Page 68 of Protecting the White Bear

His heart pounding, Andy plowed through the snow after him. He intended to tackle Teague before he reached Monica. But he missed him by inches and fell into a face full of snow.Damn it.

As long as Teague and Lionel didn't use deadly force against them, and not knowing all their involvement in the kidnapping case, they couldn't just shoot them. But Andy couldn't believe he'd misjudged lunging for Teague and missing him. Only by inches, sure, but it could have been by a mile as the guy kept running after Monica, and Andy was trying to get to his feet.

Then Andy was off and running again, furious with himself for the mistake. If Teague caught up with Monica and hurt her, he would never forgive himself.

Her left hand was still injured, and she wouldn’t have time to tackle Lionel or deal with Teague. With adrenaline surging through his veins, Andy dove forward, trying to reach Teague before he could get to Monica. He was getting closer, but Teague was too close to Monica.

Teague reached her, grabbed her arm, and she swung around with her gun in hand and slugged him in the temple. He went down into the snow, and she glanced back. Andy had a zip tie out and hurried to confine Teague. He and Monica continued to pursue Lionel.

They didn't speak to each other; they just breathed in the ice-cold air, their breaths frosty as they plodded through the snow after their target.

The land dropped off, and suddenly, he was out of sight. That made Andy think of an ambush. He and Monica slowed down until they reached the dip in the hill. Down below were more homes. Lionel's body had plowed through the snow, but he had gotten around the front of a white house and was now out of sight.

Still, Andy and Monica continued to follow his tracks and pursue him.

"I'm going this way. You go the other way around." Monica didn't wait for Andy to respond, which showed her leadership qualities and drive to complete the mission.

He admired her for it as he took off in the direction Lionel had gone, still following in his trail. This meant Monica had taken the more difficult route.

He finally reached the side property and got close to the end of the house, his gun out, ready for anything. A car's engine roared to life nearby. He hoped it wasn't Lionel getting away in his vehicle or stealing someone else's.

Monica shouted, "Get out of the car now!"

Hell, she was a firecracker ready to explode. He raced beyond the house and saw her facing down a car, Lionel in the driver's seat.

Andy shot out the car's tires facing him. Lionel was racing the engine, threatening to run Monica over. She was holding her position, her gun in her hands, ready to shoot through the windshield. Andy dashed through the snow to the car, unsure what he would do when he got there.

He needed to keep Lionel from running over Monica, forcing her to shoot him. But he didn't know if Lionel was armed either.

He slipped on the ice and slammed into the passenger's door. That wasn't planned either.

His heart pumping hard, he looked inside the fogged-up window at Lionel, who suddenly gunned the engine. Monica fired at the front driver's side tire and leaped into the snowbank. Andy hoped she hadn't reinjured herself.

He raced into the street and shot out the remaining tire. Lionel had no control over the car on the icy street with four flat tires. He sailed into a mailbox and crashed into a truck parked in front of another house.

Andy should have just run toward the car before Lionel managed to extricate himself from it, but he had to help Monica out of the snowbank in case she was hurting. He pulled her free, and they both ran toward the wrecked car. Lionel raced off and slipped on ice, falling onto his backside in what would have been a laugh-out-loud moment, except he had a gun, and he turned it on them.

Andy shoved Monica out of the way, forcing her into a snow pile. And fired back. He hit Lionel in the shoulder. Lionel dropped his weapon as two police cars roared down the street, sirens sounding off and lights flashing this time.

"Move away from the gun!" Andy shouted, realizing that the gun Lionel dropped was Andy’s! He and Monica were still in the line of fire if Lionel retrieved Andy’s gun and shot it out with them. Monica ran for cover behind the wrecked car.

Andy continued to hold his gun on Lionel, who was looking at him and then at the gun, which was only a few inches away from him. Would he take the bait or not?

17

With her gun ready, Monica moved around the car to reach Lionel. The other officers had exited their vehicles but were staying behind them. Andy was the most vulnerable for now. She had to rush around the truck that Lionel had collided with and reach him before he shot Andy. As soon as Lionel heard her sneaking around on the crunchy snow, Lionel turned to observe her.

"Roll this way," she ordered, her weapon poised at him.

At the same time, Andy took advantage of the distraction and raced onto the street to grab Lionel's gun. As soon as he did, Lionel grabbed for it.

Was the guy suicidal?

Monica ran the last few feet just as Andy reached the gun and grabbed it. He would have just kicked it away from Lionel, but it was impossible with the street covered in snow.

The officers quickly joined them. Andy pulled gauze from his first aid kit and applied it to Lionel’s arm. Then he wrapped it in a pressure bandage when the sound of more sirens rent the air. More police vehicles were suddenly on the scene, and an ambulance arrived.

“There were six large pizzas,” Monica suddenly said.

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