Page 161 of Maddy's Justice

“Madeline, don’t shoot,” she suddenly heard a voice come out of the trees.

Startled, she spun around, went down on one knee as the rifle came up to her shoulder. Both of the twins did the same thing.

“Maddy! Don’t shoot, dammit!”

“Tony? Tony!” she almost screamed.

“We’re coming out. Don’t shoot,” she heard her friend’s familiar voice say.

Sorenson and Agent Diggs handcuffed Evan and Zane. While they did this, there was a brief, but very emotional reunion among Maddy, Carvelli and Paxton. Even Dan Sorenson got a big hug and kiss while Roy looked on.

“I’m so happy to see you. What about Marc? Does he know?” Maddy asked.

“Sort of,” Carvelli said.

“What did you tell him?” Maddy sternly asked.

“Later. We aren’t out of this yet,” Carvelli said.

“And who are these two lovely ladies?” Sorenson asked.

The twins were introduced and Maddy assured them they were going to get out of this. They both started crying again as they threw their arms around Maddy.

When it finally settled down, Carvelli, always looking for trouble, said to Maddy, “We should get a picture of you. You’re a mess. No makeup. Hair’s a mess, your clothes are wet and dirty...”

“I’m holding a gun,” Maddy drolly said.

“You know I just love to tease you,” Carvelli said.

“Don’t press your luck,” Maddy replied.

“We need to get the overhead cover open,” Agent Diggs announced.

“How do we do it?” Roy, the chopper pilot asked looking at Evan and Zane. They were both handcuffed and sitting on the ground against the Rover,

Maddy knelt down in front of Zane, jabbed a handgun under his chin and said, “How’s the mouth feeling?”

“Go to hell, you bitch.”

She stood up, pointed the gun at Zane’s left knee and said, “Your turn.”

“All right, all right,” Zane yelped. “Somebody get this sadistic bitch away from me.”

Maddy asked Carvelli, “Why do we need that open?”

“There’s a swat team on the way.” He looked at Evan and said, “They’ll have something for the pain.”

“What about the guards searching the roads?” Maddy asked

“There’s help on the way,” Sorenson answered. “The calvary will be here in about ten minutes.”

“Who?” Maddy asked.

“Chicago SWAT,” Carvelli said. “And our ride will be coming along in another ten minutes or so also.”

Maddy looked at Zane and said, “I guess that’s as close to having that dance as we’re gonna get, Cal.”

Agent Diggs and Roy helped Zane up and they walked him toward the main building to open the netting.