“You need to shut up,” Tony finally said.
Josh had begun to think that he wasn’t going to speak up. That he was the hired gun. What did Laura have on him? The Tony he knew wasn’t one to take instruction from a woman. He’d treated the female cops he’d worked with like crap and even had a few harassment complaints.
“And you need to remember I’m in charge,” Laura said.
“Yeah, well, you don’t know what you’re doing,” Tony said.
There’s the guy I remember. If I can get them to fight, then maybe I can figure out how to do something while they’re distracted.
Laura took the gun and pointed it at Tony. “You want to say that again? You’re the one who taught me to shoot. Remember? I learned from the best.”
“You wouldn’t do that. You like screwing me too much,” Tony said.
Okay, well, I wasn’t expecting that one. Now I know why he’s helping her. Or at least one of the reasons. I need to use this to get Bianca out of here.Josh started to edge away from Elena and closer to the wall. If he could get a good angle, he might be able to catch Tony off guard and get the gun away. Laura was another problem, though.
“You weren’t that good in bed,” Laura answered.
“Neither were you,” Tony said. “But you needed me.”
“You never complained when I paid you off. With your ex-wife breathing down your neck about child support and all your debts, you needed me.”
“What the…” Josh muttered. Elena’s face was pale and she seemed stuck in place. Somehow Josh had to get some sort of control back over the situation before Maya, Juniper, and the other officers breached the door.
Bianca, realizing Laura was aiming a gun at them, pulled back and struggled to get out of Tony’s hold. Ian grabbed her from the other side and gripped Bianca’s wrist. Anger surged through Josh as he noticed Laura’s finger had moved to the trigger.
“Your help is no longer necessary,” Laura said to Tony.
“No!” Josh yelled, leaping forward and managing to knock Bianca out of the way as Laura fired the gun. Ian had let go of Bianca once he realized Laura was going to take the shot.
Tony staggered back and then collapsed. Laura’s shot had been accurate—upper center mass—and had probably hit his heart.
Before Laura could pull the trigger again, Josh stepped in front of Bianca. “If you want to know where the evidence is, and all the evidence including the copies, then you won’t shoot either of us. If you hurt Bianca, I’ll make sure all the copies get out, not just to law enforcement, but to the media too. I know Tony and Ian were watching Maya when she gave her reporter friend an envelope. What do you think was in it? Now let’s talk.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
“Was that a gunshot?” Maya asked Kessler. Juniper had started turning circles in her compartment again. Maya figured with Juniper’s reaction, someone had fired a gun. She wanted to radio Josh and see if anyone was hurt, but she didn’t dare. Not right now. If someone had been shot, Josh needed to manage the situation.
“I think it was,” Kessler finally answered.
“I agree,” Rory said.
Kessler glanced at his phone and muttered a few choice words.
“What is it?” Maya asked.
“The HRT guys are still a ways out. The weather in the valley is getting bad. This storm is hitting there first and moving our way.”
“Typical spring storm,” Maya said. “I think we should go. We have Juniper, Rory, and Wilson. I think we can do this.”
“I hate to say this, but I agree,” Kessler said. He went to his bu-car and found a black protective vest that said “FBI” on the back. He put on his gear and said, “Tell me more about this building.”
Maya gave him a quick overview of the layout with the single room. “There’s two entrances. If we enter on the east side, we can stay along the tree line on the road and hopefully not be spotted.”
“Okay, I like that plan. We’ll line up along the building. I’ll open the door, you and Juniper go first. Let her work her magic and then while she’s hanging off someone’s arm, Rory and I will take down anyone else we need to. If we do this quickly and have the element of surprise, I think we can make this work.”
“Sounds good to me,” Maya said, heading to her vehicle to get Juniper suited up and ready. She hoped that no one had been hurt by the gunshot, but if they had, then she prayed it wasn’t Josh.
* * *
