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I COULDN’T control the whiht Since ere out in Eled and pleaded with Ian to stop at Johnnie’s Beef and buyon I hated stakeouts; they were so boring, and I tended to use theood instead of the alternative It could be argued that an Italian beef sandith sweet peppers was not, in fact, a gourmet meal, but anyone who said that had obviously never had one Just opening it up, with the s
“This better be worth the long drive outta the way,” Ian groused
No aet in the way of my happiness And besides, he owed me The day before, on our way to the sas at Budacki’s—Polish with the works, just how he liked it I’d even broken up a fight over ketchup between a native and an out-of-tohile I was there and stillby the beef place was the least he could do
“You wanna screw the sandwich?” he asked snidely as he started on his pepper and egg one
I lifted ot the catch of breath I was hoping for “No Not the sandwich”
He had opened hise heard the shots
“Maybe it was a car backfiring,” I offered hopefully, having peeled back the wrapper, ready to take a bite On this quiet tree-lined suburban street, the kind hite picket fences and people walking their dogs and little A-frame houses with picture s, it could definitely be sounshot
His grimace said no
Seconds later, aacross the street and down the sidewalk past our car that was sitting quietly on the storybook street at a little after one on a Tuesday afternoon
“Motherfucker,” I groaned, placing the sandwich gingerly on the dash of the Ford Taurus, out the passenger-side door seconds later
The guy was fast—I was faster, and I was gaining on hiun over his shoulder and fired
It would have been a —but still, I had to make him stop Stray bullets were bad, as we’d learned in our last tactical seminar, and hborhood where at this ti with strollers, followed by beagles or labradoodles I would e of a firearuy in custody
He shot at h of a threat to ed yard, and cut through two others—one with a swing set, the other ildflowers—to catch hiin foster homes, I had him off his feet and on the pavement in seconds