Shane raced down the street in the direction Roman had pointed, but saw nothing. Shane had not even seen the shooter earlier; Shane had just reacted to Roman's shout by trying to protect the children. As he ran, Shane remembered the sound of the bullets whizzing over his head, but tried to put aside the thought of what that meant. Instead, he focused on trying to spot a man with a gun.
"You see anything?" Roman shouted from behind.
Shane shook his head. "No. No sign of him." He had run at least 300 yards, which should have been the outside limit for an ordinary shooter. Beyond that, the shooter would probably have needed to be very skilled, which was possible, but unlikely given that none of the shots had hit their target. Shane came to a stop and scanned the surrounding area.
"There." He pointed some to shell casings at the base of a wall. From the opposite side, the shooter would have had a good vantage point toward the school. Shane ran toward the wall and looked over it. On the other side was an immense yard, probably belonging to a neighboring house. About 100 yards away, Shane spotted a man carrying what looked could have been a rifle case. He was running in the opposite direction.
Shane jumped up and pulled himself over the wall. Roman came over even faster, and they both began chasing the man.
"We'll never catch him," Roman yelled.
I'm not giving up, Shane thought. He's not getting away. His lungs were burning from the effort, but he kept sprinting as he crossed the yard. They were gaining, but the gunman had already reached a gate on the opposite side. He shoved his way through and they lost site of him, even as they continued racing forward. Shane and Roman burst through the gate, ran down a driveway and reached a small street. They saw no sign of their quarry.
"Where'd he go?" Roman asked as they both paused in the street momentarily to catch their breath.
Shane shook his head as he looked both ways, but saw nothing. "He couldn't have just disappeared." He started back toward the driveway, thinking the man might have ducked behind a wall or found somewhere else to hide. Shane had just stepped back onto the driveway when he heard the loud revving of a car engine.
"Look out!" Shane yelled. A brown sedan barreled out from behind a house just to the north of them, cut across a lawn, and headed directly at Roman. He dove to the ground, barely eluding the front end of the car as it roared toward the street.
"Shoot!" Roman yelled, but Shane needed no encouragement. You're not getting away that easily. Shane ran back into the street, aimed for the car's rear tire and fired.
The tire exploded. The rubber tore away from the wheel, and the car veered to its side as the driver lost control. It skidded away from Shane and Roman, then hit a curb and flipped - once, then twice - and landed upside down. The car came to a rest about a half-block away.
Shane started toward the car, but Roman grabbed him. Shane tried to shake free, yelling, "What are you-" His words cut off as he heard a loud noise and, then, both he and Roman were propelled away from the car by a tremendous force and a rush of heat. Shane slammed into the ground, landing face down.
It took him a minute to regain his bearings. Slowly, Shane pulled himself to his hands and knees and tried to shake the cobwebs out of his head. "What . . . what happened?"
"The gas tank blew." Roman looked equally shaken, as he sat up and looked in the direction of the car.
Shane jerked his head toward the car, but saw only the burning wreckage. No, he thought. We need the shooter. We need answers.
"No way anyone survived that," Roman said.
In the distance, they could hear the sound of approaching sirens, but Roman was right. There was no chance the gunman was still alive. Shane watched the fire silently.
"Lawrence could have killed all of us." Roman spoke in an even tone. "That's twice he's tried to get Kimmie."
That's where you're wrong, Shane thought, recalling the bullets that had nearly struck him as he pushed the children to the ground. "No," he said. "He's not after Kim."
"What do you mean?" Roman asked, obviously confused.
Shane felt his stomach lurch as the realization sank in. "That man wasn't shooting at Kim," he said. Shane looked at Roman and then back at the burning car. "He was trying to kill Andrew."