Dead Shot

by Ethan Johnson

  She also wished she knew Gabe better. She didn’t think he was the sort to turn tail and run after making a promise to her, but today was an extreme situation. Lots of people were probably doing all sorts of things that were out of character for them today, depending on how close they were to one of the blast sites, for example. Diana looked around and had to twist awkwardly to see a solid plume of black smoke. The rest were far enough away that they had flattened into a light gray haze.

  After slowing through a blacked-out intersection, Officer Preston stepped on the gas. He gripped the wheel intently and muttered, “Any time now. Keep an eye out.”

  Diana cocked her head. “For Gabe? I don’t know what he drives.”

  “We’ll play a matching game. Look for a license plate that matches this code.” He tapped the lower right-hand screen of the command console. Diana nodded and scanned the oncoming traffic for anything starting with the first two letters.

  Preston passed a few more vehicles, then glanced at the console. “He’s close. Say when.”

  Diana leaned forward and read plates. A green sedan matched the first letter, then all three, then two numbers. She looked down at the console and Preston was on his bumper, running the siren. Two men in the front seat looked back at them, then gestured to each other with panicked waves and hand signs. The driver sped up, and Preston followed suit. He tapped their bumper and pointed to the side of the road.

  “I take it this ain’t your man,” he said through gritted teeth.

  Diana shook her head. “No, I have no idea who they are, or what they’ve done with Gabe.”

  The driver sped up again, and swerved into the next lane, putting a delivery truck behind him to keep Preston off the bumper. He responded by pulling up alongside their vehicle and pressing in tight. “Hang on, kid. I shoulda had you sign a release, but we can fix that later. Put your frickin’ head down.”

  Diana looked to her right and saw two men baring their teeth at her. The passenger leaned over to get a better look at them. She bent forward, and Preston turned the wheel hard to the right. “Bastard’s got a gun. Stay low, kid, this is serious.”

  “What? Which one?” Her stomach lurched as Preston stomped on the brake, then switched to the accelerator. He rammed the sedan again, then eased off the accelerator for a moment, only to press it down again, followed by another crunch as the vehicles came into contact.

  “I hope your man is strapped down. This is gonna hurt.”

  Diana started to raise her head to see what was happening, then thought better of it. They rammed the sedan once more, then Preston pulled the car hard to the right and slammed on the brakes. In an instant, he was out of the car, gun drawn, and Diana heard gunshots pop behind her in rapid, steady succession.

  She peered through the rear windshield, and the sedan was steaming against a bent lamp post. The sedan’s windshield was spider-webbed, with five holes through it on the passenger side, and spattered with blood.

  “How about you, Ace? You got a piece too?” Preston held the gun steadily at the driver, who raised his hands and shook his head vigorously.

  Diana opened her door and slipped onto the pavement. She pulled open the back door and retrieved her shotgun. Preston had the man bent over the hood and was cuffing him as Diana walked up. “Where’s Gabe?”

  “I dunno,” said the driver, with his cheek against the steaming hood.

  Preston read him his rights as he marched him toward his police cruiser. Diana reached onto the driver’s side and popped the trunk. She stepped around and gasped as Gabe looked up at her with a black eye and a split lip. His hands were tied with packing twine. “This can’t be really happening.” He spat blood. “I was never going to see you again.”

  Tears welled up in Diana’s eyes, and she leaned into the trunk and kissed his forehead. “I’m here, and you’re not dead. I’ll be right back. I’ve got a loose end to deal with.” She wiped tears away with her knuckles and hoisted the shotgun.

  Officer Preston stood the driver up next to the rear of the cruiser. “Hey, hotshot. Get your piece outta the back before I load this clown in there.”

  Diana shook her head sternly. “He’s not coming with us.”

  Preston gave her a questioning stare. “I cuffed him, so yeah, that’s pretty much how it works. Law enforcement 101.”

  “Uncuff him.”

  “What? Hey, kid, he did the crime, he’s doing the time. Just ignore whatever stupid crap he says, and we’ll be back home in no time.”

  “Uncuff him. I’m calling in my favor.”

  Preston’s eyes bulged. “Hey, whoa, hold on there. We’re having a bad day all around, looks like, but this didn’t turn into the wild frickin’ west in the past hour. I’m your friend, and forever grateful to ya, but there are some lines I can’t cross, for anybody. Not even you. Now go get that gun outta the back, so we can get this show on the road.”

  Diana sighed and nodded. She lowered her shotgun and shuffled past Preston. He nodded as she passed and turned to the driver. “You’re a real piece of work, you know tha—”

  He crumpled to the pavement. The driver looked down at him, then up at Diana, who spun the shotgun around and pointed it at his face. “Turn around, and walk away,” she said, with a steely voice.

  “Hey, we just needed to get someplace. We didn’t wanna hurt the dude, but he gave us a bunch of hassle, and…”

  Diana took a step forward. “Turn around and walk away.”

  The man took a hard swallow and looked at people staring at him through a bakery window. “You see this? You see what she’s gonna do?”

  The crowd backed away from the window. An elderly man gave Diana a thumbs-up and nodded approvingly.

  “Awwww, the hell with y'all,” said the driver, and he turned around. His steps were slow, then quickened as he made a break for the corner in a zig-zag pattern. He was three steps from freedom when a burst of buckshot struck the back of his neck and sent him crashing down onto the sidewalk face-first. He laid there twitching as Diana opened the shotgun and tossed the spent shell aside. She dug another one out of her left pocket and slid it into the barrel coolly. Preston staggered to his feet, rubbing the back of his head.

  Diana snapped the shotgun closed and turned to Preston. She jerked her thumb at the driver, who stopped twitching as she did. “Uncuff him.”

  CHAPTER 17

  Officer Preston stumbled forward and gave Diana an incredulous stare. His jaw hung wide open, and he kept one hand pressed against the back of his head. “That’s… that’s Murder One.”

  “I told you to uncuff him.”

  “I don’t take orders from you.” He reached for his sidearm and struggled with the strap that held it in place. He kept his eyes on her and tried to resolve the issue by touch. “I’m running you in. It’s the end of the line, Pembrook, or whoever you are.”

  Diana shook her head slowly. “You’re going to set your gun down, and you’re going to drive away.”

  “You already called in your favor. No dice, kid.” The strap came undone as he stepped forward.

  Diana raised her shotgun and pointed it at his chest. “Which you didn’t give me. And it’s not you doing a favor for me now, it’s the other way around. Go back to your post and have a nice life. That’s the deal.”

  Preston gripped the sidearm and began to pull it out of the holster. “Not gonna happen. Put the shotgun down, and drop to your knees, with your hands on your head.”

  “Drop it, or I drop you, Eddie. Pure and simple. I like you. I really do. But I will stand my ground, and do what I have to do, if you don’t put the gun down and walk away right now.” Her steely tone had returned, and she held the gun steady, without the slightest tremor.

  “I said freeze!” Preston drew his gun, then flew backward as a blast from Diana’s shotgun tore into his chest.

  Gabe crawled out of the trunk and fell onto the pavement. He laid on his side and gaped in horror as Diana stood over the fallen officer, shaking her head
slowly. She crouched down beside him and plucked the sidearm from his trembling hand. After slipping it into her waistband, she laid her hand on the side of his face. “You broke my heart, Eddie. I thought you were better than this. But the Good Book was right. Never put your faith in a weak man.”

  Preston tried to speak, but blood pooled in his mouth as he gasped for air. He turned to her and looked at her with a blend of terror and pity. He reached up and put his hand over her heart. She tipped her head and put her hand over his.

  He curled his fingers and pulled the sticker from her shirt as he died.

  Gabe got to his feet and shuffled over to them. “You… killed him.”

  “He was drawing on me. I didn’t have a choice.”

  “You killed that punk, too. I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

  Diana rose to her feet. “You could feel grateful that I made him pay for what he did to you.”

  “That’s for the courts to decide, Diana. That officer, he was going to run him in, you know, by the book. You murdered him. Then you murdered the officer. Are you going to kill me now, too?” A tear spilled down his cheek from his good eye.

  Diana took a step backward, stunned. She couldn’t believe that Gabe didn’t understand why she shot the punk, and why she shot Preston. She looked up angrily and balled her fists. “Murder? That’s what this is?” She slapped his cheek. “Look around. Does anything about today seem normal to you? Does it seem like the courts are going to make everything okay? I did the right thing and saved everybody a lot of hassle, including the world never having to worry about that punk doing any more crimes. He was weak. Eddie was weak. Are you telling me, Gabe, that after all I did to save you, you’re weak too?” She trembled as adrenaline coursed through her veins.

  Gabe’s expression softened, and he bowed his head. “I’m… I’m sorry, Diana.”

  “For what?”

  “I… I didn’t know what you went through. I’ve been through a lot too.” He looked her in the eye. “Could you untie me, so I can give you a hug, already?”

  Diana shook her head, dazed, then smiled. “Turn around.”

  She struggled with the twine. Gabe grimaced and grunted as she tried to free his hands. He looked up at the buildings across the street, and the people who peered through their blinds at them. His eyes turned to the sky, and he cocked his head. “Hey, something’s wrong.”

  “You think? Because in Nebraska, buildings blew up all the time.”

  “The sky. Remember how I said there weren’t any airplanes?”

  “Uh-huh. Hold still, I’ve almost got this.”

  “Diana, there’s a plane landing at a really sharp angle. I don’t think there’s an airport where it’s heading.”

  Diana looked up. “What?”

  The plane disappeared, and a moment later a loud boom shook the street, followed by billowing black smoke behind the buildings closest to them. Diana pulled on the twine, and Gabe freed his left wrist. He pulled his arms forward, turned around, and embraced her. He patted the back of her head and said, “We’ve got to get out of here.”

  Diana nodded, pushed free of his arms, then pointed to the police cruiser. Preston had left it running when he got out to arrest the carjackers. “I’ll drive.”

  Diana swung the cruiser around in a wide U-turn and sent them back toward the river. A flurry of thoughts filled her head like a shaken snow globe. Should she take Gabe back to Veronica’s apartment? Was Veronica still alive? Could they still get to Newark? Why had a plane crashed? Where? Had she really killed Eddie? Was there any other way? She gripped the wheel and stared ahead with steely resolve. No, she told herself, there was not. It was self-defense, simple as that.

  She glanced over at Gabe, who rubbed his shoulders absent-mindedly. His black eye was closest to her, and his cheek was darkening where she slapped it. She felt a pang of remorse but pushed it down. Eddie deserved what he got. The punks got what they deserved as well. If Gabe had any other opinions on the subject, she didn’t see a bright future together.

  “Thank you, Diana,” he said softly.

  She glanced at him, surprised. “For what?”

  “Looking out for me. I thought I was going to die.”

  Diana smiled. “For a minute there, it looked like you went back on your promise. When the screen showed your car heading in the wrong direction, I was worried, but I calmed myself down and told myself that you would never break a promise to me.”

  Gabe nodded and looked at his feet. “That’s right, I wouldn’t do that, ever.”

  “What happened?”

  Gabe shifted uncomfortably in his seat and took a moment to respond. Diana shot him a concerned glance, but his pained expression told her that he was suffering from the beating he took from the carjackers. “Well, like I told you before, I tried taking the Turnpike south, thinking I could get close to Newark and make my way over to your hiding place. Roadblocks were going up on the side streets, but I saw traffic on the Turnpike and thought it was an option. Then we barely moved, for at least two hours. I looked at a few exits, but I pressed on, thinking it would be too iffy using the back roads.”

  Diana nodded. She didn’t know the area very well, but if the Turnpike was anything like the highway through Crocker, she recalled exits every few miles.

  “But you ended up there, after all.”

  “Yeah, well, the cops had the Turnpike closed off at the Meadowlands exit. That’s why traffic was so slow. Everybody had to funnel down to one lane, then figure out how to get to where they wanted to go.”

  Diana nodded. She was pleased to hear that the police knew to keep people off the bridges during a disaster. Gabe was fortunate that nothing caused the bridge to collapse, though buildings seemed to be the prime, and only targets so far, at least until the plane crashed. She adhered to the wisdom of the Good Book, and it said to stay away from bridges. It wouldn’t have said that without a good reason, she thought.

  “Okay, so you got off the Turnpike, then what?”

  “Well, I tried heading south, but traffic was a cluster, so I went around the other way, thinking I’d just hit something else that took me to Newark. It was still slow going, but at least I was moving, you know? Until things got real slow, and I thought a roadblock was coming up. I cut through a side street and got jumped.”

  Diana did a double-take. “They jumped you while you were driving?”

  Gabe shifted in his seat again. “Well, not while I was, you know, in motion. I was at a stop sign, and just before I hit the gas, those guys jumped me.”

  “How? You were in a locked vehicle, weren’t you?”

  “Well, it was, right. But one of them, you know, he had a gun pointed at me, and the other one told me to open the door.”

  “Why didn’t you hit the gas?”

  “I would have, you know, but it all happened really fast. I must have hit the door button accidentally, or something. When they pulled me out of the car, I thought they’d just jack it and leave me there to walk. But, they took me with them.”

  Diana shook her head, trying to follow the story. “They pulled you out, then tied you up and put you in the trunk?”

  He squirmed. “Not like that, no. At first, they kicked me a couple times and threw me in the back seat. After a little while, the driver got paranoid, so they pulled over and beat me up, then they found some twine somewhere, and tied me up and dumped me in the trunk. It’s all a blur, really. I still can’t believe it happened.”

  Diana leaned back in her seat and stared at the road. “Yeah, that’s… quite a story.”

  “7404.” A voice crackled from the command console.

  Diana and Gabe exchanged nervous glances. “What should I say?”

  “Hell if I know,” Gabe said.

  “7404, do you copy?” The voice was more intent.

  Diana glanced at the console and tried to think of how to respond.

  “7416.” The voice had a touch of annoyance.

  Gabe looked at the conso
le and felt around the unit. “Maybe there’s an off switch.”

  “7416, do you copy?”

  Diana eased off the gas and pondered her next move. The river was getting closer, which meant another trip over the bridge unless she chose another route. The police cruiser gave them free reign to travel the streets, unlike other vehicles that were pulled over and the occupants rounded up for not sheltering in place as ordered.

  “All units, respond.” The voice was firmer now.

  Diana reached the last intersection before the bridge. The cross street was wider than the one they were on now, and according to the dashboard, they were heading due east. She worked out the compass points and determined that if she turned now, they’d be heading south. She impulsively made the turn and pressed down on the accelerator.

  The console screeched with feedback noise. “7440, copy.”

  “7440. Do you have visual on 7404 or 7416?”

  After a pause, the console crackled again. “No, not exactly. I have a visual on where they were.”

  “Come again, 7440?”

  Diana leaned forward, and Gabe put his hand to his mouth.

  “Airliner down. Dropped right on top of them. En route to perimeter.”

  Diana sank in her seat and stared impassively through the windshield. Black smoke rose in the distance. If the call numbers corresponded to Preston’s unit, she saved them from one attack only to lose them to another one. She pulled over, and Gabe turned to her sharply. “Why are we stopping?”

  Diana got out of the cruiser and looked at the side. Her heart sank when she saw four numbers neatly applied on the rear quarter-panel: 7404.

  Which meant Eddie was going to die anyway.

  CHAPTER 18

  Bleeker and University was the closest Diana could get to the crash site. Beyond a four-story building marked COLLEGE OF BIOTECHNOLOGY, flames burst through windows, and thick black smoke blotted out the sun. She and Gabe exited the cruiser, and she stuck a handgun into the back of her waistband, then took a moment to pop the trunk. She found a glossy belt and holster and buckled it around her waist. She slipped Officer Preston’s sidearm into the holster and felt a twinge of guilt as she did so. Eddie was dead, she reasoned. He didn’t have any use for this stuff anymore.