Page 108 of The Moment He Couldn’t Walk Away

“Cut your lights,” Sheriff Dans said into his radio, and soon they were rolling down the long drive that led to the Murrays’ farm in darkness. “The barn is to the right of the house.”

They parked at the main house. Dan and his uncle then got weapons out of the back and pulled on protective vests. Finch also received a vest from the sheriff.

There was a crunch of tires and then the third cruiser pulled up, and another of the Lyntacky deputies got out.

“Right. Dan, Finch, and I will go into the barn if we see the white sedan outside,” Sheriff Dans said.

“Why Finch?” Blue asked.

“Because he was trained in the military and knows how to keep his shit together, unlike you,” Dan said. “Even though it’s his girl in danger, he’ll stay controlled.”

Finch hoped that was the case, but Nina pulled all kinds of emotions out of him he’d never felt before. The thought that anyone might harm her enraged him.

“Connor, you take Sawyer and Brody to the rear, and you others remain out front, but stay hidden.”

They nodded, and Blue thankfully kept her mouth shut.

“Right, let’s go,” Sheriff Dans said.

The tension was high in every one of them. Finch could feel it as he moved through the dark toward the barn. He saw the shape of it before he noticed the car pulled up out front. A security light clicked on, making them all stop briefly, but it was only one of the Murrays’ three cats. The large tabby wandered by on his way somewhere.

The white sedan was parked to the right, and no doubt the car that had brought Nina and her father here.

Asher held up a hand as they came to a stop. He then pointed to Deputy Connor and then the barn, and the man slunk off into the shadows with Sawyer and Brody.

“Stay,” Dan hissed to Blue, Lynx, and JD.

Finch followed the two lawmen toward the barn. The sheriff pushed the door open a few feet. Slipping through, the three men kept low as they approached the plastic sheeting that split the old hay barn from the newer storage section.

Sheriff Dans raised a hand as voices reached them through the plastic.

“It’s not here,” a man was saying.

“I told you I don’t know where it is,” a female voice answered.

Nina. He’d know the sound of her voice anywhere. Relief swept through Finch. She was all right.

Sheriff Dans held up three fingers. He lowered them slowly, and then they were going through the plastic. The lawmen first, and Finch behind.

“Sheriff’s Department. Hands where I can see them!”

Kurt spun, pointing his gun at them.

“You’re outnumbered, Kurt, and there are more men coming in from the rear. If you discharge that weapon, you won’t see tomorrow,” Dan said, pointing his gun at the man alongside his uncle.

“Drop the gun, Kurt, and kick it toward us,” Sheriff Dans ordered.

It took two more seconds, but the man did as he was told. Amber’s hands rose quickly after that, but Dale Falcon was slower, almost unhurried.

“What appears to be the problem, officers?” he asked in a voice that made Finch want to punch him.

“Don’t play games with us, Falcon. We know what and who you are and that you brought Nina here without her consent,” Sheriff Dans said. “We know all about you.”

The man didn’t move a muscle, just watched them.

“Raise your hands now,” Dan ordered.

He did, reluctantly.