Traitor.
"Fine. But you better call me and let me know you're safe the second you can, Jack Shepherd," I said, having not the slightest intention of being left behind.
Jack looked suspicious of my sudden capitulation, but I had things to do.
"I'm going to go find Aunt Ruby and tell her what's going on, so we can be ready when you call," I told them. "Come on, Otis, let's get you a funnel cake."
I grabbed his arm and hustled him out of there before Jack or Andy could protest, and we made a beeline for the funnel cake cart in case they looked for us. After I bought a pile of sugary fried goodness for Otis, I led him to the tables set up in the square, gave him a napkin, and patted his shoulder.
"Stay here, okay? You'll be safe here. I'll make sure we rescue those dogs."
Then I took out my phone and pulled up the town text chat loop. UltraShopMart hadnevergone up against a town like mine.
They were in for a bigsurprise.
Huge.
40
Jack
Andy insisted we take the cop car, which was fine with me, because he could run it hot with lights and siren. I debated getting out of the car before we got to the site, to give me the element of surprise, but I didn't put it past Craven or Merks to just shoot Andy on the spot.
So, we raced over to the site, and Andy blew right through the magic barrier in the car and then drove through the wire fence, knocking it down.
"Susan had the cars warded and reinforced after the incident with the blood witches," he explained when I gave him a questioning look. "None of this crap can stop us."
The UltraShopMart folks were sure surprised when we roared into their lot and screamed to a stop directly in front of where they stood by a large semi-truck. Three men and two women whirled around to stare at us when we arrived.
And all of them were armed.
I didn't see Craven or Merks.
"This may have been a terrible idea," Andy said. "I didn't want to bring the new deputy with us, because she's so green she would just get herself killed."
"Which we may also do in the next few minutes," I said, stating the obvious.
"They won't attack us. They have to know they'll go to prison forever if they kill a deputy." Andy reached for his radio, flipped a switch to turn it into a loudspeaker. "Listen up. You are all under arrest. You can come peacefully, or—"
Five people pointed guns at us.
"I'm guessing they're not coming peacefully."
Andy rolled his eyes. "Maybe this wasn't the best idea."
The trailer door swung open, and Craven walked out onto the porch, the picture of smug satisfaction, with Merks following him. "I really wish you hadn't done that, gentlemen."
Then he shook his head, his expression turning sour. "Small towns and rednecks. I hate you all. You only had to go along. See that you needed more police protection. Take UltraShopMart's money to pay for it. We'd be happy. You'd be happy. Everybody would be happy."
He walked down the steps, making a production out of it, and I opened the car door and climbed out, Andy mirroring me on the other side.
"But no," he said bitterly. "Instead, you had to fight me at every turn. Isn't it bad enough I had to deal with idiots who couldn't get anything right? I had to put up with your meddling, too. I'm ready to be done with all of this. Done with putting up with people like you."
Merks scowled at Craven, and I tensed, ready to attack if the underling gave me the opening by going after his mouthy boss. But Craven's attention shifted to me.
"Point the guns at the tiger shifter, please," Craven said smoothly. "Merks, I fully intend to share my … windfall with you. Mr. Shepherd, we are familiar with your background and talents. Please step into the back of the truck with the deputy. We'll lock you up until we're out of here, and then you're free to do what you want."
"You're going to jail for a very long time, Craven," Andy said. "You should surrender now. Maybe the prosecutor will cut you a deal for cooperation. Every law enforcement agency in three states knows we're here arresting you. You'll never get away with this."
