So Sloan leapt, springing off on his better leg, lunging for the gun, trying to cross the space between him and the perp as fast as possible.
The guy screamed with rage, and the gun went off close enough to him to make his ears ring. Sloan expected to feel a bullet tear through his flesh. Instead, a display of MexicanCoke bottles to his right exploded with a shower of glass, sending shrapnel into his neck and cutting his face.
He deflected the gun, then shoved the barrel of his sidearm into the guy’s chest. “Don’t move. You’re under arrest for robbery, attempted murder, and assaulting an officer.” Or something like that.
“Police! Everyone stay where you are!”
“It’s cool, Ben,” Sloan called. “Can you come link him up?”
“Hey, Sloan. Good job.” Ben came to put the guy in handcuffs, so Sloan grabbed a glove out of his pocket and used it to secure the kid’s gun.
Shit.
Shit, he hated getting shot at.
“You got this for a minute?” he asked when Glen and Lara barged in too. “I need to get the witness out of my car and call Lance to tell him I’ll be late picking him up.”
“Go for it. I’ll read him his rights.”
“Good deal.”
“You should let EMS check you out too. We called a bus, just in case someone got shot.”
“Yeah. Instead I got hit by flying glass. I’ll let them clean me up when they arrive.”
“Good deal.”
He headed out to his car, where Leah was now standing outside it, smoking a cigarette.
“Thought you quit,” he said.
“I did.” She took another drag. “I’ll quit again tomorrow.”
He chuckled, then turned his radio back on, calling into dispatch. “Arrest made at the Woody’s Family Mart. Three units on scene. We’ll be bringing him in. Attempted robbery, and he fired on me.”
“Copy.”
He keyed off his mic, then grabbed his cell. His own handwas starting to shake a little. He called Lance, smiling when his lover picked up on ring two.
“Hey, babe. Having a hard time finding Slim Jims?”
“Yeah, about that.” Sloan rubbed the back of his neck, wincing when he came away bloody. “I interrupted a robbery in progress at the Woody’s.”
“You okay? Everybody okay?” Lance’s voice got sharp, focused. “Dan! I need you!”
“I’m fine. What’s wrong?”
“You were in a robbery? Duh. Dan, get the goddamn car. I got to go somewhere right now.”
“Okay. What happened?” Dan’s voice was calm as a summer sky.
“Sloan was involved in a robbery at the Woody’s. Let’s go.”
Sloan shook his head and chuckled. “I’m fine. There was gunfire. I did not get hit. A bottle exploded a little bit, and I’ve got a couple of cuts.”
“Where do I need to go? You want me to head to the hospital instead? I’ve got my kit.”
“I’ll totally let you doctor me, babe, but you don’t have to come here. I’m going to be there to pick you up. I’ve just got to deal with this, so I’m going to be an hour and a half late, give or take.”