Page 184 of The Bone Code
Sirens screaming in hot. Real sirens.
Again, Huger came at me. Again, I dodged.
Borrow from the bastard’s own playbook!the neurons screamed.
Drawing a lungful of air, I launched myself forward and, using my head as a pile driver, slammed Huger’s face with the crown of my skull. I heard the sickening crunch of his nasal bones. A furious shriek. A dull thud as his body flew backward and landed.
In the driveway, car doors opening. Not slamming.
Cops!
I looked toward Huger. Blood was gushing from his shattered nose and split lower lip.
A shouted order outside. A clipped response.
Huger spit bloody saliva and broken teeth. Backhanded his mouth.
Footsteps clomping up the back stairs. Others thundering through the house.
“You’ve ruined everything,” Huger snarled, defeated.
“My pleasure,” I said.
As a uniform appeared on the top step, Vislosky came charging through the kitchen. Both had their weapons grasped two-handed at their jawlines.
Vislosky halted at the open French doors. Tense. Ready. Then a slight easing of her spine.
“You good?” she asked me, while keeping her gaze and her gun on Huger.
I nodded. “There’s a Glock out here somewhere.”
“Stand down,” Vislosky shouted to her backup. “Weapon in the area. But first, slap some bracelets on the guy with the dental issues.”
The uniform cuffed Huger and handed him off to his partner.
“You need an ambulance?” Vislosky asked me.
“No.”
“I think you do.”
“You’ve been wrong before.”
“I’m calling a bus anyway.”
She did, then supported me as I limped into the kitchen.
“You look like shit,” she said once I was settled as comfortably as possible.
I nodded. It hurt. “How’d you get here so fast?”
“I was just over the bridge in Mount Pleasant when you phoned. Good timing.”
“Thanks.”
I turned and hurled into Anne’s Murano glass bowl.
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