He answers as he peeks over the top of the counter. “Yeah. I’m good. Batman okay?”
“He’s having the time of his life right now.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Laura crawl out from under the table. “Is it safe to come out?”
“Just stay right there, babe.” I look at Blake. “I need to secure him. I’ve got a pair of handcuffs in the truck.”
Laura pipes up, “I have a pair of handcuffs right here.” She leans back into the booth and grabs a big purse.
I smirk at Blake and he shakes his head, then I tell him. “Call 911. Tell them who you are, where you are, and what happened. Tell them, Batman and I were here, off-duty. One bad guy is in custody, but one got away, and we are tracking him down. Send backup.”
“Got it. My phone is in my office.” He turns and goes to make the call.
Laura hands me the cuffs and shrugs. “You never know when you might need them.”
I shake my head as I kneel on the man’s back and pull his free arm to cuff. “We will discuss this new development when I get back. Batman, release!” I give him the command, but he is a tad reluctant. “Batman, let go, buddy. I got him. Release!”
He drops the arm, and as I pull it behind the man’s back to secure it with Laura’s handcuffs, I tell him, “Good boy, down.”
He lays down on the floor. Eyes keen on what I’m doing. Ready to help if I need him.
Blake comes back in and says, “They are on their way.” He hands me an extension cord. “I thought you could use this on his legs.”
I smile. “Yes, I can! Good thinking.” I take the cord, wrap in around his ankles, and hogtie his hands to his feet.
Then I walk over to Batman and hook his leash on his collar. “That a boy! That’s my man. Good job. You bit the bad guy.” His tongue hangs out, and his happy face smiles up at me. I look over at Blake and Laura. “One down. One to go.” I walk Batman over to the front door and tell my K9. “Batman, find the bad guy. Seek.”
He’s all business when I open the door. His nose goes to the ground to track the dude that got away. I glance a look back at Laura before I walk through. She is staring at me with a look of admiration that says she is in total awe of what I do.
Once Batman and I are in the parking lot, we are hot on the teen’s heels. He’s got a good head start, but Batman has a strong track to follow and his nose has never let me down. He is 100% accurate on sniffing scents. Whether it’s drugs or humans. The dog has a great nose.
I let Batman have his head, trusting him to do his job, and he takes off running. At this pace, we’ll catch up to the dude soon. He didn’t look like he was in good enough shape to run fast or far, but it is hard to judge adrenaline.
We cross the street, run through the common area between two apartment buildings, cross another street, run through a second common area between another two apartment buildings. Then he heads for an apartment stairwell.
Damn, I hope he doesn’t go up and hide in an apartment. We can’t go in without backup and that will take a while.
Luckily though, he doesn’t. He runs right through.
When we come out the other side, I spot the teen on the other end of the common area, talking to a group of people. I give Batman his head again, and we run right at them. He freaks and takes off.
I shout, "STOP OR I WILL RELEASE THE DOG AND THE DOG WILL BITE."
The crowd scatters. The chase is back on, and I have to give adrenaline its due. It is a powerful drug.
We chase him for a block and a half and come out in a strip mall. I shout again. "STOP OR I WILL RELEASE THE DOG! YOU WILL BE BIT!”
He darts into an alley and I lose sight of him.
Chapter Ten
Zane
Immediately, I rein Batman in and shift our path to run against the buildings. As soon as we reach the corner, I position my back against the wall and peer around the edge.
There is a sixteen-foot chain link fence cutting off the teens escape. He is trying to scale it. He has his fingers latched on, but he dangles less than halfway up unable to get a foot hold.
I step around the corner with Batman heeling, take aim, and shout again, “DROP YOUR WEAPON! GET ON THE GROUND OR I WILL RELEASE THE DOG AND YOU WILL BE BIT."
The teen looks over his shoulder.
The sound of police sirens in the distance fills the silence.
I repeat my command as we walk forward. “DROP YOUR WEAPON! GET ON THE GROUND OR I WILL RELEASE THE DOG AND YOU WILL BE BIT!”
Batman begins to bark, pulling against the leash, wanting to apprehend the bad guy.
The teen panics and begins climbing the fence.
Batman and I run forward. “DROP YOUR WEAPON! GET ON THE GROUND OR I WILL RELEASE THE DOG AND YOU WILL BE BIT!”
The teen reaches the top and manages to find enough footing to hook his arm over the top bar. He looks back down at me and starts to laugh, thinking he has escaped.
I unhook Batman’s leash and command, “ATTACK!”
The teen panics again when he sees Batman leap, landing halfway up the fence, then runs up it, scaling the distance. Just as he hoists his torso over the top bar, Batman bites his leg.
The teen doubles over the rail and screams with pain. Batman is latched on and he will not let go.
Knowing the teen can’t reach for his gun, I hoist mine back in my waist band, then roll the lease up as I run to the fence. I hook it over my shoulder as I look up at the teen.
He looks down on me and screams, “GET HIM OFF! GET HIM OFF ME!”
With Batman’s weight pulling on his leg, the fence is sunk into the teens stomach. Wedged between his hips and his ribcage. He is stuck. He can’t pull himself over, nor can he push himself back off.
“Don’t move. I’m coming up.” I latch onto the fence and climb. I approach him from the opposite side of Batman, and hook my arm over the fence, then pull his gun out from his waist band and unload it. The bullet from the clip drops to the ground, and I eject the clip, letting it fall too. Then I throw the gun out into the parking lot and hoist myself to straddle the fence.
I talk to the young man. “What’s your name?”
“Tyrone.”
“Okay, Tyrone. We can do this one of two ways. The easy way or the hard way. The easy way is the dog releases your leg, and everyone climbs back down where you will immediately spread eagle, face down on the ground, and surrender. Understanding that if you flee again, the dog will apprehend you again. Or I can let the two of hang here until backup arrives. What’s it going to be?”
“Please! Get the dog off! I’m sorry! I’m sorry.”
“Do you have any other weapons on you?”
“There’s a pocket knife in my front pocket.”
“Anything else in your pockets?”
“A meth pipe.”
“Okay. I’m going to get the knife. Which pocket?” I lean over, stick my hand into his left pocket and remove the knife, then toss it with the gun. “Anything other weapons?”
“No, sir.”
“Sit tight. I’m going to release the dog.” I throw my legs back over and lower myself to Batman. His teeth are sunk deep into the teen’s calf and his paws rest on the fence.
I tell the teen, “When you are free, DO NOT MOVE. Your leg is badly injured, and you need medical attention. I will lower the dog, then come back up to help you down. Do you understand?”