Free Fast and Easy by Betty Womack Page B

crept into her thoughts. She knew too much about psycho men in love. “Have you given her a bull horn to settle him down with some sweet talk?”
    “Not yet, ma’am.”
    “Well, do it. Now.” She walked toward the line of men guarding the building front. “Is the boy a relative of his?”
    Gentry appeared at her side and read his notes from a small tablet. “The kid’s a bus boy in the restaurant. No kin. Just unlucky.”
    The frightened woman pleaded with her ex-boyfriend to release the boy and come out. The bull horn was heavy and it wobbled as she held it in both hands.
    The noise around her would do nothing to settle the problem. The guy probably thought he would be shot if he stuck his head out.
    Carmen moved away to yell at the K-9 cops. “Quiet your dogs but stay close. We may need to send them in for a search if this guy decides to hide.”
    “Affirmative, Captain.” The Sergeant led his dog to his patrol car.
    She worked her way to the front line where a mop of red hair caught Carmen’s attention.
    Stella Wells stood with her hand on the butt of her revolver, gaze fastened on the market entrance. She didn’t look like a smart ass strumpet now, just a cop on full alert.
    The radio on Carmen’s shoulder buzzed crazily for a second before Thomas’s calm voice came through.
    “He’s let the juvenile go but he isn’t coming out.”
    She waited a split second before making her decision. “Get the dogs in there.” She quickly added more instruction. “Double the uniforms in the back.”
    Sending men and dogs after someone was a last resort. The officers were in danger, and the dogs wouldn’t quit until they found the man. She could hear the animals barking as they headed for the entrance, but they stopped the moment they were inside the building.
    The boy had run out into the arms of Wells. The scene was touching. Stella gave him bottled water and talked to the boy as if she knew him.
    Carmen walked around the line of officers to speak with the wide- eyed boy and the woman still holding the bull horn. “Are you okay?” He nodded and stared up at the second floor windows. “Officer Wells will ask you some questions about what happened and contact your parents. Are you up to it?”
    Some of the fright had gone from his face, but his voice shook as he spoke. “He said he didn’t want to hurt me, just use me to get his woman here.”
    What went through Carmen’s mind wasn’t fit for the boy to hear. The fool was going to leave the outcome to whatever the woman did. From where Carmen stood, she could see dark purple underling the woman’s eyes and marks on her arms that looked suspiciously like cigarette burns.
    Listening to the woman’s pleas for her brutish boyfriend to come out irked Carmen. She swallowed her hot resentment and picked her words. “You’re parents are coming this way. You can stand with them if you want to.”
    He ran off before Carmen could say more. A tiny twist of yearning to run away from the scene bothered her. That feeling vanished when the sound of gunfire echoed from inside the building.
    Pulse racing and body tense, Carmen hurried to where the sergeant had taken cover near the entrance. “What the hell happened?” She couldn’t keep the anger from her words. “Give me your radio.”
    He unclipped the small radio from his collar and handed it to her. “We’re not sure who fired the shots, ma’am.” She didn’t care that he was forced to follow her like a dog on a leash as she moved for a better view of the door. “What’s the K-9 officer’s name?”
    Wincing as she tugged him forward, the sergeant answered quickly. “Patrolman Jenkins, ma’am.”
    Carmen gripped the radio in her clenched fingers. “Officer Jenkins, who fired those weapons?” She scowled at the delay of his response. “Jenkins.”
    The crackle of Jenkins radio was music in her ear. “I fired the weapon, Captain. The guy threw down on me and I had no choice.”
    “Is he alive?” Carmen