What Frank likes best about being promoted from detective to road sergeant is the schedule.  Shift work allows him to moonlight, and the paychecks are fatter.  At 43, Frank is a retired Army first-sergeant, and has five years in law enforcement.  The sheriff likes supervisors with experience.  And experience is what this story is all about:

It's nearly 2 a.m., Frank is on the front desk working lunch relief.  The 911 phone rings.

Frank takes down the caller's name and complaint, but before he can dispatch a car, there's a thunderous crash in the lobby less than 15 feet away.  So intense Is the noise, it reminds Frank of the sound of an incoming SCUD missile at impact.

A pickup truck plunges though the glass wall, crosses the lobby, and slams into the cinder block near Frank.  There's a dark object in the driver's hand.  "He's got a grenade," Frank thinks.  "He's a terrorist."

With glass still raining down, Frank's .357-Magnum is firmly in hand in a three-point stance.  The sights are on the driver's left ear.  A single shot at that target can cause instant death.  No wiggling, just muscle tissue turned to Jello.

Wild thoughts continue through FranK's mind: "If this guy is a terrorist, he's got an Uzi or a Mac-10.  If all I do is wing him-that'll just make him mad.

"On the other hand," he thinks, "if I kill him and he's not a terrorist, I'll be history around here before daylight.  The media will have months to decide what I should have done.  This is a lose-lose situation.  Either way, I'm hung out to dry."

Frank does not shoot.  The driver Is not a terrorist, he's a drunk, and the object in his hand is a beer can.  Somebody beat him up in a bar, and he drove himself to the sheriff's office to report the incident.  The guy passed out before he could park.

This is a learning experience.  Frank is a hero for exercising restraint during a tense situation.  The driver is arrested for driving under the influence.  The county rebuilds the sheriff's lobby, replacing the glass wall with concrete block.  Steel reinforced anti-vehicle concrete pylons are installed to prevent future drive-ins.  The front desk area is surrounded with bulletproof glass, and the door leading to the office area, also bulletproofed, has a coded numeric keypad.  It's a scary world we live in.