The Hero (Thunder Point #3)(81)

He was going to get away.

Shaking almost too much to stand up, Laine pushed them to the shore beyond the bridge, pulling Mercy with her. “Come, little angel, we have to hurry away...” But she could barely move. She was on her knees, trying to stand. Mercy was on her feet and Laine tried to push up with her one good arm, but fell to her knees. Her only rational thought was, Shit, I’m going to die from a damn bullet to the shoulder. Mercy was crying and Laine was literally crawling. Even if she had to crawl to the break in the fence, she was going to get Mercy out of this compound and as close as possible to the police barricade.

And then she was aware of footfalls, heavy thuds, running toward her. She glanced up to see a man in a dark ball cap and dark shirt with dirt on his face running toward her. He was carrying a gun and she did what came naturally—she pulled Mercy down to the ground and covered her with her body. And there were more sounds of running coming at her.

As she was being lifted off Mercy, Laine struggled and fought, but it only caused her shoulder to scream in pain, matching the screaming that came from her throat. “No! No! Let the child be, leave her alone! No!”

“Easy there, young lady, easy—you’re hurt,” the man said.

And then a woman’s voice cried, “Mercy!”

“Mama!”

Laine looked up through blurry vision and saw Devon standing over her. And then she passed out.

* * *

“We better move out of here fast,” Rawley said. “I don’t know what threat we got in here, so best slink around the back side of that house up there. One thing is for sure—we’re gonna have us one big goddamn fire here pretty soon. We have to go out the fence and through the woods and to the road, see if we can meet up with that nice copper again.” He pulled a large handheld bolt cutter off his belt and handed it to Cooper. “Stay to the shadows, Coop. Get us the hell out of here. This here girl is hurt.”

“That’s Laine,” Devon said, holding her shivering daughter tightly against her. “She’s the one who showed me the way to get out of here. Rawley, what if there are women and children in the house?”

Rawley seemed to consider this for a moment, then he transferred his burden into Spencer’s arms. “Well, since I planned this circus, I guess I’ll check the house.” He picked up his rifle again. “Don’t wait for me. Make tracks.”

Spencer lifted the young woman in his arms, getting her solidly against him. “Devon,” he said, “follow Cooper and try to be small as a shadow, in case there are snipers in here. I’m right behind you.”

They marched off in a group toward the back of the house and before going any closer to the buildings, Cooper stopped and made fast work of the fence, pulling back the loose aluminum so they could slip through. First Devon climbed through, and then Spencer ducked and maneuvered through. The woman was light in his arms, but she was so pale she almost gleamed in the moonlight. Cooper was the last to get through. “What about Rawley?” Spencer asked.

Right then there was the unmistakable report from a rifle and everyone froze.

“I hope he didn’t shoot anyone,” Spencer muttered.

“He’s not above it,” Cooper said, pressing on. “He’ll get out, don’t worry,” Cooper said. “That crafty old devil knows what he’s doing. Follow me,” he said. And Spencer doubted Cooper was a tracker, but he was the only one without a body in his arms, so he led them through the thick growth and trees. By the time they got through the woods and met the road, they also met Rawley.

“We heard a shot,” Cooper said.

“Yeah, I blew the lock off the gate and opened it up. We need us a fire truck and ambulance,” he said. He stripped off his shirt, draped it over Mercy and partly over Devon and asked, “She doin’ okay there, Mama?”

“I think so. Scared and wet, but okay.”

Laine stirred and groaned in Spencer’s arms. He stopped walking, looked down at her. “We’ll get you some help. Is there anyone left in the compound?” he asked.

She shook her head. “He got away,” she whispered. “Mercy?”

“I’ve got her, Laine,” Devon said. “We’re getting out of here.”

“I can walk,” she said, wiggling a bit in Spencer’s arms.

“You wouldn’t make it two steps. Let’s go.”

“Stay behind me,” Rawley said, handing off his rifle to Cooper. Then he took off at a jog down the road.

They half jogged, half power walked down the road for a good half hour—it was at least a mile, maybe closer to two. Rawley was ahead by a hundred yards and he approached the police vehicles with his arms high in the air. And suddenly the place lit up and was brought to life by a SWAT team, many police vehicles, Fire and Rescue and lots of guns pointed right at him.

“We got wounded,” he yelled, and they charged him, guns drawn, securing him in handcuffs real fast.

Then they charged the rest of the party, same drill. Except, they didn’t cuff them all. They just took the weapons and brought them forward.

Things began to happen fast. Rawley told them the place seemed to be deserted but for this wounded woman and the child, but one of the warehouses was on fire and it smelled like burning green cannabis. Laine was taken to an ambulance, Mercy and Devon were taken to another while Cooper, Spencer and Rawley were held and locked into the back of police vehicles. From where they sat they could see SWAT move down the road in their armored vehicle with lots of armed men hanging on. They were followed by the fire department at a safe distance, waiting for an all-clear to go in and fight the fire. More vehicles appeared, a helicopter flew overhead and a spotlight was shone down on the area. Dogs were pulled out of police cars by their handlers and they jogged to the scene.