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“Get down,” Nutsbe said, hoping this wasn’t Downstairs coming after Olivia.
Olivia curled over the wheel. Her hands laced behind her neck.
The motorcycle buzzed right by them.
“He’s gone. You can get up.”
“What—”
Nutsbe pulled out his phone and pressed the quick dial.
“Iniquus Communications. Identification.”
How many times had he patched through in the last seventy-two hours? This was ridiculous. “Nutsbe. Panther Force. Track GPS coordinates to this phone. Over.”
“I have you on the board, traveling north on 395. Over.”
“Patch me through to Titus Kane. Over.” Opening communications with Titus in this way gave Titus real-time information and looped communications in so they could move players into place without disrupting the dissemination of information.
“Go for Titus.”
“Titus, man, you’re aware of the situation? Over.”
“Strike Force has kept me abreast. You’re heading to the hospital with Olivia. Over.”
She depressed the brake, bringing them to a complete stop in the snarl of traffic.
“Affirmative.” What in that actual hell?
Olivia’s hand gripped Nutsbe’s forearm, and she squeezed tight.
“New situation. We are at a standstill in a traffic jam on 395. The car ahead of ours buffers us from the ambulance with the injured assailant from Olivia’s house. A motorcycle has stopped beside the passenger side of the ambulance and has pulled a gun. I will refer to him as Assailant One. Visual is limited by rain. The person from the ambulance passenger seat is getting out. The driver is also getting out of the right side. Assailant One is waving them to the back of the ambulance. A rescue worker is opening the back door. The injured man from Olivia’s house, whom I will now identify as Assailant Two, is in the back, handcuffed to the Gurney. Assailant One is waving his gun, and all three have now climbed into the ambulance. There are now four people in the ambulance. I can’t make out the activity from this vantage point. Over.”
“What are they doing?” Olivia asked under her breath, leaning forward.
Nutsbe assumed that was rhetorical. He continued to describe the situation. “Both assailants are emerging from the back of the ambulance. Assailant Two has his arm over Assailant One’s shoulder. They are moving together to the motorcycle. Over”
“Nutsbe, you are to stand down. You will not intervene.” Titus commanded. “Let them go. Over.”
“Wilco. Standing down. Over and out.”
Olivia was sitting safely beside him. Nutsbe wasn’t going to go try to knock a guy off his bike when a gun was in the mix.
Sirens could be heard. The cops were in play. But with the rain, the traffic, and the dexterity of a bike, Nutsbe thought it was a lost cause. They would escape.
After a moment, the traffic flowed again on either side. Their lane wasn’t moving. Nutsbe wondered what had happened that the ambulance wasn’t moving. “I’m going to check on them,” Olivia said as she jumped from the car.
Nutsbe reached out his hand, but she was already out the door.
She jogged forward, and a moment later, she was back, saying they had been handcuffed to the gurney.
With the handcuff key in Nutsbe’s EDC, they released the first responders, who pulled to the side of the road.
Olivia put their car in gear and started them back down the highway, turning onto 420. In a moment, they’d be at the hospital.
Nutsbe was glad the shitstorm was clearing.
Things should go easier from here.