The Hungry 4: Rise of the Triad (The Sheriff Penny Miller Series) by Steven Booth, Harry Shannon

but she got the job done. He fell heavily, the wind knocked out of him, but then was already groping for the can of Mace. The radio slid her way and Miller shoved it aside. She closed the gap. The guard raised the can of spray.
    Miller was on him like a duck on a June bug. She grabbed his head and slammed it against the hard flooring. His eyes rolled back. Miller checked his pulse and was relieved to find him still alive. He was just out cold. She searched him for keys. She found nothing. Just the damn spent Taser and a pair of nylon cuffs. She rubbed her sore muscles.
    “Penny? You okay?”
    The guy locked inside the room. Alex. Miller went to Alex’s door. She leaned against the door, stroking her sore arms and legs, and considered what to do. The adrenaline rush was wearing off and she felt the electric ache down deep in her bones, although she knew it would soon pass. She had been Tased twice at the Western Nevada State Peace Officer Academy back in the day, and tended to take it well.
    Miller considered her situation. She put her hand on the doorknob. She had just begun to pull on it when she heard another sound. A door closed and footsteps approached from directly behind her. Miller sagged. She was running out of gas.
    When she turned she saw another one of the tactical soldiers. His weapon was raised. Miller smiled coyly, hoping to charm this one long enough to figure out an escape. She opened her mouth to speak. Something hit her in the back. It wasn’t another Taser, it was something else. It stung like a hornet.
    Miller looked around. Yet another tactical soldier was pointing a weapon of some kind at her. It wasn’t a pistol, because she would be dead if it was, and she’d heard no sound, not even the chuff of a silencer. Miller felt dizzy. She reached back and found a small cylinder. She plucked the tranquilizer dart from her shoulder. “Ah, shit.” She chuckled just as she blacked out.

CHAPTER FIVE

    MALIBU SERENITY CENTER, HOSPITAL WARD

    “Hey, she’s awake!”
    Miller had a nasty headache. She slowly opened her eyes. She was looking up at a golden-colored faux ceiling. The air reeked of a strong, pine-scented cleanser. She could hear something beeping softly up behind her head.
    Miller groaned. She felt pretty beat up. Every part of her hurt, some in surprising new ways. Her head was in a vise. Her back felt like a truck had hit her low and from behind. Her elbows and hands prickled with some kind of odd heat. Her ears hurt with every little sound. And even her groin complained, feeling like she had been violated in some way. She tried to shift her position, but she was stuck in place like an insect on flypaper.
    Something came into her vision. A blur that slowly became a person. A Black woman in nurses’ scrubs looked down at her with a soft, neutral smile. “Hello, Penny. You’ve been out a long time. Can you speak?”
    “Yes,” Miller managed. Her tongue and throat felt like a Nevada sidewalk in August.
    “Would you like some water?”
    Miller nodded, but immediately wished she hadn’t. Her head throbbed again. Despite the fresh pain, she slowly turned her head so that she could see the rest of her body. She was connected to IV tubes at her hands and inner elbows on both sides of her body. That seemed strange, though her mind couldn’t quite process why. There was another tube hanging at her side. It was connected to a urine bag. That told her that she must have been catheterized while she was out.
    A strange man appeared. He stared down at her. Miller flinched back. He was vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t quite place him. The man looked like some corporate executive who had been left out in the sun way too long. His presence frightened her. Miller wanted to close her eyes again, but the man’s gaze was too intense. He seemed to be trying to communicate something.
    “Hey, darlin’,” the man said, finally.
    Miller squinted. “Scratch?”
    “Hi there.”
    Miller swallowed. She