Си Паради - Dancing With Shadows

Tony heard the radio key a moment before her acute hearing picked up the sounds of stealthy movement. Using her peripheral vision she saw a casually dressed man slowly moving forward from the rear of the Jeep. Watching his progress in the side mirror, she saw him pull a gun from his pocket and begin to raise it.

Waiting until precisely the right moment, Tony lifted the door handle and simultaneously slammed her weight against the door, hoping to dislodge the gun. She was rewarded with a grunt of pain and the dull thud of metal impacting against blacktop.

In one fluid motion, she grabbed her nine-millimeter and began exiting the car. The force of the blow had backed her assailant away, and she knew she would have to use the small advantage she had gained very quickly.

Sherman had just begun to turn toward Tony, when the door caught him squarely in the stomach and he doubled over in pain, muttering, "Fucking Bitch." At a distinct disadvantage, he knew he needed to get the gun from the ground, but she was getting out of the car way too quickly. Raising up from his bent over position, Sherman balled up his right fist and drove it upward into her chin.

Watching her stumble backward and hit her head against the door frame of the Jeep, he snarled, "You've met your match this time."

Bending over and reaching for the gun, he was startled to hear, "Stop. Police," accompanied by the sound of running footsteps. Growling a curse, escape foremost in his mind, he forgot about retrieving the gun and began running down the street with Brian and another officer close behind him.

Momentarily stunned by a combination of the vicious sucker punch and the impact of her head against the door frame, Tony saw an amazing multicolored light display in front of her eyes. Right after Sherman voiced his threat, she heard someone shout, "Stop. Police," and saw her assailant take off running, with Brian and one of the locals in hot pursuit.

Megan was inside the store furtively watching Tony. Her view blocked by the Jeep, all she could see was the top of her partner’s head when she began exiting the vehicle. When Tony fell back against the car, Megan bolted through the door of the store, any thought of danger to herself secondary to the automatic response to her lover’s distress.

Pushing off the car, Tony barely regained her balance before she was off and running. She heard the sound of shoes hitting pavement behind her and knew another officer had joined in the chase. Her long legs ate up the ground quickly, and within seconds she left the sound behind, steadily gaining on Brian and the other officer pounding down the street in Sherman's wake.

Megan got to the Jeep in time to see the back of her partner as she raced off down the street. She called out to her partner to stop but the plea met deaf ears, and Megan shook her head and leaned against the vehicle, thinking, at least she must not be hurt too bad. Did I really think I was going to stop her? Shaking her head at the silly notion, she walked to the door of the jeep that was still hanging ajar, and sat down in the front seat.

Tony lengthened her stride and her adrenaline filled body responded to her demands with a burst of speed. She drew even with Brian and the other cop and surged ahead closing the distance between her and her target. Dodging people walking down the sidewalk, and focused solely on the man in front of her, she could no longer hear the other pursuers.

Sherman had purposely stayed on the well traveled street darting around the people out for a stroll on the warm, humid night. He needed to increase his distance from his pursuers and knew they wouldn't take a chance of firing their weapons at him because of the civilians on the street.

Taking a quick look over his shoulder, he was startled to see the tall, dark woman closing the distance between them rapidly. The cops had been left far behind. Sherman thought quickly. She still had the gun in her hand, and while he was confident he could disarm her, he couldn't take the chance of locals catching up and overwhelming him by sheer numbers.

Seeing a group of civilians across the street oblivious to the ongoing chase, he ran out into the middle of the traffic dodging cars running directly into the group of people. Brutally shoving his way to the center of the group, he grabbed the arm of a young woman yanking her forward and then kicking her feet out from under her before forcefully shoving her to the ground. Savagely elbowing his way past the others, he broke into a dead run again, knowing that the chaos he had caused should slow the other operative down.

Tony followed close behind losing a couple steps while dodging cars in the busy street amidst the sound of squealing brakes and honking horns. Her eyes narrowed when she saw Sherman knock the woman down, but she was already being helped to her feet by one of the other women in the group. Dodging the innocent bystanders who had been drawn into the drama on the street, but losing a few precious feet in the process, she once again delved deeply within herself, demanding more from her body and began closing the distance that remained between her and the man she was chasing.

Sherman looked back over his shoulder and felt a brief flicker of concern. Raising his hand and wiping the sweat from his face, he thought, Damn woman just keeps coming. He suddenly smiled at a gift fate handed him. Two boys were riding their bicycles toward him. Running between them, he grabbed the smaller of the two, jerking him off his bike and kicking the bicycle into the other youth causing him to fall.

Sherman savagely smacked the kid hard across the face stunning him. With his large hand gripping the thin arm of the youngster, he half carried and half dragged him to the curb. Picking up the kid by his T-shirt and the waist band of his shorts, he heaved him into the street with enough force the boy stumbled, unable to get his balance and fell into the path of the oncoming traffic. The boy lay there frozen, his eyes wide with terror, as cars began slamming on their brakes, burning rubber into the road, attempting to avoid the living obstacle in their path.

The angry honking of horns broke the silence of the evening and pedestrians began screaming and yelling when they realized the kid was petrified and unable to move.

Sherman faded behind the gathering group of civilians, too caught up in the terror in the street to notice him. Making sure he caught Tony's eye as she altered her path, he nodded, giving her a cocky two finger salute before turning and sprinting down the street.

Cursing silently at the ruthless maneuver, Tony reacted instantly and altered her path into the street. After several near misses while dodging the moving cars, she grabbed the kid by the arm and pulled him to his feet shielding him from the oncoming traffic with her body until they reached the safety of the sidewalk.

Leaning over, placing her hand on his shoulder, Tony asked, "You ok?" Sherman had slapped him pretty hard and there was a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth. Shaking, the kid looked at her with awe filled eyes and shook his head up and down.

Satisfied that he was just scared and not hurt, she raced off down the street. Brian and the other two cops had caught up, but their target was gone. He could have turned down any one of a number of alleys or side streets. Not willing to give up, she began loping along at an easy pace, the locals joining her, as she ran up the street glancing down each opening she passed, hoping against hope to catch some glimpse of him. The few minutes it had taken her to rescue the child and make sure he was all right was all the head start her adversary had needed.

Finally giving up the futile search, she slowed to a walk, the evening breeze cooling the thin sheen of sweat covering her body.