Carolyn Arnold - McKinley 03 - Money is Murder by Carolyn Arnold

throughout his solar plexus.
    He rounded the corner, following the perp to a back staircase. The door was flung open and bounced off the wall, rebounding into Sean and knocking him off balance.
    The shooter reached the first landing and spun around, gun held high.
    Sean ducked, arms instinctively rising to cover his head as he did so.
    The bullet ricocheted off a metal railing and the shooter pulled back on the trigger again.
    This time no bullets went whizzing through the air.
    “You’re out,” Sean yelled but remained hunched down. “Surrender.”
    The person took off into a run again, breezing down a few steps at a time.
    Sean ran in pursuit, with each landing, he envisioned catching up to his target and pulling him back. So close yet too far away. He just had to reach the hood of the sweater. He stretched and his fingertips grazed the fabric, but then broke free.

    Sean ’s burning muscles wanted to refuse to cooperate, but he had to push through.

 

     
    In A Race For Answers
     
    SARA GLANCED OVER HER SHOULDER, down the empty hallway. No one seemed curious about all the noise, or what was going on, not that it surprised her. The natural response to hearing gunfire was to find a safe corner and hide.
    She went inside Robert ’s apartment.
    He was lying on the entry floor, his head lolled to the side, his eyes glazed over. One bullet had entered to the top of where his heart would be and the other a couple inches below it. The scene reminded her of a homicide they had been assigned back in Albany a few months back.
    As Sara got down next to Robert, she was careful to avoid any contamination. She pressed her fingers on his carotid, closed her eyes and wished for a pulse.

     
    The shooter headed down a back alley and split his time between looking ahead and glancing behind. Every time he assessed his lead, his pace faltered slightly.
    “Stop! I know who you are!” Sean called out the bluff in the hopes of getting the shooter to stall. The mind had the ability to halt progress. He wanted to manipulate the perp’s to work in his favor.
    He stopped for the fragment of a second, but then went back into a full run.
    Sean looked ahead. It was a dead end. A chain-link fence stretched across the alleyway. A dumpster was to the right, against a building.
    The shooter ’s stride hiccupped when a collection of garbage cans nearly had him falling forward, face to pavement.
    Sean used the opening and willed more power into his legs, pulling from deep within and accelerating his pace.
    He reached out and graced the hood again, but this time he managed to get a firm hold. He yanked back and the perp let out a squeal then reached out to rip free of Sean ’s grip.
    Their high-pitched cry slowed Sean ’s movements. Did he hear what he thought he had?
    His indecision was enough.
    He lost his hold and the perp hopped up onto the dumpster, then ran into the freedom of the alley on the other side.

     
    Sean entered the apartment to find Sara kneeling next to Robert.
    “Darling.” Sara stood and wrapped her arms around him.
    He lowered his forehead against hers.
    “Are you okay?”
    He held her face and kissed her. “I’m fine now.”
    “Thank God. It’s more than we can say for Robert, though. I took his pulse when I got here. He was already gone. I knew we should have left him his gun. I had a bad feeling.”
    “Don’t be so hard on yourself. We didn’t shoot him.” He made sure to look into her eyes. “Right? You know that, hon.”
    Her eye contact was cold at first, but seemed to soften as she nodded. “I know.” Her gaze went to Robert and then back to Sean. “I take it you never caught up to him.”
    “Or her?”
    “Her?”
    “Well, the shooter never spoke, but when I got a hold of their hoodie and yanked back, they called out. I could have sworn it was a woman.”
    “A woman?” Sara glanced at the couch that was straight behind the front entry, obviously giving consideration to taking a seat. “I thought