premises first and scanned the street in both directions as they walked toward his SUV.
The sun had gone down, leaving that dusky-not-quite-dark time of the evening when folks ushered their kids inside and streetlights began to flicker to life. As she walked along the driveway the pit bull made another dive that snapped his chain tight.
“Stop wasting the effort,” she told him. “You won’t be able to break that log chain.”
She hoped Harper was far enough away that he’d missed her giving advice to the dog. She needed the distraction. Anything to get her mind off the last hour. This was an undeniably bad situation. The chances that DeShawn Simmons was alive were minimal, and that was the good news.
She didn’t want to think about the bad news.
Not much had changed in this neighborhood at all since that year she’d spent here as a kid. She wondered if her aunt was still alive and living around here someplace.
The woman had chosen her drugs and her johns over Jess and her sister. She surely couldn’t have expected them to keep in touch. The truth was, Jess hadn’t thought of her in decades. Why start now?
Jess cut across the lawn and was halfway to Harper’s SUV when she heard a sound that made her blood go cold.
Tha-thwack
.
An engine roared to life. A vehicle rocketed from between two parked cars. Up the block on her right.
Harper lunged toward her. They hit the ground, his body shielding hers before the first bullets exploded from at least one pump shotgun and numerous other automatic weapons.
They were in the open.
No cover.
There was nothing they could do except ride it out.
The squeal of tires and growl of the engine diminished in the distance before the echo of the final shots faded.
Just as suddenly as it had begun, it was over.
Before she could make a move to get up, Harper was on his feet and reaching for her. “You okay, ma’am?”
Jess got to her knees and retrieved her bag. Thankfully the contents hadn’t flown in a dozen directions. “Pretty damned good, considering.” She accepted his hand and levered to her feet, then wheeled around to see if the Simmonses’ house had suffered any damage that might have endangered the people inside.
“Get backup over here,” she said to Harper as she fished out her Glock. “I’m going in to check on Mr. and Mrs. Simmons.”
Before the order was fully out of her mouth, the front door burst open and the elderly couple bounded out of the house with far more agility and speed than Jess would have expected.
“Get back in the house,” she shouted. There was no way to know what the shooters would do next. Stay gone, most likely, but there were no guarantees.
The couple stared at her a moment, then at the gun in her right hand, before obeying her command. The shattered security door slammed behind them, safety glass showering the stoop.
Harper had dispatch on the horn and was relaying the situation. Jess surveyed the neighborhood. Folks on both sides of the street had started to wander out into their yards.
She motioned with her free hand and shouted, “Birmingham PD! Go back in your homes until we give the all clear.”
By the time Harper closed his phone, sirens were wailing in the distance and the curiosity seekers were going back inside.
For the first time since the initial pump of that shotgun, Jess hauled in a decent breath. Her gaze stalled on Harper and his slight limp. The knees of his khaki trousers were stained by the dive into the grass, but it was the darker stain on his left thigh just above his knee that worried her, made her own knees go weak.
“You’re hit.” She moved toward him to get a closer look.
“It’s just a flesh wound.” He showed her where the bullet had entered and exited his trouser leg. “I’ll live.”
“Is EMS on the way, too?”
He nodded. “Captain Allen as well. I figured GTF needed in on this.”
“You figured right, Sergeant,” Jess acknowledged. Damn it all to hell. “Let’s get
The sun had gone down, leaving that dusky-not-quite-dark time of the evening when folks ushered their kids inside and streetlights began to flicker to life. As she walked along the driveway the pit bull made another dive that snapped his chain tight.
“Stop wasting the effort,” she told him. “You won’t be able to break that log chain.”
She hoped Harper was far enough away that he’d missed her giving advice to the dog. She needed the distraction. Anything to get her mind off the last hour. This was an undeniably bad situation. The chances that DeShawn Simmons was alive were minimal, and that was the good news.
She didn’t want to think about the bad news.
Not much had changed in this neighborhood at all since that year she’d spent here as a kid. She wondered if her aunt was still alive and living around here someplace.
The woman had chosen her drugs and her johns over Jess and her sister. She surely couldn’t have expected them to keep in touch. The truth was, Jess hadn’t thought of her in decades. Why start now?
Jess cut across the lawn and was halfway to Harper’s SUV when she heard a sound that made her blood go cold.
Tha-thwack
.
An engine roared to life. A vehicle rocketed from between two parked cars. Up the block on her right.
Harper lunged toward her. They hit the ground, his body shielding hers before the first bullets exploded from at least one pump shotgun and numerous other automatic weapons.
They were in the open.
No cover.
There was nothing they could do except ride it out.
The squeal of tires and growl of the engine diminished in the distance before the echo of the final shots faded.
Just as suddenly as it had begun, it was over.
Before she could make a move to get up, Harper was on his feet and reaching for her. “You okay, ma’am?”
Jess got to her knees and retrieved her bag. Thankfully the contents hadn’t flown in a dozen directions. “Pretty damned good, considering.” She accepted his hand and levered to her feet, then wheeled around to see if the Simmonses’ house had suffered any damage that might have endangered the people inside.
“Get backup over here,” she said to Harper as she fished out her Glock. “I’m going in to check on Mr. and Mrs. Simmons.”
Before the order was fully out of her mouth, the front door burst open and the elderly couple bounded out of the house with far more agility and speed than Jess would have expected.
“Get back in the house,” she shouted. There was no way to know what the shooters would do next. Stay gone, most likely, but there were no guarantees.
The couple stared at her a moment, then at the gun in her right hand, before obeying her command. The shattered security door slammed behind them, safety glass showering the stoop.
Harper had dispatch on the horn and was relaying the situation. Jess surveyed the neighborhood. Folks on both sides of the street had started to wander out into their yards.
She motioned with her free hand and shouted, “Birmingham PD! Go back in your homes until we give the all clear.”
By the time Harper closed his phone, sirens were wailing in the distance and the curiosity seekers were going back inside.
For the first time since the initial pump of that shotgun, Jess hauled in a decent breath. Her gaze stalled on Harper and his slight limp. The knees of his khaki trousers were stained by the dive into the grass, but it was the darker stain on his left thigh just above his knee that worried her, made her own knees go weak.
“You’re hit.” She moved toward him to get a closer look.
“It’s just a flesh wound.” He showed her where the bullet had entered and exited his trouser leg. “I’ll live.”
“Is EMS on the way, too?”
He nodded. “Captain Allen as well. I figured GTF needed in on this.”
“You figured right, Sergeant,” Jess acknowledged. Damn it all to hell. “Let’s get
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