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Ten minutes later it was all over.
With her arms firmly wrapped around her sister, Pixie, Talia had all she could do to keep the tears of relief at bay.
It had gone down exactly as Doug had suggested.
While Spencer had continued engaging Bentensil, they’d all watched Doug slowly and surreptitiously sneak out of room 420, his firearm holstered—which might have the higher-ups suffering even more fits—his body poised and ready. At a particularly heated juncture during the ongoing conversation, Doug wrenched the closet door fully open and immediately tackled the man to the ground.
During the skirmish, one round was fired from the perp’s gun, but luckily the barrel had been pointed downward at the time. The bullet only managed to take off the top layer of leather on Doug’s right combat boot.
Lucky bastard.
Squads A and E had subsequently stormed in, secured the shooter—after Doug already had him disarmed—and Peter Bentensil was on his way to being booked and getting a much-needed psych evaluation. Where he’d go from there was anybody’s guess. Since no one had been hurt during the incident, but there’d been reckless endangerment and damage to the building, his sentencing would eventually reflect that. But his final fate would also depend on whether his lawyer could prove Bentensil had no intent to harm anyone but himself.
Good luck with that.
Talia was glad she wasn’t a lawyer.
As for Doug…
Well, while Talia took time to digest the man’s current transgressions—and actually felt thankful he’d gone against her orders and kept Pixie, her colleagues, and several dozen students out of harm’s way—Mason was…Yup.The man was ballistic. He was currently chewing Doug a new asshole over grandstanding, disobeying orders, not working as a team-player, and making solo decisions without prior approval.
Doug simply stood at attention with a stoic look on his face, taking the tirade in stride, but Pixie…
“Why is he getting yelled at?” she asked Talia, her voice soft and uncertain. “He…saved us, didn’t he?”
Talia gave her a squeeze. “He did. But he didn’t have authorization to go in alone. It’s not something SWAT sanctions, so the boss has to give him a reprimand.”
“Hmph.”
Talia felt Pixie’s shoulders straighten and her backbone stiffen.What the…?
Her diminutive sister shrugged out from under Talia’s arm and walked toward Mason and Doug. Talia blinked. Who was this bold woman, and where was her sister hiding?
“Excuse me.” Her tiny voice barely moved the air around the engaged pair as Mason continued his tirade.
She coughed and tried again, this time coming close to lay the fingers of her right hand on Mason’s sleeve. “Excuse me,” she repeated.
“What…?” Mason’s bark turned to a muted rumble as he looked down…way down at Pixie.
“Umm, I’m Pixie, Talia’s sister,” she told Mason, studiously avoiding the scowl that Doug was sending her way. “And I think you’re…being too hard on your officer. He was…” Pixie blushed to the roots of her fine, platinum hair. “…magnificent. A comfort to us all. We were terrified; immobilized until he slipped in through our window. Then without blinking, he galvanized us into action, and made sure we all got to safety. I don’t…” She took another huge breath. “I don’t think you should be yelling at him.”
Mason looked disconcerted. Unsure, which was a new thing for him.
Talia knew he’d grown up with seven brothers, and wasn’t used to dealing with females in anything but a professional capacity. Everlee, his wife, had spent her entire life in law enforcement, so wasn’t averse to his gruff ways. But Pixie… She was like some tiny little sprite appealing to his better judgement; an anomaly to Mason that clearly put him well out of his comfort zone.
Doug, not so much. He simply shook his head and tsked.
Turning and bending down to Talia’s older sister, his tone softened and his face gentled. “It’s okay, Pixie,” he assured her. “My chief is just doing his job. I messed up and went against orders. That was wrong of me.” He actually patted Pixie’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay.”
Okay.Now Talia was certain of it. Aliens had not only kidnapped her quiet, timid sister, but they’d taken the blustery Doug as well. There could be no other explanation.
Mason unglued his tongue from the roof of his mouth and still looking a little lost, deferred to Ever, who’d come up behind him during the strange conversation.
She sidled around her husband.
“It’s okay, Ms. Spires,” she assured Talia’s sibling.
“Pixie, please,” her sister responded.
