Chapter Thirty-Five
Pain searedthrough Brian’s arm as he rolled in the mud under the deck. Tommy was smarter than he’d thought. Instead of waiting inside the house like a sitting duck, he’d put Cait and Glen inside as bait and was lurking out back.
He pushed his gloved finger into the wound in his shoulder, hoping to staunch the flow of blood.
A furry beast pounced on him, drawn by the scent of blood. Brian ducked, raising his hand to protect himself. It was only a matter of time before Tommy found him hiding under the deck.
Lick. Lick. Lick. A wet tongue slathered his face, and hot breath puffed in the cold, dank air.
“Melia. What are you doing here?”
The black chow dog wiggled and snorted, then crawled from under the deck.
“Don’t go out there,” Brian hissed, but it was too late. The dog disappeared into the darkness.
“He’s over here,” a man shouted. “Come out with your hands up and don’t make sudden moves.”
From the spotlight of the helicopter, Brian could see he was a policeman, not Tommy.
“I’m Brian Wonder,” Brian said. His entire body exploded with pain as he crawled out from under the deck.
“Slowly, where we can see you.” The officer shined a bright light over his face.
Blinded, Brian shielded himself with his good hand. “I’m hit. I can’t raise my other arm.”
“That’s Brian,” Connor said, rushing forward to help him. “He’s not the kidnapper.”
“To the front of the house,” another officer shouted. “The kidnapper came out with the hostage.”
“Hostage? You mean Cait?” Brian gulped big gobs of air. “Is she okay?”
“I’ve found him,” the officer said into his shoulder mic. “We have a gunshot wound. Officer involved shooting.”
“Never mind me,” Brian said. “I need to get to Cait. I can’t let that maniac hurt her.”
“She wants to speak to you,” the second officer said. “It’s a hostage situation. They’re demanding safe passage in exchange for letting the kid go.”
Despite the screaming pain in his shoulder, Brian loped after the officers and elbowed his way to the front of the row of policemen.
The porch light was on, and the door closed.
“Where’s Cait?” He sank to his knees, as his shoulder throbbed with so much pain he felt like passing out.
“He took her back in,” Todd said. “We expect them to come out for the car. The key is to get the hostages away from Harper so we can get a shot off.”
“We have them surrounded. They can’t get away.” Brian held onto the sheriff’s vest. “Right?”
“They want to negotiate with the senator, and we have the kid’s safety to think about. We can’t just shoot at them when they drive away.”
The door opened again, and Brian staggered from his knees toward it, flanked by two deputies.
Cait’s pale face was twisted with pain, and she gritted her teeth, as if she were enduring untold agony. A masked man shoved her forward, holding his gun against her temple.
“Pay attention, Wonder,” Tommy said. “Cait will let you know what she really feels about you.”
Cait’s teeth chattered, and her eyes were wide. Her eyebrows pointed down like a dog’s tail between its legs, and tears glistened in her eyes.
“Brian, you’re hurt,” she muttered, her voice weak and trembling.
