“If you come out now, we can just arrest you and no one needs to get hurt.” Harold yelled from behind the crate where he hid with his partner. There was the sound of scuttling across the warehouse and Jessica stood, aiming her pistol at the same time, and fired a single shot.

“Did you get him?” Harold asked.

“I don’t think so.” Jessica replied moving through the maze trying to keep the man with the crown in her sight.

“You really think you can catch me?” The man yelled.

There was the sudden whir of machinery as crate began smashing and tumbling across the floor. Whatever was moving the boxes was heading straight for where they were hiding. Harold and Jessica dove out of the way, just barely avoiding being crushed. She landed squarely on top of Harold, pushed herself into a kneeling position, her legs on either side of him, and fired another three shots.

When the man fired shots back, Jessica ducked, laying flat on top of Harold. She waited a moment and they both heard footsteps running away from them.

“Maybe we should just kiss to break the tension.” Harold joked, knowing full well that he was saving himself for a wife. At forty years old, he wasn’t about to mess that up now.

“You know that you’re an idiot sometimes, right?” Jessica said standing up to keep their quarry in her sights. “He’s heading for the exit. Get up!”

Jessica tore through the warehouse, weaving through the boxes, occasionally jumping over a smaller one. She leveled her weapon and fired a single shot. There was a yell from the running suspect and the sound of something heavy and metallic sliding across the floor. As she approached him, she saw that her aim had been right; she had caught him in the calf.

“Nice shot!” Harold said as he arrived a moment later driving a forklift.

“You’re really in a forklift?” Jessica asked as she put the man’s hands behind his back, placing handcuffs on him. He moaned in pain from the movement.

“I’ve always wanted to drive one.” Harold said as he shut off the engine and climbed out. “He got to drive it, and I figured I could use it to stop him.”

“He would have gone out the door by the time you got there, and it’s not like that thing has bulletproof glass. You would’ve been shot if you had cornered him.” Jessica said as they heard the sirens outside from the backup they had called for earlier.

“About time they showed up.” Harold said, “Here we are getting shot at, chasing the crown thief, and they are just taking their dear sweet time to get here.”

“You need to get a wife already.” Jessica said as she pulled the satchel from the man’s back, opening it to reveal the golden glint of the jewel embedded crown. “Maybe you’ll have better focus on the job. Instead of making jokes while we are getting shot at.”

“I’d have one if you had said yes.” He joked again, to which Jessica hit him in the stomach gently and walked out the door to let the other police in. The guy on the floor continued to moan in pain as Harold looked down at him. “You’d think after forty years of maintaining my virginity, people would stop telling me to take anyone that came along.”

“Wait, what?” The man on the floor replied, stopping his moaning and turning his head to look at Harold judgingly.