Passion In James County X
Badge of Dishonor
By D.C. Roi
Chapter twenty-six
Deputy Lee Williams, the sharpshooter on the Sheriff's Department Special Operations Squad, was watching Rod through the scope of his sniper rifle. He saw the man in the truck put the pistol to his head. "I wonder," Lee thought as he centered the cross-hairs of his high-powered rifle on the biggest part of the target available to him. "The range isn't too bad, maybe I can do this..." He took up the slack on his rifle's trigger and, when he saw the man in the truck's finger tightening on the trigger of his weapon, he fired.
"What the hell?" Alex said. The shot he heard hadn't come from inside the truck, it came from the left, from behind one of the cruisers. "Who fired that shot?"
"I don't know," Tim said, "but I think whoever it was shot the gun out of Billingham's hand." He got up and, holding his gun in front of him, joined the other deputies and patrolmen who were advancing carefully toward Rod's truck.
Rod, clutching his bleeding hand and sobbing, sat there as the door of his truck was jerked open. He felt himself being pulled out of the truck and the next thing he knew, his face was pressed against the pavement and men were holding him down, pulling his arms behind him, and fastening handcuffs around his wrists.
"What the hell happened?" Alex asked as he approached the pickup.
Lee Williams stepped forward, his sniper rifle in his hand. "I hope you don't mind, boss," he said, "but I had a bead on his pistol and figured trying to shoot it out of his hand was worth a try. I kind of hated to see this end with him dead."
"Good job, Lee," Alex said. He looked down at Rod. "Rod Billingham, you're under arrest for rape, two counts of attempted murder, and probably a few other charges, too," he said. He looked at Tim. "Tim, read him his rights." He looked around. "Somebody call for rescue."
A half-hour later, Alex and Tim walked into the hospital. Lise met them at the door. "Sergeant Mills is going to be OK," she said. "She was wearing her bullet-proof vest. She just had the wind knocked out of her, and she got a pretty good bump on the head when she fell. Are...are Luke and Rod all right?"
"They're both hurt," Alex said. He was glad to learn that nobody had been killed, or even seriously injured. "But they'll be OK. Lise, you and I need to talk."
"I...I know," she said.
"Tim," Alex said, "why don't you interview Luke? I'll talk with Lise. And make sure there's somebody with Billingham. We don't want him doing anything stupid, not after all this."
"OK, boss," Tim said.
