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I shouldn’t see teeth

He couldn’t find a pulse

Staying low, he scra deputy’s neck, and his frantic gazeand closing in frantic s held still Only the deputy’s eyes could communicate, and he was clearly terrified

Spinal injury?

He knows it’s bad

Truainst the wound in the deputy’s neck The fire trucks with their big tanks , rutted road to the barn, and Truain for the shooter

I’ duck

He wouldn’t leave the deputy alone He looked theto be fine Help just got here”

Thefor breath True on his coat “Hold on, Deputy Sanderson You’ve got this”

The man’s lips moved, and Truman leaned closer, but no sound ca s heat on his back “You’ll be okay” He looked up, thankful to see two fire the fire a wide berth and carefully scanning the area

They got word about the shooter

A huge burst of air punched hi hiround face-first, the force knocking away his breath and grinding gravel into his cheek and lips The sound of the explosion reached hi for five seconds He lay in the dirt, his ears ringing as he fought to get his bearings, and an old terror rocketed up from the depths of his subconscious He battled it down and took rit out of his mouth

I’m alive

Sanderson

He pushed up to his hands and shaking knees and spun around to look at the injured man he’d flown over

Vacant eyes stared past him The mouth had stilled

“Noooo!” Trued and shook the deputy, but the life he’d seen one

The fire continued to roar

The ent Mercy Kilpatrick stared at the s pile of burned boards The old barn hadn’t had a chance It’d been ancient, brittle, and dry when she was a child, so no doubt noo decades later, it’d gone up in flaasoline

A childhood girlfriend had once lived on the far around in the barn and surrounding grounds, searching for s the barn was their castle After her friend had ain until today

Now she was an FBI agent assigned to investigate the ent Cold-blooded murder of her fellow officers in blue did that to her And to every other person in law enforcement

She wished she could return to playing princess

Was the fire set to draw the deputies out here on purpose?

She didn’t like to think such a thing could happen in her community

Truman was nearly killed

She shuddered and put the ihts

Our relationship could have abruptly ended after only two months

She still hadn’t seen Truman She’d talked briefly with him on the phone, relieved to hear his voice, but he’d been pulled in a dozen directions since he arrived at the fire at ht Thankfully he’d suffered only soht she’d flown into the Portland airport at ten o’clock after teeks of special training at Quantico Not wanting to drive ho all day, she’d slept in her Portland condo, which had been on the le offer