Steal the Night (Thieves #5)(51)

He slammed the brakes on, and I groaned as my shoulder hit the back of the driver’s seat. I felt Zack slam the Jeep into reverse.

“It’s no use, man,” Dev said and I heard something heavy hit the ground. “Lee, come up carefully and show them your empty hands.”

The Jeep stopped moving entirely. We were still. My heart fell. I could only pray the fact that we hadn’t killed Ronald and Terry would help. I would have to talk damn fast to keep Lee and Zack alive. “How many did they send this time?”

“It’s not the Order, sweetheart,” Dev said carefully. “It’s much worse.”

“Hands up!” I heard someone scream through a bullhorn. “We have you covered! One wrong move and we will open fire.”

Lee got up and out of the Jeep. I felt the weight shift as everyone got out. I sat up and saw the long line of flashing lights covering the road, making it impossible for anyone to get by. Dev was right. It was way worse than the soldiers.

It was cops.

As I managed to get up, all the boys were already on the road on their knees, hands locked behind their heads. We knew the drill. I held my hands up as the police sent their first line toward us. Each carried a high-powered rifle and seemed damn serious about their jobs.

“On the ground!” I heard someone scream.

I knelt down beside Dev. I laced my hands and put them behind my head even though the pain was excruciating. I started to see little stars as the pain threatened to overwhelm me, but I took a deep breath and vowed to stay conscious.

“Daniel’s gonna kill me,” Dev whispered as the cops shoved him roughly to the ground.





Chapter Fourteen





New Scotland Yard was a model of neat efficiency, but even for a metropolitan police force dealing with a helicopter crash, a limo crash, and several homicide victims in the course of one afternoon caused a bit of stress. They were working overtime to keep the press at bay. So far everything had been fairly quiet. We’d been in a surprisingly isolated part of town and the local papers hadn’t picked up the story yet. They would before too long. We had to try to keep our faces out of the papers.

“Bugger had fourteen different weapons strapped to his body,” a burly officer complained as he brought my husband back. Dev’s hands were cuffed behind his back. “Ain’t never seen the like.”

He shoved Dev into the seat across from me and quickly cuffed him to the chair before turning his attention on Zack. “How many am I gonna find on you?”

Zack thought for a moment. “Four—no, five. If I just give you the weapons can we forego the strip search?”

“Not on your life. Let’s go,” the officer said, leading Zack away. He glanced back at me. “We’re getting a female officer for you. Don’t worry. You’ll have your turn, miss.”

Dev was a nice shade of pale and he shook his head as he gazed at me. “I am never joking with you about body cavity searches again. I have been violated on a level I never expected to be by the hairiest man I’ve ever seen.”

“It’s after dark, damn it.” Lee was getting antsy because his time was coming. “Where the hell is Donovan?”

“Probably somewhere over the Atlantic, I’d guess.” I bit back a cry as some jerk hit the chair I was cuffed to as he walked by. The cops didn’t believe I had a bullet in my shoulder. They couldn’t explain why my shirt had a hole in it, but the smooth skin of my upper body hid the injury. If I stayed very still, the pain was manageable.

“He needs to get his ass moving,” Lee grumbled. “Shouldn’t Neil be awake? He should be here making bail for us.”

“They’re not going to let us out on bail, Lee,” I said, shaking my head gently. “We blew up a helicopter. We caused an accident and they found gunpowder residue on your, Dev’s, and Zack’s hands. We’re being accused of multiple homicides, and I heard them talk about holding us for MI5.”

“Shit,” Dev said, his head hanging forward. “They think we’re terrorists.”

I nodded. If MI5 was getting involved, that’s exactly what they thought. This was serious. This wasn’t some Podunk police department in the middle of the country with two cops on staff. This was London’s finest and their counterterrorism unit. I had a hard time seeing how Danny was going to get us out of this. We were going to need a damn good lawyer.

“Well, all I can say is thanks so much for taking me with you,” Terry said from across the aisle. He’d been taken in the same time we had. They hadn’t cared he was unconscious and they didn’t believe his protestations of innocence. He just didn’t look like an innocent man. “You couldn’t just leave me behind? You couldn’t just shoot me?”

“I explained my reasons for not killing you,” Dev replied, his stare stony.

“Yeah, you’re scared of your wife,” the Aussie grumbled. “Next time, just shoot me and take your bloody medicine.”

Dev stared at me across the aisle and his eyes softened. “Are you all right, my goddess?”

I sighed and told him what I was really afraid of. “It won’t be hard for Marini to get to me, Dev. Even locked up, I’m worried he can get me out. They’re already talking about moving me to a women’s facility. I don’t want to be separated.”