Page 99 of Bring Them Home

“But…” Valerie licked her lips, and a few tears fell.

“Mrs. Archer?” Trent prompted her.

“We just received some news worth celebrating.” She palmed her cheeks. “Landon has a donor match from the registered list. Not a blood relative, but we’ve been assured there’s a higher success rate with this than ever before in history. The doctors are optimistic. So am I.”

“That’s wonderful, Valerie.” Amanda resisted the urge to hug the woman, but her reaction was also tempered by the fact none of the past couple of weeks had to happen. Valerie never would have called Abigail to the coffee shop, and Hernandez’s men never would have caught sight of her. At least that was when they put together that Abigail was in contact with the Archers. They had no reason to suspect Valerie Archer was in touch with her before then. But since Hernandez was alerted, that meant he had people watching Abigail’s family for the past eight years.

The family across the room laughed at something, drawing Amanda’s gaze. It was time for her and Trent to leave and bring them justice.

FIFTY

Amanda and Trent approached Hernandez’s residence tagging along behind SWAT officers. All of them were outfitted for war with their body armor, face masks, and automatic weapons. She and Trent had their Glocks, masks, and thick Kevlar vests. Though if Nina came at them with a blade, the latter wouldn’t offer any protection. The street had been closed off to prevent innocent civilians getting caught in the crossfire. Though the search warrant was no-knock and allowed the use of smoke grenades, no one expected Hernandez to go down without a fight.

“Here goes. The moment of truth,” she said to Trent. If they met with resistance, it was likely that Anderson had tipped off Hernandez that they were coming.

It was six o’clock when the group trudged up the front walk to the double doors, but they didn’t make it far when an eruption of gunfire blasted through the front windows of the house.

“Everyone get to cover!” the SWAT leader yelled, and the group scattered.

Amanda stuck close to Trent, returning fire along with the SWAT officers. As bullets flew, she ducked behind a concrete abutment that sat in the middle of the lawn stating the house number. Trent hunched down next to her.

“I guess we have our answer about Anderson,” she told him.

Rounds of gunfire kept popping off, and she was glad there was another SWAT team sent to the rear of Hernandez’s property in preparation for an assault.

Up front, they and SWAT were pinned down, only able to pop out from cover to return fire in measured response times. During a brief ceasefire in the front, gunfire picked up in the backyard.

The SWAT leader up front signaled they were moving in. As they were detailed before arriving, SWAT would lead the way through the front door into the home and drive Hernandez and his men into the backyard.

They breached, and one of the SWAT officers yelled out, “Grenade!” before tossing one inside.

The entry filled with smoke, and SWAT, Amanda, and Trent moved in with their masks and night-vision goggles in place. Thermal imaging allowed them to see through the thick smoke. Their opponents wouldn’t have such an advantage, but it didn’t stop them from spraying bullets.

Amanda and Trent sought cover again, returning fire when it was safe for them to do so.

As the smoke started to clear, calls of SWAT officers signaled this firefight was coming to an end. Lots of Hernandez’s men lay on the ground, bleeding out or dead already. The ones who were standing surrendered.

Amanda scanned the room for Hernandez. Where the hell is⁠—

Nina lunged out of a side hallway and came at her like a wraith wielding a blade.

Amanda backed up and raised her gun, prepared to fire on Nina, when she roundhouse-kicked the gun from her hand. It clacked onto the tile at her feet.

Icy fear immobilized Amanda, and she looked around to see that Trent wasn’t at her side. They must have gotten separated along the way. She was on her own.

Amanda jived out of the way, trying to avoid every swipe of Nina’s blade, while keeping tabs on her gun. I just need to get to it…

Just as she reached out, Nina kicked her in the chest, propelling her backward. She hit the floor, landing on her back, the wind knocked out of her.

Nina came at her. Amanda called out for help, but Nina jumped over her and pinned her down. She held her knife suspended above Amanda, ready to plunge it into her chest and leave its lethal mark.

I’m going to die like in my nightmare… But just as Amanda thought her life was over, Nina’s blood sprayed out the front of her head, and her body slumped forward.

Amanda rolled out of the way just before the blade came down.

Trent was standing there with his gun still extended from being fired.

“Thank you,” she said, between pants for breath.