Sarah Hamilton received her first inkling that this was no ordinary pawn shop robbery when she discovered the face that the clerks were describing through the same store window. 'Very blue eyes, hair the length of a 5 o'clock shadow, and a narrow chin.' Through the glass his eyes challenged, the twist of his mouth mocked.

She addressed her partner in uniform. "Look out the window, Bill."

Her partner turned.

"That's him!" The female clerk went into a blitz of emotion, and the chase began.

Sarah took off on foot. Bill went for the car. "He's turned right on New Braunfels. Try to head him off before he crosses the By-Pass." As she maneuvered the right to follow, she heard the scream of their patrol car's tires. A reassuring sound.

A few minutes later, she held her lips close to the radio. "Bill. He's made it to the other side of the By-Pass. He's going for the residential area. Try heading him off on Rigsby."

"I've got him, Sarah." His tires screeched to a stop. Bill got out of the unit.

Sarah saw the man reach behind him. "Bill, he's pulling his gun." She drew her Glock .45.

Too late! Bill was down. Sarah shot. The thief gripped his shoulder as he veered left before coming up on the patrol car. She spoke into her two-way radio.

"Code 30 at the corner of New Braunfels and Rigsby. I repeat... Officer down." She slowed a bit as she got closer to Bill.

He motioned her on.

"You alright?"

He nodded, and waved her on again. "Go get him!"

"I'm in pursuit." She glanced back. A patrol car screamed around the corner, its wheels kicking up dust, its flashing lights echoing off the dusk.

"Suspect is cutting through a yard on the East side. He's entered a house from the back somewhere in the 700 block of Rigsby." Her two-way crackled, and sounded like crumpling paper. "No, I just gave you directions. Try to head him off... Would you all get off your donuts? I'm alone out here... I heard him kick the door down, that's how I know... I know about the possibility of hostages. I'm no rookie! I'm going in."

She approached the back door on the same level as the ground with her weapon leading the way. She listened. The front door slammed. It could be a trick. She moved forward with a silent tread. Instinct wired her caution sensors that he was behind that wall coming up.

He was! He lunged for her. She used his momentum with a twist of her body to keep him from getting a hold on her. He countered quickly, and kicked the gun out of her hand. With her night stick, she blocked his series of kicks and swift punches. But in a sudden on-the-floor sweep, he knocked her feet out from under her. He pulled his weapon. She came up with the stick, and rapped his wrist before he could take aim.

Dropping it, he took off out the front door. She threw the stick at him, and blasted the back of his head. It didn't even faze him. She retrieved the night stick and both guns. Again, she was on his tail, informing the other law officers every turn he made.

No matter how informative she was, however, the man remained elusive. It was as if he wrote the scenario, and they were acting out his fantasy. This thought was reiterated time and again when just as she believed she had lost him, he reappeared. Down alleys, streets, past doorways and civilians, she kept after him. What else could she do until they boxed him in?

"Officer?"

A cold voice stopped her. She came face to face with him on a left turn.

"You're under arrest."

"Uh-uh. Holster your weapon, Officer. No need to report in. This is between you and me." He pulled a little girl from the doorway of a building in the downtown area.

Even through the darkness that was settling everywhere, Sarah could see that the girl's clothes and face were dirty. Paths hone by tears streaked her cheeks. And he was now using her as a shield. Where had she come from?

"If this is 'between you and me', what do you need her for?"

He treated her to a twisted smile that never reached his eyes. "Leverage."

"For what?"

"Shh, we wait." He jerked his head in different directions, as if he were waiting for someone.

Sarah had no intention of playing out this scenario. Instead, she played a hunch. On one of those head jerks, she reached, and grabbed the girl. Sarah yanked the girl behind her, and leveled her weapon in one move.

"You're not taking her anywhere. You're under arrest. Hands on the wall."

Suddenly, she was hit by a bolt of lightening. She flew forward. The man caught her as she gasped for air.

"Now, we're even." He whispered close to her ear, and gently lowered her to the ground. A sedan pulled up to the curb. The man looked down at her with the same challenge, the same mockery, but laced with a familiarity that made her shiver.

She heard the thud of a car door, and the screech of tires. She mouthed her partner's name. A little girl kneeled beside her to shake her awake. The radio sizzled.