Dale Roberts - IRREFUTABLE

Irrefutable

Dale Roberts

Copyright 2011 by Dale Roberts

Smashwords edition

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All characters in this book are fictitious. Anyresemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purelycoincidental.

Cover designed by Dale Roberts

Acknowledgments

I wish to thank my wife Lisa, without whose patience,understanding and editing, this book would not have beenpossible.

For Lisa, Reagan, Chris, Shane and Taylor

Prologue

Two broken lights provided the darknessneeded for cover. Breaking them out the night before was the finalstep in the preparation for this moment.

The park was quiet. Even the trees made nosound. The breeze that swept through their leaves earlier in theevening was gone, leaving the humid air heavy and thick. Aside fromthe woman running at the far end of the track, there were no signsof life. Tonight was perfect.

McManus Park, Cypress Villages largest,occupies most of the western shoreline of Lake Duval. Its lightedmile long running track was a popular attraction for the localoutdoor lovers. Three hours ago it served as a temporary escapefrom the stresses of daily life for dozens of people; some joggedwhile others played with the family dog. Some simply stretched outon blankets enjoying the sun. By sunset the buzzing and biting bythe local wildlife drove the sun worshipers away. The park wasdeserted, as it always was this time of night, except for the twoof them. It was an intimate setting and the woman was comingcloser.

She was a creature of habit. The stranger hadwatched her for weeks, following, learning her routine, even daringto bump into her on two occasions to satisfy the ever growing needto touch. She didnt seem to sense the danger on that firstaccidental meeting. But on the second, her eyes showed theuneasiness of vague recognition and maybe even therealization that it was not coincidence. Tonight, their thirdmeeting would leave no doubt. The dark, driving need had becomestronger than the strangers will to resist.

The east side of the track followed the edgeof the heavily wooded nature area that separated it from the water.The narrow walking trails that wound their way back and forth forthree miles through the seemingly endless forest was the perfectplace to get lost, literally and figuratively. This is where thestranger waited and watched, anticipation growing with every lapthe woman ran.

With the woman on the final lap of her fivemile run, less than two hundred yards away, the stranger opened asmall bottle and poured the clear liquid onto a rag, shivering asthe sudden release of adrenalin found its way to tensed muscles.Heart pounding, breathing heavily, it was hard to sit still, tocontain the primal urge that grew stronger with every stride thatbrought the woman closer.

Thirty yards to go. Now twenty. Ten. In anexplosion of fury, the stranger attacked from behind. The woman hitthe ground face first and the stranger was on top of her.

A gloved hand held the wet rag tightly overher mouth and nose. Her labored breathing insured the quickdelivery of the powerful anesthetic vapors. The struggle was brief.In a matter of seconds she was still, silent, helpless. Thestranger dragged the limp woman into the darkness of the trees, andthe track was once again, deserted and silent.

Chapter One

Alex Mendez held a hand over his brow toshade his eyes. The flags on either side of the small stage hungmotionless as the sun climbed higher into the sky. Cypress Villagewas too far from the coast to benefit from the ocean breezes, buttoday the air was exceptionally still. The forecast called forclouds this morning and possible rain later in the day, but asusual, the Florida weather refused to conform to the expectationsof meteorologists.

Alex adjusted his position in the metalfolding chair, wiped beads of sweat from his forehead and pulledwith two fingers at the front of his collar. He hated ties. Theheavy dress blue uniform was suffocating, especially on sunny dayslike this, when the temperature and humidity both were approachingninety-five. His pants were beginning to stick to the back of hislegs. He couldnt remember the last time he wore it, or any uniformfor that matter.

Hed traded them in for plain clothes fifteenyears earlier. Nowadays, the only part of a uniform he wore was thesilver shield he clipped to his belt.

Alex gave a small wave to Carmen, hissixteen-year-old daughter whose maturity was far beyond her years.Her beaming smile lit up the front row of folding metal chairs thatcovered a large section of the lawn in front of city hall. He knewshe was proud of him. Though it did little to compensate her forall the time shes had to spend alone, at least it might offer abit of justification. They should be giving her the medal, hethought. Shes the one who had to make sacrifices.

In the two years since her mother died,Carmen had taken many of the household responsibilities uponherself. Shed been forced to grow up far too soon. She willinglytook care of the laundry and general cleaning. She even cooked nowand then, although Alex retained the official title of familychef.

Alex surveyed the small gathering from hisposition on the stage. Alex didnt care for all the hype and hecertainly didnt like being called a hero. After all, he was justdoing his job. But, the department needed this to promote theirimage after a long string of violent robberies had shaken thepublic confidence.

Since the city had gone to all the trouble toarrange the ceremony, it would be in poor taste to decline. He justwanted to get it over with.

Carl Richards, Cypress Villages Chief ofPolice approached the podium and tapped the microphone. A low thumpechoed across the lawn as it reverberated from the courthouseacross the street. The chief returned to the far side of the stageand casually chatted with Mayor Childress and Lt. Phelps. If anyonelooked more out of place in dress blues than Alex, it was Lt.Phelps.

The small group of reporters made finalchecks on their equipment and chatted among themselves as a small,but growing crowd began to fill the chairs.

Several uniformed officers stood facing thecrowd in front of and on either side of the stage. Alex couldnttell if they were there for show as part of the ceremony, or somekind of security detail, but it seemed to be the latter.

Alex wiped another bead of sweat from hisbrow as Rachel Summers found a seat in the front row, next toCarmen. Alex smiled and waved. Rachel had been a godsend afterAllysons death. She and Carmen had grown quite close over the pasttwo years. Rachel had been Allysons boss, if you could call itthat. Allyson worked for her in the District Attorneys office, butit wasnt your typical employer/employee relationship at all. Theywere best friends. Rachel took Allysons death as hard as anyone.She and Carmen had helped each other cope with the loss andsupported one another as they began the healing process. Alex wasglad to see her. She smiled and returned the wave.

The chatter from the crowd tapered as thechief approached the podium and began to speak, Thank you all forcoming, he began, Its not often that you find the kind ofbravery and dedication in a person, that they risk their life forthe sake of strangers, He turned toward Alex. But today, we arehere to honor a true hero.

The sound of applause covered the lawn. Alexfidgeted, readjusting in his chair. He was a private person. To beput on public display, even if it was to honor him, made him veryuncomfortable.