Empty

JT just let Bree cry, holding her close. Oh how it hurt to see her hurt. She was as close to a daughter as she could get, and it pained his heart to see her so broken. Reading the note, any hope was lost. He wanted to scream at Gunner for doing this. He partially understood - he knew somehow Gunner thought leaving was best for Bree, and maybe on some level he was right. But not when handled like this. Not when she was already worrying herself into a frenzy. He hugged Bree tight and kissed her head. "We'll find him. Don't worry. I'm sure he's just fine." The problem was, he didn't know that. Gunner was so unstable that he couldn't help but imagine the worst. 

"Come on." He pulled away and reached out to wipe away some of Bree's tears. "We'll leave your car here for now. You ride with me and we'll look for him, alright?" 

Unfortunately, they would look everywhere they could think of, but would find no trace of Gunner. They searched all the way to Crestview again, they went all the way to the lake, they hunted all the places they could imagine he might be in town, but came up empty. By afternoon, it had become exhausting. 

Pulling into his own driveway, JT shut off his car and looked over at Bree. "I am so tired, I can't think straight anymore," he admitted. They'd called Con, but he'd had to leave a message, so right now that was on hold. Neither one of them had eaten all day, and that wasn't helping matters. "Come inside. I want you to eat something and take a break until we hear back from Con. I've got to at least take a short nap before I collapse."


Jason curled his fingers around Katie's, grateful for her reassurance. Without her, this would be ten times worse. "Thanks. I just wish-"

His sentence was left unfinished as the sound of a shot echoed through the air. The impact sent him reeling backward off the bench and onto the ground, hard enough that it knocked the wind out of him, and he lay stunned.

Kirk was on his feet in an instant, sprinting to cover the distance. "Right shoulder, right shoulder. He was hit from the front. All eyes south." Sliding down to Jason and Katie, he took a knee, shielding them from the direction the shot had come from, just in case more came.

"Look alive!" Con's voice crackled over the coms. "Got a visual on the sniper. He's on the move, heading west and aiming for an alley by Pierce Street." Moving fast, he ran across the top of the roof where he'd been hiding, slid halfway down a fire escape and onto the next roof.

On the ground, Pete spun around from the shop window and took off at a run. "Jamie and I are closest." He caught sight of a figure darting into an alley. "We're in pursuit." 

"The alley is a dead end," Con informed. "He's gonna have to go up." He was one rooftop closer and gaining ground. "Careful about cornering him."

Reaching the alley, Pete skidded to a halt, gun drawn as he pressed himself up against the side of a building and let Jamie take the other side. "He's not expecting us," he panted. "You ready?"