“Oh yeah, that’ll happen. Get used to it. I tell you what, I’ll go talk to him on my own. You stay here and observe. Okay?”
Melissa agreed. “Done. I’ll be your backup.”
Mia removed her gun from her holster and placed it in the glove box. “I don’t need to tell you not to touch this, right? For obvious reasons.”
“Of course.”
From the same compartment, Mia pulled out an electronic taser. “You see this? Taser. It has a thirty-foot radius, so you can shoot a bitch from two streets away, okay?”
Melissa took the taser and inspected it. “I know. I’ve used a taser before.”
“Good. Stay alert. Have handcuffs prepped too, just in case.”
Mia exited the car with eyes locked on her suspect. He was a large, well-built gentleman in a vest and jeans. His head was completely shaved, reflecting the afternoon sunlight off his enormous skull. He had a pump in hand.
“Excuse me,” Mia said, gripping her own taser in her pocket. “Are you Billy Graham?”
The gentleman eyed her with great suspicion. “Yeah. I am.” The gas pump fizzled to life as he began filling his SUV with diesel.
“My name’s Agent Ripley. I’m with the FBI. Could we talk for a moment?” She saw Billy clench his fist. Usually, suspects emitted a note of concern when she announced herself as the FBI. Billy didn’t seem fazed by it.
“Talking now, aren’t we?” he said. He took his hands off the pump and let the auto-fill function do the rest.
“Could you tell me where you were at midnight last night?”
“Let me think. I was down the bar.”
“Which one?”
“One in town. Can’t remember the name. Sixteen beers will do that to you.”
“I see. In that case, could you tell me why your fingerprints were found at a crime scene this morning? A young banker by the name of Tony Atlas. Recognize the name?”
Billy turned his back to her for a second as he messed with the pump. “Don’t know what you’re talking about sweetheart. Never heard that name before.”
“Strange. Because your brother’s prints were found in there too. Why would you both pay a visit to an investment banker at midnight?”
“Buying weed. End of,” Billy grunted.
“So you do know him? Why did you say you didn’t?”
“You need to leave us well alone,” Billy said, still with his back to Mia. “This is nothing to do with you or anyone else.”
“Homicide definitely is something to do with me. Do you want to start telling me the…”
Billy cut Mia’s sentence off with a sudden lunge in her direction. In a single millisecond, his bulky hands were reaching towards her neck. Mia was ready for the attack. She grabbed both his wrists and kicked him between the legs. Billy fell back, only momentarily dazed, then started towards Mia again.
A second later, he was on her. Her legs gave way and she toppled to the ground, this hulking beast on top of her. He pulled his fist backward and struck down against her forehead, knocking all of the cognitive abilities right out of her skull. Then the man’s hands were at her neck, and all Mia could do was kick her legs against his rock-solid lower body. It didn’t do much to subdue him, only angered him further.
Mia saw the sky turn a little darker, then realized it was her own consciousness fading. She felt for her taser but couldn’t get a grip on it. She just needed a little leverage. In her dreary state, her muscle memory recalled a neat little maneuver. Mia once referred to it as a Muay Thai, but her teacher always corrected her. It was actually bujinkan.
She clutched her knees around her attacker and arched her back as much as she could. She pressed her thighs against the man’s ribs and did everything in her power to roll forward just an inch. Billy fell back for a flash, and that was all Mia needed to strike. Her hand found the taser, withdrew it and shot Billy clean in the chest. His body failed him, and he toppled backward like a falling tower, ripping the diesel pump out of the vehicle and spilling fuel onto the ground. Mia felt it gush against her ankles, but the burning sensation brought her back to the present.
Billy gasped for breath on the ground while Mia rushed to cuff the man. She had him face down when another soul made itself known in her peripheral vision. Billy’s passenger had climbed out to see the action up close, but the look on his face said he wanted no part of this. He ran off down the lane, passing by Mia’s car as he did.
“Melissa!” Mia shouted. “Get him.”
Her partner slowly stepped out of the car, much to Mia’s frustration. Melissa watched the escapee disappear down the way. “Cuff this idiot and get him in the car. Now! I’m going after the other one.”
Melissa jogged over and did what she had to, trembling the entire time. Mia heard the cuffs clink and that was enough to put her mind at rest. Billy would be out for at least a few minutes. More than enough time to get him locked in the vehicle.
Mia took off down the lane, taser in hand. She saw the escapee’s figure about thirty feet down the road. She continued on for a few seconds, aimed with her taser, fired and missed. The man was unrelenting in his mission to escape, gradually diminishing from view.
What to do? Chase him? Call it a success? One suspect was better than no suspects.
Then from the other direction, Mia heard a scream. She ran back to the gas station and saw Melissa lying on the forecourt floor clutching her nose. Beyond that, Billy Graham was escaping in the opposite direction.
“Shit,” she shouted. In the blink of an eye, Melissa had scrambled to her feet and pulled something out of the passenger side of the car.
No, don’t you dare, Mia thought. It all happened too fast to get her words out properly.
“Melissa, put that fucking thing down! Do not shoot that gun!”
Billy Graham passed by his car and up the hill. How he regained composure so quickly was unlike anything Mia had seen before.
“He’s getting away,” Melissa screamed. She leaned against the hood of the car, aimed the pistol towards the fading suspect.
“The fumes,” Mia shouted. “The Goddamn fumes.”
Melissa, slack against the car, fired the pistol. Mia’s instinct was to drop to her floor, but instead, she hurled herself towards her partner as fast her joints would take her.
But it was too late. She first heard the bullet hit the car up ahead. The clink of metal on metal. Then came the fireworks. Billy’s car exploded like a miniature volcano erupting for the first time in a thousand years. A gigantic cloud of black smoke surged into the afternoon sky, and for a second Mia wondered if this was the end.
Mia grabbed Melissa’s hand and pulled her away from the scene. “Why? For Christ’s sakes, why would you do that?” she screamed at her.
Melissa’s eyes were frozen in a look of abject dread. Up by the flaming car, a bunch of gas station attendees appeared with fire extinguishers. They squirted foam onto the burning vehicle, risking their lives in the process. Another one, a young woman, ran over to the agents. Melissa immediately hugged the woman.
“Are you hurt? Do you need an ambulance?” the woman asked, furiously glancing between the two agents.
Mia wasn’t quite sure what to make of all this. Were they hurt? She wouldn’t know until the adrenaline wore off.