Page 69 of Deputies Under Fire
Dragging in some much needed air, Eden looked at the others, and in a blink, she knew there was no threat here. Diedre was trying to scream, and she was clinging to Bennie. Helen was groaning, the sound of raw pain, and Eden realized the gun still taped to her hand had apparently gouged into her left arm. The barrel had been rammed into her skin.
Eden unraveled the rest of the tape, checking to see if the gun was loaded. It wasn’t. Then she checked the wound. It was bleeding. Not a fatal injury, but she’d need medical attention. Heck, they all would.
“Ike,” Rory blurted on a gasp of breath.
That put her heart right back in her throat, and the images flashed like neon signs in her head. Ike with all those IEDs around him. And Judson had gone back to try to help him.
Rory caught on to the top of the hole, and he levered himself out, his gaze sweeping around. He’d managed to hold on to his gun. Unlike Eden. She had to pick hers up from the bottom of the hole.
“I’ll go check on Judson and Ike,” Rory insisted.
She’d had no doubts that was his plan, but Eden crawled out with him, and she glanced around at the disaster Frank had created. There was rubble everywhere, along with his body. Or rather, what was left of it. He was dead, and she was glad of it. Mellie’s killer had finally gotten the justice he deserved.
Too bad he’d hurt and killed so many other people in the process.
Eden whirled back toward Rory, who had started to move toward Ike. She moved, too, ready to help.
But she didn’t get the chance.
There was another blast, even louder than the other one, and it shook the very ground beneath them. She saw the sickening dread go over Rory’s face. Felt the same emotion in every part of her body.
And they took off running.
They could have an officer down. Judson could be seriously injured. Or worse. They had to get to him and Ike.
The adrenaline gave them a boost of speed, and they sprinted toward the spot where they’d left Ike. There wasn’t much left of it. The cedars had all been ripped apart like giant toothpicks, and there was a huge hole in the ground.
But no bodies.
“Here,” someone called out.
Judson. She whirled around and saw the deputy near one of the cruisers. And he wasn’t alone. He had Ike with him. He’d saved Rory’s father.
Rory didn’t take off running. Instead, he looked down at the ground, no doubt checking for more IEDs. That slowed them down considerably, but they eventually made it to Judson and Ike. Like Rory and her, they were both gasping for breath, while Arnette looked on in horror from the cruiser.
“Frank’s dead,” Rory informed them. “He confessed to everything.”
Later, there’d be a ton of reports to do. Witness accounts needed to be taken, and the whole scene would have to be examined, but for now, they all just stood there a moment, trying to come to terms with the nightmare they’d just escaped.
“How’d you get Ike to safety?” Rory asked Judson.
“I circled behind him. No IEDs there. So I got him loose, and we got the hell out of there as fast as we could.”
“Barely escaped,” Ike muttered, using his forearm to wipe away the blood on his head.
“You and Helen need an ambulance,” Eden finally said.
“It’s on the way,” Judson assured her, and there were indeed the sounds of sirens in the distance. He opened his mouth, probably to ask about Bennie, but he stopped, motioning toward Bennie, Helen and Diedre, who were all making their way toward them.
Neither of the women was saying anything, which meant the shock had likely set in. After the shock, well, there’d be a lot of emotional turmoil. But they were alive, and Eden figured that reminder would be setting in soon as well. They’d all gotten lucky and were here despite Frank’s sick plan of revenge.
The irony of that plan was Ike was alive, too, and he wouldn’t be rotting in jail as Frank had wanted.
Arnette finally got out of the cruiser, went straight to Ike and taking him by the arm, he looked at Rory. “I’d like to get my client out of here and take him to the ER. Any objections?”
Rory looked at his dad. “You could go in an ambulance.” He tipped his head as it came into sight.
“I’d rather go with Arnette.” But he didn’t budge. Ike just stood there a couple of moment. “Thanks for saving my life,” he muttered, glancing at Judson, Rory and, yes, even at Eden.
