Chapter 10

Tara was about to go for a dinner break when a car pulled up in front of the Bell Book, screeching to a stop. Two men in ski masks, guns drawn jumped out. It was the Middleton Bandits as they had come to be called. Her life flashed before her eyes as the gunmen approached. She locked the door and was backing up when she heard the siren. It was Brandon. She could see his squad car pull up abruptly, boxing in the robbers' car, a white Subaru Forrester.

Brandon opened the driver's door of the squad car and took partial cover behind it, pointing his service pistol at them, shouting, "Police! Freeze!"

His partner, Officer Jill Thompkins, took cover behind the squad car's right front fender, pointing her weapon at the two robbers.

The Middleton Bandits immediately began firing, prompting Brandon and Jill to duck down as they attempted to return fire. Tara shrieked as she watched helplessly while her husband was being fired upon. Brandon had never faced any criminals like this during his brief career as a police officer. Even Jake's killer had not been the kind of threat posed by these two men.

The robbers continued firing, moving out into the street. As a passing car approached, one of them stepped into the street and pointed his gun at the windshield. The car stopped, and the smaller one went to the driver's door as his partner in crime gave him cover fire, keeping Brandon and Jill pinned down.

The smaller man pulled the driver, a middle-aged man, out from behind the wheel and tossed him roughly to the ground. Commandeering the car, the robber drove it forward and allowed his partner to get in on the passenger side.

As they sped off, Brandon and Jill fired at the stolen car – a black Mercedes. The larger robber returned fire from the getaway car's passenger side window, striking Jill in the upper left chest, blood spraying as the bullet exited her back. The stricken officer cried out as she fell to the ground.

"Shots fired! Officer down! Officer down!" Brandon's shouts into his radio were loud enough that Tara could hear him clearly from inside the Bell Book. "Requesting an ambulance!"

The black Mercedes sped off leaving a possibly dead Officer Thompkins and a carjacking victim in the street.

"I'm still here," Jill's voice cried faintly from the other side of the police cruiser.

Tara breathed a deep sigh of relief, and then went outside. "Brandon!"

"Tara, stay inside!" Brandon allowed her to quickly embrace him before sending her back into the building.

She did as her husband directed but continued to watch from the front window. Then, she saw the carjacking victim stand up looking dazed and confused, as Brandon went to Jill's side. The man was none other than Cassie's old friend, Ryan Elliot.

GW

As his father drove. Nick was absorbed texting with Katie. Suddenly, he heard two loud popping sounds. It sounded like gunfire.

"Dad, did you hear that?"

His father nodded as he drove, taking a left turn. "Sounded like gunfire."

Suddenly, Sam had to swerve sharply as a black Mercedes flew past them, partially on their side of the road. Nick was fixated on the drivers of the black car, and for a brief fraction of a second, he and the driver made eye contact. The driver and his passenger wore ski masks. It was the Middleton Bandits.

Nick felt the Jeep speed up as his father depressed the accelerator sharply.

"Dad?"

"Shots were fired," Sam noted. "We'll be there before an ambulance."

Nick just nodded as Sam sped to the scene. It did not take long to find – Brandon knelt on the ground next to a down officer – Jill Thompkins if he recalled – and Ryan Elliot stood by, looking like he wanted to help, but having no idea what to do.

Sam Radford parked the car and jumped out, Nick racing to keep up.

"Nick, go into the Bell Book and check on Tara while I take care of Officer Thompkins!"

Nick nodded and did at his father bid. Then Tara burst forth from the Bell Book and ran to Brandon's side.

"Doctor Radford," Brandon called. "Thank God you're here!"

Nick stood with Tara and Ryan and watched as Sam got to work. Clearly, Doctor Sam Radford knew what to do – Nick would have been surprised if his father did not, but Nick had rarely seen his father in action outside of a hospital setting, and then it was usually treating sick patients or people with injuries from falls or sports accidents. A gunshot wound was totally out of Nick's experience, but given that Sam Radford was a trauma surgeon, he imagined that his father had treated shooting victims more than a few times.

"Chest wound," Doctor Radford declared. "Missed the heart … looks like it missed her lung … but it went clean through and she's bleeding badly. Nasty exit wound too. I'm more concerned with the bone fragments from the bullet's passage, which may have caused more internal damage."

"I … I feel faint," Jill said groggily. "Am I gonna …."

"Make it?" Sam smiled and nodded. "You have my word."

Nick watched as his father directed Brandon and made use of what he had on hand, which was not much, to keep the woman alive until the ambulance arrived. His father was so cool under pressure. It was like Sam Radford found his Zen in treating gravely wounded patients. For the first time, Nick regarded his father's profession with amazement.

The ambulance pulled up, along with another squad car. Chief Derek Sanders jumped out and ran to Brandon and Jill.

"Brandon!" Derek appraised the situation as the EMTs came over to take charge of Jill.

"She'll be alright," Sam assured. "Nick, I need you to take care of Cassie's shopping list. I'll ride with Officer Thompkins. I'll call ahead to the hospital and get an O.R. prepped." He then tossed the keys to his Jeep to his son.

"Sure thing, Dad," Nick assured as he caught the keys.

Brandon stood, but he shook. All the color had drained from him, and he looked like he might faint.

"Brandon?" Tara went to him. "You okay?"

"I've never been in a gunfight," the young officer confessed. "I … I've never even had to fire my gun except at the range. I've never been so scared in my life."

"Cassie's gonna freak when she hears about this," Derek exclaimed, his eyes wide.

"Not just Cassie," Tara reminded him. "Grace and Lori …."

"Yeah," Brandon said as Sam left with Jill and the Paramedics. "Grace is really gonna freak."

"Well, we have their car," Derek noted. "Once we run tags …."

"I'm betting that's Hattie Berman's car," Brandon said. "It was reported stolen yesterday. Same make and model, and I bet that once you run the tags, it'll come up as hers."

"That's one crime solved." Derek said with satisfaction."

"What about my car?" Ryan finally spoke up.

"We'll do what we can," Derek assured. "I've got an APB out on them. They won't get far."

"That's the problem," Brandon interjected. "They don't seem interested in getting far. They're staying around here because we're easy pickings. And we weren't expecting to lose Jill for another two weeks. Now, by the time she's recovered, she'll be off to Chicago, and we still don't have a replacement."

"Actually, I'm interviewing someone tomorrow," Derek revealed. "He's a piece of work, but he might be just what we need."

Brandon suddenly remembered. "Derek, is this that old guy with the twenty-page resume?"

"Ten," Derek corrected. "And yes, it is. But Grace says she has a feeling about him, so …."

"You know Grace isn't Cassie," Ryan reminded him.

"Yeah, but Grace has good instincts about people," Nick interjected. "If Grace has a good feeling about him, I'd listen."

Brandon nodded, but Ryan made a scoffing sound.

Derek then looked at the realtor and folded his arms across his chest. "What was that Ryan?"

"Well," the realtor said, shifting nervously now that all eyes were upon him. "Grace is just a kid. Sometimes …."

"Sometimes that kid has great instincts," Tara finished. "Just like her mother."

"Coming from the guy that's about to cost half of Middleton's small businesses their livelihood," Derek said sardonically, "I think I'll put my faith in Grace's instincts instead of your dismissals."

Ryan opened his mouth, but Brandon held up his hand.

"Stop, Ryan. Just stop! I'm glad you're okay, and we'll do all we can to get your car back, but don't come around here shooting your mouth off like you're one of us; you're not!"

"I grew up here," the realtor protested.

"Yeah, then you went off to work with Jones," Nick noted. "And now, you're helping him put in a Grand Mart."

"Grand Marts are hugely popular," Ryan insisted. "Everyone will love it!"

"Not everyone," Nick corrected. "The people whose shops go under probably won't be happy. But hey, I'm just some kid from New York, so ..." he shrugged flashing his crooked smile, "what do I know?"

Ryan looked from Nick to Brandon to Tara to Derek, desperately seeking an ally, but everyone just glared at him. Nick actually felt sorry for him. It was not as though Ryan was doing this maliciously; he was a realtor, and he was just trying to do his job the best he could. It seemed that Ryan often had blinders on until the truth was pointed out to him by Cassie … but that was not going to happen this time.

Cassie had rejected Ryan in favor of Sam, and though they may have smoothed things over, Nick knew that heartbreak did not go away overnight. Ryan would not spend enough time with Cassie to hear what she had to say.

Nick was more concerned for the well being of the people of Middleton, himself included. So far, these robbers were bold, striking in broad daylight, and they were not the least bit hesitant to use their weapons. This was way out of Brandon's league. Derek's too. It probably was out of Jake's league, but not having met the late police chief, Nick could not really say.

He just hoped that these men would either move on or slip up and get caught before anyone else got hurt.

GW

Grace sat at the kitchen table while her mom cooked dinner when the phone rang. Grace could not help but smile as her mother's face split into a grin. Cassie Nightingale clearly already knew who it was as she answered.

"Hello Sam. You and Nick having trouble finding the …."

Suddenly, her mother's face drained of color and her body went rigid.

"Sam … is she going to be …."

Cassie listened as Sam spoke, and then nodded.

"What about Brandon and Tara?" The Merriwick matriarch nodded as she listened, seeming relieved. "Thank you, Sam. Do what you can. Call me as soon as you know." She nodded again. "I love you too."

"Mom?" Grace went to her mother's side. "Is everything alright?"

"The Middleton Bandits were about to rob the Bell Book when Brandon and his partner showed up," Cassie explained. "They … there was a gunfight."

Grace gasped, her hands going to her mouth. She thought her heart would explode, it was racing so fast.

"Brandon is alright, but his partner – she's badly injured and Sam is about to operate on her now."

"What about Tara?"

"She's okay, Grace … but I almost lost Brandon the way I lost …" Cassie took a deep breath. "Your father."