Page 130 of Smitten with the Single Dad

Burke shook his head. “I’m afraid I can’t. She doesn’t have her phone on her. She left it in the bedroom and my voice won’t carry all the way down to the water. I also don’t see why you need to question her. She doesn’t work for the restaurant. And she’s done nothing wrong.” His gaze flicked up and beyond the car just as a big, black truck and another police cruiser came barrelling down the driveway and into the clearing.

Jenkins and Fischer both drew their guns and aimed them at the truck and cruiser.

Myla and Everett leaped out of the cruiser. “Dan, Duane; you don’t want to do this,” Myla called out.

“You’re not part of this, Bruce. Go back to desk duty like a good girl,” Jenkins shot back, opening up the passenger door of the car Vica was in and hiding behind it, his gun still pointed at Myla and Everett.

“Let us help you,” Everett said. “Whatever trouble you’re in with Wyndham Croft, we can help. You don’t want to go out like this. You don’t want this to be how you end your careers.”

“The fuck you know about our careers?” Fischer shot back.

“We know you guys did a lot of good protecting the streets of Tacoma and Bellevue for many years. Then you moved here and have done well protecting the island. I’m not sure what Wyndham Croft has promised you, but it’s not worth this.” Everett hid behind the open door of his car as well, but murmured something to Dom who was behind the steering wheel in his truck.

Dom nodded and brought out his phone, probably to record the whole thing.

Vica caught Wyatt’s eyes and saw instant relief. All she wanted to do was feel his arms around her again.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Burke slowly crept up behind Jenkins. He didn’t make a sound, and made sure he kept one eye on Fischer too. One wrong move and Fischer could end up shooting Burke.

“Did you kill Ginny Simmons?” Myla asked. “Was she your mole at the restaurant?”

Ginny was dead?

Confusion and shock flitted across both cops’ faces.

Vica knew right then and there that they didn’t kill Ginny, and that she also wasn’t their mole.

They seemed nearly as confused as they were scared. This wasn’t going at all how they intended it to. They were desperate. Wyndham Croft was probably breathing down their necks for results and when the bomb didn’t work yesterday, they decided to risk it all and kidnap Vica.

“It doesn’t have to end this way,” Everett said. “Let Vica go. Turn yourselves in and we’ll do everything we can to help you. If you didn’t kill Ginny, then you’re not up for murder. Cooperate and we can help get your sentence reduced.”

Jenkins and Fischer exchanged looks, and it was then that Fischer noticed Burke sneaking up on Jenkins and the stupid cop opened fire and shot Burke.

The big, tanned teddy bear fell backward, and Vica screamed. But that sudden chaos gave Myla, Everett, Dom, and Wyatt their window.

Myla shot at Fischer, catching him in the shoulder, and even though Jenkins fired off a shot, it only hit the front grill of Dom’s truck. Everett got off a few more shots, but they missed Jenkins.

Wyatt said something to Everett, and the cop only hesitated a moment before he nodded and handed a second gun to Wyatt. Wyatt hung out of the window of Dom’s truck, took aim, and shot the gun clean out of Jenkins’ hand, along with what looked like one of his fingers. The scout sniper wasn’t rusty or out of practice at all.

Jenkins screamed in agony and fell to the ground. Fischer was already on the ground.

Dom ran out and went immediately to Burke, Wyatt ran to Vica, and Myla and Everett went to deal with their crooked coworkers.

Wyatt opened the cruiser door. “Are you okay?”

“Go see Burke,” she said. “Please.”

“Dom’s got him,” he said. “Let’s get you out first.”

He wasn’t going to let her argue with him. So she nodded and tried to shimmy her way across the bench seat. But she was way too happy to see him and face planted into the filthy vinyl. “Here,” he said, “hang on.” Then he helped her up before disappearing for a moment, returning a second later with the keys.

“Burke’s okay,” Dom called. “Took it in the shoulder.”

Both Vica and Wyatt exhaled in relief as he unlocked her handcuffs and helped her up out of the cruiser. Her wrists ached and her fingers tingled as blood flooded her hands again.

Myla and Everett already had Fischer and Jenkins in handcuffs and were reading them their Miranda rights.

They hadn’t even read Vica her Miranda rights when they arrested her.

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