Brandon flipped Mason onto his stomach on the ground as he tried to wrestle free.

“Get the fuck off me!”

Instead, Brandon wrenched his arms behind his back. Heart thundering, Antonio managed to keep his arms steady as he aimed his weapon at Mason. Brandon slapped on the handcuffs and patted him down. He had a gun in the back of his jeans, and Brandon jerked it out and tucked it into his waistband.

Sirens sounded in the distance, getting closer and closer. That would be the backup they could have used ten minutes ago.

Above the sirens, he heard splintering wood and the screech of metal.

Brandon looked at him.

“You hear that? He blew through the freaking fence,” Antonio said. “He’s getting away.”

Brandon glanced in the direction of the sound. “He won’t get far.”

CHAPTER THIRTY

The regional hospital was busy for a Wednesday night, and Antonio watched people stream in and out of the waiting room. They’d had a broken arm, a heart attack, and a gunshot wound, all in the past two hours.

A priest strode through the double doors, Bible in hand, and headed straight for the nurses’ station. They immediately buzzed him in, and Antonio’s stomach knotted as the priest disappeared into the back, probably to go administer last rites. Antonio pictured the heart attack guy and imagined his tearful wife and grown kids gathered around him.

Antonio leaned against the wall, popping his knuckles as his attention alternated between the waiting room chairs and the clock on the wall.

The door beside the nurses’ station swung open, and Brandon stepped out. He spied Antonio and walked over. The grim look on his partner’s face didn’t give him much confidence.

“How’s Leigh?” Antonio asked.

“Three stitches. Mild concussion.”

“She going home tonight?”

“Yeah.” Brandon’s jaw clenched as he looked back at the door he’d just come through. His shirt was streaked with blood, and Antonio didn’t know whether it was his or Leigh’s or Vanessa’s.

After Mason had forced Vanessa onto his boat, she had tried to get his gun away from him and ended up getting shot during the struggle. Even with the gunshot wound, she’d been smart to put up a fight. Antonio had no doubt Mason had planned to kill her and dump her body in the lake. Antonio still wasn’t sure what they would have done with Leigh—who’d taken them by surprise when she showed up—but it couldn’t have been good.

“How’s the head?” Antonio asked, eyeing the nasty bump at Brandon’s temple.

“Fine.”

“Did you need to—”

“How did it go with Vanessa?” Brandon interrupted. He didn’t want to talk about his injury.

“Still going. The doctor just came out, said it’s a shattered femur and they need to put pins in her leg.”

Brandon glanced across the waiting room. “And Kate?”