© Copyright 2006 by More Than Novellas

Chapter 5

Sarah
July 27, 2006
baughmanks@gmail.com

John remained still, caught in a brief moment of indecision. Should he look in the briefcase and let his fellow officers rescue Miss Smith? Or should he forget the briefcase and rush in himself to save her?

Shoving the leather-clad black case at Al, who was in the room with him, he ran out the door with a "Check that out" thrown over his shoulder.

John arrived on the scene just as Deanna was being manhandled toward the exit.

Mrs Brown
July 27, 2006
mrsbrown1@optusnet.com.au
www.tulipfiction.com

Aware he was contravening every point of siege procedure in the book, John leapt the counter, heedless of the warning shouts of his colleagues. He could not let them take Deanna - not when he was this close.

The metal bell he’d sent skittering from the counter hit the ground moments after he did, ringing out like smashing glass in the taut atmosphere. The biker closest to the door spun round, levelling his shotgun first on John and then turning it on Deanna.

“Nooooo!” he cried, clearing the floor in one desperate lunge to reach her. A shot rang out, then another - but all John was aware of was Deanna’s eyes fixed on his own. And for the first time ever he saw in their depths . . . complete trust.

She was in his arms when he hit the floor with a thud that knocked the air out of his lungs. She was still in his arms in the silence that followed when bikers retreated from the volley of fire, and made their escape. It was only when he became aware of his colleagues moving toward them that he dared to see if she were still alive.

He turned her face toward him, nearly fainting from relief as her eyes fluttered open. Deanna groaned and lifted her hand to where the back of her head had contacted the hard floor. She looked up into John’s eyes with a grimace. “I sure wish you’d quit knocking me on the head.”

* * *

Instinctively aware that John was staring at her, Deanna put down her cup of coffee and looked across the desk at him. Hours had passed since the siege had ended, she’d sat for ages in the first aid room with an icepack on her head before John had come and found her. He’d looked pale, and more than a bit shaken as he led her back to the room where he’d first interrogated her . . . years ago it now seemed . . . and she hardly dared ask the questions that were clamouring in her mind.

He met her shy glance with an encouraging smile. “How are you doing?”

“Great, apart from recurrent headaches,” she joked and then sighed gustily. “Those bikers got away, didn’t they?”

John shrugged. “We’ll track them down. But we’ve still got McCartney . . . and with the evidence in your briefcase, nothing is going to get him off this time. Deanna - I’m so sorry - I never should have put you at such risk.”

“So it was all about the briefcase after all! What on earth was in it?” She leaned across the desk toward him, her tiredness disappearing. “The only things apart from my normal stuff were the notes from the interview at the diner - and a couple of photos from its early days which I was going to include in the article.”

“They were in a manila envelope?”

“Yes, Earl said he’d put them inside it for safekeeping before he handed them to me.”

John shook his head slowly. “Do you know what else he he slipped inside? Just enough incriminating details and photos of McCartney’s criminal involvement to ensure he doesn’t see freedom anytime soon.”

Deanna’s jaw dropped open as he continued.

“It seems as though Earl’s Diner has been a central part of McCartney’s organisation for many years, before even McCartney himself became involved. For whatever reason Earl decided to wash his hands of it all - and obviously thought the best way would be to get the whole story to your newspaper without anyone else knowing of it first.”

“He . . . Earl told me he was about to retire, he had been diagnosed with something pretty serious and wanted to wind up his affairs. I thought he just meant his business,” Deanna’s voice felt croaky. “But someone knew what he was doing, didn’t they?”

“That’s why McCartney was waiting for you out in the parking lot.”

A sudden coldness in her bones left Deanna trembling. “But the police who were tailing McCartney got to him before he got to me.”

John nodded. “And from then on we started working against each other.”

Deanna let out a deep breath, thinking over the events of the day from a whole new perspective. But the thing that stood out most of all was the look of utter determination in John’s eyes as he’d leapt across the room to knock her out of the line of fire.

“That’s why you came rushing for me like that - after getting me wired up and sending me out to those men - you found that evidence in my briefcase and you knew I’d been telling the truth.”

“No.” John shook his head, and reached out to take her hand in his. “I didn’t find out what was inside your briefcase until after it was all over, and you’d been taken to the first aid room.”

Sarah
July 28, 2006
baughmanks@gmail.com

Deanna was speechless. John could see that.

"Deanna, I need to talk to you." He told her how he had come to join the force, met his dear wife there. Normally, he did not approve of working relationships being more than friends, but there was something about her that he could not resist. They were married. He told of their excitement at discovering that she would bear their child. Then he described how that dream, that hope had been crushed in a sting gone wrong. His heart had died that day.

"I don't know that I am ready for anything extremely serious, but I would like to take you out for lunch."

Deanna smiled at him. She had listened attentively and sympathetically while he spoke. "I would like that."

John grinned. "How about tomorrow I pick you up and we go eat at Earl's Diner. I understand that although it is changing hands, all of the original recipes will still be used."

"As long as my experience tomorrow is nothing like today's."

John walked Deanna out to her car, waving as she pulled away. It sounded corny to his own ears, but he couldn't help saying under his breath, "This seems to be the beginning of a beautiful relationship."

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