Dead Shot by Jack Patterson (adventure books to read .TXT) 📕

look of vengeance. “He scratched himself to death. You can’t die much worse than that – except maybe nursing a blown off knee cap as you plummet to your death.”

And with that, Gold fired two shots, one into each of Mercer’s knees. Mercer screamed as he staggered toward the ground, a mere three feet from the edge of the cliff. But before Mercer could fall flat, Gold rushed him and gave him a shove with his left foot. Already off balance, Mercer staggered backward again until he reached back to find safe ground and came up empty.

Mercer’s scream was piercing for 10 seconds, filling up the canyon with his pain and final last words.

Gold watched Mercer writhe in pain on his way down for a few seconds until he was satisfied that survival was impossible. He then returned his attention to Cal.

“Is that how you did it in Boston – well, except with a gold coin?”

Gold looked stunned for the first time during this encounter. Cal had hoped for such a stunning reaction earlier when he revealed that Mercer was the one who killed Gold’s son, but it was mild compared to this.

“Excuse me? What did you say?”

“You heard me. But I’ll ask you again: Is that how you did it in Boston? You know, how you murdered people – ruthlessly, inflicting as much pain as possible?”

“Wow, I really underestimated you, Cal. I had no idea you were such a thorough reporter. It’s a shame that you’re never going to get that career of yours going.”

Gold pointed his gun again in Cal’s direction.

“I wouldn’t recommend that if I were you – because it’ll be the last thing you do. Killing me and Kelly, that is.”

Gold laughed. “You sure do talk big, Cal. I’ll just have you know that you can chalk up your death to that big mouth of yours.”

Gold then pointed his gun again at Cal.

“You might want to rethink what you’re doing, Gold. I mean, you might be wondering where that red dot on your shirt comes from.”

Gold looked down to see a laser site pointed directly at his heart. He’d be dead in less than 30 seconds after a bullet pierced his heart. And he knew it. But he still held the gun on Cal.

“I would just put the gun down in less than two seconds or else you won’t have a hand any more,” Cal said.

Gold laughed and ignored Cal. Two seconds later, a sniper’s A3 G bullet nearly separated Gold’s hand from the rest of his body. His handgun fell to the ground.

“It’s over, Gold. Give it up.”

It was over. Cal could tell Gold had conceded by the look on his face. But this wasn’t the way Gold wanted to go out, rotting away in prison before getting the death penalty. Endlessly parading into courtrooms wearing shackles and an orange jumpsuit – it wasn’t his style.

Gold’s hand was gushing blood. He bent over, grabbing his right hand with his left in a worthless attempt to stop the bleeding. “You ruined everything! You were supposed to be under control.”

“Sheriff Jones couldn’t do the job?” Cal asked, fishing for a confession.

“Jones isn’t an asset, but he could’ve been a liability had I not included him.”

Cal smiled. A corruption trifecta – municipal government, local law enforcement and the FBI. This was perfect.

“I hope you’re happy, Cal – and you too, Kelly. You two have ruined my family’s life. My kids will grow up without a father. Nice work, scumbags.”

Kelly grinned. Then Cal mocked Gold with a sarcastic laugh, this time at Gold’s inability to reason.

“Me? Ruined lives? Consider the untold thousands of people you’ve laid waste to – individuals and families. All these drug users and people you’ve thrust into a life of crime – yeah, I’m a scumbag for ruining your family’s life, a family you only started as a cover.”

Gold grimaced, still trying in vain to stop the gushing blood. “It started out that way, but something changed along the way.”

“Yeah, it changed all right. You didn’t even mourn the loss of your son. He was merely collateral damage.”

Gold looked up at Cal and glared. “You don’t know anything.”

“I know you’re going to jail, Gold. It’ll be much safer than me dropping a letter with your whereabouts in the mail to the Scarelli family and letting them take you back to Boston – with the FBI’s blessing, of course.”

“Like I said, you don’t know anything.”

With that parting shot, Gold turned and leaped out into the canyon, joining Mercer in the cruelest of deaths.

Cal and Kelly both sighed in relief.

“Did you get all this?” Kelly asked, contorting her body to get her hands in a position to pull her iPhone out of her pocket and signal to the FBI sniper situated on top of a ridge. “Now, get down here and take these handcuffs off us.”

After meeting with Cal and Kelly earlier in the day, the FBI flew a sniper along with a full tactical team to a spot overlooking Gold’s favorite dumping ground at Cold River Canyon. While the FBI suspected that Mercer might be the mole, they decided to discreetly record all the events with Kelly’s iPhone, a device nobody knew she still possessed. The open line also allowed the tactical team to know how to react to the events happening in front of them. Mercer’s motives remained a mystery to the bureau, but it didn’t matter now.

Had both Gold and Mercer survived, FBI officials knew any admission of guilt by Gold in this situation would likely wilt when held up to the law. But a revealing story written by a news organization could have forced Gold to make a desperate move – and that was when they knew the bureau could catch him. All that guess work, speculation and theory vanished in about ten seconds when Gold killed Mercer – and then it all became moot when Gold leaped himself. No FBI officials were complaining.

For the second time in less than 24 hours, Cal