Page 8 of One Final Target

She watched surprise cross his features. “Ah, sorry to hear you quit. I didn’t realize you were hurt so badly.”

Jodie said nothing. She wasn’t badly hurt but she didn’t want to go into her reasons for quitting.

Gresham continued. “Jodie, it’s nice to finally meet you. Please call me Sam.” He smiled, and it brought light to his eyes. He nodded toward her handgun. “It’s hard to give up the sidearm, isn’t it?”

“Yes. I have a CCW permit. At least the shrink didn’t deem me crazy or suicidal.”

Just then a San Bernardino sheriff’s car pulled up and a stocky deputy stepped out. Jodie recognized him from the day of the explosion. Bob Takano had been the standby deputy. He was a good man; he’d steadied her, as much as she could be steadied after watching her team go up in smoke.

Takano knew Sam right away. But while Takano appeared genuinely happy to see Sam, Sam seemed to stiffen and become uncomfortable and guarded.

“Sam.” Takano reached out his hand. “I heard you were working inside nowadays. What gives?”

“As of yesterday, they let me out of the admin slot. I jumpedthrough all the hoops. Cleared for full duty. Assigned to this IED case.”

“Great to hear. Really good to have you back in the field. What just happened? Someone shot at you?”

“Not me. Sergeant King.” He gestured to Jodie.

“Just Jodie King now. I recognize you from the day of the explosion, Deputy Takano,” Jodie said.

Takano nodded her way. Sorrow crossed his features briefly. “Yep, I’ll never forget that day. It’s Bob.” He turned back to Sam. “How did you end up here?”

“I was on my way to visit George. This was a detour,” Sam said.

Jodie listened as Sam explained what had happened. She noticed he downplayed his actions. He’d also relaxed a bit. He probably didn’t know how Takano would react to him, Jodie thought. Losing a partner had its own special stigma. Of course, the circumstances mattered, but in Jodie’s experience, sometimes other cops didn’t know how to react to her. It was probably the same for Sam.

Today, Sam had placed himself in real jeopardy to protect her, but he didn’t emphasize it. This man was no showboat. He’d just about summed everything up when the deputy’s radio came alive.

Takano turned it up. “Sounds like there’s going to be a car stop of a possible match. Deputy picked up the vehicle at the turnoff for Lake Arrowhead. It was heading down 18. He’s following, approaching Crestline.”

Sam turned down his radio so they could all listen to Takano’s. The deputy’s voice came over the air. He’d activated his emergency lights and the vehicle stopped. He recited the license plate number.

Seconds later, return on the plate came back 10-29 Victor—stolen.

Another voice, a backup officer, said he was ten minutes away. Timing was everything. Jodie tensed; she hoped the first deputy would wait for backup. In the city, if she stopped a stolen car, she’d wait for a lot of backup units.

“I have to go.” Takano hurried back to his vehicle. “I’m more than ten away but I need to be there.”

Jodie and Sam stepped back as Takano burned rubber to get to the highway.

They continued to listen on Sam’s radio. For several minutes, all seemed routine, and Jodie hoped her worry was for naught. But then the radio went quiet.

The dispatcher tried to raise the deputy, but there was no response.

Jodie felt fear grip her insides as if someone had put her in a vise.

Suddenly another officer came on the air, voice breathless.

“Officer down, officer down! Suspect vehicle is gone. I need paramedics now.”

CHAPTER6

CHAOS ENSUED ON THE RADIOafter theofficer downcall went out. Sam felt the tension with every fiber of his soul. He leaned against King’s SUV, knees weak at the knowledge that another officer’s life hung in the balance. He’d heard the call sign but didn’t know to whom it had been assigned. He was certain he would know the man.

His radio volume was up again, but there was limited traffic now. The air was being kept clear for emergency traffic.

King paced. “I can’t believe he tried to stop the guy on his own,” she said.

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