Page 96 of Deadly Secrets
From the trees, the shadow appeared again. Definitely a man and he seemed to be dragging something.
Eep!
“Hold it right there,” Brooke yelled.
At least she tried to. Her voice was a little too high-pitched and came out more like a squeak. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Come any closer and I’ll shoot!”
The man emerged from the shadows into a stripe of moonlight. He was limping, dragging something large and heavy into the road.
A body.
Brooke’s fingers shook so badly, it took her three tries to cock the hammer. “I said stop or I’ll shoot!”
“Don’t do that,” Roman said. “I’ve got one slug in me already.”
He raised his weapon above his head with one hand and dropped the man he was dragging with the other. She saw a flash of white teeth in the moonlight as he grinned at her in mock surrender.
“Roman!”
She released the hammer, tossed the gun into the car, and ran to him.
He caught her with one arm, scooping her up in a hug as she threw her arms around his neck.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” she said. “I thought you were Weber or one of the other men who got away.”
“I know.” His voice was filled with humor. “You had me shaking in my boots, though. You’ve got the cop speak down perfectly.”
“Liar,” she laughed, releasing him. Her arm was coated with his blood. “And now I’m too stupid to live because I forgot about your gunshot wound!”
“Too stupid to live?”
Flashing blue lights bounced off the far hills and sirens sounded in the distance. The cavalry had arrived. “I’ll explain later. How bad are you injured?”
Polly and Detective Clyffe came running up the road from the car blockade. Clyffe went to work on cuffing the guy Roman had bagged who moaned now and grabbed his knee. “He’s worse off than me,” Roman said. “I shot him in both knees.”
Yes! Brooke smiled. “You are so damn perfect.”
He handed his weapon to Polly who removed the cartridge and flipped on the safety as he headed toward the Jeep. “So you keep telling me.”
He leaned on her a little as she walked him over to his vehicle. “Where are you shot?”
“My thigh.” He leaned on the side of the car and Brooke looked down to see a dark stain running down the length of his leg. “Polly, I need a tourniquet.”
“Yes, boss.” She stuck Roman’s weapon inside the Jeep and brought out a first aid kit. “How bad is it?”
“No exit wound,” he ground out as Polly took a strip of cloth and tied it around his upper thigh. “Bastard might have nicked my artery.”
And shit, Brooke’s surreal world spun 180 again. “You need surgery. Now.”
A Bronco came flying in and Thomas and Mitch jumped out of the front seat. Ronni emerged from the back.
“Damn it, we’re too late,” Thomas said as they walked up to Roman. “You couldn’t wait to play hero until we got here, Walsh?”
They did the guy handshake-backslap thing and Roman chuckled but Brooke could tell his heart wasn’t in it. “Couldn’t wait on your lazy ass forever.”
Mitch cocked his chin at Roman’s leg and arm. “Looks like you took a couple for the team.”
The ambulances drove into the valley, picking their way through the cars and trucks. One stopped next to the man beside the road where Clyffe stood guard over him. The detective pointed to Roman. “Take him. We’ll load this guy in the other.”
