Page 157 of Hard Rain

He wanted to keep going.

Whip stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

“I’ve got him.”

Axel’s chest rose and fell. Every muscle in his arms still wanted to keep driving the man’s face into the carpet.

Instead, he shoved himself backward.

Whip rolled and cuffed the perp, then came to stand beside him.

Neither of them spoke for a moment.

“You okay?”

Axel let out a slow breath. “Ask me tomorrow.”

Whip nodded once. “Fair.”

Knox stepped past them to help secure the room while Grant covered the hallway, making sure nobody else was coming out of the bedrooms.

Somewhere behind Axel, a medic was talking softly to the victims.

“Sweetheart, can you look at me?”

Axel turned before he meant to.

One of the teenage boys stood wrapped in a blanket, staring at the floor like he wasn’t sure he was allowed to move anymore.

The little girl hadn’t let go of the female deputy’s hand.

She still hadn’t spoken.

Axel looked away.

They all deserved the death penalty. Where was Fierce when you needed him?

But then again, Fierce had saved them a lot of trouble by ending Charleston.

It’s just that…

Some jobs stayed with you longer than others.

The house filled fast.

Deputies.

Crime scene.

Detectives.

Paramedics moved carefully through the narrow hallway carrying blankets and trauma bags while evidence technicians started photographing every room before anything could be touched. Radios crackled constantly, voices calling for additional units, victim advocates, and transport.

The little girl disappeared beneath a blanket almost too big for her.

One of the women broke down as she reached the front porch.

Another simply stood there, staring at the sunrise like she’d forgotten what outside looked like.