First Offense Read Online Free PDF

character.
    He gave himself this little pep talk a few times a day in the can at the Ventura police department. This year he’d passed the big five-o, and it was every bit as bad as they say. He sucked in his stomach and vowed to go to the gym tonight. There were a lot of younger cops out there, though none of them necessarily tougher and certainly not better. Anyway, he said to himself, tossing the crumpled-up paper towel in the trash can, that’s the way I see it.
    As soon as Reed cleared the door, he saw Noah Abrams heading down the hall with an alarmed look on his face. Reed almost ducked back in the can, but then he stopped. No gym tonight, Reed thought, knowing he was about to catch a hot call.
    “Here,” Abrams said, throwing the keys to a police unit at the older detective. “You drive. I know you won’t let me drive anyway. Ann Carlisle’s on the way to County General. Gunshot wound.”
    The keys hit the linoleum floor with a ting. All the color drained from the detective’s face. By the time the younger officer had gone three feet down the hall, however, Reed had leaned over sideways in one fluid motion, scooped the keys up, and was flat-out sprinting down the corridor leading to the parking lot. “Where?”
    “Government center parking lot. Don’t know much…just came in,” Noah gasped, running alongside Reed now.
    “What’s…her condition?”
    “Dunno. Here’s the car. It’s the green one.” They both ducked into the unmarked police unit. Abrams slammed the portable light on top of the car and Reed gunned it, screaming out of the parking lot, skidding around the other police units while Abrams flicked through the police bands trying to get the fire department frequency so they could monitor the paramedics who were transporting Ann Carlisle.
    Tommy Reed was distraught. This was no ordinary person who had been shot. Ann’s father had been his training officer when he was a rookie, his mentor since the first day he’d become a cop. On his deathbed Lenny Braddock had called Reed in and made him promise he would look after his daughter, make certain no one ever harmed her. Ann was impulsive and headstrong, Lenny had always said. One day she was going to get herself hurt. Well, Reed thought, biting down on the inside of his cheek, her father had been right. He slapped the steering wheel, almost losing control of the speeding car, feeling that shaky, hollow feeling inside, the way he felt when things were beyond his control.
    “There they are,” Abrams yelled over the siren, hearing the medical lingo on the radio. “Watch it. Reed, you’re busting a hundred. On your right,” he quickly called out, advising the detective he had a side street coming up, a dangerous situation at this speed. If someone was approaching the intersection and didn’t hear the siren, there would be no way to avoid a collision and there would definitely be no survivors.
    The radio was blasting as the paramedics relayed information to the hospital. Once they cleared the intersection, Abrams killed the siren so they could hear. A few moments later. Reed let up on the gas and his speed dropped down to a more cautious seventy.
    Ann was alive.
    The bullet had struck an artery but bypassed her vital organs. She’d lost a lot of blood and would more than likely require surgery, but it didn’t look critical.
    “Siren on or off, Sarge?” Abrams asked, looking over at his partner.
    “Off,” Reed said. “Is patrol on the scene?”
    “Five of them and a lieutenant. They were right on top of it when the call came in. The radio room said there’s even a D.A. on the scene. They’re already calling it a drive-by.”
    “Fucking animals,” Reed barked, cutting his eyes to Abrams and then back to the road, his relief turning to outrage. Ann and her son had become Reed’s family, particularly since her husband’s disappearance. No one played target practice with people Reed called family. Acid rose in his throat. Reaching in