Chapter 42
The parking area was organized chaos.
State Police officers secured the perimeter and the only access to the narrow highway. Fire trucks idled with lights flashing, ready to respond if the unstable main building collapsed further.
Gabe stood beside Cara's ambulance. David was being treated in the second rig, but the third stood open, white light spilling out onto the concrete. No sign of Hale. Gabe’s ribs screamed with each breath, but he ignored the medic who kept insisting he needed X-rays.
Price stood in a group of white-shirted fire chiefs between the ambulances and the smoldering building. He caught Gabe’s eye and jerked his head toward the outer edge of the building.
Two State Police officers rounded the corner, escorting a hunched Hale between them. His hands were cuffed behind his back, shoulder bandaged where Wade's bullet had winged him. His face was pale and sweating despite the cold morning air.
The uniforms marched him across the gravel toward a waiting cruiser.
Gabe headed over to intercept them. He wanted answers before Hale lawyered up.
“I want in on this,” Wade said, materializing at his side.
“Fair enough.” Gabe sped up, ignoring his protesting ribs.
Hale stumbled as the officers guided him forward. His eyes darted around wildly, scanning the fog-shrouded tree line and surrounding buildings like he was searching for something.
"He'll kill me," Hale babbled, his voice carrying across the parking area. "You don't understand. He'll—"
The crack of a rifle shot split the morning.
Hale's head snapped back. The officers dropped to the ground, weapons in hand as the older man collapsed backwards onto the gravel.
"Cover!" Price drew his weapon and spun toward the tree line. "Everyone down!"
Gabe dropped behind a State Police cruiser, Wade at his side. Around them, officers took defensive positions with weapons raised, searching the fog for a target.
Nothing moved. No follow-up shot. Just silence and mist and the sound of Hale's last breaths.
"Cold bore shot through fog at a moving target." Wade's tone carried reluctant respect. "That’s some world class work right there."
Gabe's heart hammered against his damaged ribs. Exactly.
Price moved toward Hale's body with his weapon raised, eyes scanning for threats. He knelt beside the fallen police chief and checked for signs of life even though they all knew.
Hale's eyes were open and staring at nothing.
The officers who'd been escorting him had scattered to cover.
Gabe moved closer despite Price's warning gesture. Something about Hale's expression drew him forward. The way his mouth was moving slightly.
Not dead yet. Not quite.
He dropped to his knees beside Price and leaned close.
Hale's lips were barely moving, trying to form words.
"What?" Gabe bent closer. "What are you saying?"
"Nep..." The word came out as a whisper, blood-soaked and fading. "Neptune…"
Then nothing. Just empty eyes and silence. In the distance, the thwack of helicopter blades echoed through the thick air.
Wade reached them, breathing hard from the sprint. His eyes swept the scene with swift assessment before settling on Hale's body. "Helo is heading off. Definitely a grab-and-go."
Price was on his radio coordinating response. "All units converge on northeast tree line. Sniper last seen—"
"Shooter’s already gone. They won't find anything," Wade insisted.
The helicopter’s whir faded into the distance, affirming his assessment.
Price glared at him. “How do you know that?”
Wade met his eyes without flinching. "Because that's how I'd do it if I was eliminating a target."
The admission hung in the chill air.
Price's hand hadn't moved away from his weapon. "Where’d you train?"
Wade's mouth quirked without humor. “With the kind of outfit that doesn't get discussed in parking lots." He gestured toward the docks. “I could have taken him out down there. I don’t miss.”
Price's jaw tightened, but he nodded and accepted the non-answer for now.
Price moved closer to Gabe and kept his voice low. "Neptune. That's what Hale said?"
“Mean anything to you?” Price asked Wade, who shook his head.
Price's expression turned grim. "We need to move everyone now. Get your brother and Cara to the hospital under escort. Secure them. Whoever killed Hale proved they can reach anywhere, even surrounded by law enforcement."
"We're loose ends," Gabe said.
"Yeah." Price looked back at Hale's covered body. "And they just demonstrated how they handle loose ends."
Gabe ran back toward the ambulances. Cara was sitting up in her gurney, color returning to her face. David was conscious in the other ambulance.
Price organized a convoy, the two ambulances with police escort front and back. No one traveled alone.
“I’ll hang with Cara,” Wade announced, climbing into her rig.
As Gabe climbed into the ambulance with his brother, he looked back at Cape Mercy Coast Guard Station one last time.
The main building was a smoking ruin. The boat house remained intact. Hale's body lay covered with a tarp in the gravel.
The ambulance doors closed. Sirens wailed. They pulled away with Price's cruiser leading the convoy.
Gabe had found his brother and stopped Hale.
But the real enemy was still out there.