Page 152 of Liar's Point

Pop!

Pop! Pop!

Bullets seemed to be flying in all directions. McVoy crumpled to the ground, clutching his knee now. Emmet was on him almost instantly. And then Owen and Adam.

Nicole watched in shock as they wrestled the man onto his stomach and slapped cuffs on him. Then the FBI agents were there, everyone crowded around trying to help get the kicking man under control.

Nicole grabbed her crutches. She struggled with the airbag, slapping it out of her way so she could get the crutches positioned and haul herself from the car. She hurried over to the heap of bodies.

McVoy was on his stomach in the dirt, cursing and bleeding. Agent Raddick crouched beside him as everyone else got to their feet.

She looked at Emmet. “He’s disarmed?”

“Yeah.” Emmet’s chest heaved, and his eyes looked wild with panic as he glanced from the crashed police car to her. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

He stepped closer. “You sure?”

“I’m okay.”

A steady whump-whump filled the sky, and Nicole looked up to see a police helicopter nearing the salvage yard.

“There’s our backup,” Owen said. “Just in time.”

The helicopter swooped low, kicking up dust, and Nicole turned away and shielded her eyes from the grit.

Emmet moved away from the crowd. Nicole’s heart lurched as he stumbled toward a pile of tires.

“Emmet?”

He leaned against the tires, and she noticed the blood dripping from his fingertips.

“Emmet?” She rushed over.

“Damn, Nicole.” He closed his eyes. “He got me.”

CHAPTER

TWENTY-NINE

The mobile command center was swarming with FBI agents and crime scene techs. Nicole made her way around a scrum of sheriff’s deputies and paused at the base of the trailer’s portable steps.

“Damn crutches.”

The door swung open and Adam stepped out, thank God.

“Hey, is Brady in there?” she asked him.

“He’s talking to the Washington guy.”

“Get him for me, would you?”

Adam hesitated a moment, then ducked back into the trailer.

Nicole surveyed the scene around her. Every law enforcement agency in the tri-county area was represented here, even the Coast Guard. Evidently, no one wanted to miss out on the action.

Within minutes of McVoy’s arrest, Cassandra had been transported to the hospital to get checked out. Her injuries had seemed minor, but she’d been shaking uncontrollably and was practically catatonic from shock. Detectives would need to interview her to understand the details of her abduction. One thing was obvious—if police hadn’t arrived the moment they did, Cassandra would likely be dead at the bottom of that pit right now.

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