Read Crown's Law for Free Online

to the
ground. The other man was riffling through the girl’s purse.
    The man who had hit the girl yelled,
“Bitch!”
    Her head hit a discarded brick on the floor
of the alley as she fell to the grimy surface.
    Sam drew his Smith & Wesson .40 caliber
semiautomatic, flicked the safety off, and jacked a cartridge into
the firing chamber. The distinctive sound of the metal slide
striking home froze the two skinheads. They didn’t like what they
saw when they looked up.
    Sam said, “Stand very still, assholes! I’m
not in a very good mood! I’m really itching to shoot someone!”
    The one holding the purse froze where he was,
but the other one turned and started running down the alley away
from Sam. Sam yelled at him to stop, but he didn’t. Sam knew he
would attract a lot of trouble if he shot the man in the back over
a mugging. If he’d known the girl was dead, he might have
reconsidered. Instead, he shot the man in the left buttock,
spinning him to the ground.
    He pointed his gun at the other man and
snapped, “On the ground, fucker! Face down! Now!”
    The man dropped the purse and plopped down on
the dirty alley floor, his face in the grit. Sam walked over to the
girl and checked for a pulse in her neck. When he didn’t find one,
he became more enraged! A senseless murder of a young girl! He
whipped out his cell phone and called 911 as he walked toward the
man who had killed the girl. The guy was holding his wound and
moaning in pain.
    “You killed that girl, you son-of-a-bitch!”
snarled Sam as he kicked him in the ribs, wanting to inflict as
much pain as possible.
    “Ow! Hey! Police brutality! I’m gonna sue
your ass!” yelled the punk.
    “Go ahead, asshole! Sue away! I’m not a cop!
I should blow your damned head off!”
    He kicked him again, harder.
    “I want a lawyer!” moaned the thug this time.
“And an ambulance!”
    “A lawyer won’t do you any good this time,
you prick! I saw you kill that child and I’ll testify to it. You’ll
get the needle this time! Murder during a robbery. You two will
love Death Row!”
    ***
    An Irvine Police cruiser was there in three
minutes, the paramedics four minutes later. Sam knew one of the
cops who was first on the scene.
    “Well, Sam Crown! Long time no see! What do
we have here?” said Officer Charlie Simpson as he shook Sam’s
hand.
    Sam told him, leaving out any mention of the
youngster in the car. Why he did that he wasn’t sure.
    “The homicide dicks will need you to explain
how that perp got shot in the ass,” laughed Simpson. “And how he
broke his ribs!”
    “Simple enough explanation. Remember, I had
two assholes to control, and no cuffs with me. The one who killed
the girl started running and I couldn’t very well chase him. I drew
my weapon and yelled ‘stop’ and shit like that. I got all excited
and my gun went off, then he fell down. That must’ve been when he
broke his ribs.”
    Simpson was roaring. “Works for me!”
    “I can’t wait for the homicide guys right
now. I’m in the middle of something important.”
    “OK, Sam. You’re testimony should fry these
two punks! I’ve arrested them several times before, but they show
up right back on the street. We’ll need a formal, concise statement
from you,” said Simpson.
    “Will do, Charlie. I want them to get the
needle! As I said, I was in the middle of something important when
this happened. Could I swing by later?”
    “I guess. Don’t make me come looking for
you,” laughed Simpson.
    “No problem. I don’t want these assholes to
walk! Let me go move my van now. Give CSI some room.”
    Sam walked out of the alley and sauntered
over to the white Toyota. It was empty. He glanced around, but
didn’t see the blonde girl among the gathering crowd. He went to
his van, secured his equipment, and started cruising around,
looking for her.
    Twenty minutes later, he was about to give up
when he spotted her sitting at a picnic table in a small local park
about five blocks from