Ryan fired a second time.

The shot went wide, tearing into the sod three feet to my right.

“Get in the copter!” Ryan screamed at Emily.

He was dragging her by her upper arm.

She resisted, planting her heels in the soft, wet earth.

“Arthur!” she cried out.

Her voice was nearly lost in the roar of the engines.

The phone in my pocket vibrated against my thigh.

It was a double pulse.

That meant the Black Lantern signal had cleared the regional relay.

The local cell towers were being rerouted by federal override.

The transponders in the valley were already locking out the county dispatch.

Colonel Ward had delivered.

I reached into my waistband and pulled my weapon.

It was a clean, unmarked nine-millimeter.

I did not raise it yet.

I needed to get closer.

“Let her go, Ryan,” I called out.

The rain ran down my forehead and into my eyes.

Ryan squinted through the downpour, his gun shaking.

“Stay back!” he shouted.

“I will put a bullet in her right now!”

He pressed the muzzle of the pistol against Emily’s ribs.