Page 40 of Brody

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Now it was clear that Ellis had been their target all along.

I spat every curse I could think of under my breath as I watched Ellis disappear inside the van.

Still, I waited.

The moment for action came when the final assailant jumped inside the van. It was only a split second, but in order to climb inside the van they had to stop aiming their gun.

My finger squeezed the trigger faster than my brain could think. It was muscle memory at this point to shoot the moment an opportunity arose. There was no hesitation. No second-guessing. Just a familiar popping sound, a jolt against my wrist as I fought to keep the gun steady, and then my target was clutching a freshly bleeding wound.

Damn. I’d missed. As I’d feared, the handgun wasn’t as accurate as I’d like, and I’d only grazed my target.

The last assailant stumbled into the van and the doors slammed closed just as the engine revved. They were about to escape. About to get away from me.

No.

I wouldn’t allow it.

Tossing the disappointing handgun aside, I grabbed the rifle I had strapped to the rack in the back of my truck, then jumped behind the wheel. I lost precious seconds fumbling with the keys to get my truck started, and by the time I put it in drive, the van with Ellis inside was already careening down the street.

My foot was already on the gas when my passenger door swung open. Deputy Hillard was nearly knocked off his feet as he dove inside my already moving truck.

“Drive,” he ordered as he struggled to right himself in the seat and close the door behind him.

“I don’t need your order,” I said through gritted teeth as I steered my truck onto the street, pushing it as fast as it would go.

“Actually, you do.” Deputy Hillard held up his badge. “Have you forgotten that you’re a civilian now. You’re subject to the laws just like everyone else, and driving hell bent down the road in a dangerous high-speed chase is illegal. But now you can technically say that this chase was sanctioned by a member of law enforcement.”

We were gaining on the van. On an open road, the van might have had the upper hand, but on the twisting roads of a small mountain town, even a racecar could only go so fast.

“Fine,” I said, pressing my truck’s accelerator all the way down to the floor. “If you’re going to be here, then make yourself useful and figure out a way to stop that van.”

After considering it for a moment, Deputy Hillard pulled his revolver from the holster at his hip and leaned out the window to aim at the van. He fired a few times, each shot hitting the back of the van, but it made no difference. The bullets had no more effect than pebbles.

One of the assailants leaned out the van window and returned fire. The bullet took out my side mirror, and Deputy Hillard barely managed to duck back inside the truck to avoid the shot.

“Fuck. I think the van is armored. Taking it out won’t be so easy.”

I scoffed and wanted to roll my eyes, but I didn’t dare look away from the van. We’d completely left the main roads behind and were quickly approaching the edge of town.

“Useless.” Still keeping one hand on the wheel, I reached for the rifle I’d grabbed earlier. “Let me take care of it. Just grab the wheel.”

“What?”

I don’t bother to explain as I abandoned the wheel to hang the upper half of my body out the window. Deputy Hillard shouted and grabbed the wheel as the truck swerved, but he managed to keep it under control.

“Are you crazy?”

“Hmmm…” I thought it over for a second as I lined my eye up to the scope of my gun. “Probably.”

I fired, and the rifle made an impressive sound as it kicked back harshly into my shoulder.

The bullet put a sizable hole in the back of the van’s bumper.

“Holy shit!” Deputy Hillard cursed and his grip on the wheel wavered for a moment causing us to swerve. “What kind of modifications do you have on that thing? Do you have a license for that?”

It was only thanks to my use of experience that I managed to keep my gun steady as Deputy Hillard struggled to get the truck back under control.

“Yep. I’d show you my license, but I’m a little busy right now.”