{"id":411,"date":"2024-06-26T22:48:45","date_gmt":"2024-06-26T22:48:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demolinks2.com\/david-ramacitti\/?page_id=411"},"modified":"2024-07-16T21:30:31","modified_gmt":"2024-07-16T21:30:31","slug":"ros-handle-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/demolinks2.com\/david-ramacitti\/ros-handle-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Ro\u2019s Handle"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section el_id=”booki-blo” woodmart_css_id=”666ce08fbeca7″ responsive_spacing=”eyJwYXJhbV90eXBlIjoid29vZG1hcnRfcmVzcG9uc2l2ZV9zcGFjaW5nIiwic2VsZWN0b3JfaWQiOiI2NjZjZTA4ZmJlY2E3Iiwic2hvcnRjb2RlIjoidmNfc2VjdGlvbiIsImRhdGEiOnsidGFibGV0Ijp7fSwibW9iaWxlIjp7fX19″ mobile_bg_img_hidden=”no” tablet_bg_img_hidden=”no” woodmart_parallax=”0″ woodmart_gradient_switch=”no” woodmart_box_shadow=”no” wd_z_index=”no” woodmart_disable_overflow=”0″][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Sample chapters from Ro\u2019s Handle,
\nBook One in the Ro Delahanty Series” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:40|text_align:center|color:%23af2405″ use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1719441970040{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1718411046127{padding-top: 50px !important;}” woodmart_css_id=”666cdf1e1f431″ responsive_spacing=”eyJwYXJhbV90eXBlIjoid29vZG1hcnRfcmVzcG9uc2l2ZV9zcGFjaW5nIiwic2VsZWN0b3JfaWQiOiI2NjZjZGYxZTFmNDMxIiwic2hvcnRjb2RlIjoidmNfcm93IiwiZGF0YSI6eyJ0YWJsZXQiOnt9LCJtb2JpbGUiOnt9fX0=” mobile_bg_img_hidden=”no” tablet_bg_img_hidden=”no” woodmart_parallax=”0″ woodmart_gradient_switch=”no” woodmart_box_shadow=”no” wd_z_index=”no” woodmart_disable_overflow=”0″ row_reverse_mobile=”0″ row_reverse_tablet=”0″][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Chapter One” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:50|text_align:center|color:%23af2405″ use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1718411206520{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”Iowa\u2019s Best Shooter” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:50|text_align:center|color:%23000000″ use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1719441980800{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t

Sunday, April 27, 2003, afternoon<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t

R<\/strong>o stepped up to the firing line, her left hand hanging relaxed next to her hip, glad to have chosen a lighter, hip length, forest green denim jacket to conceal the Glock at her waist, as the Iowa Sportsman\u2019s Club indoor range was over air conditioned and a bit chilly. On the outskirts of Des Moines, it was known as the premier shooting facility in the state and was hosting the first ever Iowa Sport Shooter\u2019s State Championship match.
\nThe station judge, who was behind her a couple of paces and to her left, as that was Ro\u2019s shooting hand, raised his arm to signal the shooter at station number eight was ready.
\nThree other station judges, two to her left and one on her right, had apparently done the same thing as the shooter\u2019s targets instantly popped up twenty-five yards down the firing lanes.
\nCRACK! Only two of the four remaining shooters actually fired, virtually simultaneously.
\nRo\u2019s target, a male in a ski mask holding an AK-47, was clearly a bad guy; of course, she drew and fired. The big scoreboard above the judge\u2019s table behind the firing line, not unlike the leader board at a golf match, said Ro\u2019s judge had awarded her nine points, which probably was for having been a smidgeon slow on the draw, because her shot on the target was dead center in the heart.
\nThe other competitor who had fired \u2212 Roger Wheelan, a professional shooter \u2212 also clearly had had a bad guy as his target, although because competitors couldn\u2019t see into adjacent firing lanes, Ro didn\u2019t know what his had been. The scoreboard said he\u2019d also scored nine points as well.
\nThe two other shooters \u2212 Adam Hicks, an amateur, and Doug Payne, a lieutenant with the Iowa State Police \u2212 had received a surprisingly poor five points each. It was almost certain both shooters had committed the same faux pas; they had reacted a bit too quickly and partially drawn their weapons on what were non-threatening targets. Even partially drawing down on a \u201ccivvy,\u201d a civilian or non-threatening target, was a cardinal sin in sport shooting; the only worse mistake was actually firing on one, which resulted in a big point deduction.
\n\u201cSport shooting,\u201d as it was called, was a recent addition to the firearms competition sphere. Under the sponsorship of the United States Sport Shooter\u2019s League (USSSL), the basic premise was to simulate self-defense shooting. Pop-up targets presented themselves unexpectedly; the target might be hostile or might not be. The shooter had to quickly distinguish which was which, then draw, or not draw his or her weapon from a concealed-carry position and if threatening, fire on the target. Points were awarded by a judge at each station for speed of draw and accuracy of the shot (i.e., in a kill zone).
\nA match included three rounds, usually conducted over three successive days \u2013 Friday, Saturday, Sunday \u2013 again like the final rounds of a golf match. Each round involved ten individual shooting stations, with each station being worth up to ten points, so a round was worth a hundred points and a complete match was three hundred points. The shooter closest to three hundred at the end of the three rounds was the champion and earned the title of Best Shooter.
\nUSSSL matches were \u201copen,\u201d meaning anyone could enter and compete. The bottom one-third of scorers were eliminated after the first round, the bottom half of the remaining shooters were dropped after the second round. Again, like a golf match the \u201cfinalists\u201d competed on Sunday, with the \u201cleaders\u201d going last.
\nThe finalists now left to compete in the first Iowa championship were:<\/p>\n

– Adam Hicks of Council Bluffs, Iowa: A roofer by trade, he was proving to be a surprisingly good amateur. Shooting with a Glock 35, the forty-caliber version of Ro\u2019s nine-millimeter Glock 34, Hicks had been in station ten, to Ro\u2019s far left, and had just completed his match.<\/p>\n

– Doug Payne of Pine Grove, Iowa: A lieutenant with the Iowa State Police, he favored the Smith & Wesson M&P 40, a popular law enforcement sidearm. Payne had just completed his ninth station to Ro\u2019s immediate left.<\/p>\n

– Ro Delahanty of Lee\u2019s Landing, Iowa: A dispatcher with the Fort Armstrong County Sheriff\u2019s Department, she was representing the Witness Tree Rod and Gun Club and had just finished her eighth station.<\/p>\n

– Roger Wheelan of Valdosta, Georgia: A full-time professional shooter, he was competing with a Kimber Gold Match II 45. Wheelan, immediately to Ro\u2019s right, had just finished his seventh station.<\/p>\n

At the end of Saturday\u2019s second round, Ro and Wheelan were tied for the lead with 178 points each, which surprised everyone, as it had been assumed Wheelan, the professional, would run away with the match, and Ro, the supposedly untried amateur, would be lucky to finish in the top ten. Payne was just a point behind at 177, while Hicks had only 157 and seemed to be out of the running for a top spot finish.
\nHowever, so far Hicks was having an outstanding final round, scoring mostly nines and tens. Payne, on the other hand, was struggling, scoring only two points on one station and garnering a zero on another, which probably meant he\u2019d fully drawn down on a \u201ccivvy.\u201d For all intents and purposes, he and Hicks were now even, battling for the third-place trophy.
\nMeanwhile, throughout the final round Ro and Wheelan exchanged the lead several times.
\nAfter each station, competitors customarily turned to check the scoreboard on a raised dais ten yards behind the firing line. Ro had earlier spotted where her father, Big Mike Delahanty, and Johnna Mack, her informal coach, were standing together in front of the dais, along with several dozen other onlookers. At this point in its development, sport shooting was definitely more of a participant\u2019s sport than a spectator\u2019s sport.
\nIt had been Big Mike who\u2019d first introduced his daughter to skeet shooting at the Witness Tree Rod and Gun Club, where he was a member, when his daughter was ten-years old. She\u2019d taken up handgun competition at age fifteen, eventually winning an Iowa state fixed target championship with a Ruger Mark II Competition 22.
\nBut it had been a seminar held by Johnna Mack, also a full-time professional shooter, two years ago here at Iowa Sportsman\u2019s that had introduced Ro to sport shooting, which she\u2019d immediately gravitated to, seeing it as an essential skill needed to help fulfill her lifelong ambition of becoming a cop. An ambition soon to be realized, as in July, after reaching the mandatory minimum age of twenty-one for deputies \u2013 her eight-week police academy training already completed \u2013 Ro was slated to be sworn-in as a rookie Fort Armstrong County deputy sheriff.
\nOver the two years since the seminar, Ro had attended other sports shooting workshops Mack had conducted, and the woman had become something of a friend and mentor.
\nRo gave the pair a brief nod, which her father returned with a wink. Mack gave Ro a thumbs-up sign and, at the same time, mouthed silently, \u201cStay cool.\u201d Which had been her final, in fact, only advice just before Ro had stepped into the first station for the initial round on Friday. As the Iowa Sportsman\u2019s Club host pro, Mack was not eligible to enter the competition, for which Ro was grateful, since as far as she was concerned Mack would have won easily.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1718411046127{padding-top: 50px !important;}” woodmart_css_id=”666cdf1e1f431″ responsive_spacing=”eyJwYXJhbV90eXBlIjoid29vZG1hcnRfcmVzcG9uc2l2ZV9zcGFjaW5nIiwic2VsZWN0b3JfaWQiOiI2NjZjZGYxZTFmNDMxIiwic2hvcnRjb2RlIjoidmNfcm93IiwiZGF0YSI6eyJ0YWJsZXQiOnt9LCJtb2JpbGUiOnt9fX0=” mobile_bg_img_hidden=”no” tablet_bg_img_hidden=”no” woodmart_parallax=”0″ woodmart_gradient_switch=”no” woodmart_box_shadow=”no” wd_z_index=”no” woodmart_disable_overflow=”0″ row_reverse_mobile=”0″ row_reverse_tablet=”0″][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Chapter Two” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:50|text_align:center|color:%23af2405″ use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1718412474420{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”You Can See It in Their Eyes” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:50|text_align:center|color:%23000000″ use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1719442032443{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]\t\t

\n\t\t\t

Sunday, April 27, 2003, afternoon<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t

W<\/strong>hat no one at the match knew, except her father, of course, was even at a few weeks short of her twenty-first birthday, Ro Delahanty was a savvy competitor, having won her first junior division skeet championship at Witness Tree at eleven years old. During her teenage years she\u2019d studied judo, eventually earning a black belt at age sixteen, and before becoming involved in sport shooting had won an Iowa state championship in fixed target shooting.
\nIn other words, Ro had learned how to read her competition, how to really \u201csee\u201d what their body language, but especially their eyes, was saying about how confident they were in their abilities. Everything about Johnna Mack said the woman was a truly cool shooter, poised and self-confident, which is why Ro was both glad not to have faced her, yet at the same time a little disappointed she was not going to be stretched by having to compete against her.
\nThat Hicks and Payne might be nervous was no surprise, as they were still new to competitive shooting. But what had brought Ro up short was seeing the fear in Wheelan\u2019s eyes. She had seen the look before, and knew it meant he was likely to choke in the final moments of the match if he did not have a comfortable lead.
\nThe updated scoreboard announced:<\/p>\n

– Adam Hicks completed his final round with 88 points, for a total of 245 out of 300 for the match. It was a respectable, if not necessarily outstanding score.<\/p>\n

– At the end of station nine, Payne had only 60 points for the round and a total of 237 for the match. He needed at least an eight in his final station to tie Hicks, a nine or ten would garner him sole possession of third place.<\/p>\n

– At the end of her eighth station, Ro had 73 points in the final round and a total of 251 points for the match.<\/p>\n

– Wheelan\u2019s score through seven stations was 64, bringing him to 242 for the match; in other words, he and Ro were pretty much dead even.<\/p>\n

Payne, Ro, and Wheelan each moved to the next station to their left and readied themselves. Now just three judges gave the signal the remaining shooters were ready.
\nLook at the hands, Ro reminded herself, with a slight smile. During one of Mack\u2019s seminars, it\u2019s what she had told everyone. \u201cLook at the hands of your target,\u201d Mack had said, \u201cthey\u2019ll tell you everything you need to know about whether it\u2019s a threatening or non-threatening target. Most shooters waste too much time looking at the face or trying to scan the whole body.\u201d
\nRo smiled because it was so much like what her sensei used to tell his students about competing in judo, \u201cWatch your opponent\u2019s shoulders. They will signal to you what he intends to do. If he cocks one shoulder, it means he\u2019s going to attack with the other hand; if he throws one shoulder back, it means he\u2019s going to try a kick with that foot.\u201d
\nIt\u2019s what helped Ro advance to a black belt level and win more than a few judo trophies.
\nCRACK-ack! Only two of the three remaining shooters fired, with one a split second behind the other.
\nThis time Ro\u2019s target had appeared to be a pre-teen male holding a gun in a threatening position, like he was about to fire, except the \u201cgun\u201d was in truth a lime green plastic water pistol. Immediately recognizing it as non-threatening, Ro stood absolutely still, not even twitching a finger. Apparently, the judge was impressed by her coolness, because when she turned to check the scoreboard there was a ten posted next to her name.
\nWhile Payne\u2019s target must have been a bad guy, it apparently had been tough to discern, as even though he had drawn and fired, he must have noticeably hesitated; the scoreboard showed only seven points.
\nMeanwhile, Wheelan, like Payne, must have gotten a really tricky bad guy target \u2013 well, this was a championship round, so there had to be more than a few \u201ctricky\u201d targets along the way. His score was a six, ordinarily not a major blunder, but in this case, it turned out to be a costly one.
\nAt the end of the round:<\/p>\n

– With the seven in his tenth station, Payne completed the match at 244 points, allowing Hicks to sneak into third place with a one-point lead at 245.<\/p>\n

– With her ten in the ninth station, Ro\u2019s score so far in the final round was eighty-three, putting her at 261 for the match.<\/p>\n

– Whelan\u2019s six points put him at seventy through eight stations and at 248 for the match.<\/p>\n

Ro and Wheelan moved to their left and readied themselves. The match was now almost out of reach for Wheelan; he needed to complete his two final stations with at least a pair of nines, and more importantly, Ro needed to have a disastrous final station to give him a shot at the title.
\nAs Ro stepped up to the firing line, the crowd\u2019s muttering, the judge\u2019s shuffling into position, the sound of Wheelan stepping up to his firing line, even the whirring of the mechanisms moving the targets into position and popping them up all faded; there was just her hand relaxed and hanging down next to her left hip near the Glock and her eyes fixed on where the target would appear.
\nThe target started to pop-up, except to Ro it was rising in slow motion.
\nHer shot and Wheelan\u2019s were a split second apart: CRACK-ack! Ro\u2019s was first.
\n\u201cJesus,\u201d muttered Ro\u2019s judge under his breath, although Ro didn\u2019t hear it.
\nAt first glance the target might have looked innocent enough, a mother holding a baby. Except by focusing on the hands, Ro had quickly recognized the \u201cmother\u201d was carrying the \u201cbaby\u201d all wrong. A real mother cradles a baby with both arms, instead this \u201cmother\u201d seemed to be trying to balance the baby-like bundle on one hand while her other hand had disappeared inside the package\u2026it was a suicide bomber!
\nIn fact, the target had been a little over halfway up when Ro saw all she needed to see, which is what brought the involuntary exclamation from the judge, as her draw and fire had taken barely over one second, a phenomenal time.
\nHowever, because the target was still moving into position, while Ro\u2019s shot was a killing shot, it apparently had been just a tad off, as the scoreboard said she\u2019d been awarded nine points in her last station, thus completing the final round with a very strong ninety-two points, putting her at an outstanding 270 out of 300 for the match.
\nWith just 248 points at the end of his eighth station, even if Wheeler had gotten a perfect ten on his just completed ninth station, which he hadn\u2019t, and another ten on his yet to shoot last station, he still couldn\u2019t win.
\nRo Delahanty was the first ever Iowa\u2019s Best Shooter!<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1718411046127{padding-top: 50px !important;}” woodmart_css_id=”666cdf1e1f431″ responsive_spacing=”eyJwYXJhbV90eXBlIjoid29vZG1hcnRfcmVzcG9uc2l2ZV9zcGFjaW5nIiwic2VsZWN0b3JfaWQiOiI2NjZjZGYxZTFmNDMxIiwic2hvcnRjb2RlIjoidmNfcm93IiwiZGF0YSI6eyJ0YWJsZXQiOnt9LCJtb2JpbGUiOnt9fX0=” mobile_bg_img_hidden=”no” tablet_bg_img_hidden=”no” woodmart_parallax=”0″ woodmart_gradient_switch=”no” woodmart_box_shadow=”no” wd_z_index=”no” woodmart_disable_overflow=”0″ row_reverse_mobile=”0″ row_reverse_tablet=”0″][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Chapter Three” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:50|text_align:center|color:%23af2405″ use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1718412686382{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”Peter Panda” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:50|text_align:center|color:%23000000″ use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1719442074620{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]\t\t

\n\t\t\t

Tuesday, July 8, 2003, morning<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t

R<\/strong>o stood at the end of her bed, hands on her hips. The compact CD player on the dresser quietly playing Mozart\u2019s \u201cJagd\u201d String Quartet. She never listened to the radio, rarely turned on the TV except to watch a DVD or to catch the late evening news, weather and sports on KLEE, where her brother worked, just before going on third shift duty. Most of her local news was from her subscription to the local paper, the Lee\u2019s Landing Courier.
\nTaking in a deep breath and letting it out with a sigh, she turned and announced to the nearly three-foot tall black and white panda bear looking on from his honored perch atop the other end of the dresser, her voice a kind of husky alto, \u201cWell, Peter, it\u2019s happening\u2026I\u2019m really gonna be a cop!\u201d
\nPeter Panda had been a gift from her Uncle Richard and Aunt Eileen \u2013 her mother\u2019s brother and his wife \u2013 on her second birthday. The teddy bear had immediately joined her in her childhood bed, only moving over to the dresser in her sixth year. While a parade of other gift dolls \u2013 Aunt Eileen had no doubt every little girl just loved playing with dolls \u2013 had followed on birthdays and Christmases, including lots of Barbies and Barbie accessories, they had all ended up in Ro\u2019s closet, mostly unopened, as Peter Panda had never been endangered as her favorite.
\nHe was clearly well-loved and well-worn, with several bare spots in his fur and one corner of his mouth missing, giving him a permanently crooked and somewhat inscrutable smile.
\nThe queen bed, which nearly filled the small room, was situated facing a large window looking out over a thick green curtain of trees behind Ro\u2019s apartment. On the wall next to the bed were two large, framed Ansel Adams black and white posters: \u201cOak Tree, Sunrise\u201d and \u201cBirds on the Beach,\u201d chosen because she thought they gave the room a peaceful feel.
\nRo was looking down at her new, carefully pressed Fort Armstrong County deputy sheriff\u2019s uniform neatly arrayed on the bed\u2019s light blue corduroy bedspread. Up by the pillows was her long-sleeved khaki blouse, with its chocolate brown pocket flaps and epaulets, an American flag sewn on the right shoulder, the Fort Armstrong County seal on the left, her plastic name badge \u2013 Deputy R. Delahanty, which she read with a smile of pride \u2013 pinned over the right breast pocket and the five-pointed star deputy\u2019s badge pinned above the left breast pocket.
\nAcross the middle of the bed were her neatly creased chocolate brown trousers, with a khaki stripe down the outside of each leg. She\u2019d had to be quite insistent with the uniform shop attendant about wanting a men\u2019s 28\/36 size trousers, because it\u2019s what looked best on her slender, long-legged, virtually hipless and buttless runner\u2019s frame.
\nNear the bottom of the bed was a dark brown baseball cap, with \u201cDeputy Sheriff\u201d in gold block lettering across the front, a pair of black socks and her over-the-ankle, dark brown tactical boots.
\nAnd, of course, the dark brown leather kit belt, with its empty holster on the left side \u2013 her departmental issue Sig Sauer P229 .357 was locked in the gun safe across the hall in the larger bedroom used as her study \u2013 as well as holders for two extra magazines, a double handcuff case, a cell phone case, a mini LED flashlight case, a radio, a collapsible baton case, and in the center, where it would rest in the small of her back, an Uncle Mike\u2019s All-Purpose pouch to hold her wallet, keys, a coin purse and a small Lightning brand Out The Front (OTF) tactical knife: Ro did not like bulging pockets.
\n\u201cNo, Peter,\u201d she said, correcting herself with a brief head shake, \u201cofficially I\u2019m not gonna be a cop, I am a cop.\u201d
\nExcept for Ro Delahanty, it did not yet quite feel like it, even though yesterday afternoon Sheriff Mark Ballard had administered the deputy\u2019s oath in his office at the courthouse and issued her badge, photo ID, sidearm, radio, and kit belt. Because Ro knew in her heart, you\u2019re not a real cop until you put on the uniform, climb into a black and white Crown Vic patrol car, and put yourself in harm\u2019s way out there.
\nWith a kind of wry grin, she recalled how her classmates had sniffed mockingly and rolled their eyes when she had announced pretty much the same thing in Mr. Singer\u2019s fifth grade language arts class a little over ten years ago. The class was about to read Mark Twain\u2019s Huckleberry Finn, and Mr. Singer was introducing to the class the concept of symbols in literature, the idea that characters or objects can often stand in for bigger ideas.
\nAs examples, he showed overheads of the Statue of Liberty as a symbol of opportunity to millions of immigrants, and of a cross, a Star of David, and a crescent and star as symbols of three of the world\u2019s major religions.
\nThen he\u2019d asked the class if they could think of any other kinds of everyday symbols.
\nAfter a few seconds of silence, somebody tentatively mumbled, \u201cA stop sign?\u201d
\n\u201cGood,\u201d Mr. Singer had said with enthusiasm, hoping to encourage more responses. \u201cThat\u2019s definitely a symbol for a specific traffic law, but it\u2019s also for the whole idea of laws governing our behavior. But you\u2019re missing a really big one right here in this room.\u201d After another few seconds of silence, he added, \u201cI\u2019ll give you a hint: It\u2019s known around the world as a symbol of freedom.\u201d
\n\u201cThe flag!\u201d came several overlapping responses, everyone glancing up at the small American flag hanging from a short pole in a back corner of the classroom.
\n\u201cRight!\u201d he affirmed. \u201cBut come on, I\u2019ve given you some easy ones. There are lots more if you just use your imaginations a little.\u201d
\nAfter another short silence, Ro raised her hand and Mr. Singer nodded, \u201cRo?\u201d
\n\u201cA police car,\u201d the ten-year old Ro\u2019d said, picturing in her mind the black and white Lee\u2019s Landing squad cars frequently seen patrolling her neighborhood as a child.
\n\u201cCops! All they do is hassle people,\u201d someone muttered sarcastically from the back of the room. There were several snickers of agreement.
\n\u201cNo, no,\u201d Mr. Singer said, gesturing with his hand to quell any further snarky remarks. \u201cRo, why do you say that?\u201d
\n\u201cWhenever I see a police car it makes me feel better, like someone\u2019s there to\u2026to\u2026.\u201d She frowned, struggling to find the right words. \u201cTo be there when there\u2019s trouble\u2026like stopping bad people or helping when there\u2019s a disaster.\u201d
\nMr. Singer looked at her for a second or two and just nodded, like he understood completely but didn\u2019t have to say it.
\nAnd then, without ever having previously thought about it, Ro straightened up in her chair, squared her shoulders, and added with a self-assurance surprising even herself, \u201cI\u2019m going to be a cop someday.\u201d
\nAnd over the ten years since then had never once wavered from that aspiration.
\n\u201cWell,\u201d the now grownup Ro said aloud to Peter. \u201cSomeday is almost here, so let\u2019s get to it.\u201d
\nTurning, Ro pulled off her regular around-the-apartment T-shirt and cut-off sweats and headed for the shower.
\nHalf an hour later she stood in front of the full-length mirror hanging on the bedroom closet door, now in full uniform, liking what was reflected, at least insofar as the uniform went. At five-ten-and-a-half, she was tall and erect, her wide shoulders square, the shirt having been bloused slightly at the waist to help mask her 34 C bust line, her brick-red hair having been combed straight back and moussed in place, so no stray curls peeked out from under her deputy\u2019s cap. The uniform\u2019s overall impression was exactly what had been hoped for: Authoritative and professional.
\nBut then there was the face.
\nDefinitely her father\u2019s daughter, everything about her face said \u201cIrish,\u201d from the strawberry blond brows to the big blue eyes, from the pushed-up nose and high cheekbones to the bow mouth and sharp chin. Except the proportions were just slightly off, so Ro had never really thought of herself as \u201cpretty\u201d Irish, more like \u201cjust plain\u201d Irish. But she was still clearly \u201cgirl\u201d Irish, a look not really conducive for a cop.
\nLooking over at the Teddy bear, Ro raised an eyebrow, as if to silently say, Here goes, and then put on her \u201ccop face.\u201d It was a look first cultivated after landing her job as a night dispatcher with the Fort Armstrong County Sheriff\u2019s Department not quite two years ago. It included slightly clenching her teeth, so her mouth was pressed into a thin, straight line \u2013 she never wore lipstick, or for that matter, eye makeup \u2013 and knitting her brows into a slight frown, which had the effect of narrowing her eyes. While it didn\u2019t disguise her as a female police officer, it most definitely sent the message this was a no-nonsense female police officer.
\nHappy with the look, Ro picked up the Sig retrieved from the gun safe and dropped it into the holster, its two-pound weight settling comfortably on her hip, as a competitive shooter quite used to the feel of a sidearm at her side.
\n\u201cPeter, say hello to Deputy Delahanty,\u201d she said to the teddy bear, snapping off a salute.
\nAnd while fully aware the stuffed animal had no muscles with which to change its perpetually benign facial expression, there was also no doubt in her mind Peter Panda had winked his approval.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2024 by David F. Ramacitti, writing as Dave Lager<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_section el_id=”booki-blo” woodmart_css_id=”666ce08fbeca7″ responsive_spacing=”eyJwYXJhbV90eXBlIjoid29vZG1hcnRfcmVzcG9uc2l2ZV9zcGFjaW5nIiwic2VsZWN0b3JfaWQiOiI2NjZjZTA4ZmJlY2E3Iiwic2hvcnRjb2RlIjoidmNfc2VjdGlvbiIsImRhdGEiOnsidGFibGV0Ijp7fSwibW9iaWxlIjp7fX19″ mobile_bg_img_hidden=”no” tablet_bg_img_hidden=”no” woodmart_parallax=”0″ woodmart_gradient_switch=”no” woodmart_box_shadow=”no” wd_z_index=”no” woodmart_disable_overflow=”0″][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Sample chapters from Ro\u2019s Handle, Book One in the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-411","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demolinks2.com\/david-ramacitti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demolinks2.com\/david-ramacitti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demolinks2.com\/david-ramacitti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demolinks2.com\/david-ramacitti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demolinks2.com\/david-ramacitti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/demolinks2.com\/david-ramacitti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":441,"href":"https:\/\/demolinks2.com\/david-ramacitti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/411\/revisions\/441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demolinks2.com\/david-ramacitti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}