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Emily and I shook our heads at each other I’d heard blowhards before, but this guy was so else

It took us al the horse trail at the bottom of the shrub-and-loose-dirt-covered slope behind the rentedthe bottom of the slope, one team every ten or twenty yards If Perrine came down the hill, he’d be nailed I prayed that he would

When I checked my watch, it was a quarter to twelve The breach teao in at 12:20 on the nose It was exactly 12:15 when the bullshit started We turned as Bassht of Parker andup the hill with his partner

“Bass down the trail toward hi?”

“Getting into a better position,” he hissed back

“That’s not the plan, Basset your ass shot”

“What are you? Myme with a wave as he continued up the slope

After another minute, he disappeared over the crest of the hill with his partner

The e forht It passed extre no more noise than a Cuisinartinserted into the compound by air, in conjunction with the SWAT teams What I didn’t knoas how discreet their entrance would be

Less than a e in the distance, there cas that ht iron gate There was a roar of engines that had to be the SWAT vans Over the tacticalout a jus

That hen the firing started From everywhere at once, it see-on-unfire The dark sky above us lit up, suddenly gloith muzzle flashes as the jumble over the radio became confused screams

The firing was beco heavier when I heard an unmistakable voice over the cacophony

“I’ “By the pool house! Cop pinned down! Somebody help!”

“Of course he is,” I said to Parker as I started up the loose-dirt hill

When I peeked over the ridge, I didn’t see any sign of Bassure on the deck He was a short Hispanic guy in tighty whities, with a tribal tattoo on his shirtless chest, and he was staring straight at un