Page 58 of Child In Jeopardy

They stayed low and kept moving, keeping watch around them in case Marsh had planted thugs out here to attack them. They ran, following the sound of those footsteps, and just ahead, Lana spotted Marsh. Thankfully, the trees weren’t so thick here so there was light from the moon they could use to track his movements.

He was heading for the road.

And the car that was parked there.

They wouldn’t have been able to see the vehicle when they arrived since Marsh had parked it in a bend just away from the arena. He’d no doubt done that on purpose. But why?

Why was he even here?

Marsh hadn’t killed her parents even though he’d had plenty of chances, especially if he’d been the one who’d drugged her father and put him in that stall. And, yes, Marsh had fired shots at them, but most hadn’t come close to hitting them. He could have just gunned them down, or rather tried to do that, when they’d arrived or when they’d been at the grave.

Lana didn’t have the answer to any of those things, but she hoped she got the chance to catch and question Marsh.

Ahead of them, Marsh made a beeline for his car, but Lana kicked up the speed to close the distance between them. When they were only a few feet away, Slater bolted forward, diving at Marsh and tackling him. They landed hard on the asphalt.

Lana moved into a position so she could take aim at Marsh, but the man surprised her when he didn’t fight. He looked up at her. Still no smile or gloating, but there was...something. She wasn’t sure what, but that look chilled her to the bone.

Behind them, an explosion ripped through the arena.

The noise wasn’t exactly deafening, but it had definitely been some kind of blast, and Lana’s first thought was a horrible one. Had Duncan and her parents been killed? Oh, my God. Were they dead?

She gasped, instinctively pivoting toward the arena. So did Slater. And that’s when Marsh made his move. Marsh rammed his elbow into Slater’s jaw, knocking Slater off him. In the same motion, Marsh got to his feet and pointed his gun at them.

Lana could barely think, but she relied on her training. She brought up her own gun so she could fire. But Marsh managed to do that first. He pulled the trigger just as Slater caught hold of the man’s legs and yanked him down. Marsh’s shot went wild, slamming into a nearby tree.

The sounds of sirens got closer. So did the thuds of flesh punching flesh with the blows that Slater and Marsh were landing on each other. Both men still had their guns, and she knew it would be too easy for Marsh to try to put a bullet in Slater.

Still keeping watch for any help Marsh might have brought with him, Lana maneuvered around the fight, looking for any way she could put an end to it. She couldn’t shoot. She couldn’t risk hitting Slater. So she went old-school, and when Marsh pulled back his left hand to deliver another punch to Slater, Lana kicked Marsh in the head.

Marsh howled in pain and twisted his body to look back at her. It was the only opening Slater needed because he latched onto Marsh and put him in a choke hold. Marsh continued to fight, but Lana helped with that, too. She stomped down as hardas she could on his foot and then kicked the gun from his hand. It went flying and landed behind her.

But Marsh still wasn’t finished with the fight. He clamped on to Slater’s arm with his teeth and was flinging his head back and forth like a rabid dog. Lana delivered more kicks, this time to Marsh’s kneecaps, and yelling in pain, the man dropped to the ground with Slater keeping his arm around Marsh’s neck.

“I don’t have any cuffs,” Slater said, his breath gusting. The adrenaline was no doubt firing on all cylinders inside him, and he shot a glance in the direction of the arena.

The building was still in one piece, but Lana had no idea how much damage had been done. Or if Duncan and her parents had made it out alive.

“Backup will be here soon,” she muttered to Slater and to herself for the reassurance they’d soon have help.

She was volleying glances at Slater, Marsh and their surroundings when there was another blast, the one much louder than the first. Lana could only watch in horror as she heard the sharp groan of the roof before it collapsed onto the arena.

Chapter Eighteen

Slater’s heart slammed against his chest, and he had to fight his instincts to let go of Marsh and run toward the arena. Duncan and Lana’s parents could be trying to claw their way out of the wreckage.

But he couldn’t leave Lana alone with a killer.

And he had no doubts, none, that Marsh was exactly that.

Lana’s hands were shaking and she’d gone ashen when she reached for Marsh’s belt. It took Slater a couple of seconds to figure out what she was doing. She yanked the leather belt from the man’s khakis and used it to make cuffs to restrain Marsh’s hands behind his back. She didn’t stop there. Lana took Slater’s belt and did the same to Marsh’s feet, hooking one belt through the other to essentially truss him up.

Slater snatched up Marsh’s gun so the man wouldn’t be able to somehow crawl his way to it, and he and Lana took off running toward the collapsed building. He was sure they were praying along the way. Slater certainly was, and he hoped that Duncan had somehow managed to get Pamela and Leonard out before the second blast.

The blue lights from the two approaching cruisers slashed through the darkness, and the moment the they stopped, Deputies David Morales and Ronnie Bishop bolted out of one of them. Luca and Deputy Brandon Rooney came out of the other.

“Arrest him and read him his rights,” Slater instructed Luca, motioning toward Marsh, and he and Lana kept running with David and Ronnie right behind them.

Some of the muscles in Slater’s chest unclenched when he saw that one of his prayers had been answered. Duncan was makinghis way toward them. His face and clothes were covered with dirt and dust, but he didn’t seem injured.