Irish Throwdown (What Happens In Vegas Book 4) by Matt Lincoln (short books for teens .TXT) 📕

“Oh, thank goodness you’re here,” a blond, middle-aged woman cried as she ran toward the cops. “I don’t know what to do. I tried reversing the movement so that he’d come back down, but he just kept climbing higher.”

“Wait, you haven’t turned it off yet?” I snapped as I turned toward the woman.

“Who are you?” one of the officers demanded as he squared up to me.

“Agents Castillo and Patel,” Naomi stepped in before I could respond and pulled out her badge. “We’re with the Military Border Liaison Investigative Services. We’ve been collaborating with the police on a case involving a series of drug-fueled assaults. We believe this might be related.”

“You mean that stuff that was on the news?” the woman gasped. “Oh, my word, what do we do?”

“Well, first, shut that thing off,” I instructed. “He’s obviously not going to stay still, so there’s no point in letting it continue turning. It’ll just make it harder for us to get him down and put more people in danger in the process.”

I was abruptly cut off by the sound of a gunshot. The people watching from the ground screamed in response, and I snapped my head up to look at the man. He was leaning over the side of the car and had shot a bullet into one of the windows in an attempt to smash it open. It was hard to see from down here, but it looked like the window had managed to hold.

I flinched as the sound of a gunshot exploded right behind me, which caused my ears to ring and for the gathered crowd to panic even more. I turned to look at the officers behind me, one of whom was holding his gun aloft and staring wide-eyed up at the Ferris wheel.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I roared past the ringing in my ears.

“I… I’m sorry,” he stuttered. “I thought he was going to shoot the people in that car, so…”

“So you decided to help him out?” I snapped angrily. “Did you really think you had a shot from here? What if you hit one of the people in the cars? What if the bullet ricocheted off the giant hunk of metal you’re shooting at and hit one of the people in the ground?”

“I’m sorry,” the man muttered weakly.

“Whatever,” I scoffed. “Okay, here’s what we need to do. Call a cherry picker here as soon as possible. I’m going to climb up after him and get him restrained up there.”

“What?!” the older officer exclaimed. “Are you insane? Is that really your plan?”

“Do you have a better one?” I retorted. “Or were you just going to follow your partner’s lead and shoot blindly into the Ferris Wheel until you hit him?”

The officer glared at me before calling for a crane over his radio. I turned around to hide the smirk on my face and walked toward the metal base of the Ferris wheel.

“Miranda!” Naomi called as she gripped me by the arm. “I didn’t want to question you in front of them, but are you sure this is a good idea? This is a little crazy, even for you.”

“What’s the alternative?” I asked. “That glass is going to break any second. Am I just supposed to leave whoever’s in there to the mercy of a madman hundreds of feet above the ground? I’m going.”

The cars of the Ferris wheel were a lot larger up close than they looked from far away. They were actually circular pods big enough to hold around twenty people, and they were equipped with televisions and even bars. The pods were fixed to the Ferris wheel by long, thin metal rods that could be climbed like a ladder if you were careful about your footing. I assumed that was how the man had gotten up there, and if he could do it, then so could I.

I ascended as quickly as I could. I was extremely thankful at that moment for all my Marine training because I found myself doing more pull-ups than I had in years as I hoisted myself from one rod to the next.

“Be careful,” a muffled voice called out to me, and I turned to see a small girl in pigtails with her nose pressed against a pod window, watching me with wide, curious eyes. Two people who I assumed were her parents were standing behind her, watching me with stunned expressions. I smiled at them before continuing my way up.

It felt strangely loud up here, and I wasn’t sure if it was just windy this high up off the ground or if it was my own blood rushing through my ears as the fear and adrenaline coursed through my body. I could see the man clearly now. I was only one car below him, and he hadn’t noticed me yet. If I was quiet, I might be able to sneak up behind and get the jump on him before he ever saw me coming.

Just as I thought that, the surrounding air flashed white, and seconds later, everything seemed to shake as a crack of thunder boomed across the sky. Almost instantly, drops of rain began to pelt down on us. The man jumped and looked around wildly, clearly startled by the sudden noise. His eyes landed on mine, just a few feet below me, and he pointed his gun at me.

“Wait!” I yelled as I stared hard into his eyes. They were glazed and empty, the way Howard’s had been after he’d trashed the office, and I knew he wasn’t all there. I tried desperately to remember how Naomi had talked him down.

“It’s okay,” I called stiffly. I just didn’t have Naomi’s patience or way with words.

“No, it’s not!” the man screamed so loud that his voice broke. “She lied to me! She said she was visiting her mother, and she’s right here, partying with a bunch of other guys!”

He pointed the gun at the broken glass of the pod again as he