Page 65 of Jep

“She said it’s not live.”

“Course she did. What else is she going to say until she has the trigger in her hand? Why is Emery still here?”

“She’s in shock.”

Pearce lowered his voice so only Jep could hear. “We should eliminate the threat. One shot, and we’re all safe.”

“That’s out of the question.”

“She killed our own. Agents we both knew and respected. We’d be within our rights to do so.”

“Shedidn’t do it. And the only way we’ll find out who’s responsible is if we have a suspect to question. Where are we at with the others?”

“Deceased. This guy makes three.”

“So she’s all we’ve got.”

“Yeah.” He straightened. “We’ve got more agents on the way, and the bomb squad is on standby. I’ll let them know they’re needed.”

He stepped away and radioed it in. Then Jep said, “Can I trust you to take over from here, Pearce? You understand we’re taking the suspect in alive?”

“Yeah, of course. I was just making sure we’d considered all of our options.”

“Good. I’ll get Emery out of here.”

“She’s not looking too good.” Pearce pulled his gun and aimed at the woman.

Jep returned his weapon to its holster. “Em’s the one who shot that guy.”

Pearce looked back at the dead man. “She did that?”

“Yeah.”

“That was a good shot.”

“She shouldn’t have been here,” the woman said.

“Excuse me?” Pearce said.

“Why is she here?” The look on her face passed between anger and fear.

“I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

“She messed everything up.”

“My apologies for the inconvenience. Next time, we’ll do things your way. Or how about this? How about you lost your rights when you strapped a bomb to your chest?”

“I already told the other guy, it’s not live.”

“Save it for the interrogation,” Jep said as he knelt beside Emery.

“She couldn’t have known I was here,” the woman said.

“I think you might be out of your mind,” Pearce said. “I hate to break it to you, but the insanity plea doesn’t work when it comes to terrorism because, at heart, you’re all a bunch of lunatics already.”

Em was rolling a piece of grass between her fingers as Jep leaned closer.

“You mind if I take this?” he said gently as he lifted her hand, which still held the gun.

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