Page 49 of Flint's Battle

“Call it whatever you’d like. But if you believe I wanted Emery to get hurt, then we have bigger issues here. And while I had my suspicions that the factory might be the lucky break Porter and I had been hoping for, I honestly didn’t think there’d be another attempt on her life with the number of police patrolling the building — the odd dirty cop or not.”

He blew out a rough breath. “And yes, I’m well aware of how lucky I am that both you and Emery came through.”

Milligan tugged on his shirt. “Are we done? Or are we going to waste more time rehashing old threats? Because thoseassholes are still out there, and I doubt they’re going to give Emery a pass because they struck out a couple times.”

“Flint.”

Emery pushed her way through the gathering of men, stopping between Flint and Milligan. She placed one hand on Flint’s chest, staring at him until he took a healthy step back. But it cost him. Took every ounce of restraint not to hike her up on his shoulder and leave. Get Waylen to lend Flint a boat so they could bug out until her boss and Porter got their heads out of their asses.

Emery eyed her boss, not giving an inch until the man lowered his shoulders and eased back. Not as much as Flint but at least the man had moved.

She swung her gaze back to Flint. “I understand why you’re upset?—”

“Oh, I’m beyond upset, sweetheart.”

“As am I. But right now, we need to focus on moving forward. On finding a way to get these bastards out in the open so someone can toss their asses in jail and throw away the key. Preferably me. So, everyone zip up.”

Emery turned to her boss. “But don’t think for a moment I’m going to let this slide.” She focused on Porter. “So, these contacts.”

Porter scoffed. “Still unknown. I know there’s a leak in the Coast Guard. Likely two individuals, which explains how the shipments get past the patrols. And we’re certain there’s a couple of patrol officers and a detective involved to account for the immensity of the cover up. But until the other night, we hadn’t caught the bastards performing an actual drop.”

Porter tapped his chin. “Though, I’m a bit surprised you made it to the top of their hit list after only one encounter. Nothing in your report suggested they’d come after you theway they did. You said one of them was blond. Did you notice anything else about him?”

Emery glanced at Flint, silently asking if he thought she should answer honestly, then sighing when he nodded. “I got a decent enough look at his face to know I’d never seen him before.”

Porter perked up. “But you’d recognize him if you saw him, again?”

Emery snorted. “I’m pretty damn good with faces. And before you ask, he’s not someone I’ve seen in any of our databases.”

“Does that mean he got a really good look at you, too?”

“Probably. Though, there were bullets flying and he was focusing more on running, then jumping into the boat. But even if he didn’t, there are only two female detectives on the west side. And I don’t look anything like Kelani.”

Flint moved in beside her. “You think whoever she saw is the key to unraveling this entire operation.”

“The fact he’s worried enough she’d find him amidst two hundred thousand residents that he ordered a hit several hours later implies he’s someone she might cross paths with in the future.”

Milligan arched a brow. “Funny how you neglected to include that little tidbit in your report.”

Emery scoffed. “I did include it. One of the suspects was blond, about six-foot two with an athletic build. Being able to recognize him, again, doesn’t mean I can accurately describe him. I’ll just know it’s him when I see him.”

“Perhaps you should sit down, Emery. Because I didn’t understand a word you said.”

She rolled her eyes, then smiled up at Flint. “You understand, right?”

“Crystal clear, sweetheart.”

Her cheeks flushed a bit at the endearment before she shifted, inhaling when her right shoulder twisted. She waved off his concern, focusing on Porter. “Other than hoping I bump into the creep, there’s got to be some way of anticipating where and when their next drop will be. If they were bold enough to make an attempt on my life inside a hospital full of cops, they aren’t going to postpone a shipment because I crashed their last meeting. I’d suggest the factory again, but until it’s cleared?—”

“It’s cleared.”

Emery whipped her head around so fast to look at Milligan, Flint had to grab her to stop her from tripping onto her ass. She grimaced, crushing all but a soft moan before nodding her thanks. “What do you mean, it’s clear? It’s only been a few days.”

Milligan shrugged. “Simmons released it last night.”

“But…” She winced, again, not that anyone else might have noticed but Flint did. She was hurting and he was a few minutes away from ending the meeting. “How can he release a scene when the DEA and ATF haven’t even walked through it, yet?”

“Simmons refused interagency help. He insists this is a drug-related drop. That the weapons are from the Tenth-Street gang over in Honolulu trying to muscle in on local markets. And our federal brothers have more cases than they can deal with, so they’re happy to let it play out for a while before insisting they be included.”

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