Page 121 of Holmes, Margaret and Poe

Obaid saw what was happening and ran up the rise onto our runway; the Delta jet fishtailed, then went completely sideways. The left wing almost touched the ground before the plane finally stopped, just short of the end of the runway.

The terrorist, no more than eighty yards from us, shouldered the launcher again. I leaned out the window, trying to aim through the snow.

Before I could shoot, Sweet Al laid on the horn and slammed the dump truck’s accelerator. Obaid glanced our way, squinted at the headlights, looked back at the crippled jet two hundred yards away, and realized it was too late.

He swung toward us, went to his knees, and fired from less than fifty yards.

The fifty-year-old RPG blew a gout of flame out the back ofthe launcher. The missile erupted from the barrel, ripped low right at us, and exploded against the massive plow blade.

The brilliance was blinding. The noise was deafening.

The dump truck shuddered, and its tail end lurched left and slid.

We went off the runway and down the bank and came to a stop almost at the trees. My vision returned and I saw we had not run Obaid over.

The terrorist had dropped the RPG and was running down the bank toward the woods about forty yards from us. Despite the blood running from his head wounds, Captain Davis was on his feet again, racing after him. His hands were zip-tied.

Obaid must have heard Davis coming because he stopped, pulled out a pistol, and pivoted to shoot the former pilot. Davis tried to duck out of his line of fire but slipped and sprawled on his belly in the snow, right in front of the terrorist.

Obaid aimed his pistol.

I fired my gun several times out the open window of the dump truck and hit Obaid square in the chest with the first and second shots and in the face with the third.

The son of a bitch died where he fell.

CHAPTER 104

One week later

Georgetown University Medical Center

THE ELEVATOR DOOR OPENED.Captain Davis, sporting a large bandage on his forehead, pushed a wheelchair containing a wan but very much alive Fiona Plum out of the elevator, across the lobby, and out the front door into the brisk fresh air.

Bree, Sampson, and I started clapping. “You made it!” Bree cried.

“I did,” Fiona said, giving us all a weak smile.

“And so did I, thanks to all of you,” Davis said. “Especially you, Dr. Cross, and you, Detective Sampson.”

“Our great pleasure, Captain,” Sampson said.

“You had a hand in saving a lot of people,” Mahoney said. “We thankyou.”

I nodded. “If it weren’t for your relentless attacks on Obaid, who knows what might have happened?”

Mahoney added, “And again, I deeply apologize for ever suspecting you of involvement in such a heinous scheme.”

Sampson said, “We’re all sorry for not believing you were being framed.”

Davis put his hand on Fiona Plum’s shoulder. “It’s all water under the bridge now, but going through all that forced me to see what was missing in my life. Right, my dear?”

The English teacher grinned and held up her left hand, revealing a large diamond engagement ring. “Right, Captain.”

We cheered and hugged them. Both Davis and Plum started crying.

“I honestly feel like the luckiest woman alive,” she said.

“And I’m the luckiest man alive,” Davis said, wiping the tears from his eyes. “Do you know what this fine woman did the second she had enough strength?”

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