“Put it out of commission.”
Now Rafe’s brows lifted, and his grin flashed. “Gee, Devin, I don’t know as I remember how.”
“Do it,” Devin said, and the sharp impatience got through.
“What’s going on?”
“Somebody’s robbing the bank. Put the car out of commission in case he gets past me. And do what you can to keep people out of the way without getting them stirred up.”
“You’re not going in there alone.”
“I’ve got the gun, you don’t,” Devin pointed out. “And I’ve got the badge. Be a pal, Rafe, and deal with the car. As far as I can tell, there’s only one perp. I’m going in. If he comes out waving that damn gun, don’t be a jerk. Get out of the way.”
The hell he would, Rafe thought, but he crouched down to move around to the driver’s side of the car while Devin took out his weapon.
Devin wanted to keep it simple, and safe. He tucked his gun into the back of his belt, slipped his badge off and into his pocket. He strolled into the bank, smiled at the teller.
“Hey there, Nancy. Thought I’d be too late to make my deposit. Lucky for me you’re still open.”
Though her face was frozen in fear, she managed to gape at him. “But— But—”
“The wife’ll have my hide if I forget to put the money in. We got that automatic withdrawal on our insurance, you know.” He strolled up to the counter, one hand reaching down.
“Are you crazy?” the man with the gun shrieked out, nerves in every syllable. “Are you out of your mind? Get down on the floor! Down! Now!”
“Hey, I’m not butting in line,” Devin said reasonably. “Just trying to do some business.” He kept his eyes on the man’s face, his hand still going down and back, where a man kept his wallet.
“I’ll show you some business!”
To Devin’s relief, the man shifted the gun from Nancy and toward him. “Put your damn money on the counter. I’ll take that, too.”
As if he’d just noticed the weapon, Devin held up a hand in peace. “Holy hell, you robbing the bank?”
“What does it look like I’m doing, Einstein? Let’s have the money.”
“Okay, okay. I don’t want any trouble here. You can have it.” But instead of his wallet, Devin came out with his gun. “Now, are we going to stand here and shoot each other, or what?”
The man’s eyes went wild. “I’ll kill you! I swear I’ll kill you!”
“That’s a possibility.” A remote one, since the idiot was waving the gun like a flag on the Fourth of July. “It’s just as likely I’ll kill you. You drop that gun on the floor and step back from it. You’ve already got armed robbery, you don’t want to add shooting a police officer.”
“A cop, a damn cop! Then I’ll just shoot her!” Furious, he swung the gun back toward the teller.
Devin didn’t hesitate, he didn’t even bother to curse. Nancy was just where she should be. On the floor, out of the line of fire. And since he was close enough, Devin used his fist instead of his gun.
“Damn idiot.”
The man managed to get off one shot at the ceiling before the gun flew out of his hand. Ignoring it, Devin put his own between the man’s eyes.
“What you want to do now,” he said calmly, “is roll yourself over and put your hands behind your head. If you don’t, I’m going to have to blow your head right off, and this carpet’s only a year old.”
“Damn cop. Damn lousy one-horse town.”
“You got that right.” With a bit more force than was strictly necessary, Devin jerked the man’s hands down, cuffed them. “You shouldn’t mess with small towns. We’re real careful about them. Anybody hurt back there? You all right, Nancy?”
As a chorus of breathless, excited voices exploded from behind the counter, he glanced back, knowing Rafe was behind him. And grinned at the crowbar his brother was slapping against his palm.
“I told you I’d handle it.”