The shot cracked through the creek bed.
Wolf dropped behind a boulder.
Deputies shouted.
Sheriff Cooper yelled, “Drop the gun!”
Gerald tried to stand.
His wounded leg buckled.
He stumbled.
The gun slipped from his hand.
Trigger was on him before he hit the ground.
Gerald fought.
Kicked.
Cursed.
Tried to reach for the weapon.
But Trigger pinned him face-first in the dirt.
Sheriff Cooper grabbed Gerald’s arm.
Twisted it behind his back.
The cuffs clicked shut.
Once.
Then again.
Gerald went still.
For the first time since this started…
He looked afraid.
Sheriff Cooper turned him around.
Read him his rights.
Gerald barely listened.
His eyes stayed on me.
“You think this is over?”
I crouched in front of him, on the ground.
Close enough that he could hear every word.
“It was over the second Sadie stopped being afraid of you.”
