11 Evading Justice

Joe speeds down the highway, lights, and sirens blaring. I know the shooter has to be around here somewhere, he thinks, surveying the sleepy southern town. Berryville is a small community; a place where everyone knows each other and where ruthless crimes are seldom heard of. As an officer of the law, Joe hopes he can keep it that way.

Seeing the Mustang's taillights pull down a dark country road Joe turns in behind him. "I got you now, sucker." he chuckles, glancing down the rugged dirt path. Realizing the vehicle is getting away, Joe gives the vehicle more gas. "You're not outrunning me." Joe straightens in his seat, then shoves the pedal down more. Rocks ping off the car's chassis as he closes the gap.

A black creature dart into the road. Joe slams on his brakes. A thick cloud of dust engulfs his car as he skids to a stop.

He sees an angry bull glaring at him through the glass once the blanket settles. "Get out of my way you stupid beast," he yells, laying on his horn.

Bellowing, the bull ambles across the road. He stops, looks back at Joe and moos irritating Joe even more.

"Sometime today would be nice."

The beast cries again.

Joe looks up to find the taillights our out of sight. Frustrated, he slams his hand against the wheel. He glances at the beast and says, "Thanks a lot, pal."

*****

The sun slowly peaks over the beautiful Ozark Mountains. A gentle breeze drifts across the land bringing the scent of spring flowers with it. The birds chirp cheerfully in the distance, happy for a brand new day.

Rachel walks back to the weeping family, a female officer in tow. "This young lady will take you to the motel where you'll be safe," she explains.

The widow looks up at the officer, tears streaming down her wrinkled face. "I...I don't have any money."

"The city will pay for it since you're a witness to a crime but only if you agree to testify."

"I will, I will and so will the girls." wrapping their arms around their mama, the two girls nod.

Rachel hands the rookie a few bucks. "Make sure they get something to eat."

"Oh, thank you, thank you so much," the woman cries.

It's the least the city can do after all you've been through, Rachel thinks. She turns to see Kirk headed towards them; a perplexed look on his face. "What's wrong, Kirk?"

"You're never going to believe who owns a black Mustang."

"Is it Tito Greco by chance?"

"Yep and the description everyone gave matches him perfectly." He hands her a tablet.

Glancing at the photo, Rachel pictures the dollar general shooter in her mind. That's him alright. She hands the tablet to the mother.

She looks at it and nods. "He's the one who killed my husband," she cries.

"He must have flown back under the radar. That's if he left at all."

"Why would the maid say he's out of the country when he isn't?"

"Maybe she wants to keep her job, or she's his partner in this murder spree."

Jeff scratches his head. "What does Tito have to gain by the Maroni's deaths?"

"It could be revenge for something they did or they should've done but didn't?"

"That could be."

"I'll talk to our Captain and see how he wants to handle this." Rachel starts to walk to her car when she remembers Joe picked her up. She turns to face her crew. With an embarrassed look on her face she says, "Could one of you give me a lift?"

"I will, Rachel." Kirk volunteers.

"You don't drive crazy, do you? I don't think I can handle any more turmoil tonight."

"They say I drive like a grandpa."

"Believe me, he does," Jeff smirks. Kirk smacks him in the arm. Rubbing his extremity, he says, "Well, you do. I probably walk faster than what he drives; my Granny too." He chuckles.

"Guess you'll be testing out that theory." Kirk turns towards Rachel. "Are you ready to go?"

"Lead the way." Rachel follows Kirk to his car.

With a bewildered look on his face, Jeff says, "I was only joking, man."

Kirk turns around. "Maybe you can figure out ways to improve your humor on your long walk back."

"It's ten miles to town."

"That'll give you plenty of time then, won't it." He looks over at Rachel and winks.

"You're so mean." Rachel laughs.

"Yeah, I know." Kirk chuckles.

*****

Jerry and Rachel are searching through the evidence logs when Joe walks through the door.

"I hope you're having better luck than me," he says, stomping towards them.

Jerry glances up from his desk. "You didn't find him I take it?"

"I was right on his tail when this damn bull decides to cross the road. Fortunately, I was able to stop in time."

"I'd say you're both pretty lucky to come out of it unscathed."

He pictures the possible damage in his mind."You're right about that. I never realized how ugly bulls are until tonight."

"I'm sure he's saying the same thing about you, boss." Jerry chuckles.

"The beast is probably bragging to all of his friends about how he survived an attack from the scariest creature alive," Rachel adds. The detectives laugh.

"You two aren't one bit funny."

"No, but your face sure is," Jerry says. The duo laughs again.

"You two are hilarious this morning."

Jerry turns towards Joe with a smirk on his face he says, "Horror land called said they want their mask back." Jerry reaches up and touches the captain's face. "Oh my God, Rachel, it's real." The detectives laugh again.

"I'm so glad you two are enjoying yourselves."

Struggling to keep a straight face Jerry says, "You know we love you, boss." Chuckling he adds, "Ugly and all."

"Right back atcha, Jerry." He rubs Jerry's belly and says, "Your baby too." Their friendly banter is how they cope with the stresses of the job. Both give as good as they get.

Jerry snuggles up against his boss. "I hope so, seeing that it's yours."

"You wish."

Jerry cuddles closer. Batting his eyes he says, "Sure do big guy."

Joe pushes him away. "Let's not get that rumor going again." Word around town was that he and Jerry were romantically involved.

Rachel nods."That last time was a mess."

Joe runs his fingers through his hair again as he pictures it in his mind. "Tell me about it." He almost lost his job over it.

" We have some good news on our case, Joe."

"I sure could use some about now." He plops down at his old desk.

"We know who the gunman is."

"Who is it?"

"It's Tito Greco."

"That's impossible. Tito is in Italy with his mother."

"He was in Italy. Evidently, he came back under a different name." She hands him the witness' description and then a snapshot of their suspect.

Joe compares what he read to the photo. "So I assume someone is picking him up?"

"Not yet. We're trying to get a solid case against him. Get our ducks in a row so to speak."

Joe recalls the last time they tried to go after the family. "Good idea, Jerr."

Kirk races into the room. "I have your DNA results right here."

"Is it Tito like we suspected?" Rachel asks.

"That's what it shows. When I entered his DNA into the system I found something very odd. Handing the captain the results, he continues. "According to the computer, he and the two girls have a familial match, but he and Mrs. Maroni don't. I compared Mrs. Maroni to the girls and she is their biological mother. Out of curiosity, I evaluated Tito's and the girl's DNA to Mr. Maroni and found he's their biological dad. Unfortunately, Mrs. Greco's DNA isn't in the system to finish my comparison."

"But we can logically assume that Mr. Maroni and Mrs. Greco had an affair which produced Tito," Rachel concludes.

"Tito finds out; he confronts the Maroni's, demanding his share of the family fortune. They deny him his birthright, so Tito decides to get revenge," Jerry adds.

"Knowing that If he kills them, and then proves his relation, he'll inherit the entire estate," Rachel finishes.

"We need to find Tito, bring him in for a chat and we need to notify Mr. Maroni of his family's demise."

Kirk glances up from his desk. "Mr. Maroni had a heart attack on the way to a business meeting in China. According to the company they're trying to expand across the globe.

Joe runs his hand through his thinning hair. "Heart attack my ass. I almost guarantee that Tito got to him too."