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His eyes shot open.

He found himself staring up at a pinched, worried, suddenly old-looking face.

He immediate grasped one of the wiry, muscular arms.

“Morley,” he forced out the name, fighting to move his mind.“Gaos.Morley. What the fuck are you doing here? I told you to run! I told you to escape!”

“Ididrun. And Ididescape… eventually… although it was a damned close call.” The gray-haired detective shook his head, his voice annoyed. “I got ambushed just outside the house. I ducked, but one of them got me in the back of the head with a piece of wood, not far outside the door. I managed to wrestle it away from him and clock him in the face.”

Still scowling, Morley added, “I also managed to get my gun out before they could do any more damage. I made it most of the way to my car, then those assholes drew on me. Fucking idiots. They’re lucky I didn’t kill both of them.”

Nick winced, remembering the gunshots.

He didn’t see or smell any blood on the old man, though.

As if noticing Nick looking at him, Morley rolled his eyes.

“They’re both terrible shots, thank the Lord. I guess I should be grateful for that, at least. Clearly they don’t take to beef up on any of their policing skills to keep those up to date. Probably not a priority next to their fancy mustaches and hair.”

Nick let out an involuntary laugh.

He regretted it when a stab of pain arced through his head.

He let out a low groan and rubbed his temple as Morley went on.

“I shot one of those Rob and Rick guys… Rick, I think… then I got in my car and went. I hauled ass all the way back to the outer gates. Then I called every damned law enforcement frequency I could find…”

Morley’s eyes shifted to his right as someone near them choked out a dense, gasping cry.

That cry turned gradually into a long, drawn-out shriek.

That shriek rapidly turned into a higher-pitched scream of terror.

Nick winced at what he heard in that sound.

He winced partly because he knew what it was.

He also recognized the voice.

Fighting his mind back to his immediate problems, the things he might be able to do something about still, he tried to focus on where he was.

He realized he was lying on the floor.

The same floor.

The same floor of the same room… in the same house.

“I thought that Rob guy would have killed me,” Nick admitted, remembering. “The last thing I saw was that asshole at the door, his face all fucked up… probably from what you did to him with the piece of wood. Then that needle slammed into my neck, and I thought I was a goner.”

Morley nodded. “Yeah. We got some of that from your headset. The camera was still activated from when I turned both of them on.”

Nick nodded slowly. “Right.”

“Well, at least now they know it wasn’t you,” Morley muttered. “We’ve got enough documentation now to prove that about a hundred times over.”

Nick grunted.

Truthfully, though, he’d need a little more convincing before he’d believethat.