Sheriff (The Police Trilogy, #3) Read Online Free Page A

stopped her in her tracks.
    “Good work.”
    She smiled and got on with it.

Four
    B randon pressed his back into the coarse wall, feeling it dig in through his jacket and into his skin. The balaclava was tight around his face, itching at his lips and eyes, making him feel trapped and enclosed. The gun in his hand was heavy, loaded, and dangerous.
    He took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart, trying to focus his mind on the task at hand, avoid the bigger, more dangerous picture. Take it one step at a time; that was the way.
    The silver disc of the moon in the sky was huge, beaming down and lighting the darkness with a soft blue glow.
    A body heaved into the wall next to him, and he knew without looking that it was the bulky frame of Hemp. Kane was on the other side of the building, next to Conrad, all heavily armed and disguised.
    Brandon was weighed down with extra clips, a bullet proof vest and a string of smoke grenades. It was enough to make moving difficult in a situation where speed and reflexes were going to be key.
    Their infiltration had been meticulously plotted on maps, with markers and lines denoting their movements. It had been committed to memory, and constantly tested as they drove around town in an effort to look like they were doing their regular police work.
    And all the while, the digital recorder captured every word spoken, every plan made, and every boast bragged.
    So many times in the past week had Brandon been terrified of being caught, of the microphone feeding back and giving the game away, or of being randomly patted and discovered.
    His only relief from the tension and terror had been his brief moments alone with Eve. They had held one another, kissed and stroked, but nothing more. It didn’t feel right to either of them to engage fully with their blossoming relationship, not until this was out of the way, and then they’d be free to be with one another.
    Brandon gripped the lower barrel of his pump action shotgun, flexing his fingers and ignoring the sweat gathering on his palms.
    He looked to his right and saw Hemp doing much the same, but on his hand there was a thin latex glove.
    That was new.
    Brandon deduced why though; prints.
    No doubt Conrad and Kane would be wearing them too; which meant only one thing.
    He was being set up as the patsy.
    Only his fingerprints would be found at the scene.
    They obviously took him for an idiot, thinking him too stupid to realise the need for gloves of his own, and he was only too ready to play up to that prejudice. The more they underestimated him, the sweeter their comeuppance.
    And every time he had feigned doubt at the plan, or at the whole thing, Conrad had taken him aside and given him the whole sister speech over and over again. And every time he heard it, Brandon felt sick in his stomach at the callous manipulation of the man.
    In any other circumstance, it wouldn’t have worked, but here Brandon had to play along and wilt to his supposed logic. The number of times he had to physically stop himself from launching a fist at the bastard’s face was ridiculous.
    Brandon vowed in that moment to get his chance to pop one on him.
    Seeing the cuffs slapped on to their wrists would be sweet as hell.
    Hemp made a gesture with his hand, and it was time to move.
    As one, they bolted from the wall and ran at pace down the side of the building, ducking low whenever they passed a window, until they reached a doorway. Brandon ran past it and smacked back into the wall on the other side. Hemp stopped short and did the same. Now they were on both sides of the door, guns at the ready.
    Timing was important now.
    But their radios were deliberately silent.
    They just needed to wait for their cue.
    A car backfired.
    Go.
    Hemp span round and launched his foot into the door.
    It splintered at the lock and crashed open, sending bits of wood flying. Brandon swept inside, Hemp behind, their eyes adjusting to the darker interior.
    Across the building, they heard