Walker paused the feed.“What happened right here?”
“There’s a turnoff maybe fifty, sixty yards ahead on the left, between me and the other vehicles.I thought if I could get to it, I might be able to get past them on the sand, then jump back on the highway and make a run for it.”
All three nodded.
“What happens right after this?”Ryder asked.
She resisted the urge to shift in her seat.She needed to stay calm and focused, keep projecting that professional image and not let them see how shaken she was.“In a few seconds, you’ll see the rate of fire increase.My view was completely obscured through both front and rear windshields.I wasn’t sure what the attackers were armed with and didn’t know how much longer the glass would hold up.If I moved any closer, I felt I was putting both of us at increased risk.Sitting still was also a risk, but I knew backup was coming.So I chose to make a stand, hoping to hold off the attackers for the few minutes it would take for Tristan and Ryder to arrive.”
Walker continued the video.She sat stock still while the footage showed bullets slamming into the vehicle.The camera didn’t capture her getting out of the vehicle to respond, but it rocked slightly as she did with the shift in weight.
The microphone picked up the sound of her returning fire with her pistol.Then her shouting at Penny to stay put.
Walker paused the video.“I assume the rear safety locks weren’t engaged?”
“No.”This was bad.So, so bad, and she had no excuse.The locks engaged automatically as soon as the vehicle started moving.But the driver had to manually engage the safety locks to prevent a passenger from being able to open the doors from the inside.
It hadn’t even occurred to her to do so, although she wasn’t going to admit that out loud.
“I was already out of the vehicle on the opposite side from her, engaging the suspects and returning fire.I didn’t even notice her opening the passenger door, and by the time I did, she was already getting out.I couldn’t stop her.”
Walker nodded and hit play, giving no indication what he thought about her explanation.
Penny appeared briefly on screen off to the right, only to disappear from view a moment later.Because she’d been shot and mortally wounded.
More vehicles finally appeared to the north at the crest of the distant hill.The shooters rushed back into their vehicles and sped away.A second later, Cassie ran past the hood of the company SUV, weapon in hand.
“What’s happening here?”Walker asked in his calm voice.
She understood that they needed to have her answer verbally, to get everything on record officially.“I’m running to help Penny.”It was so damned sad and heart wrenching to think that if Penny had stayed inside for just another few seconds, she would still be alive.
In this case, that was what had made the difference between life and death.Four seconds.Maybe five.
Cassie swallowed.The video stopped.
“This next bit is from the other company vehicle dashcam,” Walker said.
It showed Tristan and Ryder arriving a little more than two minutes later.Her shot-up SUV sat parked at a slight angle across the righthand lane with the driver’s and rear right passenger doors open.The rear window was a mass of white shattered bullet impact sites.Beside it, Cassie was on her knees crouched over Penny, performing CPR.
A moment later, Tristan appeared in the frame, racing toward her.Ryder followed a few paces behind him.
The video stopped.“Is there anything else you’d like to add?”Walker asked her.
Her mind raced.But she couldn’t think of anything else.“Only that I deeply regret what happened to Ms.Janec.And that I took what I thought was the best course of action at the time.”
Walker nodded and glanced to her left.“Tristan?”
“Nothing except that I don’t see any way Cassie could have foreseen or avoided the attack,” he answered.“She was up against three shooters without any immediate backup and no way out.Cassie handled it exactly the way I would have.She did everything she could to protect Ms.Janec in the middle of an ambush, and the reason Ms.Janec died was because she disobeyed Cassie’s direct order to stay in the vehicle.”
A thick silence followed as Callum looked at both Ryder and Walker.“All right, I think we’ve reviewed and discussed everything sufficiently,” he said, and the others nodded.
She couldn’t read their expressions.Had no clue what they were thinking or what was about to happen.
“Just to be clear,” Ryder said to her, “after reviewing all the footage and taking everyone’s statements into account, while some of your decisions during the attack were questionable—”
Oh, shit, here it came.Dread coiled in her stomach as she awaited her fate.Suspension?Termination?Legal action by Penny’s family?
“—the company does not find you in any way at fault for Ms.Janec’s death, and you are hereby cleared of any responsibility in the incident.”
