Badge of Dishonor Ch. 24

Luke hated the idea of stealing another man's wife, but he'd been in love with Lise ever since they were in school together. He'd never enjoyed love-making more than he had with Lise the previous night, but he was afraid they wouldn't be able to develop a permanent relationship. On the other hand, she was the woman he'd always dreamed of being with. "I'd be a fool if I blew a chance to be with her," he mused. "She's everything I've ever wanted. And I know I could make her happy if she'd let me."

Lise was considering with the differences between Luke and Rod, and in the comparison, Luke came out ahead. "He's thoughtful, he cares about me, he listens to me, and he's so sweet," she thought, glancing across the car at the young man she'd spent the night with. "I bet he'd be a good father, too."

Luke pulled into the diner parking lot and drove to the back, where they'd left Lise's car the night before, and braked the police car to a stop. He turned in the seat so he was facing Lise. All of the communication and emergency equipment arrayed in the front of the police car was stacked up in the middle of the car, between him and his passenger. "Be nice to take her out in a civilian car," he thought. Then he saw the figure running across the parking lot toward them. "Oh, God!" he thought. "That looks like Rod Billingham." He saw something else, too, something that scared him. "He has a gun!"

Before she got out of the car, Lise turned to Luke, intending to thank him for the wonderful night he'd given her. When she did, she saw that he had a strange look on his face and seemed to be looking past her, at something behind her. She didn't understand the look he had, it was almost as if he was frightened of something.

"Luke...what..." she started to say.

Luke grabbed Lise's shoulder and pushed her down. "Lise, get down on the floor!" he yelled. "Now! Do it!"

When he pulled up next to Lise's car, Luke had seen the man get out of the pickup truck parked next to the dumpster behind the diner. He was shocked to discover it was Rod Billingham. Rod was now running toward them and was holding a gun in his hand.

The young deputy had never been involved in a shooting incident, continued to watch the man approach. He felt as if he was seeing everything that was happening in slow motion. He knew he was reacting, but his reactions seemed to be in altered time. It was as if the world had slowed down. He heard himself yelling at Lise to get down on the floor of the car and could feel his hand reaching for the pistol in the holster on his belt and fumbling to get the safety strap off. Then his hand wrapped around the butt of the gun, pulled it out of the holster, and started to raise it.

Luke's eyes remained locked on Rod Billingham. With total visual clarity, he saw the man assume the combat shooter's position and point his gun at the police car. Then a flash of red and yellow flames blossomed from the muzzle of the pistol. The window on the passenger side of the cruiser exploded and Luke experienced what felt like a sledge hammer blow in the chest. It drove him back against the door of his cruiser and forced the breath out of him.

Luke was having a hard time thinking, but it felt as if his arm was still rising, then something was slamming against his hand and loud sounds filled the interior of the cruiser. He could hear Lise's screams, and what sounded like a siren, but he was having a hard time getting his breath and making his eyes focus. He knew he'd fired his pistol, but he wasn't sure whether he'd hit Rod or not. He forced his eyes to focus and could see the rogue trooper, red-faced, and wild-eyed, still in the combat shooter's stance, still pointing his weapon at Luke's cruiser.