Page 84 of Killer Clone

When Father Ted was back among his guests, McAuley approached the table. He shifted his gun to his left hand, lifted the blade, and began carving into the victim’s back.

Hagen adjusted his mic. “We’ve got one armed suspect, at least one casualty, and eleven hostages. SWAT’s still minutes out. We need to contain this.”

Ander signaled he’d take the back exit, and Hagen nodded.

He turned to Anja and kept his voice low. “You’re with us. We go in hard and fast, understood?”

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Stella wanted to tell Hagen to get on with it, but he held on for another minute until Ander confirmed the exterior door was covered.

Hagen counted down.

This was always the worst moment for Stella, the moment before everything started rushing around her. She remembered taking down Boris Kerne in a music store. That had ended with a busted wrist for her. Hopefully, no one got injured this time. Or worse.

They had to take Trevor McAuley alive.

Hagen gave the signal and kicked the door open.

“FBI. Put down your weapon.”

Stella rushed in behind him, with Anja on her heels. They fanned out, weapons trained on McAuley. Stella scanned the room.

A mosaic of images fought for her attention, each part of the picture striking her at the same time. Ander coming through the exterior door, Hagen shouting orders at McAuley, Anja shifting beside her.

And on the table, a man’s bloody corpse lay face down. His back was bare, the skin marked by the same strange writing Stella had seen too many times before.

Trevor McAuley, the killer who’d hounded them from Claymore Township, held Father Ted as a human shield. He gripped the knife he held to the priest’s neck in one hand and aimed the pistol toward Stella and Hagen.

He fired—twice.

Both went wild. Stella hit the floor behind a table as a bullet whizzed past her shoulder. A dozen feet away, Hagen sprawled on the floor too.

No cover. No escape.

“You two took your time.” McAuley’s voice was mocking, excited. “Took you long enough. Thought maybe you weren’t coming.”

“Trevor McAuley, drop the weapon now!” Stella used her command voice, forcing steel into every word. “Put it down. Do it now!”

Shelter guests scrambled to their feet and shuffled to the wall, pushing and shoving to leave as quickly as possible while the maniac’s attention was diverted. Ander and Anja covered for them and escorted them to safety.

The young man didn’t seem to mind. Even as his hostages fled, he kept his focus on Stella and Hagen, the muzzle of the gun shifting back and forth between them. Stella badly wished either of her fellow agents had remained inside. Maybe one of them could’ve gotten a shot.

Even as the thought entered her mind, McAuley’s focus shifted to where Ander now stood in the doorway. “Don’t you dare try something. You can get these folks out of here. But if you try something, I’ll start killing.”

Ander took a step back, but just enough to get out of the line of fire. He’d wait, Stella knew, for a better opportunity.

McAuley shifted his attention back to Stella and Hagen. “It’s only you two I need. See? I don’t care. I’ll let everyone else go. They don’t mean anything to me.” He fired another shot at Stella. The shot ricocheted off metal, dangerously close.

Stella moved, adjusting for a shot, but McAuley jerked, dragging the priest back, the muzzle of his gun shifting toward her.

She cursed and flipped the table, its surface forming a temporary barrier between them. It was made of some kind of compacted wood that might be able to withstand a bullet or two. But not much more.

Hagen scrambled over and joined her behind the table.

This was too familiar. Less than two weeks had passed since they’d found themselves in a similar position, aiming their weapons at someone and hoping they’d get out of the room with no more spilled blood.

They’d failed then. They couldn’t fail this time. They couldn’t let this kid kill the priest. And they needed McAuley’s help to put a stop to these killings entirely.

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