Chapter 71 – remi #2
My attention shifts to the barricades, the armored vehicles, and the line of officers between me and the building. I didn’t come here expecting them, and there’s no way I’m getting through without them trying to stop me.
“We need to fall back and figure out another way in,” Uncle Derek says over the call. “There are too many of them.”
I bring my car to a hard stop several yards from the barricade and throw the door open.
My name comes through the speakers behind me, but I shut the door and head straight for the perimeter.
A SWAT officer intercepts me before I take more than a few steps, with two others moving into position behind him.
“Ma’am, stop right there.”
“What’s going on?” I try to look past him toward the building. “Who’s inside?”
“This is an active tactical operation. You need to move back.”
“Remi?”
I recognize Ryan’s voice before I see him.
He jogs toward us from the command post and quietly says something to the officer blocking me. The man reluctantly steps aside but stays close.
Ryan looks like he hasn’t slept. “You can’t be here.” His eyes flick toward my family as their vehicles pull in behind mine. “Thiago is...”
I grab his forearm. “What? He’s what?”
Ryan glances at the officers around us, then lowers his voice. “We’ve been told he’s holding Commander Elena hostage.”
For a second, I can only blink. “No. That’s not true.”
“Remi, listen.”
“That’s not what’s happening.” I reach for the phone, then remember I left it with Mamá. “They have him. I saw him chained to a fucking chair.”
Ryan’s eyebrows draw together. “What?”
“They sent us a photograph and an address. He was covered in blood.”
His attention shifts to the building. “Who sent it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then you don’t know what you’re walking into.”
“I know Thiago is in there.”
“We have to work with the intelligence we’ve been given.”
“Your intelligence is wrong.” I grab his arm again as he starts to turn away. “He called before they took him. He said he was being chased. He was trying to warn us they were coming for my family, and then someone ran him off the road.”
“Who was chasing him? I don’t understand.”
The confusion on Ryan’s face is real.
Whatever version of this the police were given, they don’t know who’s actually behind it.
“I can’t explain everything right now, but you have to believe me. Thiago isn’t holding anyone hostage. He’s the hostage.”
Ryan looks back at the building, then at the officers surrounding it. “Then let me take this to command.”
“How long will that take?”
“I don’t know.”
“He could already be dying in there!”
“Which is exactly why we can’t go charging inside blind. If what you’re telling me is true, we need to figure out who the hell gave us false intelligence before I send a team through those doors.”
A hand clutches my upper arm.
“Remi, we need to re-strategize,” Mamá says behind me.
They’re right. Running into that building without knowing what’s inside could get Thiago killed, along with everyone who follows me. But understanding that doesn’t make standing here any easier. I step back from Ryan and turn away. Then movement near the command post draws my attention.
One of the BearCats idles several yards from the barricade, nose-first toward the building.
An officer climbs down from the driver’s side just as someone at the command post waves him over.
He leaves the door open and jogs toward them as another tactical officer at the rear of the vehicle unloads equipment onto the pavement.
My eyes return to the open driver’s door.
The engine is still running.
I look at the building, then at the concrete barriers blocking the entrance.
An armored vehicle built to punch through obstacles is parked less than thirty yards away, with nobody behind the wheel.
“Fuck this.”
I make my decision and sprint toward my car.
“Remi!”
I reach the trunk, throw it open, and grab my hard case as footsteps pound behind me.
“Remi, stop!”
I’m already headed for the BearCat. The officer unloading equipment sees me first.
“Ma’am! Get away from the vehicle!” He drops what he’s holding and charges after me, but I have the lead.
I get to the open door, throw the case inside, and haul myself into the driver’s seat. The officer grabs the edge of the door just as I yank it shut, forcing him to jerk his hand away.
I hit the lock.
“Get out of the vehicle!”
The driver comes running from the command post while officers across the perimeter turn toward the commotion.
Ryan’s face appears outside the windshield. “Remi, don’t fucking do this!”
Several rifles come up, but my family reaches the BearCat at the same time.
“Lower your weapons!” Aunt Leni shouts as she steps directly into their line of fire.
“Don’t you fucking dare point those guns at my daughter!” Mamá yells.
Officers shout for everyone to move back, but no one in my family listens. My father grabs my mom and pulls her away from the front of the vehicle, while Uncle Derek forces Matteo behind him.
The few seconds of chaos are all I need. I throw the BearCat into drive as Ryan slams his palm against the hood.
“Remi!”
I hit the accelerator, and the armored vehicle lurches forward as everyone scatters from its path. I aim for the gap between two cruisers, and a portable barricade disappears beneath the front tires with a violent crunch.
Officers race to clear the approach ahead of me, but I keep my foot down.
Across the property entrance, the security gate is already closing, but I’m moving too fast to stop, even if I wanted to. The BearCat plows through it, ripping metal from the tracks and sending a section skidding across the pavement.
As the building rushes toward me, I brace myself against the seat, aiming for the glass-and-metal frame entryway instead of the concrete around it.
Then I floor it.
The reinforced grille smashes through the glass, throwing me against the seat belt. Shards explode across the hood as the frame buckles beneath the vehicle’s weight, and we grind to a stop inside the building.