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Luke couldn’t see any hostages from his vantage point, and shook his head at Voight. Voight cursed quietly over the com, and signaled for Luke and Fornier to get in position on the other side of the room. They crawled behind the teller desks, out of sight of the perps, until they reached the far end. Luke heard a noise, and looked up at what appeared to be an office door. If he stood, the three men would see him, and if he opened the door, they might panic and run, or worse, start firing.
The captain’s voice boomed through the glass windows on the front of the bank. “This is your last warning. Give yourselves up or we will take you out.”
Voight’s voice whispered through his ear piece, “Four bogies at forty-five degrees. Wait for my signal.”
Damn, Luke was sure there’d only been three.
“That’s it, I’m out of here,” the Whiner said.
Luke heard a clattering and then footsteps before the blast of a gun erupted.
“Take them out,” Voight said in his ear piece.
Luke came through the swinging door and stood up. He had mere seconds to take in the scene before they noticed him. One man was crying over another, who lay prone and writhing. Two others with guns, standing several feet away, were watching dispassionately and hadn’t heard Luke and Fornier move.
Voight and the rest of their squad were moving into position. Luke hollered, “Police! Put your weapons down, and hands on top of your head.”
The two with guns whirled his way, and before they could even get their guns all the way up, he fired.
Luke shot the one on the left, and he screamed, dropping his semi-automatic as he clutched his arm. The other man squared off, and Luke could tell he was weighing his chances. This must be Grant.
“Don’t do it.”
But the man started to raise his gun. Luke and Fornier fired, and then out of the corner of his eye, Luke saw Fornier fall.
Voight and the rest of the squad fired, and Luke blasted until the suspect was on the ground. Then he went to Fornier’s side and his stomach sank.
Shit, his neck was covered in blood. The perp had gotten a lucky shot off, right in the throat. Luke put pressure on the wound, talking to Fornier all the while he choked and gasped.
“Come on man, it’s just a scratch. You’re gonna be fine. Remember, we’re going to have our names in the paper. Hell, I bet every news outlet is gonna want to interview us. Your wife is gonna be so damn proud of you.”
Fornier coughed and red splattered the inside of his face cover.
“Officer down!” Luke shouted, staring at the blood seeping between his fingers and over the back to drip on the white tile of the bank. “We need an ambo in here now!”
The blast of a gun registered just as something hit Luke in the back, sending him falling forward over Fornier, his slick hands leaving streaks of red over the hard floor. Pain erupted from the spot, and he couldn’t catch his breath.
He’d been shot.
* * * *
Marley kept pace alongside a groaning Rylie, grinning at her friend’s dramatic carrying on. They’d driven out to Marley’s favorite trail behind the middle school, with all of the hills and cross-country trek. It reminded her of running in high school. It was exhilarating and made Marley feel as though she could keep going for hours.
Rylie was less enthusiastic.
“You’re fine, we only have a half mile left,” Marley said.
Rylie slowed, her breathing ragged. Sweat dripped down her temples and over her ruddy cheeks as she huffed. “A half mile? I can’t go another half mile. I’ll die.”
Marley was tempted to roll her eyes, but managed to control the urge. No sense in pissing off her friend when there were so many places Rylie could bury her body.
“You will not. Besides, you were the one who wanted to come.”
Rylie glared up at her as she came to a stop, her hands going to her knees as she sucked in air. “I said I wanted to go for a jog, not the length of California.”
Marley jogged backward and the eye roll emerged despite previous concerns. “Come on, I can see where we parked the car. It’s the length of a Katy Perry song.”
Marley was almost certain he was going to have to carry Rylie back to the car, when suddenly, she burst into a run.
