Chapter 25

A single shot from the front of the house put the hood on the floor. He wasn’t dead and probably not in immediate threat of death, but the shotgun slid from his hands and spun across the floor.

So far, this was too easy. There had to be someone else in the house. When he’d been spying earlier, he thought there were at least five people here. One had driven off in the black SUV and they had two. That left at least two unaccounted for, the prisoner for one, but who was the other?

The answer came in a breath. Somewhere in the house, a squeaky door opened, followed by footsteps. Then another man emerged into the room. He had Ike in a throat lock and another 9mm pressed to his side.

By now, all five officers were in the house. They brought the slender man in with them, wrists fastened behind him with a zip tie. The man on the floor had not moved. At that moment, they heard the sound of a vehicle approaching.