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And Connor's flashlight.
He'd reacted instantly to Cami's warning. Within a moment, the bright beam blazed, swinging around the bar, and Cami guessed that Connor was making sure to shine it into everyone's eyes, making sure that they were swiftly blinded as they struggled to activate their phones' weaker flashlights.
Then, the beam picked up a dark shape, heading away from the table where Seth Armitage had been sitting.
It was him, Cami saw. He was doing his best to get away in the sudden darkness, and fast. Without a doubt, he had guessed that the FBI was here for him. But as Cami watched, he stumbled over a table, catching his foot on a chair. Escaping in a panic, and in total darkness, wasn't as easy as just walking out of a bar while the other customers pelted the Feds with beer bottles and cigarette butts. Seth was finding it more challenging now.
"What the hell?" someone shouted.
"Nothing’s working!" That was the barman’s voice from behind her.
"Area outage?" someone else called.
"It's the Feds, I'm telling you! They've done this!" Correctly, but luckily too late, an angry anonymous voice in the darkness identified the real culprit behind the sudden lack of light.
By then, Connor was on the chase. "Keep your head down," Connor hissed. He grabbed her shoulder and pushed her low. "Move! We're following him!"
The tall, fit agent surged forward, holding Cami’s arm firmly until she was past the advancing group, kicking a chair into the path of one of the bikers who lunged at him. There was a clatter and an outraged cry and then Connor was powering past, running between the tables, pinning Seth in the flashlight beam, with Cami scrambling to follow.
She bumped against someone, feeling herself collide with a solid, muscular, leather-jacketed bulk, but luckily her own speed got her past before he could realize who she was and grab her. Then she was weaving through the tables in Connor's wake, her eyes fixed on the light ahead as crashes and chaos played out around her.
Connor leaped over a fallen chair and, holding tight to her laptop bag, Cami did the same. Her Doc Martens thudded down, crunching over a shard of broken glass. And then they were racing toward the exit, and she saw Connor was gaining on the fleeing man.
"Seth Armitage, stop!" Connor roared in the darkness. "FBI. We need to question you."
His voice was loud and clear, and Cami had no doubt at all that Seth had heard. But Seth wasn't stopping. He reached the door, grabbed the handle, and wrenched it open. Dim light filtered into the bar from the street lamps outside. And then Seth was out, with Connor close behind and Cami racing to catch up.
With a shout, the two men disappeared, darting to the left. Cami rushed in pursuit. No way was she going to be slow, not when this group of angry bikers would be regrouping and ready to chase after them.
She hoped that now that they were out of the Strykers Club's territory the bikers wouldn’t be quite so aggressive. But that wasn’t their main problem. The main problem was catching up with Seth.
He was fleeing down a roughly paved alleyway that led to the back of the club, his boots thudding over the bricks. If Cami recalled, it ended up at a dumpsite that hadn’t yet closed up for the day. She could hear the thrum and clang of trash trucks at work, their headlights flashing in the growing darkness.
He could lose them there. They needed to catch him, but the situation was now beyond her control as they raced into the darkness, her feet slipping on the worn paving and splashing through foul-smelling puddles. Now, Connor was the only one who could save the day.
Connor was fast, but Seth was driven. And desperate. He was fleeing with everything he had.
"Stop!" Connor bellowed again, but his voice was swallowed by the clanging of the trucks, and Seth kept running, his footsteps stumbling and slipping.
Cami was tiring, becoming very aware of the weight of the two machines in her bag.
"Seth, stop!" Connor shouted through the dark. The dim glow of the distant streetlights wasn't enough to see by, and the only light in the alley came from the flickering headlights of the trucks next door.
And then, at the end of the alleyway, Cami saw that there was a chain link fence. High and silvery, it stretched above them, and this meant that Seth had a choice.
Either he could climb the fence, or he could make a stand. She watched the dark shape hesitate, weighing his options.
Then he decided to climb. He leaped for the fence, grabbing the solid wires that rattled and swayed as it took his weight.
But the next moment, it was too late. He'd underestimated Connor's speed and determination. With all his force, Connor slammed into the fence with a clang and rattle of wires, grabbing Seth tightly around his legs.
Seth kicked out at him, bellowing angrily, his voice full of aggression. His flailing foot almost caught Connor in the face, and Cami gasped, but the agent was quick as a cat. He ducked, grabbed Seth's foot, and while he was off balance, yanked as hard as he could.
Cursing and thrashing, Seth fell, tumbling to the hard ground, sprawling onto the dirty paving, and in another moment, Connor was on him. He grabbed the man's arm and wrenched it up behind him.
Seth roared in pain and then he was straining against the hold, struggling to pull out of Connor's grasp.
"Seth Armitage, you are under arrest," Connor growled, holding tighter.
