Overkill

Twenty-One

As James opened the passenger door for her, she was reminded of Mark and how polite he was, it made her hesitate.

"Miss?" James asked confused.

"The last man I trusted to work on cases with ended up being the murderer himself," she was trying to read James, watching his every move and reaction.

Nodding, without hesitation he removed his gun from his holster, showed her the loaded clip, and then handed it to her. She accepted it in awe.

"I'm not going to hurt you; you can trust me."

Content, she nodded and slowly climbed into the car, allowing him to close the door as she pulled her seatbelt on.

Subconsciously, she knew this day would come. They hadn't captured him; he fled and went into hiding after his crime spree. After what he did to Sarah and almost being caught, he fell off the face of the Earth. Her division looked for him for months, years. She never stopped looking, even during other cases, she was always on high alert, determined to bring the bastard down. If there was a raping near where she was, she'd check it out without telling anyone. Eventually, the case was put on the backburner as crime never stopped. They had to focus on current issues, the ones they could solve, find the perps, and make an arrest. He was always in the back of her mind, though, never giving her mind a moment of peace.

Regretting not following protocol all those years ago, going in without her partner, a perp capturing her, and nearly... She lost her partner due to conflicts on the job after that. Not only did she lose her partner, for a time she thought she lost her best friend. He moved away, across the country to take a job at another division. The only reason they were reunited was because she was sent out to work a murder case. Even in that case she was captured, got her friend captured, and now he was in a coma fighting for his life. It should be her still in the coma. He should be the one awake and ready to take down another monster off the streets.

After his heart monitor alerted the nurses of his heart failing, she was kicked out of his room. They promised to alert her if his condition changed, good or bad. So, she left. She allowed James, Agent Holden, to drive her to the division office where she was staying in Scott's bunk room.

Pushing the memories from her mind, she refocused on the task at hand. She had a job to do and she wasn't letting anything distract her. She was determined to bring him down.

"Where are you?" Pulling her from her thoughts, James touched her arm lightly. "I just lost you for a minute, where'd your mind go?"

He just parked the car a few houses down from where the perp was said to be staying. James was not only risking his job doing this, he was risking his own life without having backup.

Swallowing nervously, shaking her head, "I just want to catch this guy. I don't care how; I don't care if I have to kill him to do it. I'm not letting him go this time."

"Sarah..." James' eyes were sad when he looked at her. "You know there is protocol we have to follow. We have to do this right. Especially since I'm not even supposed to be here yet."

Sarah narrowed her eyes, tilted her head slightly and spoke with intent, "James, I understand you have rules to follow, but I'm not on the case, I don't."

"That's my point. I'm breaking rules, you're not on the case. Sarah, not only will I get my ass handed to me, you will go down right along with him if you're caught out here. You were just released from the hospital for Pete's sake!" Watching her knowingly, she refused to back down, refused to follow anything he said. It was useless even trying.

"If anything happens, I'll take the fall. I won't let any of this fall on you, but this time, it's personal. The rules don't apply for me at the moment." She pulled the slide back on the pistol he gave her and opened the car door.