Gregg Hurwitz - The Kill Clause

“My primary concern was for the safety of others. We were on a street filled with civilians.”

“So I can take that to mean that you weren’t concerned he was going to fire at you?”

“I thought he was probably going to shoot one of the police officers in front of him.”

“‘Thought,’” the lawyer said. “‘Probably.’”

“That’s right,” Tim said. “Only I used them in a complete sentence.”

“There’s no need to get defensive, Deputy Rackley. We’re all on the same side here.”

“Right,” Tim said.

The woman flipped through the file, then frowned, as if she’d just discovered something. “The crime-scene report indicates that Mr. Mendez’s weapon was still tucked into the back of his jeans when they assessed the body.”

“Then we should be grateful he wasn’t given the opportunity to draw it.”

“So he wasn’t trying to draw the weapon?”

Tim watched the wheels of the tape recorder spin their lethargic circles. “I said he wasn’t given the opportunity to draw it. He was, in fact, attempting to draw it.”

“We have mixed eyewitness reports regarding that fact.”

“I was the only one behind him.”

“Uh-huh. On the alley side.”

“That’s right.” Tim let out his breath through his teeth. “As I said, he was a clear-”

“Threat to the safety of others,” she said. His textbook recitation of the deadly-force policy inspired a note of disdain, almost parody.

The lawyer perked up in his chair, evidently sighting a lead-in. “Let’s talk about the ‘safety of others.’ Did you have target acquisition?”

Reed grimaced. “I’d say from the looks of the body, he had pretty damn good target acquisition, Pat.”

Pat ignored him, continuing to address Tim. “Are you aware that there were civilians in the backdrop when you took that shot? A whole crowd, in fact?”

“Yes. Those civilians were my concern. That’s why I elected to use deadly force.”

“If you had missed, your round would almost definitely have struck one of those civilians.”

“That’s highly debatable.”

“But what if you had missed?”

“Our pre-op briefing made clear the fugitives had nothing to lose, as it made clear their unwillingness to be taken alive. Mendez’s behavior, from the time he aided in taking me hostage, only reinforced this intel. He, like Heidel and Ramirez, was willing to kill any number of people to evade capture. It was a clear calculation: My chances of taking him out were vastly greater than the chances of his not killing someone once he got his weapon free and clear.”

“You still haven’t answered my question, Deputy Rackley.” Pat slid his pen behind his ear and crossed his arms. “What if you had missed?”

“I shot a consistent twenty out of twenty on the pistol qual course as a Ranger, and I’m a six-time qualified three-hundred shooter as a deputy marshal. I wasn’t planning on missing.”

“Well, bravo. But a deputy marshal in the field has to be willing to consider every potentiality.”

Reed rocked forward and thumped his elbows on the table. “Just because he agreed to submit to questioning does not give you the right to drag him over the coals. There’s a subjective element to every decision to engage with deadly force. If you’d ever toted a gun, you’d be aware of that.”

“Excellent point, Dennis. I’ve heard packing heat greatly enhances one’s interpretation of the law.”

Reed pointed at Pat. “Watch your step. I’m not having you harass a good deputy. Not in my presence.”

“Moving on,” the woman said. “I understand you’ve had a recent trauma in your personal life?”

Tim waited several seconds to answer. “Yes.”

“Your daughter was killed?”

“Yes.” Despite his efforts, some of his fury crept into his voice.

“Do you think this event may have influenced any of your actions during these shootings?”

He felt the heat rise to his face. “This ‘event’ has influenced every single moment of my life since. But it hasn’t altered my professional judgment.”

“You don’t think that you may have been feeling…aggressive or…retaliatory?”

“Had I not been in fear for my life or concerned for the lives of others, I would have done everything in my power to bring those fugitives in alive. Everything in my power.”

Pat tilted back in his chair and made a little temple with his pudgy fingers. “Really?”

Tim stood up and placed both his hands palm down on the table. “I am a deputy U.S. marshal. Do I look like a soldier of fortune to you?”

“Listen-”

“I’m not talking to you, ma’am.” Tim didn’t remove his eyes from Pat. Pat remained tilted back in his chair, fingers pressed together. When it became clear he wasn’t going to respond, Tim reached over and turned off the tape recorder. “I’m done answering questions. Anything further, you can talk to my FLEOA rep.”

Reed rose as Tim exited, but Pat and the woman remained seated. As Tim walked away, he could hear Reed start laying into them. The marshal’s assistant stood as he passed her, heading for Tannino’s office.

“Tim, he’s in with someone right now. You can’t just-”

Tim knocked on the marshal’s door, then opened it. Tannino sat behind an immense wood desk. An overweight man in a dark suit was sprawled on the couch opposite, smoking a brown cigarette.

“Marshal Tannino, I’m very sorry to interrupt you, but I really need a moment.”

“Of course.” Tannino exchanged a few words of Italian with the man as he showed him out. He closed the door, then waved a hand at the cigarette smoke, shaking his head. “Diplomats.” He gestured to the couch. “Please, sit.”

Though he didn’t want to, Tim sat. His dress shirt was pinching him at the shoulders.

“I’m not gonna lie to you, Rackley. The press is bad. Now, I understand you weren’t one of the knuckleheads throwing high fives, but you were the shooter, and we both know shooters take the scrutiny. Deserved or not, the service got a black eye on this one. Here’s the good news: The shooting review board is convening next week at headquarters, and they’re going to clear you.”

“They don’t seem like they’re going to clear me. They seem like they’re looking for a scapegoat for a situation that doesn’t demand one.”

“They will clear you. All the written statements are in and check out. They just sent out a few board members to run your statement through the ringer in-house so steps won’t have to be taken out of house. We don’t want any FBI involvement here. Or some state DA looking to make a name.”

“What’s the bad news?”

Tannino puffed out his cheeks in a sigh. “We’re gonna put you on light duty for a while, get you off the street until the press calms down. In a couple of months, we’ll get you qualified on a fresh service pistol.”

At first Tim was not sure he’d heard Tannino correctly. “A couple of months?”

“No big deal-you’ll just do analytical work rather than fieldwork.”

“And while I’m putting my training to use making schedules at the operations desk, what is the unparalleled service PR machine going to be putting out about me?”

Tannino walked over and examined a Walker. 44 cap-and-ball sixgun that hung on the wall, encased in Lucite. A black plastic comb protruded from the back pocket of his suit pants. “That you’ve quite responsibly elected to enroll in an anger-management course.”

“Absolutely not.”

“That’s it. It’s a nothing thing. Then headquarters can stand behind your decision to engage with deadly force, and we’re a big happy family again.”

“What does this have to do with Maybeck and Denley high-fiving?”