Wicked as Sin (Wicked & Devoted 1)

“I’ll have my dad get in touch with you after he’s reached out and touched the right people. Thank God he knows everyone in this damn town.”

And was at the top of the good ol’ boys’ food chain.

“Thanks.”

“I appreciate you intervening, especially when Brea’s request puts you in an awkward-as-fuck position.”

Did everyone fucking know he had a hard-on for her? “Your point?”

“Logan and I knew Cage in high school. I know you don’t like Cutter much, but…rough childhood. His mom and his brother are good people.”

And Cutter was also everyone’s favorite at EM. “I got it. I’ll take care of it.”

Then he hung up. What more was there to say? He’d been tasked with saving the hero before he slunk back to the dark corners of humanity because no one liked to admit that people like him were a necessary evil.

When he reached the scene, the police had cordoned off all entrances to the strip mall that housed the grocery store. Caleb Edgington had apparently worked fast, because the beat cops keeping the parking lot secure let him through right away.

He didn’t have to wander through the pandemonium to find the person in charge. A short, forty-something balding guy approached him, eyed him up and down, then stuck out his hand. “You must be Walker. I’m Major John Gaines, the precinct commander.”

One-Mile shook his hand. “Tell me what you know.”

“Sure. First, we’re glad you came. Our SWAT unit is very qualified but…”

None with his credentials. “I’m sure they are.”

“You’re a little bit of a celebrity among the ranks. A one-mile kill shot is… Well, I don’t need to tell you how rare that is.”

Fewer than fifteen people in the world had ever actually managed one, but he wasn’t here to discuss that. “Any further contact from Bryant or the gunman? Does he have a name?”

Gaines finally got the picture that he wasn’t up for a trip down memory lane. “No additional communication. The gunman is Richard Schading. He and his wife, Emily, have been married four years. She’s a checker here. Apparently, their relationship has been rocky, and she filed for divorce after he got fired from his last job. She’s pregnant, and Richard is convinced another guy knocked her up. I think he went into the store with a murder-suicide plan. Mr. Bryant talked him out of it.”

“Is the wife free now?” If he could talk to her, she could give him the scoop, especially her husband’s habits and what he might be planning next.

“Not yet, just the others. Schading swears that once we meet his demands, he’ll let her go.”

So he was intending to use Bryant as a human shield in his getaway. And once they cleared the area, Brea’s boyfriend would be a defenseless duck who’d get a quick bullet to the brain. It was also possible the gunman would kill both Cutter and the wife, then turn the gun on himself. Offenders like this were emotional, which made them as unpredictable as they were crazy.

“Where and how are you supposed to make good on his demands?”

“There’s a back door. He wants us to leave the Camaro with a full tank of gas running there, money and the booze in the back seat before five.”

One-Mile glanced at his phone. He had time, not a ton…but it would have to be enough. “I need to scope the area back there.” He gave a visual sweep around the parking lot. “I’m assuming you have the building surrounded?”

“Yes, and we’ve advised him of that. We’ve also evacuated the rest of the businesses in this strip mall.”

That was a plus. “Once I’m in position, you need to clear everyone out from behind the building.”

“And leave you alone?” Gaines’s scowl said that wasn’t happening. “I don’t think—”

“If Schading sees your men surrounding him with weapons drawn, we don’t know how he’ll respond. If he doesn’t feel hemmed in and threatened, he’ll be more predictable. And I’ll stand a better chance of getting off a clean shot.”

“What if you miss?”

“I don’t. But if you think you’ve got this under control, I can leave.”

Gaines gritted his teeth as they exchanged numbers. “When you’re in place, give me the word. I’ll tell everyone back there to clear out.”

“Perfect.”

The other man scowled. “You’re every bit the arrogant asshole I heard you were.”

As the precinct commander turned away, he heard a familiar laugh behind him. “Look at you, making friends wherever you go.”

One-Mile couldn’t not smile back as he turned to find Caleb Edgington. He stuck out his hand. “Good to see you, sir.”

“You, too,” the tall man with silvery temples said. “Don’t mind Gaines. He has short-man’s disease.”

“I know his type.”

“I’ll soothe his little feelings,” the colonel promised. “What are you thinking here?”

“I need to scout out back.”

“Want me to walk it with you?”

“Yeah.” He welcomed the colonel’s seasoned opinion.