Girl Jacked by Christopher Greyson Page B

apartment.
    “Nancy.” Jack paused and lowered his voice to a whisper.
    She looked confused for a second and then looked down at the little girl. She grabbed her daughter and pulled her closer.
    “You want him to get help, right?” Jack looked down at the little girl. “Everyone needs help sometimes.”
    A soft cry escaped her mouth and she began shaking her head.
    She kept her gaze down as she whispered the words, “He’s in the bedroom.”
    That was all Jack needed to hear. He nodded to Donald and stepped into the apartment, motioning for her to leave. She scooped up her children and ran down the corridor. Jack moved into the apartment, scanning constantly. The bathroom door was open. It was empty. The bedroom door was closed.
    He gestured to Donald and then pointed at the closed door. He stood to the side out of range and slowly attempted to turn the handle. It was locked.
    He heard a door open inside the bedroom.
    I knew he’d run!
    “POLICE!” Jack yelled before he popped the door with a short thrust from his shoulder. The cheap ply board shattered.
    He caught a glimpse of someone running out to the mini balcony that connected the two apartments. Jack rushed towards the door to the balcony. He heard a woman scream from the other apartment. Jack whipped over the railing and onto the other balcony.
    “Police!” he warned as went through the door, his gun at the ready.
    The other apartment bedroom only had a mattress in the corner. A woman sat screaming on it and frantically pointed.
    Jack raced across her kitchen to an open door that let out to the back of the building. He heard footsteps running down the stairway and sprinted after him.
    The sound of barking dogs filled the air followed by angry shouts from Kendra. On the second floor, Jack looked over the edge and saw Kendra macing an enormous dog that howled in pain but held its ground.
    “Go around!” Jack called as he sprinted down the stairs.
    Jack saw Arnold as he ran for the other side of the building. A flash of metal in Arnold’s hand caught Jack’s eye.
    “Knife!” He yelled.
    Jack watched his prey knock over a chair as Arnold scrambled away. Jack’s legs pushed into the ground, his adrenaline raging as he pursued the perp. He felt the power course through his body as he flew forward.
    Jack rounded the corner and saw how much ground he had gained. Arnold was now less than twenty yards away but beyond them was an open field.  
    “Freeze!”
    Jack grabbed his nightstick and threw it side arm. The baton caught Arnold right behind his legs and he became entangled. Arnold’s hands went wide and he face planted in the dirt. The knife bounced along the ground in front of him.
    Kendra raced around the corner of the building and then tackled Arnold.
    Jack snagged his baton before helping her cuff the guy.
    “Way to go rookie! Nice job taking this guy down!” Jack congratulated her.
    Kendra was short on arrests and shorter on confidence. Being a new cop is hard enough. She had two things that made it a lot harder for her. She was a woman, and she was pretty. That meant that the guys hit on her, and the few girls on the force were jealous. Jack didn’t care who got credit for the arrest and he liked Kendra.
    She pulled Arnold to his feet, a string of obscenities mixed with ‘don’t’ and ‘move’ pouring out of her mouth. She was beaming as Donald ran around the corner.
    Kendra’s mouth was twitching between nervousness and unbridled pride. She looked up at him with a smile from ear to ear.
    “I got him! I got him!”
    “Nice job, Officer,” Donald said.

Chapter 1 1 – Try to Out Shout Me
     
    Jack stood next to Detective Charlie Flynn behind the two-way mirror and looked into the interview room where Kevin Arnold sat chained to a table.
    “I appreciate this, Jack. How did you get the guy?” Detective Flynn was fifty-two years old and completely bald but had thick bushy eyebrows. His brown suit, although pressed and neat, looked to be