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Mistaken Target

By Tina Ann Middleton

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Early June
Chapter 1
“It’s a beautiful morning for a run,” Esther thought. The
light fragrance of flowers mingled with the sharp tang of
pine needles tantalized her senses as she paused to admire
the clear sky and light, wispy clouds. Esther knew that the
heat and humidity would build in by mid-morning. Such
was summer in Louisiana. She sighed as she adjusted the
scrunchy holding her long brown hair and turned to her
jogging partners.
Her brother, Paul, reached down to stretch, his service
weapon tucked securely at his back. As a narcotics detective
in their small police force, Paul made sure he always
had his weapon and his partner, Ninja. The black German
Shepherd was Paul’s constant shadow.
“Come on guys,” Esther urged. “Let’s get moving. I
want to get done before it gets too hot.”
Paul stood up from his stretches and winked at his
sister. They set off down the trail, starting slowly, then
settled into a jog with Ninja trotting beside Paul.
“Do David and Christy know we’re jogging on their
trails this morning?” Paul stole a glance at his petite sister.
Esther nodded as she worked to regulate her breathing.
“Yeah, I talked with Christy yesterday. She said she
didn’t see a problem. She told me to just make sure to close
10 Tina Middleton
the gate when we’re done. They’re going with their Sunday
School class to a weekend church conference in northeast
Oklahoma.”
Once she felt she was settled into a steady pace,
Esther let her mind wander. She smiled as she glanced
at her older brother. It was good to be able to spend
time with him again. The two siblings enjoyed a close
relationship growing up, but, over time, had allowed
distance and busy lives to separate them. After losing
both of their parents in an automobile accident, Paul and
Esther returned to their childhood closeness. Esther felt
that their bond had deepened as they learned to draw on
each other’s strengths.
Paul saw his sister looking at him and grinned at her.
“I’m glad you came with me,” he said. “I was afraid you
were going to reject me in favor of your history teacher.”
Esther blushed and lightly elbowed him in the ribs.
“He’s not my history teacher. He’s just someone I met a
few weeks ago at the dojo. Don’t pester me about him.”
“I wouldn’t do that – much.”
Paul laughed at her, then sobered
“I’m glad you met him. You need to have someone like
Stephen in your life, sis.”
Esther rolled her eyes at him.
“We’re just friends,” she countered. “We enjoy some
of the same things. That’s all.”
Paul shook his head. “Esther, you need to let go of
that fear. Let yourself experience falling in love. It will
be okay.”
Esther jogged in silence for a minute.
“I want to, Paul.”
She was silent for another minute.
“It’s hard.”
Mistaken Target 11
Paul nodded his understanding, his face softening as
he empathized with her emotional struggle.
“I know. But you can’t let fear keep you from experiencing
God’s best for you.”
They continued down the trail without talking for a
few minutes, then Esther decided to change the subject.
“I saw Kenneth Owens in town yesterday. He didn’t
smile, but he didn’t glare at me like he normally does. He
even asked about you.”
Paul narrowed his eyes as he turned a sharp look on
his sister.
“Esther, I’d rather you stay away from him. After his
son died in prison, Owens told me he’d kill me if given
half a chance.”
“You think he’s still bitter that you arrested his son?”
“Well, that’s the main issue, especially since Jimmy
killed himself in prison. But we were also investigating
Ken for drug dealing. We just didn’t have enough proof
to arrest him when we arrested Jimmy. We know there is
someone who is heading up the drug sales in this area; we
just haven’t been able to nail it down yet.
Esther pondered her brother’s words as they moved
through the woods. The sudden sharp pain in her leg
surprised her so much that she stumbled and almost fell.
Paul reached for her elbow.
“You okay?” he asked her, his dark eyes concerned.
Esther grimaced as she reached down to rub her leg.
“I’ve got a doozy of a Charlie horse,” she groaned.
“I told you to stretch before we started.” Paul reminded
her. Esther ignored his brotherly tone as she continued to
massage the knotted muscle in her leg.
“You and Ninja go on ahead,” she told him. “I’ll meet
you at the picnic tables.”
12 Tina Middleton
Paul and Ninja jogged down the trail, soon disappearing
from sight on the wooded path. Esther slowly stood
and eased her foot down to try to stretch out the cramp.
When she could stand on the leg, she limped up and down
a short section of trail until she felt confident that she could
walk without the cramp returning.
“Gee whiz!” she muttered to herself. “So much for jogging
with my brother. By the time I get there he’ll be sitting
on one of the picnic tables with that smirk on his face.”
Esther and Paul had engaged in friendly competition
since their teens, always trying to one-up the other in
athletics. Because of his job as a narcotics detective, Paul
had to stay fit. He ran, swam, and bicycled as well as lifted
weights. Esther stayed in shape by running and training in
martial arts. They both enjoyed archery and marksmanship.
Currently Paul was ahead of Esther in their ongoing
competition because of his participation in local races.
She knew he had an ultimate goal of participating in the
Iron Man Triathlon.
As he emerged from the woods and headed for the path
around the pond, Paul was surprised to see two men near
the picnic tables that the Michaels had set up in a clearing
near the pond. Although he recognized one of them as a
well-known businessman in Forrestville, the other man was
someone he had seen around town but didn’t really know.
Paul felt uneasy seeing the two men here together. What
were they doing on the Michaels’ property? He saw Ninja’s
ears stand up and swivel forward. Paul knew the big dog
was picking up on something as they approached the men.
“Good morning.” The greeting was polite but forced.
Paul saw the man’s neck muscles bulge in tension. His body
Mistaken Target 13
language screamed that Paul and Ninja’s presence was
neither expected nor wanted.
“I’m surprised to see you out so early.”
“Yeah, we like to get out while it’s still fairly cool.”
Paul responded. He watched the other man’s eyes constantly
sweep the area, coming back frequently to glance
at Paul and his K9 partner. Ninja stood for a moment,
then moved away and started sniffing around. The
businessman’s eyes widened a fraction as the big dog
approached the vehicles parked nearby.
“Well, we don’t want to keep you from your exercise.”
The men started toward their vehicles, a black luxury SUV
and a small, older sedan. His sensitive nose quivering, Ninja
sat next to the trunk of the sedan. He stared at the back of
the vehicle and raised his paw. Paul nodded at his partner.
“Sir, my dog has alerted on your vehicle. I’m going to
have to ask you to open your trunk.” As he spoke Paul
reached for the handgun tucked at his back. Before he
could get to his weapon, the businessman already had his
gun in his hand. He fired twice, both bullets hitting Paul
in the chest.
Ninja snarled and launched his muscular body at
the shooter. He clamped his jaws on the man’s gun arm
and bit down hard. The killer shouted in pain and swore
vehemently.
“Get him off of me!”
His companion fired at the dog. Ninja yelped, then
collapsed.
Esther had just gotten where she could walk, albeit
painfully, if she took it slowly, when gunshots erupted
from the direction Paul and Ninja had gone. She lifted up a
desperate prayer for her brother and his dog as she limped
down the path as fast she could go, her heart hammering.
14 Tina Middleton
Esther could hear the sounds of Ninja snarling, a shout
of pain, another gunshot, then a yelp.
“Paul!” she tried to scream, but her throat closed in
fear. Esther had no thought for her safety. She just wanted
to get to her brother.
Esther stumbled out of the woods and saw a small
brown sedan and a sleek black SUV speeding up the drive
toward the Michaels’ front gate. She limped to the edge of
the picnic area and saw two forms laying on the ground.
Esther cried out and ran to her brother’s still body to kneel
beside him.
Her hands shaking, she reached to turn her brother
over. Blood covered Paul’s chest. Esther frantically felt for
a pulse, but there was none. His eyes were open, but there
was no life in them. Esther cried out, “No! Paul, no! God,
please don’t take him too!”
As she knelt beside her brother, Esther heard Ninja’s
soft whine. She watched as her brother’s K9 partner crept
inch by inch to Paul and licked his face, trying to rouse
him. Esther knew the big dog often woke his partner like
that in the mornings, but this time Paul did not stir nor
awaken. Ninja whined again and laid his head on Paul’s
chest. Then he closed his eyes and went still. Esther kept
vigil beside her brother and his dog, sobbing in hopeless
grief and oblivious to everything else around her.

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