Page 70 of Code Violation

Lani paused, then called out again as if she had no idea he was lurking ten feet away. She had to know; Nero’s entire body clenched with anticipation.

Lockwood sprang and Lani whirled. There was a glint of metal that wasn’t Lani’s crutch and Nero realized that the Deep Dweller held a knife in his grip.

Raising her crutch and spinning on one foot, Lani wielded it like a baton. The crutch caught Lockwood directly in the side of his head but, unfortunately, it didn’t slow him down much. Shaking his head, he sprang again, showing the agility of a much younger man.

“Motherfucker.”

Jerking the door open, Forrest ran to the aid of his sister. The other three raced after him but stayed back from the action. Nero was pretty sure that Lani was holding her own, and he reminded himself the other two officers were close by.

“Where did she learn that?” Nero asked as Lani and her crutch spun and twirled, crashing into her attacker and knocking him off-balance.

“Capoeira,” Wanda whispered. “It’s a Brazilian martial art. Lani never did go for the normal self-defense stuff.”

Lani’s moves were impressive, and Nero made a mental note to look up capoeira when this was over. Just as he had that thought, Lockwood managed to get a grip on Lani’s weapon. With a powerful yank, he jerked it out of her grasp. Then he pulled his arm back and a meaty fist landed on the side of her head. Lani slumped sideways.

“No!” Wanda hissed, her body jerking.

Nero couldn’t breathe. Dropping the crutch to the ground, the attacker grabbed Lani’s arm and began trying to drag her toward the hiking path while she kicked out at him.

With a shout of anger and fear, Forrest flew into the fray.

“What does that boy think he’s doing?” Wanda demanded.

A rhetorical question, because obviously he was trying to protect his sister. Forrest literally couldn’t stand by and watch Lani be assaulted.

Forrest tried to jump onto the attacker’s back from behind, but they were too close to the same size and Lockwood was too strong. After all those years of surviving in the woods, Dale Lockwood could give the Iron Man of the Hoh a run for his money. He shook Forrest off like he was just a fly. Careening backward, Forrest landed hard on his back, releasing a pained groan. Lockwood’s hold on Lani had loosened though; she rolled away and rose to her feet in a partial crouch, her hands out ready for combat.

“Where’s the knife?” Wanda hissed. “God dammit, Forrest Cooper, if you get yourself killed, I will never forgive you.”

The older woman started forward again. Magnus grabbed her arm in a firm grip.

“No,” Nero added. At less than one hundred feet away, they were close enough to the battle.

Seriously, if Wanda got hurt while Nero was on watch, he’d never forgive himself and Rufus would probably run him out of town.

She shook Magnus’s hold off with a huffy, “fine.”

As they watched, unable to do anything, Lani jerked the crutch back out of Lockwood’s grip. Nero hissed when she lost her balance and stumbled. Forrest still lay on the ground.

“Get up, dammit,” Nero said. “Get up already.”

Nero was about to break his own rule when he saw Lockwood glancing between the brother and sister, probably trying to decide which one to go for next—Lani, without her weaponized crutch, or Forrest, trying to get up from the ground but kicking out with his feet to keep Lockwood away.

Lockwood’s lips were moving; was he saying something to the siblings? They were too far away for Nero to make out the words. The huge mountain man darted toward Forrest again. The knife in his raised hand glinted, a ray of sunlight that had finally made its way over the forest canopy falling on to the blade.

“Stop where you are! Drop your weapon and put your hands up,” a voice boomed.

Lockwood froze but only for a millisecond, long enough to look from the edge of the forest scrub and spot who was yelling. Something about his expression told Nero what the man was about to do.

The woodsman had no intention of stopping, putting his hands up, or letting the patrol officer arrest him. Knife clearly still raised, Lockwood charged out of the woods and into the street, heading directly for the young officer whose service weapon was raised and aimed directly at him.

The single gunshot echoed loudly across the quiet neighborhood. At only twenty or so feet away, it was an easy shot.

Nero thought he saw Lockwood smile in the millisecond before he crumpled to the pavement.

“Holy crap,” Nero said as he bolted into action, followed by Wanda and Magnus, needing to see if Forrest and Lani were okay.

In the few seconds it took for them to get to him, Forrest had pulled himself into a sitting position, but he was awkwardly holding his forearm. Grabbing the crutch—but not using it—Lani also limped to her brother’s side.

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