Midnight Hero - By Diana Duncan Page 0,39

peering toward the sound, but didn’t see anything. “I don’t know. But it didn’t sound good.”

“Uh, Con? What is this?”

He circled back, and found her staring at a glowing red dot on her chest. He looked down, and a red dot appeared on his chest. “Laser sights! Someone has high-powered rifles trained on us!”

Bailey gasped. “They’re going to shoot us!”

Chapter 7

5:00 p.m.

Aidan O’Rourke shivered in the stormy winter night as he strode across River View Mall’s south parking lot. Freezing rain pelted the top of his head, the backs of his hands. The murky rows of mall windows, backlit by emergency lamps, were barely visible in the icy gloom. He dismissed the storm, just as he dismissed the threatening emotional whirlwind inside.

He assigned uniformed patrol officers to positions on the outer perimeter by the headlights of a patrol car. Until Captain Greene arrived, Aidan was high-ranking officer. Team leader and incident commander by default. He was too busy to think about anything other than the job. Too busy to worry. Too busy to feel. That’s what he kept telling himself.

Maybe, eventually, he’d believe it.

His exhaled breath fogged to white mist in the cold air as he studied the assembled Kevlar-suited SWAT team. The members of Alpha Squad…excluding himself and his younger brother Con. Con was trapped inside the mall with a crew of bank robbers. Unarmed and defenseless.

Aidan snorted. Unarmed, yes, but about as defenseless as a blowtorch in a dynamite factory. If there was any man in the world who could triumph over nasty odds, it was Conall Patrick O’Rourke. Aidan would bet his own life on it.

Con’s life was resting on it. As well as Bailey’s. And an undetermined number of hostages. Every man standing in front of him cared for and respected his brother. But Aidan loved him. With bone-deep, fierce, abiding loyalty. He and Con had forged a nearly inseparable bond since birth. A heart connection shared between all four O’Rourke boys that grew stronger by the day. No criminals were going to steal that from them. No matter the price, he would get his brother out alive.

Dozens of patrol cars poured into the parking lot. The massive war wagon rumbled across the asphalt, loaded with tactical weapons, specialized siege-and-breeching equipment and SWAT officers from other teams.

Aidan waited until the armored vehicle discharged its passengers before he continued giving orders. “Liam.” He pointed at O’Rourke brother number three. “Work Murphy around the inner perimeter sniffing for explosives. Scout building access and report back with all available intel.”

Liam and his ears-up German Shepherd hurried away. Baby brother Grady, part-time SWAT officer and part-time paramedic, was also present. Packing his MP5 submachine gun and his stethoscope, Grady was equally proficient with both. New Year’s Eve at the mall had become a family affair.

Aidan turned back to his ready warriors. “We’ll establish the command post…” He glanced across the street. The command post needed to be close in order to direct the action, but not close enough to endanger the occupants. A pink neon signed glowed above the door of one store, a small, cheerful beacon in the icy blackness. “At the Krispy Krunch doughnut shop.”

A wry grin slanted his lips. Con would appreciate the irony. Never one to take himself too seriously, his brother loved cop humor.

Aidan pressed the vibration mic of his headset more firmly over his vocal chords and spoke. “Command to Alpha Five. Ten-twelve, prelim status check. Over.”

“Alpha Five. Intel imminent.” Hunter Garrett, the team’s regular scout and sniper responded. Even after years living on the West Coast, a hint of North Carolina woods drawled in his slow, exact baritone. The tawny-haired man’s trigger finger was as even as his cadence, his cool, gunfighter’s eyes as precise. “Moving to high ground. Visual confirmation, ASAP. Over.”

“Ten-four. Command standing by. Over and out.” Aidan adjusted his earpiece and quelled his impatience. During an incident, not even the most minor detail could be rushed. Waiting the bad guys out was the one factor civilians, and sometimes even top brass, didn’t comprehend. The public and upper echelons often demanded immediate results. But a hasty, aggressive assault only made people dead. Both hostages and cops.

“Cain, reporting in.” The negotiator stepped forward, and gratitude trickled through chinks in Aidan’s internal shield. Wyatt Cain was a shrewd negotiator, with uncanny instincts and a cool head under fire.

“Wyatt, the suspects have popped the phone lines. Attempt to establish communication. Try to determine hostage count and condition, and obtain a list of demands. Get