Christmas Cover-Up

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Authors: Lynette Eason
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waiting on her when she was forced to leave the room?
    Smoke thickened, closing her lungs and burning her eyes. Light-headed, she forced back the panic and sent prayers heavenward. She didn’t have a choice.
    She stood and shoved the window up. Fresh cold air blew in and she sucked in a lungful, but she didn’t climb out as she considered her options.
    Her hesitation saved her as a gunshot shattered the window just above her head. Heart pounding, she ducked back to the floor and lifted the phone. “Officer in trouble. I need help now!”
    “Help is en route, ma’am.”
    “How far away?”
    “Two minutes.”
    “I don’t have that long!” She took a shallow breath of the air near the floor. Just keep breathing. Don’t pass out.
    Nothing to do but get out. And not through her bedroom door. Or the bedroom window. On hands and knees, she spun, her brain whirling. The bathroom. Flames crept toward the door. Once she went in, she wasn’t coming out. Katie took a deep breath, coughed until she thought she might lose a lung and darted inside. She slammed the door shut and raced toward the window.
    She pushed it up and kicked the screen out of the way.
    Smoke filled the bathroom and stars danced before her eyes even as another breath of fresh air wafted over her. With a prayer on her lips, she gripped the windowsill and hauled herself over. As she hit the bushes below, she heard the crack of a gunshot and felt the bite of the bullet.

SIX
    J ordan heard the gunshot as he stepped out of his car. His heartbeat kicked into overdrive. “Cort!”
    Cort was already racing for the back of the house. The next crack came seconds later. Jordan came to the edge of the house, weapon in hand, wrists pressed to his chest, the muzzle of the gun aimed toward the night sky. With one swift move, he swung around. And found the area empty.
    But Katie’s house on fire.
    “Katie!” Jordan flinched at the sight of the flames roaring from her bedroom window. “Oh, no,” he whispered. “Katie!”
    The moon revealed a dark figure running the length of the back fence, a rifle clutched in his left hand. Cort bolted after him while Jordan raced toward the broken window of Katie’s bedroom. Smoke gushed from the opening and he couldn’t get close. Terror shot through him. No, God, no. Don’t let it be. Please, Lord.
    He heard the sirens coming. But it was too late. There was no way Katie would survive. He sank to his knees as firefighters rounded the house and turned their hoses on the blaze. He knew more were out front doing the same.
    Movement caught his attention. He turned, weapon ready—and nearly dropped it in shock. “Katie!”
    She stumbled toward him, face pale, blood soaking her left arm. He raced to her, yelling, “I need a paramedic!”
    Then, worried no one would hear him over the roar of the water, he scooped her up and headed for the front of the house. Her head lolled against his shoulder. “I’m okay,” she whispered. “I think it looks worse than it is.” A deep cough racked her and Jordan held her even tighter. “Hurts to breathe.” Her rasp told him she’d inhaled her share of smoke.
    He was as worried about that as he was the wound in her left shoulder.
    Jordan raced to the nearest ambulance. Two paramedics leaped from the vehicle. “Set her on the gurney.” Tall, with wavy blond hair pulled into a functional ponytail, a woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties was the first to speak. Her confident, professional manner gave Jordan a small measure of relief. He laid Katie on the gurney just as Cort rushed up.
    “He got away. Had a motorcycle stashed just up the road. She all right?”
    Jordan stepped back out of the way as the paramedics took over, however, he didn’t take his eyes from her still form. “I’m not sure.” Anxiety twisted his insides. “What happened? How’d he get past you?”
    Cort swiped a gloved hand over his salt-and-pepper hair. “He knew I was here and set up a distraction. I

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