by David Archer
A squad car suddenly came roaring toward the hospital, its siren screaming and lights flashing. Chance knew that Tina had probably been on the phone with someone, and the police had been alerted immediately when the shot was fired. As it screeched to a halt on the road beside the park, Alan veered off to the right, running headlong into the densest part of the wooded area. It was still fairly open, but certainly offered more places for him to duck behind a tree.
Chance cut to the right as well, and pushed himself to run faster as he tried to cut off his quarry. Alan was still running as hard as he could, but then another squad car came roaring in on the opposite side of the park. Alan slowed and looked around, spotted Chance again and raised his pistol once more. He fired off a couple of quick shots, but Chance didn’t even slow down. He’d learned the hard way that it was extremely difficult to hit a moving target, and was determined not to lose this chance to get the man who had already eluded him twice.
Alan turned and took off running again, and Chance found himself only a dozen feet behind. He thought about taking the shot, but he wanted to make this as personal as he possibly could. He lowered his head and steamed into the wind, pushing his legs for just a little more speed.
Almost a full minute later, it paid off. Chance reached out and grabbed Alan Batts by his neck and the two of them tumbled to the ground. When the rolling stopped, they were both on their knees, facing each other with guns held out in front of them.
“Drop it,” Alan said. “Drop it, or I’ll shoot.”
Chance grinned at him. “What do you know about Angels, Alan?” he asked.
Alan’s eyes betrayed confusion for a second, and he shook his head. “Angels?”
“Have you ever heard of the Angel of Justice?” Chance asked. “His name is Raguel, and he’s one of the seven archangels.”
“Just drop your gun,” Alan said. “Just drop it, and we can both walk away from here.”
“Oh, but that’s not how it works,” Chance said. “That’s not how it works at all. You see, justice is the only thing that matters, and that’s why I’m here. You go ahead and pull your trigger if you want to, it’s not going to make any difference.”
Alan stared at him. “You want me to shoot you?”
Chance looked at him and smiled. “No,” he said. “I just want you to know why we are here. We are here, Alan Batts, because I bring you justice.”
The Maxim bucked in his hand, and the sound of a car door slamming rolled across the park. Alan Batts fell backward, his face almost obliterated by the hollowpoint nine millimeter round.
“Freeze!”
Chance looked around at the officers who were standing behind him, their own weapons aimed at him. He carefully lowered his gun to the ground and let go of it, then put his hands in the air.
“He was about to fire,” he said. “I only fired in self-defense.”
“That’s not what I saw,” said one of the officers. “You shot him at point-blank range. You had him covered already, we could’ve taken him down.”
More footsteps could be heard pounding toward them, and Chance looked up to see Pete, Carol and Agent Roberts come to a stop. Pete was staring as another officer pulled Chance’s hands down and began cuffing him behind his back.
Roberts looked at him for a second and then glanced over at Alan’s body. When she turned her eyes back to Chance, there was a sadness in them.
“Sir, I’m placing you under arrest for murder,” the officer said. He dragged Chance up to his feet as Roberts walked up to look him in the eye.
“You couldn’t let it go, could you?” she asked. “All you had to do was wait.”
Chance grinned at her. “You know me,” he said. “Can’t let an opportunity slip by.”
She nodded. “Just do yourself a big favor,” she said. “Keep your big mouth shut, while I try to figure some way to fix this mess.”
Chance was hustled away while Pete, Carol, and Roberts went to check on Jake and Tina. The bullet Alan had fired at them had struck the bench, so Jake was safe, but he was furious that Chance had been arrested for taking the killer down.
“Don’t panic,” Pete said. “The kid has a way of getting out of messes like this.”
Roberts shrugged and looked at him. “I’m not so sure about this one,” she said. “They may not go for a justified shooting.”
“They will,” Pete said confidently. “He was in a Mexican stalemate with an armed man who was known to be dangerous. In a situation like that, sometimes you simply have to know when to fire first.”
“I’ll head downtown and see what’s going to happen,” Roberts said. “I’ll call ahead to the DA, see if I can smooth it over a bit.”
Pete grinned. “You do that.”
* * *
It was three hours later when Chance was finally brought out of the holding cell and dropped into an interrogation room. He wasn’t surprised when he looked up to see Agent Roberts and the DA sit down across from him.
“Okay,” he said. “So, how is this going to go down?”
The DA, a swarthy man with a large nose, looked at him for a moment before answering. “I’ve been having an extremely interesting conversation with Special Agent Roberts,” he said. “From everything she tells me, you seem to be an awfully helpful fella to have around, Mr. Reddick.”
Chance shrugged and grinned at him. “I do my best,” he said. “So, what does that mean in this particular moment?”
“It means,” Roberts said, “that I talked him into giving you a pass on this one. Alan Batts was a known murderer, an extremely dangerous individual, and was attempting to kill you and Mr. Claridge. While the two of you were staring each other down, it was just a matter of time before one of you pulled the trigger. At that range, you are fully justified, in my opinion, in taking the first shot.”
“That’s our position as well,” DA said. “However, I want you to understand that this is not something I’m going to allow to happen often.” He turned toward Roberts. “Agent Roberts tells me you have a number of talents that can be beneficial to the well-being of our city. That being said, I expect you to understand that I may call upon those talents from time to time.” He looked back at Chance. “If that is acceptable, then I think we can establish that this was in fact a justifiable homicide.”
Chance looked at the FBI agent who had tried so hard to put him away. “You going along with this?” he asked.
She grinned. “Hell, Chance,” she said. “I had to twist his arm to make them go for it.”
“But I thought you didn’t care for my methods?”
“I believe in the rule of law,” she said. “Unfortunately, there are times when it doesn’t properly serve the interests of justice, or of the American people. I don’t know a whole lot about Angels, Chance, but I do know a lot about you. I know what you believe, and just how far you go to stand up for what you believe.”
“I’m not sure I believe any of this,” the DA said, “but she’s convinced me to give it a chance. You understand the situation? I let this one slide, and you make sure you don’t give me any static if I need to call on your special abilities.”
Chance looked at him for a moment, then nodded once. “Deal,” he said.
Ten minutes later, his Maxim tucked back into his waistband at the back of his pants, Chance followed Roberts out the door of the main station.
“I’m a little surprised,” he said. “You actually talked the DA into letting a solid murder charge walk away. From everything I’ve seen of him, he’s after every conviction he can get.”
She put a finger to her lips and kept quiet until they got to her car, then waited again until they were out of the parking lot.
“Okay,” Chance said. “Where’s the catch?”
Roberts grinned at him. “Oh, there is one,” she said, “but it isn’t for you. I just set you up with the best possible chance to prove something I’ve been after for a couple of years.”
Chance looked at her for a long moment, t
hen grinned. “You want to take down a corrupt DA?”
She smiled and drove on toward Chance’s home. “I think I deserve something, after putting up with you for this long.”
“Pete is gonna love this one, I’m sure,” Chance said.
* * *
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ALSO BY DAVID ARCHER
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NOAH WOLF THRILLERS
The Way of the Wolf (Prequel)
Code Name Camelot (Book 1)
Lone Wolf (Book 2)
In Sheep's Clothing (Book 3)
Hit for Hire (Book 4)
The Wolf's Bite (Book 5)
Black Sheep (Book 6)
Balance of Power (Book 7)
Time to Hunt (Book 8)
Red Square (Book 9)
Highest Order (Book 10)
Edge of Anarchy (Book 11)
Unknown Evil (Book 12)
Black Harvest (Book 13)
World Order (Book 14)
SAM PRICHARD MYSTERIES
Fallback (Prequel)
The Grave Man (Book 1)
Death Sung Softly (Book 2)
Love and War (Book 3)
Framed (Book 4)
The Kill List (Book 5)
Drifter: Part One (Book 6)
Drifter: Part Two (Book 7)
Drifter: Part Three (Book 8)
The Last Song (Book 9)
Ghost (Book 10)
Hidden Agenda (Book 11)
Aces and Eights (Book 12)
Fact or Fiction (Book 13)
Close to Home (Book 14)
Brave New World (Book 15)
Innocent Conspiracy (Book 16)
Unfinished Business (Book 17)
Live Bait (Book 18)
Alter Ego (Book 19)
CHANCE REDDICK THRILLERS
Innocent Injustice (Book 1)
Angel of Justice (Book 2)
High Stakes Hunting (Book 3)
Personal Asset (Book 4)