Page 64 of No Take Backs

“I wouldn’t ask you to,” he counters. “I’ve got a kid just as stubborn as you. If it were his family in danger, there wouldn’t be any stopping him.”

I hear a snort and someone in the background grunts, “Damn straight.”

“Be there in two,” I tell him before I hang up.

When I pull up to the already gathering police cruisers, I strip off my bunker jacket and step out of the truck, leaving my pants on. Once I have my arms free, I grab my badge and gun from the locked glovebox from the back seat of my truck.

“Harmon,” Dominic Ortiz, a police officer with Birch Harbor PD, greets me. He has a long rifle in his hand, but he isn’t strapping it to his shoulder.

“You got this, Emma?” He turns to a small blond female at his side.

“Yup.” She takes the rifle, which likely weighs more than she does, and grips it like it weighs nothing more than a feather. Then she salutes me and walks into the woods.

Dom shrugs when I catch his eye questioningly. “She’s a better shot than I am.”

The rest of the men, his team, agree. Then they start giving Dom shit about his feelings for the pint-sized officer and how she’s got him by the dick.

“That’s my little sister, you monsters.” Linc Hayes, another officer, shakes his head. “Heard we’re taking out a crazy woman today.”

“She’s got Nia’s niece and a little boy.” I fill them in on all of the details, and none of them are the least bit surprised to hear that it is Laura D’mato holding them.

“We don’t have time.” Emma’s voice comes through the mic on Dom’s shoulder. “She just doused the couch with something. I didn’t get the rifle up in time to see it. I don’t think I can take the shot without endangering the kids.”

“No.” I shake my head. “She’s got turpentine and kerosene in there. Don’t do anything that could spark it.”

I’m running down the dirt road before anyone else can stop me. Yeah, they are all former Marines, and there is no doubt that on any ordinary day, they could beat my ass when it comes to racing around a track.

But this isn’t a track, and I’ve carried heavier gear than what I’m wearing on a regular basis. None of them have more to lose in this fight than I do.

And none of them are going to get in my way.

I get there first and don’t bother waiting for them to catch up.

Gasping for air, I crash through the door of the dilapidated camp to find Laura staring at a crying Lyla with wild eyes.

“Back off, psycho,” Lyla is yelling. “You’re not going to hurt us. If you try, my daddy’s gonna help me murder you and I won’t even get caught or in trouble for it. You’re just a stupid potato.”

Then they realize they aren’t alone anymore, and she doesn’t move. Her hand is locked in Richard’s, and he is staring straight ahead with a glassy expression.

Laura, however, does. She whirls on me, her hair a soot-filled mess. The blue shirt with red letters, the same one she wore when she saved lives, seems like a bad joke.

“Laura?” I hold up my hands, showing her that I don’t have my gun. The smell hits me, and I know I made the right choice. She’s soaked everything in the extremely flammable combination. “Laura. What are you doing?”

She opens her mouth and closes it again, confusion written on her face. “Josh? What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here. There’s a fire.” She sounds wrong, off somehow.

“Laura, did you take something?”

“I wasn’t going to hurt that little girl,” she whispers, tears filling her eyes. “I didn’t know she was there. I was so careful, Josh.” She steps forward, away from the kids, and I move to the side. When she follows me, I do it again, clearing the path for Lyla and Richard to get out.

“How about I stay with you, and the kids go?”

“They followed me, Josh.” Laura points accusingly at Lyla. “She called someone. I heard her on the phone and surprised her, but he pushed me out of the way. I had to do it.”

“Had to do what, Laura?”

“I had to make them stop. So I’m making them stop.”

“No.” I shake my head and try my best to smile at her. It comes out as more of a grimace, but it is all I can manage. “No, you don’t need to make them stop. Lyla only called me. And I’m here. So we’re going to let the kids go, and then you and I are going to talk.”

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