Breaking News: I'm very excited to announce a collaboration with Award-Winning author Jennifer Chase. Each Monday I will post a Nick Bracco chapter and each Thursday I will post the Emily Stone chapter from Jennifer Chase. Please check out Jennifer's webpage: http://authorjenniferchase.com/books/
Killer on the Loose
Killer on the Loose
Chapter 1: Nick Bracco
“Is it him?” FBI Agent Nick Bracco asked.
His
partner, Matt McColm, craned his head forward and squinted through the powerful
binoculars at the man sitting on the bus stop bench with a briefcase on his lap. They were on the third floor of the FBI’s Washington
DC Field Office when Nick thought he spotted a familiar face below them.
Matt
pulled the binoculars down and turned away from the window with a confused
expression. “How?”
Nick
shrugged. “I thought you killed him in
Cairo?” he said to the FBI’s three time sharpshooting champion.
“I
did. He was three hundred yards away and
I had a perfect angle.”
Nick
stared out the window and noticed a bus approaching the bus stop. He grabbed Matt’s arm and said, “Let’s go.”
They
ran into the stairwell and scrambled down the stairs two and three steps at a
time, Nick’s head pounding with the thought another threat this close to home.
“What’s
he doing in DC?” Matt’s voice echoed off the cement walls.
“No
idea.”
“And
what’s in the briefcase?”
“That’s
what I’m worried about.”
They
ran down the stairwell toward the front door and two agents in the reception
area immediately ran up and asked if they needed support.
“Yes!”
Matt shouted. “It’s a Redball on the bus
stop across the street.”
The two
agents followed them out the front door into the bright sunlight and the muggy
summer heat. As they ran to the curb,
the bus was pulling away from its stop.
Nick
stared at the empty bench. “Shit.”
Matt looked
at the other two agents and said, “Get a bird in the air, quickly. ”
The two
agents hustled back into the federal building while Nick examined the numbers
on the back of the bus. “That goes down
Pennsylvania Avenue.”
Matt
began to run toward the underground parking garage and glanced back at his
partner. “C’mon.”
“No,”
Nick said, beginning to jog across the street.
“You get the car and I’m going to try to stay close on the sidewalk. Pick me up along the way.”
Matt
sprinted down the street, while Nick negotiated the traffic with quick bursts
of speed and a couple of hip checks around slow-moving vehicles. He ran onto the sidewalk and tried
desperately to track the bus which was already a couple of blocks ahead of him. He needed help from a stoplight or passing
police car. Something that could give
him hope.
But when the bus turned down Pennsylvania
Avenue and began pulling away, he slowed to a jog. The heat, the humidity, the years of chasing
criminals, everything conspired to work against him. Nick was bent over catching his breath when
he heard a horn and saw Matt’s SUV in the right lane with his partner waving
for him to get in.
Nick
jumped into the black Explorer and slammed his door shut. He leaned back against the headrest. “What’s he doing on a bus?”
“With a
briefcase?” Matt said, pulling into traffic and flipping the emergency lights
on the grill.
“Well,”
Nick said, “the good news is he’s an assassin, not a suicide bomber. Whatever’s inside that case probably isn’t a
bomb.”
“Good
call,” Matt said, accelerating into the middle lane for turns and flying around
a group of cars waiting at a light. He
jammed on the brakes momentarily until he saw it was clear, then quickly sped
through the intersection.
“There
it is,” Nick said, pointing to a distant bus just as Matt pulled around a large
panel truck.
Matt’s
heavy right foot found more speed as he urged the cars ahead of him to move.
Matt
jerked the steering wheel from side to side while Nick grabbed onto the safety
bar and braced himself with his feet against the floorboard. “I’d like to be alive when we catch that
bus.”
“Don’t
get greedy.”
As Matt
rushed along the left lane, Nick grabbed his arm. “Hold on a minute. If he spots us we’ll turn this into a hostage
situation. We need to wait him out.”
“Too
risky,” Matt said, still rocking the SUV between lanes. “We can’t afford to lose him.”
Nick
flicked off the emergency lights. “Slow
down, buddy. We’ve got time on our
side. He won’t get away.”
Matt
pursed his lips, then pulled his foot off the accelerator. “If you’re wrong about this—”
“It’ll
be a first.”
Matt
grinned. Over a decade of partnering
allowed Nick the freedom to call the shots.
“Okay, but you’d better get on the phone and tell Walt what’s going on. And to keep everyone out of the area.”
Nick
pushed a button on his phone, then put it to his ear. “Because I’ve got the cowboy with me. What could possibly go wrong?”
