Your First Sneak Peek at Shattered Truth, Book 2 in the OpusX series!
“Emma’s driving. Not like I have to pay that much attention. And I don’t need an exoskeleton for what I’m planning.” Erik reached under his duster to his holster. He grabbed his pistol and ejected the magazine. After replacing it, he slipped in a new one with a blue stripe on the side.
“Don’t discourage him from jumping,” Emma interjected. “It might be interesting. He’ll probably survive. Or is that a maybe? Is maybe less of a chance than probably? Hmm.”
“Very funny, you two.” Jia sighed. “We just have to try to box the suspect in until other units can get here.” She looked down for a moment, her brow furrowed in thought. “Taking out one or two grav-field emitters will put him on the ground, and that is something you can do, Erik. I’ve seen you do it before.”
Erik pressed a button on his door. His window slid down, the air that was rushing past them almost deafening. He jacked up his voice so Jia could hear, almost yelling. “I’ve got a better idea. I need to test something!”
Jia stared at him. “You’re not going to jump through the window, are you? That doesn’t make sense!”
“Nope. Not jumping out. Not today.”
Jia let out a sigh of relief, then yelled so he could hear her, “Good to hear. I never know what you’re going to try.”
Erik flipped off the safety on his pistol. “Remember when I sent the request for the department to install the EMP?”
“Yes? What about it?”
“They officially denied the request this morning. They don’t care that I’m using a private vehicle for cop work, but they won’t upgrade it, so I made other arrangements to accomplish the same thing.” Erik switched his gun to his left hand and stuck it out the window. “I went ahead and got myself some disruptor bullets.”
“That’ll make the drop uncontrolled,” she argued, looking ahead of them to see where the flitter might crash.
“I know. Just need to find the right place to do it.”
The fleeing vehicle rose at a steep angle. Emma brought up the front of the MX 60 to match, jostling Erik.
Jia looked down at the lidar and jerked her head to the right. “The backup is here.”
Three black and blue patrol flitters approached in tight formation in the distance, spinning red and blue lights on the top. Having someone actually show up when called was nice, compared to when Erik had started at the NSCPD, but if they didn’t bring the suspect down soon, it would only increase the trouble. He needed to take the shot.
Jia pointed to a mostly empty parking platform in the distance. Both vehicles were heading that way.
“If you’re going to try your questionable plan, that’s as good a place as any,” she suggested. I don’t see anyone moving down there.”
“I’m not seeing anyone on my sensors, either,” Emma confirmed.
Erik nodded. “Fine by me.”
The suspect’s vehicle continued flying forward, the course taking it right over the platform. Erik waited for a sudden course correction, but the other flitter screamed over the platform, barely above it. It was like the Lady was serving the criminal up to Erik.
The gift didn’t make up for everything she’d done, but he’d take it.
Erik lined up the shot, steadying his arm. The disruptor bullets meant he wouldn’t need to be that careful or even use aim assist. The pistol spat the rounds. Blue sparks arced over the suspect’s flitter and it dropped, slamming hard against the parking platform, sparks flying as it ground to a halt a car-length shy of the edge. It left a small trail of smoldering dark-gray debris behind it.
“Bring us down, Emma,” Erik ordered, pulling his arm in. “That was easier than I thought.”
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Are you thinking what I’m thinking? When something is easier than Erik thought, that usually means it’s bad. I can’t wait for December 14th!
If you’re like me, and want the book the second it goes live, check out all of the options for pre-ordering today!
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