road behind the Sheriff, turned off the lights, and got out of the car. He’d barely reached Robbie before getting thrown up against the back window of the sheriff’s SUV.
Cin forced back his nanites initial response to fight the sheriff and allowed Robbie to pat him down before turning to his friend.
“I’m not carrying any weapons, Robbie,” Cin assured the sheriff.
Robbie paced the area between the vehicles. “What the fuck did you do, Cin? How did you blow it up? And what the hell were you thinking?”
Cin’s nanites did a quick scan to make sure Robbie wasn’t recording them on any kind of electronic device before he responded.
“The real question here, Robbie,” Cin began. “Why was the manhole cover blown when you had the city crews come and turn off the gas lines to this road? Was there something wrong with the lines? Maybe substandard valves? And how many more of them are installed throughout our county and the country? Are your citizens in danger of the same thing that happened here because of intentionally faulty equipment sold to the city as good quality?”
Robbie stopped and turned to Cin, anger flashing in his eyes. “And you couldn’t have just said that? Hey, Robbie, I got wind of some bad valves that could blow up and kill someone. No, you had to kill a fucking Senator and her family instead! I’m not buying it, Cin! Especially after what happened to that guy in the damn cabin.”
“A little digging that we all know the feds won’t do would prove that the Senator and her family were in bed with the owner of the company making those faulty gas line valves,” Cin explained. “Dozens have exploded around the country already, killing a lot of innocent people. The feds will be here long enough for a photo op and will be gone.”
“You think they’re going to leave that fast when the Senator was blown the fuck up only hours after finding her nephew eaten by a mountain lion? Are you stupid?” Robbie was incredulous that Cin had taken such dangerous chances. “This was reckless, and you don’t do reckless. You’re methodical and emotionally detached. Who’s the girl, and what does she have to do with this?”
Cin chuckled and leaned against the hood of his car. “If she doesn’t rob me blind and run, you’ll see a lot more of her. Her name is Lanie Fulbright. She spent the last eleven years on the run from Jason McMaster. He was trying to kill her when I found them in my woods.”
“Damn it all!” Robbie threw his hat at the hood of Cin’s car in frustration. “You have to keep Lanie hidden while the damn feds are here. One of them has probably helped hunt the girl over the years and would recognize her.”
“Already done,” Cin said with a nod. “I’m not kidding about those valves, Robbie. You have to get the city to replace them quickly. Make the engineers come out and see what happened. It honestly was caused by a problem with the quality of the metals.”
Robbie was staring over Cin’s shoulder, not paying attention when he suddenly pointed. “Cin, what the hell are you doing now?”
Cin turned around and was horrified when he saw a ship rapidly descending from the sky. His nanites were already processing the information when a blue beam erupted from the UFO.
“No!” Cin screamed out.
Before Cin could say another word, the ship disappeared, and he knew in his heart Lanie had gone with it. At that moment, he realized someone had chipped Lanie.
“I need to go,” Cin growled to Robbie as he contacted Dar Vacanow.
The Sheriff grabbed hold of Cin before he could leave. “Do what you have to do. I’ll get your car back to your place.”
Cin searched Robbie’s eyes before he nodded in gratitude, created a portal in the air, and disappeared. The Sheriff had honestly thought he was ready to see the power Cin possessed but was left shaking and sweating from fear and awe.
Unable to catch the Mulvor craft's signature that had taken Lanie, Cin ported himself to Dar’s ship and stood completely still while Dar lowered the weapon he had pointed at him.
“A little warning would prevent me from shooting you!” Dar snapped. “Who the hell did they take?”
“A woman named Lanie Fulbright.” Cin moved into the copilot's seat. “I’ve got the signature of the chip the bastards put in her that you can follow. I’m putting it in your computer now.”
Dar’s systems beeped