Page 87 of The Hero
Kendric would start having nightmares again, would never forgive himself for what he’d perceive as his own mistakes ... and it was all Marlowe’s fault.
Panic threatened to overwhelm Bob as he watched West drive out of the park with Marlowe in the passenger seat. He was utterly livid that she’d gotten into the man’s car, but even more pissed at the officers in the park for not preventing it from happening. Something had briefly interrupted their audio, so he didn’t know what West had said or done to get her in the car, but now her life was in serious danger. He knew it down to his bones.
Their departure from the park left everyone scrambling to follow. Rutkey hadn’t had a chance to put the roadblocks in place, and he was still trying to troubleshoot the faulty audio feed for the officers at the park when West pulled out. They could all hear the conversation in the car and knew exactly where they were headed. Bob hadn’t been to the cemetery Ian was allegedly driving toward, but he’d been in the area on a job in the past.
Cal’s SUV careened to a stop in the parking lot, and he and JJ hopped in. Before the door was even shut, Cal was moving. Bob heard Chief Rutkey talking to his deputies on the radio, but it was as if the man was speaking down a long tunnel. All Bob’s concentration and thoughts were of Marlowe.
There was only one road leading to the cemetery, and thankfully there was a large curve right before the entrance, which allowed Cal’s vehicle—and those of the other officers and Chappy—to stay out ofsight. Bob didn’t even wait for Cal to stop before he opened the door and ran toward the scant grouping of trees way too far from the parking lot.
He and JJ went to their bellies and crept as close as they dared while watching the Civic. They could hear the conversation between Marlowe and West as if they were standing right by the car, but they couldn’t see what was happening. They didn’t have access to the video portion of the recording. Only the agents back at the station in Newton were watching.
Bob stiffened when he heard West brag about how rich he was, how he was going to move somewhere warm with his ill-gotten gains.
“This guy’s unhinged,” JJ whispered.
Bob nodded. He was, and they’d all missed it. They’d assumed he was a harmless kid, taking advantage of an opportunity for crime. While he might be young, he was anything but harmless.
“We need to get her out of there,” he told his former team leader. In situations like this, they all fell back into the familiar roles they’d played while on missions for the Army.
“I know,” JJ said. “But there’s no cover. The second we stand up, he’ll see us, and Marlowe is a sitting duck in there with him.”
Bob scowled with frustration.
He heard West ask, “You mean these coins?”
Bob assumed he’d finally revealed them. Satisfaction swam through his blood. West had screwed himself. No matter what happened, Marlowe would get those coins on video. Ian had proved to everyone that he really did have the artifacts, that he’d stolen from a dig site, just like he’d apparently done many other times before.
West replied, “Yeah, you probably are,” in response to Marlowe’s statement about being owed—then a loud scuffling sounded over the audio.
Bob frowned, trying to see what was happening in the car. He could only see shadows, and ...
And the car rocking slightly, from the movements of the people inside.
The hair on the back of his neck stood straight up, and Bob felt sick. Something was wrong.
“Fucking whore!No oneblackmails me! I’m not giving you a damn penny. You should’ve stayed where you were, locked away in that shithole prison. You’re a pain in my ass, and there’s no way you’re getting a fucking cent! I was gonna shoot you in the head, but that would be too easy. I want you to look me in the goddamn eye while I watch the light go out in yours!”
Bob was on the move before West had barely begun speaking. He had no idea what was happening, but it was bad. He knew that without a doubt. He saw Cal and Chappy running toward the car from the other side of the parking area. They’d obviously managed to work their way around and hide out in the scant trees, or maybe even behind the tombstones.
Bob felt as if he was running through molasses. He couldn’t get to the car fast enough. The woman he loved was in danger, and he couldn’t get there! It was as if he was living one of his many nightmares. Not being able to get to his teammates when they were being tortured.
He ran and ran, but didn’t seem to get any closer.
Then he heard West shout, “Die, already! Just fuckingdie!”—and Bob nearly had a heart attack right then and there.
Suddenly, he wasn’t running anymore. He was slamming into the car.
He wrenched the door open and grabbed West by the back of the shirt and hauled him off Marlowe’s eerily still body, onto the gravel lot. He punched the man in the face once. Twice.
He had his fist cocked back to punch him again, but JJ caught his arm.
“Bob!Marlowe.See to Marlowe!”
Without hesitation, Bob let go of West’s shirt and turned back to the car. He vaguely heard JJ dragging West’s unconscious body away, but all his attention was on Marlowe.
He was afraid to touch her for a second. Then his brain kicked in. He’d seen West’s hands around her throat, but he prayed it hadn’t been long enough to kill her. It took no time at all to make someone pass out,but several minutes to kill someone by strangulation, and she’d been talking not that long ago ...
He crouched in the open car door and leaned over the woman he loved, putting two fingers to her carotid artery—and the relief that swept through him at the feel of her steady pulse would’ve brought him to his knees if he wasn’t there already.
