Chapter 2
Don raced down the street ducking, diving and swerving both obstacles and pedestrians in pursuit of his suspect. The endless drown of conversation and traffic seemed to fade way as Don pushed forward faster and harder. The beat of his heart thudded in his ears and the blood rushed to his head but at Quantico they had been trained not to feel the pain. As the lactic acid built up in his muscles and the calves started to burn Don fought harder to reach his quarry.
"Hey watch it pal!" Don ignored the cries of protest from the people he might have bumped in pursuit and continued to follow the suspect.
Speaking as clearly as he could into his radio Don said, "This is Agent Eppes, suspect is moving down Howard's street heading due east towards Byron Street, over."
Don was concentrating so hard he barely heard his radio reply, "Rodger that Agent Eppes, this is Agent Warrenton. I'm headed down Shepherd's Drive headed south towards Byron Street, over."
"Rodger, out." Putting his radio back in his tack gear Don looked away from the suspect briefly, missing the switch down a side alley. Stopping Don looked around, the suspect was no where to be seen. After he could find no signs of the suspect Don doubled back to a little ally he had passed not to long ago. Pulling his pistol from its holster he raised the weapon and entered the side alley.
The alleyway was dark and dirty and the stench was practically unbearable. Moving further down the alleyway Don searched frantically for the suspect, sweat dripping into his eyes. Raising one gloved hand to wipe his brow he walked right past the suspect lurking in the shadows. "
"Pete Russell this is Agent Don Eppes from the FBI. Surrender or I will shoot." After no response Don turned around seeing the suspect seconds too late.
Pain shot through Don's head as Pete Russell struck him, cutting Don Centimetres above his right eye. Blood slowly began to dribble into his eye making his vision blur. Frantically Don searched the ground for his missing firearm but it had been kicked out of range. "I didn't mean to hurt you. You've got it all wrong. I'm a cop." Holding his hand out the suspect helped Don back to his feet. Unsure Don was hearing right he just stood there and stared at his suspect. "Do not be alarmed I am not armed. I am reaching into my jacket for my badge. Ok? Right slowly…ok."
Like everything had turned to slow motion Don watched helplessly as the man reached his hand inside his large jacket. "Don Duck!" The shout came from somewhere further up the alley, Don couldn't be sure who had spoken but he wasn't going to be told twice. Dropping to all fours, like he'd been shown in training, Don heard a gun shot then seconds later the thud of his suspect falling on top of him.
Everything was a blur now as two hands slowly rolled Peter Russell's dead body off of Don. His partner Alex Warrenton looked down at Don. "Are you ok?"
"Huh?"
"Don are you ok?" Alex's face creased with worry.
"Yes. You shot him? Oh my God you shot him!" Don's voice raised several octaves and sounded shrill even to his own ears. Turning to look at Peter Russell's lifeless body Don watched as blood gradually began to ooze out of his mouth, ears and chest wound.
"He was reaching into his jacket for a weapon. I had no choice Don." Alex reasoned grabbing Don's shoulder and trying to move him away from the suspect.
"Not a weapon a badge. He was a cop Alex!" Slowly Don crawled over to the dead body and sure enough there was an LAPD badge in his right hand, as he'd promised. Holding both hands over the chest wound Don tried to apply pressure and stop the bleeding. "Alex snap out of it. Alex you need to phone an Ambulance. Alex, Phone 911 now. Alex!"
"What have I done…what have I done?!" Alex's screams filled Don's senses as he felt himself being shaken further and further away from the scene.
"Don? Don? Wake up, it's me Charlie."
"What have I done?"
"Pardon? Don your mumbling you've got to wake up now."
"Charlie?" Don opened his eyes and squinted as his younger brother's concerned face came into focus. "Where am I?"
"Don't you remember you passed out here last night?"
Don threw back the blanket and got up off the couch. "Right. But you…you're meant to be in India." Don looked around. The living room was a mess. Did I do this? He asked himself silently. Where'd the blanket come from?
"Was in India." Charlie said adding extra emphasis on the was. "Amita and I arrived home last night, well this morning technically." Charlie moved toward the empty bottles and pizza box and started to clear it away.
"I thought you were meant to be there till the thirty first? Did you cut your trip short?" Charlie frowned at Don. "What?…What?" he asked Charlie defensively.
"It's the first of August man."
"No way." Don replied collapsing back down on the couch. "No freaking way."