Where was backup?

Roark Holland squinted past the harsh streetlight glare to the vehicle that’d arrived only minutes ago. A van parked in a darkened part of the street. Parked at the curb of the old building housing the Pugsley family in Witness Protection. The family Roark needed to move to another safe house.

The family’s cover had been blown. With the Pugsley’s whereabouts known, their enemy would seek the total annihilation of anyone who could identify them, namely Mr. Pugsley.

Roark glanced in his rearview mirror. Still no team.

A light flipped on inside the van, just for a fraction of a second. But in that heartbeat, Roark took in the black jackets. The guns.

Grabbing his Beretta 98 in one hand, he pressed the transmit button on his radio with his other. “Demott, we have movement on the street. Where’s my backup?” He wasn’t prepared to go in alone—no tactical equipment, no comm, no extra ammo.

“Stay put, Holland. Team’s ETA, less than five minutes.”

The van door slid open.

“No time to wait. I’m going in.” Roark’s grip tightened on the Beretta.

Three men, decked out in black, stepped onto the road.

“Wait, Holland. Don’t go in without backup. That’s an order.”

But he could control the situation. “There’s three of them. No time.” Roark turned off the radio and slipped it into his coat pocket, eased open the door, and stepped onto pavement.

Deliver Us From Evil (Feb ’10, B&H Publishing) “The kind of novel ‘Ripped from the headlines’ was meant to describe. Compelling.”–James Scott Bell, author of Deceived and Try Fear
Dead Air (March ’10, Steeple Hill Suspense) Fear No Evil (Aug ’10, B&H Publishing)