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“What is it?” Carl demanded. Out of the corner of Shane’s eye, he saw the hulking bodyguard start to step around Kate so that she was no longer between Shane and the other man.
“I felt a wire.”
“You didn’t fucking check him when he came in the house? He’s probably fucking armed!”
“Shane! What’s going on?” Natalie started shouting in his ear. “We need you to give the signal that you’re clear.”
“Fuck,” Shane said on a resigned sigh. It wasn’t going to get any better than this. “Geronimo!” He laughed right before he snatched a bottle of bourbon off the bar by the neck and smashed it against the side of Spring’s head. The caramel-colored liquid was a sparkling starburst of glass and refracted light for a second.
Gerald and Carl jumped back while Shane dove behind the bar for cover. He twisted his body, landing on his back. Struggling with his pants for a heartbeat, he grabbed his gun and fired the second that Gerald’s face came into view. The shot went wild as he’d planned. He didn’t want to kill the bastard.…Well, maybe he wanted to kill him a little bit…but he really wanted him to go to jail and rot there for the rest of his life.
“You didn’t take his goddamn gun?” Carl roared.
“I wasn’t expecting him to come in here armed!”
“You’re a fucking idiot. I can’t—”
Carl’s outraged rant was cut off by the sound of the front door slamming open on the first floor and the thunder of footsteps. The police had finally arrived.
“I’m not going to fucking jail for you.” Carl’s voice was a vicious snarl before Shane heard the door to the backyard open and hit the wall.
“You can’t leave me!” Gerald cried. “You’re my fucking bodyguard. You’re supposed to protect me.”
Carl never answered.
Shane shoved back to his feet and slowly rose, his gun at the ready should Spring try to take a shot at him. As Shane peeked his head above the bar, Spring spotted him again, his expression shifting from lost and bewildered to rage.
“This is all your fault!” He swung his gun around and started firing off shots. Shane instantly dropped back down so that the bullets plowed through the wall of liquor bottles behind him. Glass exploded in the air and alcohol poured down on him in a cool, sticky waterfall.
“Police! Drop your weapon!” Detective Metcalfe’s voice thundered over the shots. “Put your hands in the air.”
“But…but…” Gerald said plaintively but a second later, Shane heard the gun thud to the carpet and plastic.
As Shane struggled back to his feet, he found Natalie shoving Gerald down and slapping handcuffs on him as she recited his Miranda rights. Her partner was checking over Kate Masters. She was moving a bit, indicating that she was now conscious, but she looked like hell.
“The bodyguard,” Shane said as soon as Natalie stopped talking. “He ran out the back.”
“I’ve called in backup. They’re on their way.”
“But he’s getting away.” Shane wanted to run after Carl, but his leg was causing him too much pain. Spring might have been issuing all the orders, but Carl pulled the trigger that killed Kate’s son. He was the one shooting at Sawyer Point just a few days ago. He also likely had a hand in Kate’s torture. The man needed to go down with Spring.
“We’ll get him.”
That seemed doubtful. He had a head start. They didn’t know if he was still on foot or if he’d grabbed a car.
And that was when it hit him that the detective hadn’t been the only one listening in on the conversation caught by the wire. Quinn was sitting in the Merleau surveillance van listening to every word.
Icy fear smashed into his heart and stole his breath away. His knees wobbled and he clutched the edge of the bar until he could suck air back into his lungs.
“Don’t, Quinn,” he gasped. “Don’t fucking do it. Don’t go after him. I’m begging you.”
But Quinn didn’t have a mic to talk to him. There was only silence.Chapter Twenty-OneQuinn flipped on the headlights and shifted the van out of park, waiting for the first flash of lights from the car he knew Carl was driving. Natalie’s partner had commented on hearing the squeal of tires across pavement as they reached Spring’s so-called man cave. Shane’s pleading for him not to follow the bodyguard cut through him. He sounded like he really cared. Quinn’s hands clenched the wheel, palms growing sweaty with anticipation as each second ticked by.
With a growl, he reached over and slapped the laptop closed, silencing Shane’s voice. If he continued to listen to Shane, he’d cave. He knew it. Carl couldn’t be allowed to escape. Not after what had happened to Kate’s son. Not after what he could guess happened to Kate based on Shane’s reaction. Both men needed to be taken down.
