by Mike Slavin
Two more patrol cars showed up. The sheriff got on the radio and said, “Dispatch, send a couple of ambulances, just in case they’re needed. Tell them no sirens.”
“What did the driver look like?” the sheriff asked.
“Dunno. He had a ski mask on.”
“What was he wearing? Was he tall or short? Did you see anything?”
“Average height. I didn’t see a gun. At least, both hands were empty when he ran into the bank. He had on blue jeans and a black, long-sleeved shirt. I think he had a tattoo on the right side of his neck. Couldn’t see what kind.”
“What about his shoes?”
“Green. Like running shoes, maybe. I thought it was a good choice to wear running shoes in case he had to run.” It sounded like Anderson might have wanted to keep going, but the sheriff cut him off.
“I got what I need. Good description. Huff, do you have an ankle gun?”
“Yes, sir,” Huff answered.
“Give it to me.” The sheriff stuck the pistol in the small of his back, in his belt, but under his shirt. If they searched him, he wanted them to easily find a gun and not pat him down. It was a gamble, but they probably weren’t professional bank robbers. The way they’d parked their getaway car, as well as the driver’s reaction, told the sheriff these guys were in way over their heads.
“Got the bank’s phone number?” the sheriff asked.
“Yes, sir. Here you go.”
He called.
“Hello,” was the response on the bank’s end of the phone.
“This is Sheriff Latimer. May I ask whom I’m talking to?” he asked.
“Good try, asshole.” The voice had a nervous edge. “I’m not telling you who I am.”
“First name is all I need. Make one up if you want.”
“Okay, call me Mickey Mouse.”
“Okay, Mickey.” The sheriff chuckled. “I’m giving you a chance to come out. If no one’s hurt, you might get off easy.”
“Fuck you! You guys can lie all you want. Come and get me,” he said. A gunshot came from inside the bank.
“What was that?” the sheriff demanded.
“I just shot my gun for the hell of it, that’s what!” Mickey yelled.
“Look, I’m coming in there to talk to you. Man to man. I’m serious. We can get you out of here if you listen to me. I’m not armed, and I’m coming in now.”
The sheriff hung up before Mickey could answer.
“Huff, if anything happens to me, you’re in charge. If you hear shots, rush the bank.”
“Sure you should do this, Sheriff?” Huff asked.
“I know what I’m doing. Once I’m inside, give me sixty seconds, then have the two squad cars in the back turn their sirens on at the same time. Go get ‘em ready.”
The sheriff stood and started walking toward the bank’s front door with no hesitation. He wasn’t sure how it would go down exactly, but if it went right, he’d make a big statement against crime.
A black-masked man with green running shoes let the sheriff in the front door. He didn’t seem to be armed. Two robbers stood with their backs to the tellers’ counter. They had automatic pistols, maybe Glocks. They weren’t wearing body armor. Seven people lay on the floor.
Both guns pointed at the sheriff.
The taller robber spoke first. He must have been Mickey. “See if he’s got a gun,” he told the driver with the green shoes.
The sheriff could feel the young man’s hands shaking as he searched him. He found the gun in the sheriff’s waistband, but he didn’t pat down his legs. The sheriff still had his ankle gun.
“I knew I couldn’t trust you. Fucking cops! Get away from him,” Mickey said.
The green-shoed driver moved to the side of the room, ten feet away. He held the sheriff’s gun loosely pointed at the sheriff, but with no conviction.
Deafening sirens went off. Everyone turned to the sound. In one smooth motion, the sheriff squatted, pulled out his gun, and centered it on the robber to his right. He squeezed off two rounds. The first robber didn’t have time to fall before the sheriff squeezed off two rounds into Mickey’s chest. As he lined up to fire on the driver, he saw a wet spot growing in the young man’s crotch. The driver saw what was happening, dropped his gun, and shut his eyes. The sheriff didn’t fire—he had no reason to kill the driver. He’d made his point.
The bank robbery was over. The sheriff was anxious to write down what he’d just experienced and add it to the stories he was working on for Kill Crime II.
Might fit in the book.
There was a new sheriff in town. And it was his sworn duty to kill crime.
Acknowledgments
As of writing this, I have just published Life-Changing Money, the short story prequel to the Kill Crime Series was published in August 2019. The first novel in the Jeff Case, Kill Crime Series, Kill Crime came out on 15 November 2019. I wrote the rough draft for Kill Crime in sixty days, and then it took two more years to get to where I was satisfied enough with a version to publish. While editing Kill Crime, I also wrote the rough draft of Primed to Kill, Kill Crime II. It is now being edited. I hope to publish it in the first quarter of 2020.
These are the people who helped me prepare Kill Crime for publication.
Head Cheerleader: My wife, Won Slavin
Police Procedure Consultant: James R. Boy
Editors: Carrie Anne Harrington, Marni MacRae, and Tonya Blust
Book Cover: Momir Borocki
And many beta readers and proofreaders who are too numerous to mention or who chose to remain anonymous. I appreciate the efforts of one and all. There was so much valuable feedback I was constantly surprised.
Thank You To The Readers
Thank you so much for reading Kill Crime. I hope you enjoyed the story. If you did, I invite you to take a few moments to leave a review. As an independent author, exposure is everything, and positive reviews help a great deal. I much appreciate your support should you choose to do so.
I love interacting with readers. Please feel free to email me at [email protected] that I might thank you personally. I am grateful for all your support, and I hope you will share the books with your friends/family/book clubs and anyone else whom you think might be interested. Thank you for falling into the Jeff Case series’ universe.
Would you like to be notified when more Jeff Case short stories are posted at the website www.mikeslavinauthor.com and/or when future Jeff Case novels are released? Please visit my website to sign up for the New Release Newsletter at www.mikeslavinauthor.com.
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Kill Crime Series in Order
Life-Changing Money (A Jeff Case Short Story) — Jeff Case has just resigned from the Army and is in NY with his wife. He is on a final interview for a job. When Case steps in to help a defenseless lady, an incredible day unfolds that almost gets him and his wife killed.
Kill Crime (Jeff Case Book 1)
In the foundation story, former Green Beret Jeff Case finally has it all: money, family, and happiness. But a life-changing event sends Case on a course that could spiral out of control. The story unfolds after the release of a best-selling novel, Kill Crime (book in a book) that urges ordinary citizens to go out and kill a bad guy in order to help society.
Primed to Kill, Kill Crime II (Jeff Case Book 2)
Forthc
oming in 4th Qtr. 2019.
While helping protect a friend, Case finds himself entangled with a serial killer. Things get more complicated as Case finds more serial killers than most people could handle. A fast-paced struggle to the end, you will never foresee the final twist.
Kill Crime III (working title) (Jeff Case Book 3)
Forthcoming in 2020.
More answers are finally revealed about the true author of Kill Crime, the book within a book, in the series’ third novel.
Kill Crime IV and more…
Case does what he can to help everyone he runs into, rid the world of as much evil as possible, and still enjoy poker-playing and some of the other finer things in life.
www.mikeslavinauthor.com
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Also Available By Mike Slavin
One Million in the Bank: How To Make $1,000,000 With Your Own Business, Even If You Have No Money Or Experience
I was recruited out of the Army in December 1984 and gave up my lifelong dream of a military career, all for an offer I could not refuse. Then I was fired a year later because of internal partner infighting. Whiplash! Broke and bankrupt, I struggled badly for seven years. Then I wrote a business plan for my everyday ordinary type of business (not a new innovative service or product) over a weekend. In the next three weeks, I raised the seed capital from four people who were neither family nor friends for a total of $203,000 to start my own company. I was a millionaire just three years later, and this book was written to help others do the same. It explains how to start your own business with no money or experience and accumulate a million in three-to-seven years.
Gold Medal Best Business and Entrepreneur Book (Nonfiction Book Awards 2015)
Gold Medal Best Financial Book (Nonfiction Book Awards 2015)
Best Business Book (Next Generation Indie Book Awards2016)
1st Place Gold Medal Best Informational Book (Feathered QuillBook Awards 2016)
3rd Place Bronze Medal Best Self- Help Book (Feathered Quill BookAwards 2016)
Eric Hoffer Award Finalist (top 10%) (Eric Hoffer Awards2016)
www.onemillioninthebank.com
About the Author
Mike Slavin lives an interesting life. He survived three helicopter crashes as the pilot, was tear gassed in riots in South Korea, served as an Aide to a U.S. President, has played in the World Series of Poker Main Event three times, and continues to seek out other encounters out of the normal. These rich experiences inform his writing.
Slavin, a West Pointer and a former Army officer, was broke and bankrupt in 1992. Three years later, he was a self-made millionaire. His first book, One Million in the Bank: How To Make $1,000,000 With Your Own Business, Even If You Have No Money Or Experience, shares this experience with others and won seven awards. He has since sold his company to take personal care of his wife of almost forty years as she battles with Parkinson’s disease. The couple lives in Houston, and Kill Crime is the first book in the Jeff Case series.
www.mikeslavinauthor.com
Sign up for announcements and free access to action-filled short stories about Jeff Case and the characters in his world.