Badge of Dishonor Ch. 26

Passion In James County X

Badge of Dishonor

By D.C. Roi

Chapter twenty-six

Deputy Lee Williams, the sharpshooter on the Sheriff's Department Special Operations Squad, was watching Rod through the scope of his sniper rifle. He saw the man in the truck put the pistol to his head. "I wonder," Lee thought as he centered the cross-hairs of his high-powered rifle on the biggest part of the target available to him. "The range isn't too bad, maybe I can do this..." He took up the slack on his rifle's trigger and, when he saw the man in the truck's finger tightening on the trigger of his weapon, he fired.

"What the hell?" Alex said. The shot he heard hadn't come from inside the truck, it came from the left, from behind one of the cruisers. "Who fired that shot?"

"I don't know," Tim said, "but I think whoever it was shot the gun out of Billingham's hand." He got up and, holding his gun in front of him, joined the other deputies and patrolmen who were advancing carefully toward Rod's truck.

Rod, clutching his bleeding hand and sobbing, sat there as the door of his truck was jerked open. He felt himself being pulled out of the truck and the next thing he knew, his face was pressed against the pavement and men were holding him down, pulling his arms behind him, and fastening handcuffs around his wrists.

"What the hell happened?" Alex asked as he approached the pickup.

Lee Williams stepped forward, his sniper rifle in his hand. "I hope you don't mind, boss," he said, "but I had a bead on his pistol and figured trying to shoot it out of his hand was worth a try. I kind of hated to see this end with him dead."

"Good job, Lee," Alex said. He looked down at Rod. "Rod Billingham, you're under arrest for rape, two counts of attempted murder, and probably a few other charges, too," he said. He looked at Tim. "Tim, read him his rights." He looked around. "Somebody call for rescue."

A half-hour later, Alex and Tim walked into the hospital. Lise met them at the door. "Sergeant Mills is going to be OK," she said. "She was wearing her bullet-proof vest. She just had the wind knocked out of her, and she got a pretty good bump on the head when she fell. Are...are Luke and Rod all right?"

"They're both hurt," Alex said. He was glad to learn that nobody had been killed, or even seriously injured. "But they'll be OK. Lise, you and I need to talk."

"I...I know," she said.

"Tim," Alex said, "why don't you interview Luke? I'll talk with Lise. And make sure there's somebody with Billingham. We don't want him doing anything stupid, not after all this."

"OK, boss," Tim said.

"Lise, why don't you and I go down to the coffee shop?" Alex said. "I'll buy you a cup of coffee and you can tell me what's going on."

"All...all right," she stammered. "But...but could I...could I talk to Luke, first?"

"I guess so," Alex said. He was surprised she wanted to see Luke and not her husband.

Alex, Lise, and Tim walked into the E.R. cubicle where Luke lay on a stretcher.

"Hi, Lise," Luke said. "Sheriff, Lieutenant, how are you?"

"Probably better than you are," Tim said.

"Luke...I...I'm sorry," Lise said. "Are...are you really OK?"

"My ribs are sore," Luke replied, "The nurse said I probably broke one of them. But I'll be OK, I think. Lise, you don't have anything to be sorry for. I'm sorry I got you into this."

"You...you didn't get me into anything, Luke," Lise replied. "I got myself into it when I married Rod. I..."

A nurse and an orderly came in. "Sorry, folks," the nurse said, "we have to get this man up to X-ray. You can talk to him later."

"Come on, Lise," Alex said, "let's go get that coffee."

"OK," Lise said.

A bit later Alex and Lise were sitting at a table in the corner of the hospital cafeteria. Alex looked across the table at his secretary, who'd just finished telling him her story and was wiping her eyes with a napkin.

"I wish you'd have told me what was going on earlier, Lise," he said. "Maybe I could have done something to save you all the aggravation you and Luke went through this morning."

"I...I wasn't sure anyone would believe me," Lise said. "I...I mean, Rod's a cop and all, and..."

"I know," Alex said softly. "I've been a cop long enough to know how it is. And I know the patrol doesn't have the best record for dealing with officers who have family problems."

"Is...is Luke going to get in trouble for what...for what we...you know...what happened last night?" Lise asked.

Alex grinned and shook his head. "He didn't do anything illegal, or even against department regulations, as far as I can tell," he told Lise. "I'm not sure he used the best judgment in the world, but that's no crime." He chuckled. "Hell, if using bad judgment was a crime, we'd all be in jail, wouldn't we?"

Lise smiled wanly and nodded. "I...I guess so," she said. "What...what's going to happen to Rod?"

"Well, he's facing at least three felony charges," Alex said. "Rape, and two counts of attempted murder. And we haven't even begun to figure out what charges we might be able to file for the pursuit and standoff."

"Rape?" Lise said, shocked by what Alex had said. "Rod...he...he raped someone?"

Alex felt himself blushing. "I'm sorry, Lise," he said, "I forgot you didn't know. I'm afraid it's true. Yesterday evening Rod forced his way into a motel room and raped a woman he gave a speeding ticket to."

"Oh, God!" Lise said, and began to sob. "How...how could I be married to him as long as I was and not realize what he was like? I must be really stupid."

"I don't think you're stupid," Alex said. "I learned a long time ago that nobody, not even a person's spouse, can ever really know what someone is like deep down inside."

"Is...is the woman Rod raped...is she OK?" Lise asked.

Alex nodded. "She wasn't hurt badly," he said. "At least not physically. She's staying with Tim's wife right now." He looked up and saw his wife, Jennifer, and another woman walking into the coffee shop. "I think there's someone here to see you, Lise," he said.

Lise looked up, saw her mother, jumped to her feet, and raced across the room, into her mother's arms.

Alex got up as his wife approached the table, then she was in his arms. "Are you OK?" Jennifer asked.

"I'm about as good as I'm going to get for a while after a mess like this," Alex told her. "I feel a lot better now that you're here."

"The office called and told me what was going on," Jennifer said. "I asked them if they'd sent anyone to notify Lise's parents and they said they planned to as soon as someone was free. I figured it would be best if I handled that, so..."

"You're amazing," Alex told his wife.

"Isn't that why you married me?" Jennifer asked, grinning.