"Where is he, boy?"

The savage growl from the K-9 German Shepherd meant danger so immediate, that Catlene Farr jerked her head in his direction. Behind her!

She dove in some cardboard boxes that were stashed behind the garbage bin. Two more shots rang out. Six! He was empty.

"Wrangler, go!"

The dog seemed to develop a rocket for a tail as he bounded down the alley. She picked up the revolver the guy just trashed. One more weapon still unaccounted for. She resumed pursuit. He turned left, out onto the street. Wrangler was just about to turn after him when he stopped suddenly. With tense power in every muscle, he started forward, stopped, started, and stopped again. The trained, police dog was telling her that this just escalated into a hostage situation.

Cat came up on him. With her hands pressed up against the wall, she popped her head around the corner and back. The woman with the gun to her head and arm around her throat like a hangman's noose was the deaf owner of the pet store where Cat purchased Wrangler's goodies. She was the one who taught her how to read lips. One in her favor.

People ran in screaming panic, adding to the confusion. But soon the path was clear. This guy meant business. He already shot the gun store clerk, fired on 2 police officers, and he meant to kill his hostage. With her back to the wall, Cat produced her P 10 Para Ordnance with a cross draw. She took a deep breath, and let it out, quickly.

"Watch my back, boy." She pivoted around the corner. Her gun was level, she stepped swifly toward the man before he had time to think. "Riley!"

"Stay back, Farr. I'll kill her." He pushed the gun into the woman's temple. "Drop your gun!"

"Riley. We've been through this before."

"Stay back I tell you!" He screamed, as if he thought his madness would get things done.

"Riley, look at the hammer of that Taurus .22 you just stole. It's not even pulled back. And I already have a bead on you. I'll have you down before you have a chance to cock it. Is that what you want? Do you want to die today?" Cat missed his answer. She sought the frightened eyes of Sally Shaw. Their conversation was unheard by everyone because they were lip-reading.

'On 3, I want you to drop down, try to go limp. Try to push that weapon away from you.'

"What's the matter, Farr? Saying your prayers? Well, they won't help you or her. She's coming with me, until I get out of the city. Then, maybe, if I'm in a good mood...."

'One.' Cat's message was for the woman's ears only.

Cat stalked. "Riley, you should know something about me. Whenever I draw my gun, I either get what I want or you're dead. You choose."

Riley started moving back. Cat advanced.

"I'll kill her, I swear."

'Two.'

"Drop your gun or she's gone."

'Three.'

The woman went limp. She dropped about two inches. He shifted the revolver so he could pull back the hammer. The officer fired. The man went down.

"Wrangler, go."

The Corporal sprang toward the woman on the ground to shield her with his body. Cat moved in with her .45 automatic poised. Standing above the man, she stepped on his hand and grabbed the .22. She holstered hers, and bent towards him.

"A Taurus .22LR, Model 96 is a double action. You don't need to pull the hammer back."

He cussed at her before he closed his eyes. She checked his pulse. He was dead.

She turned to the woman sitting next to the dog, and reached to help her up.

"You alright?"

A trembling from head to feet was her only answer.

"Come. Rest over here." Cat drew her to the wall of a nearby building. "You were very brave. Thanks for helping me out.... No, no. don't worry. I'm not leaving. Wrangler, stay with her, boy."

A crowd was gathering with its usual morbid curiosity. By the time she covered the man with her tweed coat, flashing red lights blinked against brick walls, reddened white faces, reflected off store windows, lightened shadowy corners of the streets with a crimson heat.

"Say, Cat."

She turned from crowd control to answer the summons. The ambulance attendants were trying to get to Sally, but Wrangler wouldn't let them.

"You'd think he'd know by now."

"Come on, Wrangler." She stooped to hide her smile in his plush, tawny coat. "You do 'know by now', don't you! They just don't know you've got a sense of humor."

Rising, she met the grateful eyes of Sally Shaw. As she mounted the bumper of the ambulance, she made the sign for 'thank you'. Cat acknowledged it with a one-sided smile and a two-fingered salute.

"Let's go home, big guy."