Buried With You

Chapter Twenty Two

Lucy looked over the small man in front of her. He was not how she pictured. He was older, much shorter than Tim, probably about 5'6". He was balding with a grey wispy mustache. A specific picture of Albert Einstein crossed her mind. The man was shaking, clearly terrified. He was rather innocuous for a cartel member.

"L-l-l-look. I-I d-don't w-want a-any t-t-t-trouble." Lucy briefly felt pity towards the frail, fearful man in front of her.

She tore her eyes from their target and walked over towards the door. She waited as Tim put zip cuffs on Madris and sat him on the couch.

Tim walked over to her and gently cradled her cheek. He then maneuvered her face so that he could get a better look at her ear.

"I can't stand it when you get shot at." His voice was soft and quiet.

"Tim..."

"I know, I know. It's part of the job. I also know that you can handle it." His thumb stroked her cheek. "I still don't like it, though."

Lucy couldn't help but smile up at him. "I'm okay. I promise." She could tell he was relieved they were both relatively safe with minimal injuries. Unfortunately, they weren't done. "Now what?"

He took a deep sigh. "Now, we hope... and maybe pray."

It took Wisco, Sway, and Lyon seven minutes until they entered the room. The three men looked surprised yet pleased when they saw all the guards incapacitated.

"Good. I guess your reputations truly do precede you." Lyon sounded almost bored as he observed the remnants of the fight. "Time to go. We don't want to be here longer than necessary."

Lyon grabbed Madris from Lucy before putting his lips up to her ear. "Looks like we get to celebrate together after all." He smirked then walked out the door.

Lucy looked over at Tim; his eyes darkened as he watched Lyon.

"Hey, move it!" Wisco's voice was tense as he directed his demand at Tim and Lucy.

Tim grabbed her elbow before leading her quickly to the door. Their group was filing down the service staircase. Wisco and Lyon decided it was the path of least resistance when they were studying workers' movement patterns and elevator rush hours. Lopez was supposed to meet them at the bottom of the staircase.

"Hold up." Sway had been watching something in his hand, and Lucy finally focused on it. In Sway's hand was a small screen showing all surveillance camera footage, including the camera closest to their escape, which armed officers now surrounded.

"Fuck!" Lyon's rage-filled voice rang out through the stairwell. "Turn around, head back up to the line. Looks like we're jumping out of here."

The room with the zipline was small. Sway had broken the single window in the room so that they could set up the line and get everyone out if necessary. Lucy was hoping they wouldn't have to use this plan.

"Okay, we only have four harnesses, so some people are about to have a fun ride," Lyon stressed; it was obvious. Jake, you go first with Rat Man."

Tim's entire body tensed. "I'll go with Sava."

"No, you have Madris, and that is final. Your little girlfriend is going with me." Lyon wrapped an arm around Lucy's waist. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of her."

Lucy could tell Tim was not happy about this. She knew he didn't want to leave her side. She also knew that they needed to keep their cover, especially right now. "Go, we'll be fine."

Tim's eyes shone with worry, but he nodded before hooking himself into the harness and grabbing Madris. He then turned to Lyon. "If anything happens to her, I will use every painful method that exists to kill you." He gave one last glance to Lucy before clipping the harness to the line and jumping out the window.

"Alright, our turn." Lyon had already slipped into his harness. He grabbed Lucy's wrist and pulled her to him. "We can consider this our foreplay." He winked and then jumped out the window after Tim.

Lucy clung to Lyon like a vice grip. She knew it was a short line. The anchor was on top of a building a few stories shorter and about 100 feet away. Her main concern was who was carrying her that 100 feet. For all she knew, Lyon planned on dropping her to her death.

A loud squeal and sudden jerk signaled to Lucy that they were stopping. She opened her eyes and saw the rooftop. There was Tim, Madris, and a couple dozen uniformed officers. Lucy quietly let out a sigh of relief.

Five officers ran forward. Two officers grabbed her from Lyon and forced cuffs onto her wrists. The other three officers tore Lyon out of his harness and placed cuffs on his hands.

Lucy took a deep breath. This was the time to sell their covers. "What the fuck, Lyon!" She struggled against the officers. "What kind of plan was this?" She hoped the relief she felt was successfully transitioning to the sound of frustration.

Lyon's face showed a mix of shock and disappointment. He wasn't struggling against the officers. Lucy noticed that he also couldn't bring himself to look at Sway or Wisco as they landed a few minutes later. Both men were also released from their harnesses and placed in cuffs.

The officers detaining Lucy brought her over to Tim. He gave her a quick glance over, making sure she was okay. She had felt fine up until this moment. Now that they were caught and she was safe, she felt the adrenalin coursing through her subside, being replaced with an aching pain through the left side of her torso. The bullet wound was healed, but she had still been shot, and she was really feeling it in this moment.

Tim must have noticed something was off because concern filled his features. She nodded softly, trying to convey that she was okay. Their interaction was interrupted by the officers forcing their group towards the rooftop entrance and down into the stairwell. They were each placed into a different car before being taken to the LVPD station. The officer in charge of Lucy filled her in on everything she and Tim would have to do before they were released to Lopez. This was about to be a long night.