with an edge that said his patience was hanging by a thread.

Corrine stepped closer to the camera, her expression snapping from anger to something else. Fear maybe. “Someone’s trying to kill me,” she said, her voice breaking just enough to sound real. “My car blew up. Right after I got home from the interview with the sheriff.”

The room went still.

Noah didn’t react immediately, but his eyes flicked toward Isla, who was already typing furiously on one of her consoles. “Check it,” he said.

“Already on it,” Isla murmured, her fingers flying across the keys. The monitors reflected lines of scrolling data, security feeds, and law enforcement dispatches. Then she froze, eyes widening a little.

“Uh… yeah,” Isla said, her voice low. “Report’s just now being filed. Vehicle explosion at Dr. Corrine Astor’s listed residence. No casualties reported yet, but the car’s totaled.”

Corrine was still talking through the comms, her voice rising. “Noah, you know I wouldn’t make this up. They think I know something, something they don’t want me to say.”

“They?” Noah questioned.

“The people who tried to kill you in the siege.” Corrine’s voice crackled through the comms, high and brittle at the edges. “It’s a miracle I wasn’t killed,” she said, stepping even closer to the gate. The guards shifted, subtly closing the distance between her and the fence line. “I’d just gotten out of my car, just. Went inside to get my mail, and then, boom.” She threw up her hands, the motion jerky. “Another second or two and I would’ve been scattered across my driveway.”

Rena didn’t miss the tremor in her voice. Whether it was fear or performance, it rang loud enough to echo through the room.

Noah’s expression didn’t change. “Lucky timing,” he said, his voice flat.

Corrine’s composure cracked even more. “Lucky?” she snapped. “Damn you, Noah, I’m not making this up. You think I wanted any of this?”

“Depends what this is,” Noah countered, still calm, still immovable.

Corrine took a deep breath, visibly struggling to reel herself back in. When she spoke again, her tone was lower, colder. “I don’t want to be dragged into your war, Noah. I don’t want to become collateral damage because someone out there is trying to get back at you or your precious Crossfire Ops.”

She leaned closer to the camera, her face filling the monitor, eyes flashing with equal parts fury and fear. “If this is about revenge,” she added, “then maybe you should give them what they want.”

Rena frowned. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” she muttered.

Corrine’s answer came a beat later. “Step down, Noah,” she said simply. “Resign. Walk away before more people die. Maybe that’ll sate whoever’s behind this.”

Noah didn’t even blink. “You honestly think that’s how this works?”

Corrine’s mouth curved into a thin, bitter smile. “I think you’ve made a career out of creating enemies. Maybe one of them finally decided you weren’t untouchable after all.”

The woman didn’t stop there. She started pacing, continuing her rant. Then Rena saw it. A flicker of motion at the far edge of the screen.

“Hold up,” Isla murmured, already swiveling to another console. Her fingers flew over the keys, pulling up the secondary security feed from the outer perimeter. “We’ve got something.”

Corrine was still talking, oblivious, pacing near her car as the guards watched her every move. But on Isla’s monitor, the image sharpened, zooming in on the long dirt road that led toward the main highway.