Alone in the Dark

Kate glared at him, but said nothing.

Deftly the man called Decker fished Kate’s shield from her jacket pocket. ‘Special Agent Kate Coppola,’ he said. Pocketing the ID, he cuffed one of Kate’s wrists, then pulled her arms behind her back and cuffed the other. Kate looked pissed, and Marcus wondered how the blond had gotten the jump on her.

‘Your turn, ma’am,’ Decker said to Scarlett, and she laughed bitterly.

‘Ma’am? You’ve got to be kidding.’

‘We don’t kid, ma’am.’ Decker pulled Scarlett away from Sweeney, spun her to face the older man and proceeded to cuff her the same way he’d done to Kate.

‘Leave Detective Bishop here for now,’ Sweeney said. ‘I need her for when O’Ba

Horrified, Marcus could only stare. Woodchipper? He had to fight to control his heart rate. His pulse had just shot into the stratosphere.

‘I will, sir,’ Decker said politely. ‘Oh, I found Sean in the garage when I first arrived. I took the liberty of taking him down to the pit too, so you wouldn’t have to.’

Sweeney looked first a

‘Anything else, sir?’

‘No, that’ll be all for now.’

Marcus and Deacon each drew back, pressing into the wall, waiting for the man named Decker to come through the gate with Kate. They could jump him, freeing Kate.

But noise of a struggle met their ears instead. Kate was fighting like a wildcat, trying to free herself. Sweeney stepped away from Scarlett to help Decker subdue Kate.

Seeing their opening, Marcus and Deacon started ru

‘Approach slowly,’ Decker said to Marcus and Deacon without looking at them. Decker held Kate’s rifle pointed at Sweeney’s head. ‘No sudden moves, please.’

‘What the hell, Kate?’ Deacon demanded.

Kate jerked her head toward Decker. ‘Pineapple under the sea,’ she said.

‘Oh,’ Deacon said. ‘You could have told me.’

‘I was going to,’ Kate snapped. ‘I’ve been busy.’

‘What?’ Marcus demanded.

‘I don’t know,’ Scarlett said. ‘He put a gun in my hand when he pretended to cuff me. I went with it.’

Decker handed Kate’s rifle back to her and took another pair of handcuffs from his back pocket as Sweeney watched him with clear malice.

‘You had me fooled, Mr Decker.’

‘That was the point,’ Decker said. ‘Sir.’

Abruptly Sweeney twisted and leaped back, rolling toward the pile of weapons he’d taken from Scarlett. Decker stumbled, going down on one knee, shock on his face – and a knife sticking out of his side. Handcuffs dangling from one wrist, Sweeney grabbed two of Scarlett’s guns – one in each hand – and began shooting

Stu

Sweeney lay on his own driveway, broken, his body riddled with bullets, his eyes staring sightlessly up at the sky.

Just like Tala.

Finally, Marcus thought as he ran to where Scarlett lay on her stomach, arms stretched out in front of her, her weapon still clutched in a classic two-hand hold. She’d rolled into position, he realized, and had fired her share of the bullets into Sweeney. She looked up at him, gave him a hard nod, and his knees buckled with relief.

He grabbed her up into his arms, not caring what anyone else thought. Buried his face in her neck and shuddered out the breath he’d been holding. ‘Oh God. I thought he’d got you. I thought you were dead.’

‘I’m okay,’ she murmured. ‘His bullet hit the vest. Just knocked the wind out of me.’ She flinched when he hugged her harder. ‘Maybe bruised me up some.’

Immediately he loosened his hold, his body starting to tremble. Now that it was all over, he was shaking like a damn leaf. He let himself hold her gently for another long moment, then lifted his head to take stock of the situation.

Deacon was crouched next to Sweeney’s body, cuffing his lifeless wrists together before checking his pulse. Kate had slung her rifle over her back and was tending to Decker, who primarily looked a

‘I’m okay, Agent Coppola,’ he said with self-disgust. ‘I can’t believe the little fucker stuck me.’ He pushed Kate’s hands away, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. ‘I’m okay,’ he repeated. ‘I got hurt worse on the school playground.’ The big man slowly came to his feet. ‘There’s a first aid kit in the laundry room,’ he said. ‘I’ll plug this with some gauze.’

Marcus opened the backpack Isenberg had given them and pulled out four rolls of gauze. He threw three of them to Decker, keeping one to wrap the grazing wound Sweeney had put on Scarlett’s right wrist. ‘Is he dead?’ he asked as he wrapped Scarlett’s arm.

Deacon’s odd eyes were filled with warm understanding and cold finality. ‘Really most sincerely dead,’ he said.

Marcus found his lips twitching at the old movie quote from The Wizard of Oz. It was the boost he needed, and he lurched to his feet, helping Scarlett to hers. He walked over to Sweeney’s body, gratified to see that most of their shots had hit the man’s skull. The top part of his head was simply gone. Sweeney’s shirt was peppered with bullet holes, the fabric soaked with blood. But there was one area they’d missed in the frenzied shooting.

Marcus deliberately pointed his gun at Sweeney’s chest and pulled the trigger, shooting the man in his non-existent heart. ‘That was for Cal,’ he said quietly. ‘And Tala. And all the others.’ He shuddered when Scarlett put her arms around him.

‘Sshh. It’s over. It’s done,’ she whispered, rocking him.

It was then he realized he was crying. And so was she.

Cinci