The volley of bullets had ceased. An uneasy quiet covered the town. Sheriff edged along the side of a building with his gun at the ready. He gritted his teeth. No one threatened his town and got away with it. A few more cautious steps, he peered in a window. There was movement. He signaled to Tex.
He readied himself and waited for Tex to position himself. All exits were closed off. A mental countdown commenced, Sheriff only hoped that his partner was on the same page. With a rush of adrenaline, he kicked in the main door of Casa Della Tires.
"Come out with your hands up." He raised his gun, ready for whatever came through the door.
Nothing moved, he listened closely and heard shuffling. The sound of glass shattering cut through the air.
"Over here!" Tex's voice was strained. A gunshot rang through the air.
Sheriff ran around the corner of the building. He found Tex in a fist fight with another man. The assailant was vicious looking, but his left hand was bleeding and a gun lay on the ground.
"Behind you!"
The officer turned sharply and reflexively pistol whipped his attacker. He crumpled like a sack of potatoes. Sheriff kicked the gun away from the unconscious man. Shaking his head, he bent down and handcuffed him.
"Bunch of yahoos." The sounds of fighting had eased. Sheriff turned to find Tex holstering his gun.
"He's out for the count too."
"Good, get their guns. I'm going to get the cruiser. Then we'll take them to the jail."
Tex nodded and collected the weapons and handed them to Sheriff. He shook his head. What possible reason could anyone have for shooting up a quiet town? The tycoon glanced at the prisoners. The weapons were professional snipers' weapons, but for some reason they'd not used a silencer. Almost like they were trying to draw someone out… He paused. If the weapons were professional, the shooters had purposely missed. They'd wanted to get caught. Tex needed to make a phone call, he needed to do some digging. The sound of Sheriff's cruiser pulling up dragged Tex from his thoughts. He roped in his mental investigation as he helped load the prisoners into the cruiser.
The only sound filling the cruiser was the rumble of the engine. A heaviness settled between Tex and Sheriff. There was an unspoken understanding. Tex knew from the grim look on Sheriff's face that he'd come to the same conclusion about the perpetrators laying in the backseat. There was something rotten going on.
Though the shooting had stopped, the occupants of Flo's diner had decided to keep inside. They'd wait until Sheriff gave the all clear. Mater was clinging to Flo, Sally was tucked against Ramone's side. Everyone else settled into the back, avoiding the windows as much as possible.
"Hold this against his neck." Doc ordered Strip.
"How is he?" Strip swallowed the lump in his throat. Blood seeped through the towel and he fumbled for another towel.
"Hit his head pretty hard." Doc checked the back of Lightning's head. "I wish I could stitch that up." He glanced at the clock on the wall.
"Doesn't seem like he was hit anywhere else?" Lynda muttered from her seat nearby.
"No. Just the neck." Doc glared at the door. "Don't move your hand."
Doc kept his eyes on his newest patient. Things were quiet, and everyone was on edge. The only sound in the air was the incessant ticking of the clock. It was maddening. Tick…Tock…Tick…Tock. The sound of a door slamming had everyone jumping slightly. Doc glanced towards the doors. A sigh of relief passed his lips. It was Sheriff and Tex.
"Did you get…um?" Mater's lips trembled. His eyes kept darting over to his unmoving brother.
"Yeah." Sheriff came over to crouch in front of his charge. "They're in jail. You won't have to worry about them bud. Flo, you mind watching him for me?"
"Not at all. Come on Sugar, I'll fix you some hot chocolate." She ushered the children into the kitchen.
"Sheriff. Gonna need the cruiser. Got to go stitch Lightning up." Doc motioned for Strip to pick him up.
"Sure." Sheriff looked grimly at the redhead before stalking outside. He made record time driving to Doc's clinic.
Strip's heart was in his throat, he held tight to Lightning through the ride. He refused to loosen his grip until he was inside the clinic. It was clear to him that he didn't want to lose his nephew before he'd even gotten to truly know him. Life was so fragile, his stomach twisted into painful knots as he watched Doc stitching up Lightning's neck.
"There." Doc finished his handiwork and washed his hands. "He'll have a whopper of headache. But he'll be fine."
"Good." Strip frowned at his nephew's paleness.
"He's lucky it didn't anything vital." Doc fiddled with an IV. "Better get comfortable. He'll be out for a while."
Strip nodded and settled into a chair to wait. He ran a hand over his face, life just kept getting more complicated. Shootings in a town…in the middle of nowhere. Things weren't adding up. He sighed, he wondered if Tex would do some more digging. Carefully he leaned back and let his eyes close.
Tex glared at his phone, how could people be so dense? The red flags were up. His contacts were scraping the bottom of the barrel. Someone was covering things up. With a sigh he dialed one last number. It took an hour or more, but he hung up with answers.
"I have some answers." Tex glanced at Sheriff.
"You do?" Sheriff looked up with a frown.
"My contact said they've been looking for some snipers involved in recent shootings. So they're sending some people down here to collect the weapons and the prisoners. It just might be a federal case."
"That doesn't answer the question as to who they are. And what they were doing here? Here of all places." Sheriff shook his head.
"Once their prints are checked and the guns…I'm pretty sure we'll be getting more in depth answers. But we both know that they wanted to get caught. Their car was parked behind Casa Della Tires. They could have made a clean get away."
"Why though? Unless they are after something?"
"I think we should check the car. Maybe they left some clues in there."
"Could be." Sheriff glanced at the clock. "It's going to be a long night."
"We can take shifts watching them."
"If you're volunteering I ain't gonna stop you."
"Wouldn't think of leaving you in here alone. Not with a pair of snipers."
"Good to know. Both the doors are locked."
"I'll take first watch. You go get some rest."
"Bossy out of towners." Sheriff grumbled halfheartedly before stretching out on a cot.
Soon the only sounds in the jail was snoring and the ticking of the clock. Tex leaned back in his seat. The trail leading to the two snipers was extremely tangled. He paused. Maybe it wasn't something that they were after…but someone. Lightning, he was the only one that was hurt. But maybe it was a coincidence, after all he'd been the last one to run inside.
He glanced at the jail cell. Those two were professional. They'd hit exactly who they'd meant to hit. His stomach turned sharply. According to what little he had gathered from Strip, Lightning was only sixteen. They'd shot a child, it made him sick. He needed to dig up more on Delanie Willard. There was more to the situation than met the eye.