Page 97 of Zero Divergence

“Can you hover around the area and be our eyes?” Beecham asked.

“Ten-four, Sheriff.”

Beecham, who was driving the lead ATV, made a sharp cut to the right and accelerated hard, so everyone in the group did the same.

Hang in there, dickhead. We’re coming.

They drove parallel to a valley, which must’ve been Adam’s Gulch. The thumping from the helicopter rotors grew louder, and Sawyer knew they were almost there.

“Got eyes on one of the runners,” Reynolds said. “Looks like he’s covered in mud and banged up pretty bad. There’s no way for us to know if he’s friendly, so we’ll have to treat him like a hostile until you approach.” To the runner, Reynolds said, “Put your hands up and get down on your knees.” After a brief pause, Reynolds repeated his order. If Humphries or Bonita was pursuing Royce with a gun, stopping and getting on his knees was a death sentence.

“Do not shoot unless fired upon,” Beecham ordered the DNR officer.

Beecham cut right again, heading toward the sound of the hovering helicopter. When they burst out of the woods into the clearing, Sawyer spotted Royce running toward the aircraft.

“That’s Detective Locke,” Mendoza said into the comms. “Do not shoot.”

Humphries wasn’t in the clearing. Had the helicopter scared him off? As much as Sawyer wanted to check on Royce, he needed to make sure Humphries didn’t evade capture and become the case that haunted Royce for the rest of his life.

“Where’s his pursuer?” Sawyer asked.

“Appears to still be in the gulch,” Reynolds said.

Then he guided Beecham, Mendoza, and Sawyer close to the signal. They parked their ATVs and crept toward the edge of the valley with their rifles trained in front of them. Peering over the side made them a target for the shooter, which none of them wanted.

“This is Sheriff Beecham,” the stern man said. “We have you surrounded, and there is no escape. Put your weapon down and climb out of the gulch.”

“I’m not armed,” said a whiny voice. “I lost it when I fell down the hill. I broke my leg when I landed. Send help.”

“Could be a trick,” Sawyer whispered.

“This isn’t my first rodeo, Detective,” Beecham groused. “We go on three.” He pulled a flash-bang grenade from his tactical vest and lobbed it over the hill.Bam!The explosion reverberated through the gulley. Humphries didn’t return fire, so Beecham counted them down, and they charged over the hill and into the ravine.

Once the smoke cleared, Sawyer saw that Humphries had suffered two nasty compound fractures in his right leg and had lost a lot of blood. He had wisely kept his hands where they could see them, and there was no weapon near him. Mendoza started scouring the hillside looking for the lost weapon while Beecham patted the prone man down to look for more, and Sawyer tied a tourniquet around his leg to stop the bleeding. No one would blame Sawyer too much if he took joy in watching the man wince and cry out in pain. At least he didn’t grab the bone fragments protruding from his leg and viciously twist them like he wanted to.

Sawyer raced up the hill as fast as he could, seeking out Royce and finding him surrounded by a cluster of deputies. One of them had cleaned Royce’s face as best he could and applied butterfly bandages over a gash above Royce’s left eye. He’d need stitches, but the temporary fix would do for now. Royce glanced up when he heard Sawyer approach.

“It’s about fucking time,” his boyfriend said, stumbling toward him.

Sawyer replied by hugging him. He was seconds away from crying or kissing Royce in front of everyone, so he distracted himself with humor. “You will do anything to get out of dinner at my parents’ house.”

“Asshole,” Royce said, gripping him tighter.

The DNR aviation unit landed the chopper and used the equipment on board to haul Humphries out of the gorge. Mendoza had already stated he wasn’t letting the serial killer out of his sight. He made a quick detour over to make sure Royce was okay and to thank the Bryan County team for their assistance.

“I’ll have to take a rain check on the beer, Abe,” he said over his shoulder on the way to the chopper. “I’ll even throw in dinner.”

“I’ll take you up on that, Lio. Juicy steaks sound good to me.”

“You’re on. Name the date and time,” Mendoza said. “I want a full report on my desk tomorrow, Locke.”

“Yes, sir,” Royce said. Then he brought Beecham up to speed, starting with Humphries shooting Bonita Brothers outside the cabin. As he spoke, Royce kept rubbing his bloody wrists. Sawyer regretted not kicking Humphries in the balls when he’d had the chance.

“We’ll secure the scene and take it from here. Can you find your way back to the SUVs?” Beecham asked Sawyer.

“Yes, sir. Thank you so much.” Sawyer turned to Royce. “You’ve lost quite a bit of blood. You good to drive Mendoza’s ATV, or do you want to ride with me?”

“With you,” Royce said.