Page 95 of Wild Escape

I told him to stay calm and helped apply pressure to the wounds.

It didn't take long before the distant sounds of sirens warbled, drawing near.

Soon, the parking lot swarmed with first responders. EMTs and paramedics triaged Levi, and I backed away to let them do their business.

Deputies surrounded the area and kept curious onlookers at bay.

I told them to keep an eye on Daphne while I went inside and washed the blood from my hands.

When I returned, Levi was transferred to a gurney and stuffed into the back of a meat wagon. The lights spun up, and the siren chirped. The ambulance pulled out of the lot, turned onto the road, and flipped the siren on as it headed toward the hospital.

I searched Levi's truck and found a pistol under the seat. It was a semiautomatic 9mm. The forensic team snapped photos, and I collected the pistol as evidence.

Paris Delaney and her crew arrived on scene, but she had missed the money shot. As I walked back to the Porsche, I said to her, "What's the matter, losing your touch?"

She sneered at me. “No. I have a life outside journalism.”

I laughed. “I don’t believe it.”

She stuck her tongue out at me.

Daniels put a BOLO out on Kenzie and the white convertible.

The rotor blades of Tango One thumped the air as the helicopter searched for the fugitive. Its bright spotlight slashed the night sky.

I hopped into the Porsche with Daphne, cranked up the engine, and sped across town to the Nautilus. There was a chance Kenzie would return to her condo. But with several million in crypto in an account somewhere, she might try to flee.

When I turned into the lot of the luxury high-rise, the valet drove Kenzie’s car into the parking garage. Kenzie had stopped somewhere along the way to put the plates back on the vehicle.

I pulled up to the main entrance and said to Daphne, “Don’t go anywhere. I will find you.”

“Be careful. That chick is crazy.”

I hopped out and banged on the glass door with my weapon drawn. With a flash of my badge, the concierge buzzed me in.

Kenzie had reached the elevators.

I raced across the opulent lobby and took aim. “Kenzie!”

She spun around, and horror filled her eyes. Her hand slipped into her purse.

I knew she was armed.

“Don’t move!” My heart raced, pounding my ears.

I really didn’t want to shoot her.

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Ididn’t know if she was high on something, but she clearly wasn’t in her right mind. Kenzie pulled a pistol from her purse.

I squeezed the trigger.

The pistol hammered my palm, and smoke wafted from the barrel. The tangy scent of gunpowder filled my nostrils.

My bullet raced across the lobby and drilled her in the shoulder before she took a shot.

Blood spewed, and the impact twisted her around.