“I’ll handle the sheriff and the prosecutor,” Morgan said. “We know who killed Paul. It might take some time to prove it, but once Aaron’s body is dragged from the river, the case against Evan will be dropped. You don’t have to fear the police now.”

“You can trust Morgan to handle Evan’s legal needs, and while those legal issues are sorted out, Evan will be getting the medical assistance he desperately needs.” Lance scanned the teen. “You can’t run from the law, and there’s no reason for you to try. Especially when you know he needs major medical intervention.”

“It’s not the law I’m afraid of,” Tina said. “It’s Joe. You cannot keep us safe from him. He found us once. He will do so again.”

“You might be right, but you need to prioritize the threats.” Lance was done with the conversation. “You need to put the gun down and let us finish saving your son’s life. Then you can worry about Joe.”

Tina’s brows lowered. She was trying to think of a way to force him to comply without shooting him. She should have been crying. She should have been emotional. Instead, she was thinking. But behind the mental exercise, he saw fear.

Pure fear.

She’d been planning to run for some time, as soon as she’d realized that Joe might have found her. She was desperate. She’d do anything to save her son, no matter how crazy. Lance’s experience in the ER with Sophie had given him fresh insight into the parent-child bond and the primal instinct to protect one’s young. She was fixated on her father and the terrible things he’d done in the past, the ways she and others had suffered at his hands. She saw him now as he’d been in her childhood. And the vision terrified her.

Lance couldn’t threaten or bully her. He needed to appeal to the one thing that would break through the fear.

Her son.

“We can’t wait. Have you checked his vitals? He looks worse.” Lance moved toward Evan.

“Don’t touch him!” Tina turned her body so the gun aimed squarely at Lance’s chest. “I will shoot you.”

Unfortunately, he’d given Evan his body armor. “You’re going to have to.”

He moved smoothly and slowly, faking confidence. Despite the cold, despite being soaking wet, despite being almost sure that Tina wouldn’t shoot him, Lance poured sweat and held his breath.

He dropped to one knee next to Evan. “Morgan, would you open the back seat of the Jeep?”

She rushed to the vehicle and opened the rear doors on both sides.

Evan was no lightweight, and Lance’s muscles were already taxed from the water rescue. He wasn’t sure he could pick the boy up.

“I can’t do this alone. I need help.” Lance looked straight down the barrel of the gun at Tina. “You can keep pointing that gun at me, or you and Morgan can lift Evan’s legs so we can get your son to the hospital.”

Tina lowered the weapon. Morgan rushed in and disarmed her, quickly sweeping her hands along Tina’s sides. Morgan pulled her own gun from the pocket of Tina’s rain jacket. Tina had been smart enough to collect both guns from the observation deck.

Before Lance could attempt to transfer Evan to the car, the sound of sirens approached.

Tears poured from Tina’s eyes. Morgan holstered her own weapon and handed Lance’s to him.

Lance squinted. The rain had stopped, but he was so wet, he hadn’t noticed.

He put a hand on Tina’s arm. “No one will know what just happened.”

She nodded once, then returned to her son to check the bag of saline to his IV line.

The sirens grew louder, and Lance saw the swirl of red and blue lights in the distance.

Tina adjusted the flow of fluids.

“I’ll handle the sheriff,” Morgan said. “Don’t answer any questions at all unless I’m there. I will let the sheriff know not to question Evan either, unless I am present.”

Tina nodded. “As I said before, it isn’t the sheriff that I fear.”

Lance turned toward Morgan, who had opened the cargo hatch of the Jeep and was sitting on the tailgate, holding Rylee’s hand. He heard a banging sound. He tilted his head and shook some water out of his ear. The banging repeated, three quick taps, three with longer pauses between them, then another three fast taps.

SOS?

“Did you hear that?” he asked Morgan.

She nodded and started to rise.

“Stay with Rylee.” Lance followed the noise. It was coming from above them. The parking lot? He took the steps two at a time, crossed the higher elevation deck, and emerged in the parking lot. The banging led him to the back of a dark-blue four-door sedan.

Someone was in the trunk.

Lance walked around the vehicle. The driver’s door was unlocked. He used the hem of his shirt to open it, reached in, and pressed the trunk release button.

The trunk popped up a few inches. Lance opened it all the way. A bound and gagged Brian Springer blinked up at him. Lance untied the gag from around his mouth.

“You’re alive.” Lance was surprised. He’d assumed Brian was fish food.

“Thanks,” Brian croaked. Bruises and swelling mottled his face. His lips were cracked, and a bloody bandage encircled his left hand. A zip tie bound his wrists.

“I have to get something to cut that plastic.” Lance pointed toward the lower level. “The police are here. I’ll be right back.”

Brian nodded and closed his eyes in relief.

The sirens were loud enough that Lance knew the first responders had arrived. Discovering Brian had energized him. He jogged back down to the lower level. A paramedic unit and two ambulances were parked next to his Jeep. Sheriff’s department and Scarlet Falls PD vehicles were approaching.

Lance was not surprised to see Sheriff Colgate park his vehicle. Lance rushed over as the sheriff hauled himself out of the driver’s seat.

“What’s going on here?”

“Long story. We’ll jump to the end for now. One, down here we have two seriously injured teenagers, including Evan.” Lance pointed toward the upper parking lot. “Two, I just found Brian Springer in the trunk of a car up there. He looks beaten up, but he’s alert. Lastly, the body of Paul’s killer, Aaron Martin, washed downriver. Someone will need to retrieve it.”

The sheriff’s mouth snapped shut. He spun and began barking orders. Uniforms scattered. Two men jumped back in their patrol vehicles and drove toward the upper lot.

Lance walked over to Morgan. She had backed away from Rylee, giving the paramedic room to work. The second paramedic leaned over Evan. Tina rocked back on her heels, pressed her hands together prayer-style, and rested the tips of her fingers on her lips. Her eyes never left her son as the paramedic assessed him.

Rylee and Evan were loaded into ambulances. The ambulances drove off. Tina followed the ambulances in her car.

The sheriff returned. “Aaron Martin beat the hell out of Brian, but he’s grateful to be alive. A deputy is transporting him to the hospital.”

“Could have been worse,” Lance said. Not that being badly beaten and having his fingers snipped off were trivial injuries. But Brian could have been tethered to a few cinder blocks under a hundred feet of lake water.

The sheriff braced both hands on his belt and nodded.

A dark-blue sedan pulled in. Stella and her partner, Brody, jumped out. Stella checked her sister for injuries, then hugged her.

Morgan hugged her back. “I’m fine. Just wet.”

Stella turned to Lance. “You look like you went ten rounds with a prizefighter, underwater.”

“That’s how I feel too,” Lance admitted. Now that his adrenaline high was fading, every inch of his body hurt.

“We should go with the kids,” Morgan said.

“Not just yet,” the sheriff said.

Morgan turned to him. “I’m taking Lance to the ER. He’s covered in cuts and bruises, and he’s been swimming in floodwater. You can talk to him after he’s been treated.”

Colgate propped both hands on his hips. “You both need to be questioned.”

“Do not cross me right now.” She jabbed a finger at Colgate’s chest. Her eyes narrowed to fierce slits, and two bright spots colored her pale cheeks. “Lance almost died doing your job.” She waved a hand toward the road. “If we hadn’t gotten involved, both of those kids would have died today because you were too damned stubborn to listen.”

The sheriff leaned back, his face grim and maybe a little pale. Lance doubted anyone had called him out in a long time.

“As I already said, we’ll answer your questions after Lance has been treated.” Morgan’s nostrils flared. Lance had never seen her this angry. She was the articulate and tactful member of their team, the one he could count on to keep a clear head and use her brain under duress. She didn’t rail on people—that was his territory. But tonight, he was too exhausted to care about the sheriff at all. Colgate’s entire department needed to be rebuilt. They were running on half staff with no real leadership. They all knew it.

The sheriff backed away just a few inches. “All right, but your vehicle is evidence.”

“I’ll give you a ride.” Stella stepped between Morgan and the sheriff. She took her sister’s arm and steered her toward her unmarked police vehicle.

Her partner waved and said, “Go ahead. I’ll catch up later.”

“Come on, Lance.” Stella wrapped her free arm around Lance’s waist. “You’re a mess. Neither one of you should be driving anyway.”

“Don’t you want to stay and work the case?” Lance asked.

“Not really.” Stella opened the rear door of her car. “The case is solved, right? This is going to be nothing more than a messy cleanup of the sheriff’s screwup. Oh, joy.”

“You have a point.” Lance slid into the vehicle and rested his head on the back of the seat. He felt like he could sleep for a week.

Morgan sat up front with her sister. He heard them talking quietly. He was glad Morgan had stalled the sheriff on their questioning. He and Morgan needed to talk to Tina. There was something not adding up in Lance’s head.