Page 54 of Flint's Battle

Bowie darted in beside Flint, changing his magazine as he eyed Lewis and Sam as they raced out the main entrance. “Are you fucking kidding me? I thought Milligan had hand-picked these guys? And two are dirty?”

Flint shrugged. “They’re both apparently ex-Army, but we both know, firsthand, that being a soldier doesn’t guarantee you’re not a traitorous bastard. How’s your chest?”

“About as good as your ribs.” Bowie nodded at Luke. “If Luke’s in on it, too, he should get an Oscar.”

“I doubt he’s faking the blood on his thigh. He definitely got grazed. You ready to chase these assholes down?”

“Try and keep up, buddy.”

Bowie took off, rifle at the ready, muscles primed to react to even a hint of a threat. Flint covered his six, taking point at the door as Bowie made a dash for one of the Suburbans. Rain pelted the concrete, more fog curling across the pavement. He whistled once he was clear and Flint hoofed it over, a couple of bullets ricocheting off the vehicle as he ducked behind it.

Bowie glanced over the hood, cursing when another bullet took out the driver’s mirror. “Sam’s nesting on that slight rise atour two o’clock. Lewis is making a break for the water. What do you want to bet they have a boat anchored close by?”

“Do I look like an idiot? I don’t make bets I already know I’ll lose. You got Sam? Because I’d like to have a chat with Lewis.”

“Bastard’s all mine. I might leave him breathing, though, no promises.”

“Just don’t die on me or Moana will have my balls.”

“Like I’m gonna let some grunt get the better of me. On three.”

Bowie showed the countdown, then Flint was up and firing — buying Bowie time to sprint across the lot and dart behind some cover before Flint took off in the other direction. Circling behind the building then heading for the ocean. It was farther than it looked, with brush and rain hampering his progress.

Arriving at the beach just as three men readied a boat was a lucky break. Recognizing Lewis as the guy pulling up the rear, another.

Flint got into position then fired, dropping the second guy as the first ducked beneath the edge, hitting the throttle. Lewis lost his grip, stumbling backwards as the motor kicked over, the vessel quickly speeding off. Lewis raised his weapon but didn’t fire.

Flint took a few steps forward, Lewis’ head in his crosshairs. “Give me a reason.”

Lewis snorted, finally lowering his weapon. “How the hell did you even find the boat?”

“I’ve spent twenty years in the Navy. I know how to read a shoreline. And this is the only place you’d be able to hide a boat in this weather and not have it busted into pieces.”

Flint motioned to the sand. “Slowly.”

Lewis scrambled off the rocks then onto the sand, tossing his rifle onto the beach. “It doesn’t have to end like this, O’Connell.”

“You’re breathing. That’s as good as you’re going to get.”

“I mean for McClane. I can make a call. Save her life.”

“She’s safe.”

“Do you really think the fire station’s secure? You have no idea how entrenched this is. But, let me go, and I’ll call off phase two.”

Flint didn’t react. Lewis had been standing there when Emery had left with Jack. Surmising she’d gone to the fire station was expected. “Phase two is you in a body bag.”

Lewis shrugged. “They need leverage. Insurance, I guess. And McClane is the one person you’ll all back down for. Too bad she won’t be useful once they’re clear.”

Flint moved forward, gun still trained on the guy. “You’d better hope you’re lying because if anything happens to her, you’re dead, too.”

“I was dead the moment I didn’t make it into that boat.”

Lewis went for his sidearm, jerking backwards when Flint fired. He hit the guy twice in the vest, knocking him back just as blue lights pierced the fog and the rain, Milligan arriving on the boardwalk a few hundred meters away. Bowie jumped out of the car and ran over, covering Lewis as Flint grabbed his cell — tried called Jack.

Lewis laughed. “No service, asshole. And by the time you get some, it’ll be too late.” He stumbled to his feet as Bowie cuffed his hands behind him. “You should have taken the deal. Now, you won’t even have a body to bury.”

Flint loomed in close, his breath washing over the other man. “You’d better hope this is all just a ploy because if anything happens to her, I’ll kill you. Slowly. And there isn’t a prison secure enough to stop me. So, think very hard on how you want the next few minutes to play out, then talk.”

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