Page 161 of Seven Deadly Sins

The noise and commotion wasn’t new to Liam, although he’d never been involved in something this large. Harper’s wide eyes showed her rising anxiety.

“Breathe. Focus on how you felt in the church.”

“Right.” She took a deep breath and set her things on an empty desk. “Now what?”

“We wait for orders. Excuse me.” He spotted his director near the rear entrance to the building. “Sir?”

Director Payson turned. “McConnell. Darndest thing, isn’t it?”

“Yes. What are we supposed to be doing right now?”

“Once everyone arrives, we’ll move to the compound. We’re all hoping that Thompson gives up peacefully and no one gets hurt.”

Liam’s sentiments exactly.

“Let me know if that psycho makes contact with you or Detective Scranton.”

“Will do.” Liam returned to where Harper set up her laptop. “Nothing yet.”

“So, we wait.” She sat in a rolling chair with duct tape on the seat and booted up her computer.

“What are you doing?” He peered over her shoulder.

“I grew up here. I’m going to see if there is a back way into that compound now that I know where it is.” She pulled up a satellite map. “It beats doing nothing.”

He agreed. Sometimes there was a lot of waiting in law enforcement. “Let me know if you find anything.”

She murmured something and kept her attention on the computer screen.

How many days until everyone assigned this case would arrive? How long until Thompson fired the first shot? He sat in a chair and propped his feet on the top of the desk, his gaze locked on the door. Would Sheila be one of those arriving?

It could be awkward. No, why should it? He and Harper weren’t an item. He wasn’t sure what they were, but she’d made it plan to be only professional until Thompson was either dead or behind bars. Liam was starting to think the cancer might kill him before he could be arrested.

What then? Would his followers disband, or would someone step up to take his place?

Liam had never wished anyone dead before, much less from something as horrible as cancer, but Thompson dying could solve a lot of problems. He stiffened when he spotted the top of a head full of red hair. Nope, not her.

“Liam, look.” Harper waved him over.

He dropped his feet to the floor with a thump before once again peering over her shoulder. “What am I looking at?”

“Here is the compound. He’s not even trying to camouflage anymore, which tells me the satellite must have gone over within the last few hours.” She tapped the screen to zero in. “Here is an old logging road that runs fairly close to the far perimeter. It’s overgrown, but four-wheel drive could get in, then it would require maybe half a mile hike. We could surround him. He wouldn’t see us coming until we were there.”

He grinned. “You’re amazing. Ever considered joining the FBI?”

“No, this is my home. All I could think about at the academy was to try and get on to the police department here.”

His heart dropped. He’d gotten the answer to one of the questions he wanted to ask her when all that was over. “I’ll get the chief and Director Payson. They’ll want to see this.”

A few minutes later, they all crowded around Harper’s laptop. “Good job.” The chief grinned. “The SWAT team can sneak right in. We’ll get a sniper to take Thompson out.” He clapped Harper on the shoulder before returning to those gathering in the center of the gym.

Payson nodded, admiration gleaming in his eyes, and followed the chief.

Liam grinned. “Takes a lot to impress that man.”

“It really wasn’t that hard. If the chief wasn’t so stressed, he would’ve remembered these mountains are laced with old roads, some mere trails anymore. Is there a printer close by?” She glanced around them. “Oh, there.” She hooked to the printer via wifi and printed off the map. “I’ll get some copies of these made.”

“Hello, Liam.”

---