I tipped my chin at her, then turned away, bracing my hips back against the door, blocking her from sight. Within the vehicle, I heard a little laugh.
At the front, Moore, Lion, and the fake-Bea started forward with five minutes left on the clock before the killer threatened to off Tabitha Linley.
Their slow march across the snow was difficult to watch in the bright, glittering light of the sun, but I narrowed my lids and hardly blinked.
They were halfway to the two unmoving figures when something glinted between the dark pair.
My mouth was open on a shout of warning only a second before a gunshot echoed through the clearing.
The faux-Bea crumpled to the ground. I could see the red of blood stark against the snow even from there.
I moved, rounding the car to get to the driver’s seat.
Officer Travers stood before me.
“Move,” I ordered. “We’re gettin’ outta here before this goes to hell.”
“I have orders to keep her here. We don’t know what’s happening yet,” he argued.
Chaos erupted behind me as the cops shouted at each other, and the radios exploded with noise.
“I’m gettin’ my girl out of here,” I growled. “You have one second to move your ass, or I’ll gladly move it for you.”
He blinked at the feral expression on my face but didn’t move.
“Your funeral,” I promised as I bent slightly and barreled into him.
He tried to brace but went flying backward hard into a snowdrift.
I stalked forward, hand reaching for the handle when something sharp bit into my back. A second later, electricity jolted through my entire body, seizing my muscles, contracting them against my control. I fell to the ground, head bouncing against the side of the car as I went.
A fucking Taser.
I gritted my teeth against the sensation, trying to fight through it so that I could be prepared to move the second it let up.
Instead, a hard knee landed in my back the moment it did.
“Hold still, motherfucker, you’re under arrest for obstructing justice,” a strange voice said in my ear.
I recognized it only vaguely as belonging to one of the RCMP officers.
I fought his hold, surging to my knees, then lifting into a half-crouch with his entire weight clinging to my back. I reared back, slamming him into the car to shake him loose.
He fell.
But the commotion had drawn the notice of other cops. One came at me. I landed a hard punch to the corner of the jaw, snapping his head back so he went out cold before he even hit the ground. The next was smarter and drew his Taser, aiming it at me with a warning. I moved forward still, dodging the prongs as they flew toward me to tackle the arsehole around the legs. As I straddled him, I said, “I just want to take my woman home. Let me get her to safety.”
He tried to punch me in the face, but I grabbed his fist and twisted so hard something popped in his wrist. He screamed just as another cop tackled me from behind, pinning me to the ground. I struggled, but there was another cop after that, Travers having recovered.
He snarled in my ear as I tried to get free. “You’re done, motherfucker. Done!”
Above the cacophony, I was vaguely aware of tires crunching in the snow. Panic like I’d never known spiked through my blood. I snapped my head back into Travers and heard him curse as he fell to the side. The other cop tried to pin my hands behind my back, but I was able to leverage my body into a roll that half pinned him beneath me. When he tried to get up, I elbowed him in the face.
I sprang to my feet, ready to turn around to face the car that held Bea, to fucking kill anyone who tried to get between me and that vehicle.
“Hold, you bastard,” someone seethed beside me as the cold press of a gun kissed my temple. “I swear to God, I’ll put you down where you stand if you try to assault any more of my men.”
I snarled. “Your operation is fucked. I need to get Bea out of here.”
“Officer Moore has her,” he said. “He’s taken her back to the department to keep her safe. The motherfucker in the clearing wasn’t the killer. Just a kid tied to a fucking stake and an older woman posing as Linley. She fired the gun, but the kid got shot in the crossfire.”
Winter settled in my bones, silent and deadly. “Radio Moore.”
“I just told you, he’s taken her to the PD.”
“Motherfuckin’ radio Moore!’ I snapped, done with this shit.
I kicked out, catching the cop in the leg so he stumbled, then swiftly turned to grab the gun in his hand, releasing the mag with a quick jerk of my wrist. It fell to the icy ground with a clatter. I used the barrel of the weapon as a handle and swung it at the cop. He grunted as it contacted his jaw.