Page 122 of Seven Deadly Sins

Moving as quietly as possible, he opened the door that led to the customer side of the store. Five aisles of product gave a few places for a body to hide.

The squeak of a gym shoe on the tile floor led him to turn left. He paused and pulled his phone from his pocket.

Lucy, Robert’s personal assassin, had her back to Liam as she peered around the corner of a display of greeting cards. Attached to her belt was what looked like a detonator. She held a gun in her right hand.

He pulled back and sent Harper a text. If he could keep Lucy’s attention on him, Harper, hopefully, could get the people out of the bank.

Text sent, he knocked over a display of toilet paper and dove out of sight.

“Clumsy move, Agent.”

Staying low, he moved another aisle over.

“I’ve been wanting to meet you. Come out and we’ll talk a while. Come out, come out wherever you are.” She laughed. “Oh, this is going to be more fun than I’ve had in a long time. Working for Robert has grown very boring.”

Keep talking so I know exactly where you are. Liam moved to the next aisle in hopes of coming at her from the other side.

“What the…?” Lucy cursed.

Liam leaped from hiding and fired. His first shot took her in the shoulder and spun her like a carnival ride. Her gun slid across the floor. The second shot dropped her next to the overturned toilet paper.

“Not good,” she muttered as she reached for the detonator.

Liam lunged forward and stepped on her hand. While he had her pinned, he removed the detonator from her belt and set it high on the top shelf of a shelf before letting the chief know that he had her in custody and to send backup.

“I’ll kill you for this.” Lucy spit.

“You can try. Right now, I have the upper hand.” He helped her to a sitting position and cuffed her hands. The woman seemed surprised that she’d lost the fight.

Harper was one of the backups. He’d never been happier to see anyone walk through a door before. “You okay?” She glanced from Lucy to him.

“For once, I’m not the one shot.”

“The bandage on your arm says otherwise.” She smiled and stepped aside as two paramedics helped the bleeding Lucy onto a gurney.

“Happened before I got here.” He stepped forward and pulled her into his arms. “Knowing you were in that bank with Stephanie aged me fifteen years.”

“I think I aged a bit, too.” She gazed into his face. “Bomb squad is with her now. This part at least is over.”

He watched over her head as the medics wheeled Lucy away and lifted her into the ambulance. His shots didn’t seem to be fatal. She’d face a jury someday and spend the rest of her life in prison. A small part of him wished he had killed her. One less black heart in the world.

“Let’s go home.” He slipped his arm around her waist and led her to the chief.

“Do you have to go back?”

“I’ll check with the Director.” Night had fallen an hour ago. What he really wanted was to sleep.

He called his director who said the man had given up with shouted promises to return to the rooftop in the morning. FBI agents swarmed the complex and arrested him when they found the man entering an apartment on the first floor.

Two of Robert’s people off the streets. He smiled and joined Harper in the jeep. In the morning, they’d come up with a way of bringing Robert’s fans to one place.

Chapter Seven

Harper stared atSteven Maysup across the table in the prison visiting room. “Don’t toy with me. There has to be a place and a phrase that only zealots would recognize as a code to come.”

“I’m already in prison, why help you?” He frowned.

“I could negotiate a shorter sentence.”

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