“He didn’t think the FBI would catch him?” Didn’t the kid watch TV? Or maybe that was the problem. He’d watched too many movies where the guys get away with the cash. Something like Ocean’s Eleven, where the thieves were glamorous.

“I guess his first plan had been to pretend to turn in the money at the restaurant and then try to claim it later. When he saw the rush of agents, he panicked and ran.”

“Dumb. Where are the smart crooks these days?” Mason muttered.

“I know where one was yesterday morning,” Ava said softly.

“Not smart. Lucky,” stated Mason. “And his luck will run out soon.”

“What an idiot,” the man told his television. Had the child really thought he could steal two million dollars out from under the FBI’s nose? He kept his respect for the abilities of the police at the forefront of his mind. He might have hated the police, but he knew they had skills. Maybe not every member of the police force, but most of them. Police had a set purpose in the world. They caught the bad guys and offered them up for justice. Without a police force, the country would fall out of balance.

Balance was vital.

If only everyone could see what he’d seen; they would understand that they needed to work to restore the balance in their personal lives. It’d taken him years to see the truth. He’d made a lot of wrong turns and horrible decisions in his life that had hurt the people around him. But he’d finally understood how life worked. Give and take. Rest and work. Black and white.

By thinking before he acted, he was able to make the right decisions. Every action a person made had a decision behind it. He chose what to eat for breakfast. He chose what to watch on TV. These decisions might have seemed like nothing, but they were everything.

He chose not to eat a donut for breakfast. From that simple decision, he avoided the chemicals and saturated fat. The ability to choose gave him power. Power over his health and weight. Thinking about every bite he put in his mouth made him strong. And kept his health and weight in balance.

He rarely turned on his TV except to watch the news. Sex, advertising, gluttony, noise. By hitting one button, he removed those aspects from his everyday life, uncluttering his brain. He didn’t need the excess crap pitched to him on television; he had important things to think about. It kept his mind calm and balanced. Why were so many people unable to push that button? Their lives would have been better for it.

A Christmas commercial danced across the television screen, and he changed the channel. It was impossible to avoid every cheap celebration of the season, but he tried. Christmas didn’t mean what it used to.

Most people looked away when a mother was dealing with a screaming child. He would always look right at her and smile. He remembered those days. It was a rite of passage for a parent to deal with a public situation. It was his way of acknowledging her pain and being thankful that he’d survived his son’s childhood. If you chose parenthood, you should experience the painful moments and the happy ones. You didn’t pick and choose what moments you wanted; you embraced it all.

And you had the right to be a parent. If someone took that right away, they should lose their right, too.

Balance.

It was so simple, so clear. Why couldn’t more people see the truth?

That boy who tried to steal two million dollars didn’t deserve it. It wasn’t his money. The police were right to stop it, and now the boy would be punished for fighting the natural balance.

His own personal gifts were the ability to see the natural balance and the brain to figure out the steps to restore it. He closed his eyes, studying the colors on the back of his eyelids. He would experience a green aura when things were good in his life. He didn’t actually see the colors; it was more like he felt them, breathed them. Right now things weren’t quite right; his aura seemed more of a muddled yellow. He knew what big step he needed to take to restore his life’s harmony, but he hadn’t found the right opportunity. But tonight there was a small step he could take. It would help get him through until he could take the final leap.

An eye for an eye.

He wasn’t a religious person, but there was truth and strength in those words. The phrase vibrated with power and precision.

They were words to live by.

14

48 HOURS MISSING

Ava closed one eye and focused on the figure in front of her. She slowly exhaled, then held her breath as she smoothly pulled her trigger over and over. She emptied her magazine and smiled at the paper figure full of holes in his chest.

Nothing was more relaxing than seeing those holes. With one swift movement, she swapped out her magazine for a second one on the table in front of her and filled the paper man with holes again, ignoring the hot shell that bounced off her neck and burned for a brief second. She welcomed the prick of physical pain. She laid down her weapon and listened to other weapons firing in the sheriff’s facility, her earplugs and hearing protection muffling the shots into soft thumps.

She’d had enough.

She’d felt the need to hit or shoot something this morning. She pulled off her eye protection, gathered her gear, and headed through the double sets of doors of the firing range and into its lobby. Her brain was clear and her energy renewed as she stepped outside and unlocked her bureau vehicle. She loved to shoot. She’d never had to pull her weapon on the job, but she relished her trips to the firing range. Some of the agents she worked with hated the mandatory qualifications with their service weapons. She’d seen both men and women sweat as their test day drew near. Not her. She loved it. And she was damn accurate.