Ace Kincaid wasnt born a hero.
He had that oh-so-honorable title thrust upon him by a strange twist of fate
Now Ace Kincaid wasnt a coward not by any means but like anyone else who wasnt completely out of their mind, he didnt go looking for trouble.
But even sometimes when youre not looking for it-trouble finds you.
In this case, Ace Kincaid found himself running for his very life.
I aint no hero Kincaid thought, glancing at the very
frightened young woman running alongside him.
Heroes were the people who went off to fight in war and ended up getting all kinds of medals and commendations and stuff. Heroes were also the people who became police officers and walked the beat for years, keeping the city safe for honest citizens until that day comes when the criminal who figures he can commit the perfect crime and get away with it, crosses his path, and the policeman, who never before pulled his revolver from its holster, stops him dead in his tracks and gets the front page of the newspaper and receives more medals and commendations and a promotion.
Heroes were guys like Steven Alex Kincaid.
Ace Kincaids father.
Ace was extremely proud of his father. Steven Alex Kincaid had excelled at everything he had ever tried. Hed been captain of the football team in high school. In Vietnam, hed received the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Purple Heart for bravery above and beyond the call of duty.
As a much decorated police officer, he had thwarted one of the most daring bank robberies of the twentieth century. He had single handedly stopped five heavily armed bank robbers with only his service revolver a .38 caliber police special. Hostages had been taken and entering undetected via a rooftop ventilation shaft, Steven Kincaid had taken out all five criminals without losing a single hostage. That had been the beginning of Aces fathers trip to becoming Captain Steven Alex Kincaid. It had only been a matter of time until he became Chief of Police.
Shortly after his promotion, early retirement called to him, and he and Aces mother, Katherine, had moved to a ranch in Montana, where Aces father lived to this day.
What would my dad do in a situation like this? Ace Kincaids mind raced as he dragged the woman around a corner into an extremely dark alley.
Sidestepping around a huge over-flowing, foul-smelling dumpster and a pile of equally ripped open, foul smelling large black garbage bags, Ace skidded to a halt, throwing his back to the wall next to the dumpster, trying desperately to catch his breath while straining his ears to hear the sounds of any running footsteps belonging to the gunmen that he knew were chasing them.
He slid his right hand down to the butt of the gun shoved into the waistband of his jeans. Touching the weapon reassured him - a little.
Fighting to keep his breathing as quiet as possible, he glanced at the woman beside him. She was also attempting to regain her breath.
Felicia. She had said that her name was Felicia.
He hadnt even gotten a chance to finish telling her his name before the three goons had arrived.
Ace Kincaids mind drifted back over the events leading up to this moment, sitting in a dark dirty alley among the maggot-infested garbage.
He was on vacation, in Las Vegas, taking a well-deserved break after having just finished writing his latest science-fiction novel.
He had been pulling the handle of an unlucky slot machine hed been sitting in front of for about a half an hour or so, when the woman slid up next to him and had begun their very brief conversation.
Hey, good-looking, she had begun. Ive been watching you all night. My names Felicia. Whats yours?
Ace, Kincaid had answered.
And before he could continue, the three hard-looking men in the very expensive three-piece suits had confronted the woman.
The big guy who did the talking would have been an excellent stunt-man for the Incredible Hulk, except that he was too big.
At least he seemed that way to Ace.
He had grabbed Felicias arm, jerking her roughly toward him and had snarled into her face.
Come on, Felicia, time to go. Dont give us any crap.
In any other situation, Ace Kincaid would have ignored it and gone back to playing the slots, but he had a couple of drinks in him and he wasnt really winning anything on the slot machines and it was ticking him off slightly and with the booze boosting his courage and his confidence, he found himself speaking before his brain was engaged, surprising even himself at how deep and menacing his voice sounded at least to him.
Leave her alone.
The three heavies stopped in their tracks, stunned, turning in unison to direct their scrutinizing gaze upon Kincaid.
What did you say? asked the hulk, still holding Felicias arm tightly in his grasp.
D-dont, Felicia begged in a pleading voice.
Kincaid was unsure if she was pleading with him or if she was talking to the goon who held her. Ace also knew whichever it was, he was now committed to helping Felicia - liquor in his system or not - he couldnt back off now.
Let m-me g-go, Felicia pleaded, attempting to pull away, buy not succeeding.
Yeah let her go, commanded Ace Kincaid.
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