Page 57 of Final Inning

“Five minutes away or so. What’s going on?”

Dani filled him in as quickly as possible. Five minutes.

He was going to get there. Miranda would have backup in a matter of moments.

She dialed Knight next.

When he answered, she went straight to details. “Miranda called. Reported trouble at Lindhour’s residence. Miranda isn’t answering now. Ward is five out now. Hurry and get there as fast as you can.”

Then all Dani could do was wait.

Chapter 47

She had shot a woman today.

The woman wasn’t dead yet but…Miranda had shot her.

In the middle of Hagan Lindhour’s kitchen floor. With a tortoiseshell cat hiding under the table nearby.

Miranda would have to find a way to process that. For now…EMTs were bent over Hagan, doing what they could. Hagan was still alive.

That was all Miranda could tell now.

The OHP commander on scene was a guy she had met before. She’d consulted with him on a serial abductor case over a year ago. He helped her to her feet and to a bench outside the townhouse. Telling her all she did was cause a man trouble. And when he’d heard she was involved, he’d wanted to come by and say hi.

Miranda just looked at him. She was hurting like hell. That bitch had connected with that bat—on the arm Miranda had had three surgeries on already.

She was going to have problems with it now. But she was alive.

That woman—Valeria Braun—could have killed her. Miranda could deal with another broken arm, if it meant going home to Bentley now.

“She isn’t the only one involved,” she told the commander practically holding her on her feet right now. “She has a partner, older, more powerful. It’s the damned sheriff of this county. We need to find him.”

“That’s a hefty accusation. You have proof?”

“As soon as we get a DNA sample, I’m sure of it. And she said as much. Said Uncle Ted would clean it up for her. That’s Ted Johnson, sheriff of Helery County.” Miranda stood. They were loading Hagan into the ambulance now.

That woman was all alone in the world. And now this.

Hagan was in for a long road. But she was still alive.

Miranda looked at the woman responsible. “You. Tell me now—did you kill Kevin Adams and Harper Wycoff?”

She just snarled. “It was their fault. They should have just left me alone. Uncle Ted will fix this. He will.”

“Ted Johnson. Sheriff of this county? Was he there that night Kevin was killed?” Miranda asked as a dark truck pulled up outside the crime scene perimeter. Ward hopped out. And came running, flashing his credentials at the state guy working the perimeter.

Miranda met her teammate halfway. “We need to get to Johnson. He’s the actual killer. I think…she just incapacitated both victims, and Johnson finished the job. And get a unit from Corruption here to take over. This whole county—I don’t think anyone under Johnson can be trusted. Everything he touched will have to be gone over.”

“We’ll do that. But first—you need to get that arm looked at.”

“I’ve broken it again. I’m sure of it.” And the paramedic had immobilized it, before Miranda had told her to hold off, while Miranda dealt with the scene. Until someone she trusted showed up to take over. But the pain—it was real. And she was starting to feel seriously light-headed here. “We need to go after Johnson.”

“We’ll get him,” Ward said. “But you…are going to get that arm dealt with. I’ll take over from here.”

Well, she thought that was a damned good idea.

Miranda turned to the side and lost what remained in her stomach. And went to her knees. Ward helped her back to her feet. “Well, she got me more than once, Ward. I’m ready for a vacation.”