Page 49 of Constant Risk
“How do you want this to play?”
“Room by room search,” she said. “Methodically and orderly.”
A few seconds later his phone beeped. He looked down at the message and smiled.
“Bree just sent us the building plans for that address.”
“I have to admit she is pretty damn useful.”
Tanner laughed as he studied the plans. “That and a lot more.”
They parked at the spot where Penelope had told Leon and Whitaker to meet. They were already there. Tanner got out of the car while Penelope answered a call.
“We just got building plans from Bree,” Whitaker said.
“Knowing her, the entire SWAT team got it too,” Tanner said.
Penelope finished her call and turned back to them. “Chief doesn’t want anybody who is not official Dallas PD going into the building, in case things get ugly. Sorry guys.”
Tanner didn’t like it, but he could understand it.
“We can still be used strategically. There are a lot of exits to this place.” Tanner pointed to the building schematics on his phone. “I can camp out in the alleyway in case the perp slips past you and runs like Elliot did.”
Whitaker nodded. “And I can cover the fire exit in the back in case he makes a run for it that way.”
Penelope nodded. She handed them walkie-talkies. “Yeah. If this guy gets away, the first thing he’ll probably do is warn the others.”
“Roger that. Priority is to stop him before he makes contact. And hopefully by the time we’re done here, Bree will already have the location of the other two victims,” Tanner said.
The SWAT team showed up, parking a block away, and they all took their positions. Tanner made his way to the alley he’d be covering. He’d much rather be part of the action inside the building, but knew this case was going to be delicate enough without having unauthorized personnel as part of the takedown. Better to do as much as possible by the books. Unless it came down to truly dire situations, he would stay out of it.
He was in the alley, finding the best vantage point for the exit that led his way, when his phone buzzed in its holder. He glanced down to see the caller, thinking it might be Bree, but it was Gregory Lightfoot.
Tanner press the receive button. “Greg. Kind of a bad time. Can I call you back?”
“Tanner, this is an emergency. I just found out the prison bus transferring Michael Jeter crashed pretty badly a couple of hours ago. It was chaos. Some prisoners killed, others hurt bad.”
“And Jeter?”
“Right now no one is exactly sure where he is.”
Chapter Seventeen
Tanner let out a vile curse. “What exactly are you saying? That Jeter escaped?”
Because two hours was definitely more than enough time for Jeter to have gotten to where Bree was right nowalone.
“I’ve already made some calls.” Greg’s voice was rapid and hoarse. “I’ve explained the situation and the prison warden on-site at the crash assures me that no prisoners are missing. The issue was, with the multiple injuries, some of them severe, they had to send prisoners to multiple hospitals. But all of them went in handcuffs and all the hospitals are aware of their criminal status.”
That made Tanner feel marginally better, but not enough to be willing to leave Bree alone. Not until he knew for sure that Jeter wasn’t out in the open.
“Why weren’t we notified right away?”
“I was in court, and my assistant couldn’t get ahold of me. The moment she did, I called you. I’m staying on top of it as much as possible and will report back to you as soon as I have any more details.”
“Do.” It wasn’t a request. When it came to Bree’s safety Tanner was not going to worry about being polite. “Immediately, Greg. No matter how big or small.”
“I will.”
