Chapter Twenty-Six
Jess rolled sideways away from the door and shook particleboard pieces off her as she tried to figure out what had just happened. From a distance a woman screamed.
Spike went crazy.
She pulled her gun and got to her feet, careful to stay well away from the opening as muted gunshots sounded from within and pinged off the doorframe. After a full clip was emptied into the door and the wall on either side of it, the shots stopped.
Staying low, Jess waited a few very loud whooshing heartbeats to listen for signs of life inside the room.
Realizing the woman was probably reloading, she moved to the damaged door and peeked into the darkened room. The cheap panel hung on its hinges giving her a narrow view.
There was no sign of the shooter. Leading with her pistol, Jess stepped over faux wood chunks and stepped into the room. She did a quick assessment of the space and closet and headed for the bathroom.
The window was open. She checked behind the shower curtain and ran to the window. Before she could look out, a pellet almost hit her in the head.
“Damnit!” She bolted out of the room and rounded the end of the building. She spotted a running female in the distance darting through a thin patch of trees that made up an ineffective sound buffer between the freeway and the motel.
She took off after her.
Despite an extra twenty pounds, the woman was fast. She weaved in and out of the scrub trees like she’d been raised in the woods, never slowing. Jess had to fight to keep branches from poking out her eyes.
The sniper’s path went south. In the scrub, Jess lost her several times as the wooded area thickened and thinned, then thickened again.
They managed to cover several hundred yards before the snap of breaking branches behind her swung Jess around as she dropped and aimed, sure she was about to be ambushed.
A figure tore through the brush. Spike!
“Spike!” she cried out as the dog took off past her. Worried for her pet and chasing a dangerous and armed woman, she raced after the dog. His lower profile helped him navigate the woods and soon she lost sight of the big beast.
A shot cracked and a yelp. “Spike!” Jess yelled, terrified. Several more snaps followed. She ran in the direction of the sound. Just as she saw the edge of the woods break to an opening of an overgrown field, she heard a car start.
Frantic, she pushed through the last of the trees’ To her relief, Spike was on his feet and chasing after a black car tearing down a dusty two-track trail.
“Spike, come!” The dog skidded to a halt. He turned. Blood marked his brown coat. “Oh, no.”
She watched in slow motion as he dropped to the ground.
“Spike!”
* * *
After her frantic call to her boss, Irving found a vet on wheels to come to the site. The vet had just started the exam on Spike when Sam arrived. Jess was relieved that her dog was still alive and too numb from shock to do more than ramble.
Sam got that much out of her before the vet and a couple officers on the scene lifted the dog into a stretcher and loaded him into the mobile office. He’d be transported to an emergency clinic for care.
“He’d better be okay,” she said with a hitch in her voice and brushed her eyes on her sleeve. “Summer and Heather will meet them there.” Heather had spent some time with Spike and he knew her. “They’ll keep watch over my sweet baby.”
Sam knew how desperately she wanted to hold Spike’s paw and tell him everything would be all right. But she knew she couldn’t leave without making a statement. The sniper had been chased from her nest. There was no telling what she’d do now.
“Let’s get your statement and you to the hospital.”
Jess told them everything she could remember from the time she arrived to getting to the room.
Sam backtracked. “How’d she know you were outside?”
“I have no idea.” Jess ran her hand over her head. “I’d just gotten to the door when she shot at me.”
“Could she see you from the window?”
“I guess so, but the curtains were closed. I did one pass around the car and that took maybe thirty seconds. It’s like she knew I was coming.”
Their eyes met. “The clerk tipped her off,” Sam said. He waved over another detective. “Get the clerk in a car so he doesn’t leave.”
He turned back to Jess. “What happened next?”
She explained entering the room, the sniper escaping through the bathroom window, and Spike. “I think he saved me,” she said. “There was no way the sniper could have known it was my dog chasing her. She thought he was me. He’s a hero.”
Sam wasn’t sure the dog planned on turning rescuer, but it was possible that he had inadvertently taken a bullet meant for Jess. He had the scent of the sniper from the earlier chase near his house.
Red hot rage burned in his gut. Cool professionalism kept him from going over and strangling the protesting clerk as they shoved him into a patrol car. “You said you saw a car pull away. Do you know the make or plate?”
“I happened so fast. It was black, a mid-size. It had a plate I didn’t recognize. It was white and blue, I think. Or maybe beige and blue?” She rubbed her temples. “I think the first two letters were H-O.” She paused. “Damn. I was worried about my dog.”
He squeezed her shoulder. With so many eyes on them, it was the best he could do. “I think we’re done here for now. Go check on Spike.”
After she left, he walked to the patrol car and pulled the clerk out of the back seat and pressed him back against the car.
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” he protested in a high squeak. Shaking, he wouldn’t meet Sam’s eyes. “I’m innocent!”
“You almost got a woman killed today and you say you didn’t do anything wrong?” The coward whimpered. “I want you to tell me everything about the woman in 110 right down to what kind of toothpaste she uses. And if I’m satisfied with your answers, I won’t kill you.”
* * *
Jess hurried into the vet hospital and met Summer and Heather in the tiny waiting room. “How is he?” she asked, her stomach queasy. Spike had to be okay.
Summer pulled her into her arms. “He’s in surgery. They’re assessing the damage.”
“He’ll be fine,” Heather added. “He’s tough.”
Jess glanced at her.
Heather shrugged. “Okay, he’s a marshmallow, but deep down underneath his sweet personality is one tough dog. He took a bullet today. Not all dogs could survive that.”
“Yes,” Summer said and eased her down onto a hard plastic chair. “He saved you. He’s not going anywhere.”
The clock ticked as the three women waited. Thirty minutes later, the vet came out still wearing his scrubs, his face grim.
All the blood rushed from Jess’s head as the room dimmed.