For Love or Money

Meghan remained frozen right where she stood. Stunned by what she had just done, her right hand hung limply at her side. The recently-fired weapon was still clutched by fingers that didn’t seem to want to release their hold on it. The police officer whom she had just rescued slowly stood to his feet. Having been shot in the thigh by the thug that now lay dead at their feet, the officer gingerly limped over to where Meghan stood paralyzed by the realization of what had just happened. In silence, she eyed a man that had only…within the last minute, breathed his last breath. “Thank you,” were the only words the officer could speak at the moment. Now, as the violent action and the sharp rapport of gunfire settled into a pervasive and somber silence that was simply all he could think of to say. “No problem,” was the stranger’s equally simplistic reply. “Maybe you should stop looking at the corpse,” the wounded officer suggested. “Corpse? You mean…a man, a human being,” came her terse, yet whispered words. “He was a thug…a crook,” the officer stated, hoping to verbally clarify the situation for her. “A kid,” she exclaimed. “Look at him, a living, breathing human being.” “Look at him…” the officer replied, his right hand held to his thigh as the searing pain threatened to overwhelm his senses. “A dead, non-breathing…felon. Miss, this guy had a rap sheet a mile long.” “Did he deserve to die?” She questioned. “It was his choice,” the officer gently argued. “What the heck is that supposed to mean?” At last, her dazzled feelings had worked their way to the surface. Now she finally became upset as her stunned silence gave way to enraged emotions. Normally, Meghan was a very feminine sort of woman. But there were times…and this was one of them, when she was intensely aware of who she was and what she could be capable of under the right circumstances. Finally, she turned her gaze from the man lying dead in the street to the cop whom she had rescued by intervening in the incident. Meghan had simply been driving to the grocery store to pick up a few items for a dinner she was making for some friends when she turned a corner…and her life dramatically changed. What she had seen shocked her and…at first she didn’t know what to do. She saw a black and white police car pulled over to the curb, it’s red and blue lights strobing vividly in the dusk of early evening. But her attention was riveted on the black-clad uniformed officer lying on his stomach in the street. “What the heck is goin’ on here?” She mumbled, verbalizing her mental query. But what made the situation even worse was the man standing over the downed officer. The scruffy-looking man held a gun in his right hand and his out-stretched arm was aiming the weapon directly at the back of the policeman’s head. “He…he’s going to shoot him,” Meghan gasped. Startled by what she was witnessing she pulled her car over. Braking to an unobserved stop, she surreptitiously observed the scene while the car idled softly. “That freakin’ piece o’shit is just going to stand there and shoot that cop!” Meghan gasped when realization reared its ugly head. “For craps sake, the man’s already down, what more does that creep want?!” Then the surprise of encountering such a situation diminished and anger began to rise up within her. She had to do something, and quick. Idly, her right hand slipped to the waist of her jeans where her fingertips gingerly felt the hard steel of her handgun. Meghan was a fairly new ‘concealed carry’ aficionado, though she had been taught how to shoot many years earlier. She was licensed and had steadily progressed through the ranks, and in fact was a pretty proficient marksman. Though she was always prepared, Meghan was now facing a real life and death situation. “This is what I’ve trained for. But, it’s not very lady-like,” she argued with herself. “I didn’t ever really want to have to face something like this,” she spoke as a grimace touched her lovely features. “I have to do something,” Meghan suddenly declared with startling clarity. “I couldn’t live with myself if I just drove on by and pretended like I didn’t see anything. The point is, I did see it…I mean, I do see it, and it’s happening right now, right in front of me…and yes, I have to do something.” With a steely look of determination upon her cover-girl features she placed both hands firmly to the steering wheel, and then punched the accelerator. The car’s tires squealed, and the vehicle fish-tailed slightly as she aimed for the punk with the gun in his hand. She was committed to this action, whatever the outcome might be. At the last possible moment, the thug jumped backward as she slammed on the brakes. In a split second, she threw the passenger’s door open and crawled out of the car and onto the pavement beside the downed officer. “You okay?” She quickly asked. “Shot,” came his simple reply through clenched teeth, and it was apparent that he was in a lot of pain. “Okay, you stay there. I’m here to help,” Meghan offered, unholstering her weapon she threw herself against the hood of her car and took careful aim at the crook. “Freeze!” Meghan shouted, demanding the thug’s attention…and obedience. “Who the hell are you?!” The crook shouted. “Never you mind who I am, buster! Right now, I’m the law here!” “So I get to shoot you too?” “Will never happen, scumbag! You just don’t go around shooting whomever you want. It’s just not done!” Meghan shouted. “Where I come from it does,” the man replied, standing his ground. From there it had all gone down hill…in a hurry. Within seconds, the day dramatically changed for everyone in attendance.