Shots Fired (Delta Detectives/Cage Foster #5)

By Stacy Green

**Exclusive new scenes included!** 
Cage Foster is finishing up a long shift as a criminal investigator for the Adams County, Mississippi's Sheriff department. He's eager to go home to his fiancé and new baby when a report of shots fired at a friend's historical antebellum home changes everything.

When Cage arrives at Magnolia House, he discovers a victim on the front lawn and realizes his friends are still trapped inside. A domestic dispute between two guests has gone horribly wrong, and the hostage negotiation team won't arrive before the situation explodes.

With time running out, Cage must sneak into the house through the long forgotten tunnel once used to shuttle slaves back and forth. Once inside, his only hope is a surprise attack, but the old house has tricks of its own. 

Will Cage be able to save his friends, or will he become yet another victim of a furious husband hellbent on punishment?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stacy Green
• Release date: Jul 20, 2015
• ISBN: 9781386528890

Stacy Green

About the author Born in Indiana and raised in Iowa, Stacy Green earned degrees in journalism and sociology from Drake University. After a successful advertising career, Stacy became a proud stay-at-home mom to her miracle child. Now a full-time author, Stacy juggles her time between her demanding characters and supportive family. She loves reading, cooking, and the occasional gardening excursion. Stacy lives in Marion, Iowa with her husband Rob, their daughter Grace, and the family’s three obnoxious but lovable canine children. Website: www.stacygreen.net Amazon Author Page Facebook Stacy Green, Author Twitter @StacyGreen26

Book preview

  1  

JAYMEE

Jaymee stared defiantly at the man towering over her. His bloodshot eyes and sweaty, puffy face matched the sour odor of whiskey emanating off him. He’d strutted into Magnolia House with the bottle last night, his wife in tow. Jaymee recognized the defeat in her walk: her rounded shoulders, the way she ducked her chin, eyes always on the floor or always looking just past the other person. But she didn’t want to intrude. And what if she were wrong?

She should have trusted her instincts.

Tears stung her eyes, and she ground her teeth to keep the moisture from spilling. Men like him excelled at sniffing out a person’s weakness and turning it against her.

You didn’t have to shoot him.

The red-streaked eyes blinked, his hazy gaze struggling to focus. He threatened me.

You didn’t have to shoot him, Jaymee repeated. A warning shot would have been enough. She glanced at Nick sitting helplessly on the couch. His pale skin matched his white shirt. Sweat beaded on his forehead, his fists clenched against his thighs.

Then I would have hit one of the walls. The man sounded surprisingly lucid, but his words made little sense to her. He gently stroked the plaster with his fingertips, as though he thought the house might crumble beneath their weight. I couldn’t do that to a historical home. That’s sacrilege.

Jaymee’s knees knocked together. What kind of mad man were they dealing with?

CAGE

Cage Foster glared at the coffee pot that had to be older than he was. He wished the relic had stayed at the Adams County Sheriff’s old location. He didn’t miss the historic building, with its bad insulation and pathetically slow Internet connection. The modern brick building provided more space for growing departments, more inmates, and better parking.

He’d love to know who’d made the executive decision to prolong the suffering of this groaning, slow-assed coffee pot.

Patience is a virtue God forgot to bless you with, his mother used to tell him. She’d laugh at his blustering and fretting, tell him to sit down and relax. He liked to think that being a cop in a small town had helped to teach him patience, and maybe it had, but he still loathed the coffee wait. The stupid machine rattled like it might explode. Black coffee trickled into the stained carafe.

Cage gnashed his teeth.

Foster. Marla Towne, the administrative assistant for the Adams County Sheriff’s Criminal Investigative Division, huffed into the room. Marla recently started wearing contacts and couldn’t get used to them. Her eyes seemed to be stuck wide open. Combined with her thin face, she looked like a perpetually shocked bird.

Cage usually tried to avoid direct eye contact, but the sharp tone of her voice sent a wave of apprehension through him. His head jerked up, and his body felt cold. She’d gone pale. Fear clouded her eyes like cataracts.

You said Dani and the baby were at Magnolia House today, right?

His pulse stuttered, his fingers going slightly numb. Yeah.

I just picked up a disturbance call from Roselea. Marla’s normally confident voice wavered. Some guy walking by Magnolia House said he thought shots were fired.

Cage stilled, his energy draining. The coffee pot hissed again, a few more drops spewing into the glass carafe. He abandoned the coffee and rushed out of the break room. The expanse of the new building suddenly seemed like a gaping chasm as Cage raced back to his desk.

A mistake. It had to be.

He pictured his tiny, sleeping infant in Dani’s arms, as she’d been when he’d said goodbye to them early this morning. Emma had just turned six weeks old. After her premature birth, she’d only been home from the hospital for ten days.

Marla chased after him. Maybe she and the baby already left.

Dani’s still really tired, Cage said as he rounded the corner to the Criminal Investigative Division’s array of gray cubicles. Spending months on bed rest slows down your metabolism and sucks away your energy. That’s why she’s actually taking the help Jaymee’s offered. Thanks to preeclampsia complications, Dani was still adjusting to motherhood after spending much of her pregnancy on bed rest. She handled the transition better than Cage. He hated leaving Dani and Emma alone, no matter how many friends offered their support. He didn’t doubt Dani’s ability to handle everything on her own; he just felt better when she and the baby had company.

He’d finally reached his desk. Feeling his internal temperature skyrocketing, he grabbed his cell and called Dani. Every ring seemed to take forever, even as his mind tried to rationalize things.

Shots fired. That could mean any number of things, including a car backfiring. Nick had been tinkering with a 2001 Mustang he wanted to restore, and civilians often mistook an engine backfiring for gunshots.

Jaymee kept a Colt Defender in her nightstand. If the windows were open, the gun’s discharge could have been heard from the sidewalk that stretched past Magnolia House. But the girl he’d grown up with had been around guns since she could walk. She wouldn’t have fired it without good reason. Much less in the house. The sound couldn’t have been a gunshot.

Hey, Dani’s tired voice sent a rush of relief through him. Are you leaving soon?

Not quite yet. Cage sagged against his desk, relief pulsing through him. He gave Marla a thumbs-up, and she nodded, her hand over her heart.

Now he had to tell Dani why’d he called, and he didn’t want her to worry over nothing. And surely this was nothing. Hang on. He covered his speaker. Marla, keep the channel clear and see if you can find out if the Roselea patrol officer checked in with the residents. I’ll call in when I get there.

He grabbed his radio and keys to his county-issued car. I just wondered if you and Emma had left Magnolia House yet.

Hours ago. Disgust darkened Dani’s tone. I wanted to spend the afternoon catching up with Jaymee, but they’ve got an obnoxious guest. Emma and I couldn’t stand it any longer.

Fresh worry swept over him. Their closest friends had turned historic Magnolia House into a bed and breakfast. After a successful year, the two of them had planned to take Labor Day weekend off. I thought everyone was supposed to leave this morning?

They were, Dani said. "But this guy talked Nick into letting them stay another night. I thought Jaymee