The Rogue Element (Scott Priest Book 1) by John Hardy Bell Page A

entire life. The benefit of the doubt that was a natural byproduct of our friendship should have been enough to ensure that belief. Right now it wasn’t.
    “Don’t you think we should send someone down there to get it?”
    “It’s already handled,” Brandt declared as he entered the room. A Glock 19 dangled loosely from his gloved finger. “Found it on the side of the house directly under the window.”  
    How convenient for everyone involved. “You sure that’s the gun, Nate?”
    “What are the odds that we find a random gun in the exact spot where his would have landed?”
    I ignored the commander’s comment. “Nate?”
    “Damn sure looks like it.”
    The definitiveness of his statement was undercut by the doubt in his voice.
    Brandt gave the gun to one of the SWAT officers. “Bag it for ballistics. I’m sure we’ll get our official confirmation there. Personally speaking, Nathan’s word is all the confirmation I need.”
    “Can’t argue with that,” Renner said.
    After an extended moment of silence, Kimball looked at me. “What about you, Scott?”
    “What about me, Nate?”
    “Are you good with what happened here?”
    “Are you?”
    “Yes I am.”
    “You’re good with the fact that we may never close this case because our prime suspect is dead?” 
    “I’m good with the fact that none of us are dead,” he snapped back.
    “Both of you calm down,” Brandt demanded. “This guy pulled out a gun on an officer twice in one day. Innocent people rarely do that. Combine that with the surveillance footage and the sudden availability of his DNA for a comparison, and I’d say your case is still pretty damn solid.”
    I could only shake my head as I walked out of the room. From the corner of my eye, I saw Kimball following. I didn’t turn to acknowledge him, even as he began speaking.
    “What the hell is wrong with you, Scott? This son of a bitch tried to take me out, twice. I’m sorry if you’re upset that he won’t have his day in court, but right now I couldn’t give two shits about that. As far as I’m concerned, he got exactly what he deserved. It’s not like I woke up this morning with the intention of pulling my gun out on anyone, and I’m sure as hell not happy that I had to use it, but he forced my hand. If I hadn’t done what I did, you might have been reading my obituary a week from now instead of his. Do you get that?”
    “I get that it’s entirely too convenient for Commander Brandt to have found that gun so quickly when, as far as I could tell, he hadn’t even been up here to see what happened.”
    When Kimball invaded my personal space for the second time today, I didn’t nudge him away as I had done the first time.
    “What exactly are you trying to say?” His stare didn’t waver.
    Neither did mine. “I didn’t think there was anything ambiguous about it.”
    “Hey, you guys need to cool it,” I suddenly heard Renner say. “Clean-up is en route and they’ll be bringing a million questions with them. We need to make sure we’re giving them consistent answers. Is consistency going to be a problem for anyone?”
    I turned around to see Renner and his army of bad-asses staring at Kimball and me.
    “I don’t see why it would be,” Brandt said as he emerged from behind the group.
    Kimball backed out of my space, finally allowing the two of us to breathe. “Neither do I.” When he looked at me again, the aggression in his eyes was gone. “You know me better than anyone else, Scott, and you know my word means something. I didn’t have a choice.”
    For a moment, all the doubt and paranoia went away. For a moment, I only saw my friend – the man whose hands I would most trust my life to be in. In that moment, I had no choice but to nod my head and say “okay.”
    As the group made its way outside where patrol and CSI units were already gathering, one of the SWAT guys led Arturo’s girlfriend to a waiting female officer. The woman was physically and