Sarah and her captor’s flank and taking cover behind a tree. “Give it up, Sam,” Gavin called. “Look around. You’re surrounded and not going anywhere. Why don’t you make this easier on yourself and just let her go?”
“Dude,” the officer who had his weapon trained on Gavin said, “shut up and let us work. Stay down and be quiet.”
“Of course.” Unless it meant rescuing Sarah. Paramedics were already working on Brianne’s friend, so that was one worry off his plate. “The guy’s name is Sam,” he said. “He claims he didn’t shoot the two women inside. He was burglarizing the place and panicked.”
“Good to know. I’ll pass that on to the negotiator. Now stay put.”
Sarah’s attacker swiveled, pulling her with him, the gun never wavering from her temple. “I don’t want to hurt her, but I will. I’m not going to prison! I don’t know why I’m doing this. Why am I doing this? Ahh!” He glanced at Gavin, who still knelt on the deck floor. “Tell them to get back! Tell them!” Sweat poured down from the man’s temples.
“I’m not a cop,” he said. “But things will go a lot easier for you if you just put the gun down and let Sarah go.” He used her name hoping it would make her a real person to him. “Her name’s Sarah. She has a brother and a dad who want her to come home without another bullet hole.”
“Shut up! Shut up! I was just doing a favor for someone. This wasn’t supposed to happen! Why is this happening?”
Gavin noticed the guy’s eyes. Thought about the pinpoint pupils he’d noticed earlier in the initial confrontation. Sweating. Agitated. It wasn’t withdrawal, he was on something.
From his vantage point of still being sprawled on the deck a mere ten feet away from Sarah and the gunman, Gavin could see two officers to the side of the house communicating with one another once again. He’d give anything to have an earpiece to hear what they were planning.
Something tapped his shoe and he jerked. Looked back to see the officer motioning him inside. He scooted back until he was inside. The cop still held his gun on him.
“My name’s Gavin Black. I’m with Black Ops Security. The woman being held hostage is one of my clients because I dropped my guard.” Stupid, stupid. He should have checked the closet.
“ID?”
Gavin carefully removed his wallet and tossed it to the man, who caught it midair. He gave it a quick once-over. “Military, huh?”
“Yeah. Three tours in the Middle East.”
“Special Forces, I’m assuming.”
“Part of the time, yeah.”
The officer hesitated, glanced at his partner, who was supervising the paramedics loading the woman on the gurney. “All right. Let’s get you out of here.”
Gavin shook his head. “I’ll let you guys do your job, but I’m not going anywhere until I know Sarah’s safe.” Right now, he still had a view of the weapon and Sarah. “Is SWAT here?” he asked.
“Yeah. We actually have a guy with us who’s a fill-in sniper on the SWAT team when they need someone. He’s the one on the roof.”
Gavin let his gaze scan the tops of the nearby houses and finally spotted an officer on top of the house next door, a rifle to his shoulder.
Gavin swung his attention back to Sarah and found her attacker had turned, allowing Sarah to see him. Her gaze locked on Gavin’s. The terror in her eyes seared him, but the hint of steel mixed with it encouraged him. She’d be okay. She had to be. God, don’t let him pull that trigger. On purpose or by accident. Please.
The man shifted once more, trying to see where the officers were. He spotted the nearest one and removed the weapon from Sarah to point it at the cop. “I said get back!”
Sarah slammed the back of her head against his chin.
Her captor jerked, stumbled away from her, even as he turned his weapon back toward her.
He fired as Sarah dove for the ground.
Gavin let out a harsh cry and shot to his feet and out onto the deck, ignoring the shout of the officer behind him.
The rifle on the roof popped and the gunman went down just as Gavin vaulted over the side toward Sarah—who was scrambling to get out of the way.
He bolted toward her while the officer behind him yelled at him to get down. The others raced for the gunman. Gavin dropped to his knees beside Sarah while two officers cuffed the bleeding man.