Page 34 of Protected By West (San Antonio S.W.A.T. #1)

He reached it out and curled his fingers to call them forward, smiling as he did.

Weston found himself looking over at Tracy at times just to reassure himself that she didn't look injured.

He could see her blinking more than usual and swallowing hard enough that he worried she might hurt her throat, but from what he could see, she was being a total rock star.

Duval nodded and Dally swung his arm in an arc and the bag sailed through the air, clearing the wreck of the car and into the credit union.

The world outside the building was still bright, but the lights inside made it easier to see inside.

The man took a step toward the bag and stopped. He used his free hand to point at the bag.

It didn't take a trained lipreader or the parabolic microphone pointed at the interior of the credit union for him to know that he'd told Tracy to go and get the bag.

As she moved forward, he looked at the screen where they'd tapped into the security camera feed of the credit union.

He watched as Tracy moved toward the bag. On the ground, near where she'd been standing, Estes was slowly sitting up, wincing a little as she moved.

"Damn," he heard Fox mumbling under his breath, "their cameras are better than ninety percent of what I've seen out there."

Weston couldn't help but smile. "She got a great deal on the system and some of the other credit unions are signing on to the same company."

Fox touched a button on the phone system and the phone inside the credit union started to ring.

"Keep calm, baby."

Tracy almost dropped the bag when the phone started to ring but quickly righted the bag and fished it out.

The man lifted his chin, and she accepted the call.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Miss Fagan." Fox took a shallow breath before he continued to speak. "This is Ranger Kelly Miller. How is everything in there?"

Weston saw Fox look at the screen where they'd pulled up the information about the registered owner of the car. The man with the gun on Tracy didn't look like the man who owned the car.

The man who'd climbed free of what was left of the windshield looked more like the image. Well, without the blood streaming down his face and the busted lip that was going to hurt with or without morphine.

Weston saw a message on the screen.

JACK - sent in a request for known associates of the RO

With some luck the man with the gun had been arrested with the car owner before and they'd be able to know more about him.

"My staff is safe. In the main room is myself.

A prospective member of the CU who was knocked out when the car came through the door.

The man holding a gun on me." Weston saw her tilt her head a little as she looked toward the front doors.

"And a man who is going to need medical assistance as well.

I believe he was the front passenger of the-"

"Hey!" The gunman barked at her. "Chatty Cathy! You're not being paid by the word!"

She nodded and he could see a muscle in her cheek flex. "I was answering his question."

The gunman shook his head and something about the way his body moved said that he might be hurting, too.

"Hey," Tracy's voice had softened in volume, but Weston could still hear some bite in her tone, "did you hit your head in the crash? You look a little undstea-"

"Shut up, bitch! No one asked for your opinion."

"Actually," Fox pushed in, "if you hit your head in the crash we should get you to the hospital. Head injuries are tricky. One moment you're-"

"I don't want your opinion either, asshole."

Weston saw Fox tip his head back a little. To most it would look like a way to stretch the muscles in his neck, but to someone who'd known Fox for years, Weston knew that it was one of the ways Fox unconsciously showed a rise in his frustration.

"Can we get your friend and the woman sitting on the ground some medical attention?"

Weston and Fox were staring at the screens and saw the gunman look down at where Estes was sitting on the floor.

As soon as the gunman moved to get a better look, Tracy moved, mirroring him and keeping Estes relatively safe behind her.

Fox tapped a button cutting off his microphone and looked at Weston. "Your girlfriend is sharp."

"She's everything." Weston agreed. "Let's get this done."

Blue popped up in the coms, a system separate from the loudspeaker outside the van. "I've got a vantage point from the balcony in the next building, but it's too light outside to set up right now. Unless we're not afraid to be seen setting up.”

"None of the other buildings in the area are tall enough to give us this kind of angle."

Weston replied back on the com. "Stay there out of sight. Set up as best as you can. Let's hope this situation is wrapped up before night, but if it does-"

"I'll be ready, West. You can count on me."

"West?"

He stepped back to talk to Jack while Fox continued his work.

"Jack?"

I can get the staff out through the window in the breakroom and the member service manager's office.

We have good coverage as far as sightlines go.

No danger to the staff. I can keep it pretty quiet, too.

There wouldn't be any noise inside the main room.

At least not anything that would draw attention. "

Weston let those thoughts sink in.

"Not right now," he answered her a moment later. There's the chance that internet news could get inside and while we've asked the news to back up..."

"And I see Dally and Myles going next door to close down the food service there, but there are likely a lot of cameras sending video to the internet."

"Hmm..." Anything else?"

"Yeah," she cleared her throat. "I've talked to Tracy's friend, Jamie. She can give me the code to the back door. It would save me a lot of banging with the ram or damage from an explosive. We can still get the same shock and awe without sticking the credit union with a huge construction bill."

"Tracy will appreciate that."

"Hey," he swore he could hear Jack smile, "I don't want to piss off mom."

Weston balled his hands into fists to keep from swearing under his breath. "Thanks, Jack. Go ahead and grab Myles to go with you for cover."

"Non-lethal?"

Weston nodded. "Yeah. In case people move around I want to take people down and minimize the chance of anyone getting in the way."

"Will do."

Her com cut out with a soft click and Weston moved back to Fox's side.

"... your friend looks like he's hurting-"

"Well, that'll teach him not to put on his seatbelt. You think I'm some sort of moron who's going to let you in here with a bunch of cops in disguise? Fuck you, man."

"Okay, what about letting the ladies-"

"You really think I'm a special kind of stupid, don't you, mother fucker?"

Fox's smile was brittle. "I wish I had a name so we could talk-"

"Dream on... I'm telling you now that the only way this is ending is I get a car, a stack of money, and a clear path out of town."

Weston and Fox shared a look.

That wasn't going to happen.

Now it was a matter of keeping him occupied until they could get in and subdue the man with the gun.

Weston felt a muscle tick in his jaw.

Well, fuck.