AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When he spots Pen, Marc, and me free from our jail cell, his eyes narrow into angry slits. “What is the meaning of this?”
Pen’s hand moves to her empty belt loops, and Marc steps forward. “Looks like our stay was shorter than you anticipated.”
Bailey’s face contorts with rage, and he looks at the room full of officers. “Arrest these people! They are escaped felons.”
The room falls eerily silent, and no one moves to carry out his order.
Bailey’s fists clench at his sides. “This is insubordination! I’ll see you all thrown into prison!”
On silent feet, O’Hara steps up behind Bailey and knocks the older man on the head. Bailey’s eyes roll back in their sockets, and he slumps to the floor. “God, I thought nothing would shut that windbag up.”
Troy comes forward and grabs the handcuffs from Bailey’s belt, and together, he and O’Hara lock the older man to one of the heavy metal desks. “So glad I’ll never call this asshole boss.”
O’Hara looks back up at us. “This should hold him until his officers arrive to look for him. You’d best hurry, boss.”
Johannsson points toward the entrance. “Your ride’s waiting outside. Get moving.”
“Never thought I’d take orders from you, Paul.” Pen dips her chin to him. “Good job.”
Turning, we rush through the metal detector and out the door.
the getaway
- Pen -
The early morningsun momentarily blinds me as we step outside. It hadn’t felt like we were in lockup that long, but time passes differently underground.
A sedan idles at the curb, the darkly tinted windows blocking us from seeing inside, but when I reach for the back passenger handle, the door opens.
The scent of salt permeates the air, and I spot Mayn behind the wheel. I scoot across the seat, making room for Sharpe to slide in beside me while Marc hurries around to the front passenger door.
As soon as all our doors close, the car pulls smoothly away from the curb and heads away from the New Clearhelm access road at a speed that just tests the speed limit.
I twist to peer out the back to make sure no one followed us from the station. At this time in the early morning, few cars are on the street, which will make finding us easy if they discover Bailey fast enough.
So far, we seem to be in the clear, but that could change at any moment.
I turn back around and settle into my seat.
Mayn’s black eyes flash toward us through the rearview mirror. “It’s good to see you free again, sir.”
“Thanks for the pickup.” Sharpe buckles his seatbelt. “They do anything to you after they hauled me away?”
“Just gave me a box and told me to pack up.” Her hands tighten on the steering wheel, and it creaks in protest. “I heard they did the same to the rest of the department.”
“Yeah, Bailey did a full house clean.” Anger fills Sharpe’s voice. “I’m sorry you were all caught up in his vendetta against me.”
“You were the only person willing to take a chance on hiring me,” Mayn says. “I had a good run at the JTFPI, but I go where you go. Even if they hadn’t fired me, I would have quit.”
“Thank you, Mayn.” Sharpe looks out the window at the passing streetlights. “Where are we going?”
“Meredith scrambled the cameras, but in case someone saw you get into this car, we need to ditch it.” Her eyes flick to the rearview mirror, checking to make sure we’re still alone on the road.
“Everyone just put their freedom at risk for us.” Sharpe’s hands shake on his thighs as the realization of what just happened settles in. “They never should have done that.”
“It was their decision, and they all backed you, even the new recruits.” Pride straightens Mayn’s back. “They’re loyal to you and what you stand for, not their badge.”
I cover Sharpe’s hand with mine. “If it helps, Meredith will mess with the footage to show them all leaving before Bailey returned. It will be his word against all of theirs as to what happened.”
