Sharon Dunn - Guard Duty

He slipped on the sharply angled roof, falling on his side and dropping the gun. The gun skittered across the shingles and fell to the ground below. This was her chance. She didn’t want him escaping down the ladder she’d seen on the other side of the house.

Valerie scrambled up the ladder, attempting to balance close to the top rung and aim her gun at the same time. “Put your hands up.”

The man lifted his hands partway and then dropped them, dashing toward her. All the air left her lungs as fear enveloped her and she whispered a quick prayer. He intended to push the ladder away from the roof. She couldn’t crawl down fast enough. She grabbed the ladder with her free hand as the man bolted toward her. It had been a stupid mistake to go up the ladder. She’d break her back if she fell that far.

The suspect’s feet seemed to be pulled out from under him, and he was slammed facedown on the roof. Some unseen force pulled him backward away from her. As the suspect scrambled to his feet, she saw the silhouette of a second man, tall and broad through the shoulders.

The second man landed a blow to the suspect’s face, knocking him on his back. The perp kicked the man’s feet out from under him, and he slid down the steep angle of the roof toward the edge. He caught himself, pulling his body back up toward the suspect who sought refuge close to the chimney.

Valerie climbed onto the roof. Seeking to balance, she lifted her gun. “Put your hands up.”

This time, the assailant complied. “I don’t want to fall off here.”

Neither did she. Valerie looked down and behind her. How on earth was she going to get this guy off here without killing herself and without giving him opportunity to run away?

The man who had helped her apprehend the perp stepped out of the shadows. “Officer Salgado, why don’t you crawl down and wait at the bottom?” The man’s hand went to a holster on his belt. “I’ll stay up here and make sure this guy doesn’t get any ideas.”

She had no idea who this man was or where he had come from, but everything about him said law enforcement, and he knew her name. Still, this whole thing might have been a setup from the syndicate to get at her. “Who are you?” she shouted across the rooftop.

“FBI Agent Trevor Lewis. I rode in with Captain McNeal and saw that you were in trouble.”

He sounded legit. She didn’t have a lot of choices and would have to check his I.D. later.

“Okay. I’ll go down the ladder first,” she said.

Agent Lewis held up his own gun. “I’ll make sure this guy doesn’t try to get off the roof by way of that other ladder.”

She descended the ladder and waited while the suspect followed her. When his feet hit the ground, she pointed her gun at him. “Turn around, on the ground facedown, sir.”

A look of hostility compressed his features, his lips curled. “I don’t wanna go to jail. I’m innocent.” The suspect stepped toward her with his hands out to grab her.

She adjusted her grip on the gun. “I said facedown on the ground, now.”

“Do what the lady says,” came the strong bass voice from the roof.

The perp tilted his head, grimaced and dropped to the ground.

Valerie pulled the cuffs from her belt. “You’re innocent? Like everyone decides to shingle their roof at ten o’clock at night.” She was still mad at herself for having climbed up the ladder. She’d broken a cardinal rule of training by putting herself in a vulnerable place.

Agent Lewis climbed to the bottom of the ladder. “At last, we meet.” As Valerie stood up from cuffing the suspect, he held out his hand to her.

Why would an FBI agent want to greet her? Along the street, another black and white came to a stop, the additional backup dispatch had sent.

The screams of a man and a distant growl alerted Valerie to Lexi’s progress with the other suspect. “Gotta go. Can you watch him until that officer over there can take him into custody?”

No time to wait around for Agent Trevor Lewis to explain why he was with McNeal. She raced out of the yard, pushing through the gate, following the sounds of the shrieking man. She wasn’t worried about the suspect’s safety; Lexi was trained to hold her suspect without biting. She just didn’t want the man to claim police brutality because the dog had her teeth on the man for an excessive time.

She found the man in a grove of trees behind a house facedown with Lexi gripping his forearm in her teeth.

The man screamed in falsetto. “He’s killing me. I don’t want to die. Don’t let that dog bite me.”

“For your information, the dog is a she.” Valerie clicked the dog into her leash. “Lex, off.”

The dog complied but continued to lurch toward the suspect and bark. No one did their job with as much enthusiasm as Lexi. This dog loved to work.

A male officer came up behind Valerie. “That guy over there thought maybe you could use another set of handcuffs.”

Valerie looked over at the man who had saved her life on the roof. Guess it was time to find out who Agent Trevor Lewis was and what he was doing showing up to help her on patrol.

* * *

Trevor watched the pretty redhead walk toward him. Maybe it was the green eyes bright in the evening lamplight, but there was something open and trusting in her expression as she drew close to him.

For the second time, he held out his hand. “Officer Salgado? Valerie Salgado?”

Still breathless from her pursuit, Valerie nodded and held out a hand. Her fingers were softer than silk, but her grip was strong and confident.

“Two suspects in custody, huh? Quite a night.” Her decision to go up the ladder had seemed a little foolhardy, but she had handled herself well in every other way.

“I couldn’t have done it without my partner.” She kneeled, wrapping her arms about the thick-necked Rottweiler. “That’s my girl.” The dog’s bobbed tail vibrated.

Valerie’s shoulder mic made a glitchy noise. She pushed the receive button. “McNeal has the third suspect in custody. He’s on his way over to talk to you as soon as he puts Chief back in the squad car.”

“Copy. I’m standing on the six hundred block of Kramer Avenue. Agent Lewis is with me.” Valerie commanded her dog to sit and turned toward Trevor. “So why did McNeal bring you out to meet me?”

Trevor stared down at the dog, who watched him with a wary eye. The dog was very protective of Valerie. “I just drove in from the San Antonio FBI office. I’m here to apprehend a fugitive...a Derek Murke.”

Valerie shook her head. “The name’s not ringing any bells for me.”

The hope that this would be an easy capture faded. After two years of Murke popping up on the radar and then disappearing, why had he thought he could just breeze into town and Officer Salgado would know right where Murke was? “Captain McNeal thought you might have heard something. Murke spent his teen years here and has come back several times for extended stays. Since the fugitive used to live in some of the neighborhoods you patrol, the captain figured I could get your assistance in finding him.”

“I’ll help you as much as I can, but I can’t neglect my regular patrol duties. What’s he wanted for?”

“A few years ago, he robbed a bank in Phoenix.” He’d spare her the longer version of the story, fearing he wouldn’t be able to keep the emotion out of his voice.

Derek Murke wasn’t just any fugitive. He was the fugitive who had shot rookie agent Cory Smith. Trevor had been Cory’s training agent for his first field assignment. Cory Smith had been a little too eager to prove himself when he’d been a part of the apprehension team that had cornered Murke in a rental house. The kid hadn’t waited for backup to be in place before entering the house. When Cory didn’t assess his surroundings from all angles, Derek had seized the opportunity and shot him. Trevor would always wonder if he had given Cory too much responsibility too soon.