by Mark Nolan
She took a deep breath and then burst through the doorway and yelled, “Hands above your head, don’t move or I’ll shoot!”
The man stood perfectly still and slowly raised his hands. The dog started barking and snarling, but the man said, “Out Cody. Out boy.”
The dog quieted, but he watched Sarah with a pained look in his eyes.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Sarah said. She held the pistol with both hands and pointed it at the man.
“I’m almost done here, sorry for the intrusion.”
“Turn your head slowly so I can see your face. And keep your hands up or I swear I’ll put a bullet in you.”
Jake turned slowly and looked at Sarah. When Sarah saw his face, she gasped.
“It’s you! Are you stalking me?”
“Now just calm down Sarah and let me explain.”
“You know my name?”
“Relax, your name is on the front door, and on your name tag.”
Sarah saw him glance at the name tag on her breast for a second, and her eyes narrowed in anger. “Don’t move a muscle or you’re a dead man.”
“At the moment I’m not moving any of them except for flapping my jaw. But while you hold me at gunpoint and threaten to kill me, I’d like to finish suturing my dog’s wound if you don’t mind.”
Jake slowly lowered his hands and turned his attention back to his dog, ignoring Sarah.
“What did you do to that poor dog? Why is there blood all over the front of your shirt?”
“I saved his poor life. He was losing blood, but thanks to your VetClot and IV fluids he’s going to be okay. My shirt has his blood on it because I ran here while carrying him in my arms, after a citizen vigilante shot him. Oh, and my name is Jake by the way.”
“I know who you are. I saw a TV news story about you shooting a pregnant woman in the stomach.”
Cody barked at the two of them, and Jake said, “Easy now, stay put buddy.”
Cody growled, but he held still.
Sarah noticed some cash money in a heap of bills near the sink.
“I see you robbed my petty cash box, that’s proof you’re a criminal.”
“I left that money to pay for the Novocain, VetClot and IV fluids that I used.”
Sarah glanced at the cash again and noticed it looked like a lot more money than had ever been in her petty cash box, but she remained unconvinced. “Save your lies for the new friends you’re going to meet in prison.”
As Jake continued to sew up Cody’s wound, he said, “I'm curious Sarah, are you part French?”
“I’m part French-Canadian, not that it’s any of your damned business.”
“I thought so. It was just a good guess because you have that cute mouth some girls get from speaking French words.”
Sarah scowled at him. “How nice, a burglar that flirts. I should just shoot you now and get it over with.”
“You won't shoot me.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because of that money I gave you. I'm a paying customer, and you need more of those. Did you do a mental count of how much cash is there?”
The question caused Sarah to reflexively turn her head for just a second to look at the money again. When she did, Jake lunged at her with incredible speed, grabbed the pistol and twisted it out of her hand. Then stepped back out of reach.
It happened so fast that Sarah was stunned. Now Jake was holding her gun and pointing it at the floor in front of her. When Sarah had been caught by surprise, she’d moved her foot that had been holding the door open. The door swung closed behind her on automatic spring hinges and blocked her escape route with a resounding thud.
Jake saw her face get pale as the door closed. He aimed her pistol off to the side. “The real reason I knew you wouldn't shoot me is that you still had your pistol’s safety on.”
“Give me that pistol back, right now.”
“Just FYI, when your weapon is taken away from you, you’re not in a position to make demands. I’ll just set it over here, along with the money I paid you.”
Jake turned around and set the pistol on top of the money that was on the counter.
The moment that Jake’s back was turned, Sarah attacked him with a flurry of martial arts kicks and punches. She landed several blows on his back, but he turned around and began counter-punching and kicking. None of his blows landed on her face or body, but they blocked everything she had to throw at him. He slowly advanced toward her a step at a time, moving her backward, all the while keeping a smile on his face.
As they fought each other Jake said, “Have you been trained in Jeet Kune Do?”
Sarah’s eyes got wide, and she threw more punches and kicks at him.
“You have been stalking me.”
Jake countered her moves and blocked the attack of her fists and feet. “No I haven’t been stalking you, don’t be ridiculous. It’s obvious by the way you fight that you know Jeet Kune Do, the fighting style developed by Bruce Lee. The reason I know is because that’s what I use myself.”
Sarah was nearly backed up against the closed door, and she attacked again with a desperate fury as if her life depended on it. Jake countered her every punch and kick with what is known in the art of Jeet Kune Do as intercepting fists, stop hits, stop kicks, and simultaneous parrying and punching. Try as she may, Sarah could not land a blow on Jake’s face or body. That drove her to fight even harder.
“We need to stop this now,” Jake said between kicks and punches. “So I can sew up my dog and be on my way.”
“We’ll stop when you drop,” Sarah said, and she threw a powerful kick that Jake deflected.
“Have you noticed that I’m doing my best not to hit you? It’s because I don’t want to.”
“You couldn’t hit me if you tried.”
With lightning speed, Jake’s hand flew out and he gave a playful slap to the side of Sarah’s shoulder. Sarah didn’t feel the slightest pain from the slap on her shoulder, but it was a huge blow to her ego, and now her eyes blazed in anger.
“You’re going to be sorry for that,” Sarah said, and she threw several punches at Jake’s eyes. “You think you can win because you are a man? Oh hell no, you’re going down.”
Jake shrugged and countered the repeated punches. “I was just trying to get your attention and end this pointless fight. And yes, I am sorry. I apologize for breaking into your clinic. But my dog was bleeding to death. You might have done the same thing to save a life.”
“Keep talking, say your last words.”
“My advantage isn’t because I’m a man, it’s because I have several more years of practice than you do. I’m also taller and I have longer arms and legs.”
“The bigger they are the harder they fall.”
“By the way, you want to keep your left elbow up a little higher,” Jake said.
Sarah stepped back from her attack to catch her breath for a second. “Why should I believe you? You’re a wanted criminal.”
She lifted her left elbow some and then moved in and threw a punch at Jake’s face followed by a kick at his knees.
Jake blocked the blows and said, “See, keeping that elbow up helped a lot, right? Look, all I can say is, I’ve been falsely accused. I hope you might understand since you were also falsely accused of harming that young woman when you acted as a Good Samaritan at that car accident.”
Sarah gritted her teeth at the mention of her trial and the hell she’d been going through with the legal system. She was an emotional person and her anger now flared to its peak. She made an animal sound and threw several fierce punches at Jake’s throat.
Jake had to fight harder to block the attack now that Sarah had her left arm working better for her. He was impressed.
Cody noticed the increase in the danger level from Sarah and began barking again.
“Out Cody, stay,” Jake said.
“After I kick your ass, you’re going to jail,” Sarah said as she gasped for breath. “For breaking and
entering, burglary, stealing medical supplies, criminal trespass, assault and battery, practicing medicine without a license and… being an asshole.”
“Sorry for entering here without permission,” Jake said. “But I didn't steal anything. I overpaid you for it with that cash. If it's against the law for me to save my dog's life, then I say screw that law and the fool who wrote it.”
“That’s exactly what a criminal would say.”
Jake stepped back away from Sarah and lowered his hands to his sides. “No, it’s what a free man who loves his dog would say. But I don’t have time for this. So go ahead and hit me, Doctor. Get it out of your system.”
Chapter 89
The moment Jake lowered his hands, Sarah threw a hard kick to his chest. She followed up with several wicked punches to his stomach and face, drawing blood from his nose and mouth. He just took the punishment and calmly looked her in the eye the whole time. Sarah paused for a moment in surprise that he was letting her use him as a human punching bag.
Jake nodded and bowed slightly in acknowledgment of her fine effort. Then he jumped up and seemed to float in the air in slow motion as he threw one expertly aimed kick at her chest, right between her breasts.
Sarah raised both hands in defense and caught Jake’s foot in a solid grip. She tried to deflect the kick but it raised her up off her feet and flung her backward. She slammed against the closed door, slid down it and landed on her butt, wheezing for breath.
Cody barked and growled and showed his teeth at the sight and smell of Jake’s blood. Jake stayed back, giving Sarah some space. He calmly spoke to Cody. “Out Cody, don’t attack. She’s a friend of ours, she just doesn’t know it yet.”
Cody obeyed and held still, but he growled menacingly and showed his teeth. He didn’t want to bite the woman, but he was trained to protect his alpha at all times and against any and all attackers.
Sarah struggled back to her feet and into a fighting stance, leaning her back against the door with her fists up in front of her. Her breathing was ragged, and her legs felt wobbly. She would never back down from a fight, and she was ready to go another round.
“Please give it a rest Sarah,” Jake said. He stood there with his hands relaxed by his sides, and blood dripping from his nose.
Sarah could see that Jake’s body language was non-threatening and patient, like when her Wushu Master was teaching a promising student a new move in martial arts. She finally believed that he didn’t’ want to fight her. She lowered her fists but was now concerned about the threat from the dog. Her training had taught her all about animal behavior. This dog had his hackles up and was baring his teeth. She had a way with dogs, but this one appeared ready to bite her. That was highly unusual. She hoped he would calm down.
“What did you mean by… attack?” Sarah said and gestured at Cody.
“Cody is a former military dog. He’s like an attack dog but far more of a highly trained warrior. I could give him the order and wounded or not he would leap from the table and tear your throat out. It would be over in a minute once he got his fangs into you. He’s trained to kill, and he’s good at his job. He’d fight to the death to protect me. You’d never get out the door fast enough.”
Sarah’s face went pale, and she swallowed. When she’d been in veterinary college, she had been trained on how to care for guard dogs, police dogs, and former military dogs. It was a dangerous job and so far she’d avoided it. This retriever looked so huggable like they all do. It was a little bit disturbing to learn that he was a trained killer. She realized that this man might be a military-trained killer too. Either one or both of them could have harmed her already. Why hadn’t they? Was he telling the truth?
Jake saw the fear in Sarah’s eyes and he felt bad. He picked up Sarah’s pistol off the counter. When she saw him do it she inhaled sharply in fear.
“I also could have shot you with your own gun if I was the bad man that you think I am.”
Sarah’s body stiffened as Jake held her pistol by the barrel and handed it to her grip-first with the barrel pointing at himself. Sarah snatched the pistol from Jake’s hand and pointed it at him, but she kept the safety on. Her hands began shaking slightly from relief.
Jake noticed the tremble and said, “Please be careful with that pistol. I didn’t give it back to you so you could shoot Cody or me by accident. Where did you get that thing anyway? It’s a complicated process to get ahold of one of those pocket rockets now that California is trying to ban them.”
“First, you knock me on my butt and let me get up again. Next you stop your dog from attacking me. And now you give me back my pistol… why?”
Jake shrugged. “This is your clinic. I’m trespassing. Plus I have this other gun I could have used if I’d really wanted to.”
Before Sarah fully grasped what Jake had said, she saw him turn and calmly lift up his leather jacket. He reached underneath it and took out his own pistol, holding it up and showing it to her but not pointing it at her. Sarah felt weak in the knees when she saw the serious piece of hardware. She realized that he’d had that pistol all of this time but had never pulled it on her.
“Being shot up close with this is something we describe in military terminology as a non-survivable event,” Jake said, and he smiled kindly at her.
Jake set his pistol down and turned back to Cody. He began the amateurish suturing of the dog’s wound again, ignoring Sarah. She kept her pistol trained on Jake, but she didn’t know what to say. He acted like some kind of stone cold killer military type, but his eyes revealed a hidden gentleness when he looked at his dog. As she watched him working to save Cody’s life with no concern for his own safety, it made her heart ache. He wasn’t doing the job up to her high standards, and she had to fight the urge to push him aside and do it herself.
“Feel free to point your pistol at me while I work,” Jake said. “But if you do fire that weapon, please aim high so you don’t accidentally harm my dog.”
Another drop of blood ran from Jake’s nose down his lip and chin, but he ignored his own bleeding and focused on Cody. When Jake leaned in for a closer look at the stitches, Cody craned his neck and licked his master’s bloody face. Jake gave a tight smile to Cody and patted him on the head.
“Hang in there buddy. That was a close call, but you’re going to be okay. As long as Sarah doesn’t shoot us before she gets to know us.”
Sarah felt a strange attraction to these two outlaws. Jake’s actions had repeatedly demonstrated that he could have harmed her, but he’d purposely avoided it and was even risking his life now to avoid it. Against her better judgment, Sarah lowered her pistol and pointed it at the floor. “Explain yourself. What’s going on here?”
Jake didn’t immediately comply with her request. He continued working quietly for a moment longer and then glanced at her briefly and went back to work. As Jake continued to sew up Cody’s wound, he nodded his head. “I guess I do owe you an explanation. I was impersonated by someone wearing a mask that looked just like my handsome face. The imposter shot a paintball at Katherine Anderson. The former prosecutor and currently very pregnant wife of Congressman Daniel Anderson.”
“Sounds like BS if you ask me.”
“I didn’t ask you, but I agree that it does sound like BS. Everyone thinks I did it, even though I have a solid alibi that can be verified by a US Secret Service agent and by plenty of evidence.”
“What kind of evidence?”
“DNA evidence, video evidence from various security cameras, and eyewitness testimony. I just need to hide out for a while until the police get all of the intel that proves I’m innocent.”
“Who hurt this dog?”
Jake noticed that she said it in an angry, demanding and protective way. He liked that about her. She was a badass veterinarian. He continued sewing up Cody’s wound and talking as he worked. “A couple of vigilantes tried to capture me for the reward money. One of them shot at me and grazed Cody instead. I could have shot and killed those men in se
lf-defense, but I let them live.”
“Reward money? Why didn’t you say so,” Sarah said, waving her pistol around.
“Easy does it with that pistol. I probably shouldn’t have mentioned the reward. No offense Sarah, but you need to be quiet now so I can concentrate on Cody.”
Sarah glared at Jake, and her grip tightened on the pistol when he told her to be quiet. Her mobile phone chimed in her pocket.
“Go ahead and answer that, and do whatever your conscience tells you to do. Call the police if you want to sell us out for the reward. All I really care about right now is making sure Cody is okay.
Sarah answered the call and heard the voice of San Francisco Police Sergeant Beth Cushman. “Hi Sarah, I hope I’m not calling too late.”
“No not at all Officer Cushman, thank you for returning my call.”
Jake looked at Sarah. “I know Beth Cushman, let me talk to her for a minute.”
Sarah shook her head. She had her phone in one hand, and her pistol in the other.
Beth heard a male voice in the background. It almost sounded as if the man had said her name. “Sarah, you can call me Beth.”
“Thanks, Beth. I was just calling you about that wanted fugitive I saw on the news, named Jake Wolfe.”
Jake shook his head and grumbled something about “Benedict Arnold.”
“Yes, I heard that on your voicemail. Jake is actually a close friend of my police partner Terrell Hayes.
“Is he dangerous? Did he really shoot a paintball at that woman? I heard a rumor that it was someone else wearing a mask disguised to look like him.”
“That’s true about the facial disguise. Jake is innocent, and I personally checked his alibi with an agent at the US Secret Service. I also double checked a security video from the Marina Green with my own eyes. Hardly anybody else knows about that or believes it at the moment. How and where did you get this information?”
“Uhm it was on one of those radio call-in talk shows. They always have a lot of conspiracy theories on there.”
“Hmmm,” Beth said. Her cop instincts were telling her not to believe it. “Where are you right now Sarah?”
