Shoot Not to Kill

by Daniel L Stephenson

  Colin put his chopsticks down and said, “Hey, we got a little Howard Hughes on our hands here. Good for you.”

  “Yeah, they paid me forty thousand dollars for the retainer three years ago. I burned that up in computer systems, which at the time cut the edge of space, and now you can get the same rig for a tenth that cost. Oh well.”

  Michelle pulled a folded paper out of her pocket and slid it to Geech.

  Forensic Field Agent Active Investigator

  Job 30043-Line 3AC

  Allotment: 12

  Physical category: 1121-H

  Pay scale: GW: 13S1-5p

  Closing date: Line 3AC applications must be submitted by 15 October

  This position is being created for immediate filling. Requirements are analytical and physical crime scene experience, bachelor of arts in criminal justice or related criminal investigation field with completion of three years duty LAPD. Applicants must be between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-eight. Training period will be six months, internship two months.

  Job classification will be as active agent. Required to be familiar with and qualify as general marksman on all department weapons, though maintaining individual weapons and routine issue of weapons will not be required. Job will be in area of investigation of ongoing criminal activities, which could require interceptive seclusion.

  Competence in computer use and programming a plus.

  These positions are available without regard to gender, race, or religion. Age restrictions are approved due to the physical nature of operations by executive review 667 on public notice IC-445.

  Geech looked up and adjusted his glasses. “Do you even know what interceptive seclusion means?” he asked.

  Colin answered, “Yeah, it means undercover work.”

  Geech shook his head, “It means more than that. It means getting shot at. What are you two doing? This is real cops and robbers stuff, not just sifting around in the debris left over from bad guys. You can get yourself killed doing this stuff!”

  Michelle looked at Colin, then at Geech, and said, “That could happen, but we went to the department that put the proposals together, and what they say is that we’ll be investigating patterns of movement of money, equipment, materials, and persons, mostly by electronic sleuthing. It is not designed as a field agent position. The dude that put these into the books said he wants someone that can take a criminal activity and put it to a computer analysis. It’s out of the lab, Geech. It is fine with us if you want to stay in there and haunt the halls. I have enjoyed it. Ms. Borden tipped me on the job, though she didn’t know it. She had an application for anther position, and I went to the Intranet to read the requisites for that job and came across this. Colin liked it, too, so we’re applying, and I thought you would be interested. It’s no big deal, we just thought we’d let you know.”

  “Sounds too cool. I’ll think about it. You guys want to come over and watch a cool Web site? It’s a screening Web site for independent films. You can see shorts and longs of the best films ever,” Geech said as he started clearing his table.

  “No, thanks,” Colin said as he leaned back. “I’ve got class in twenty minutes and need to scoot.

  “OK, see you in the morning.”

  They left the Chop Stix and walked together for a short distance, then broke off into separate directions. Colin had slipped his arm around Michelle’s shoulders. Surprisingly, Michelle liked the feeling.

  Michelle found the fax listing the medications Hank had sent her. They were on her desk in the morning. Faxes came and went all the time, and the central fax distribution was efficient and discrete. She read the list. There were over forty medications on the list, but a line across the page at the tenth medication indicated the cutoff for common drugs.

  Michelle scanned the list and sent Colin a copy. Her work order list was fairly light, and she noted that she had inventory duty for three days, beginning the next morning. An e-mail from the police side asked again for the Acozil vial. She answered that she would deliver it to the evidence vault that morning.

  When she returned she had a note from Colin taped to her monitor.

  “Call me ASAP, was first drug on the list.”

  It took her a moment to figure out what Colin meant, then it occurred to her he was referring to the second drug in the Acozil vial. She called.

  “Hey, girlfriend, it’s atropine. Perfect match,” Colin said over the sound of machinery running in the background.

  “Girlfriend now? That’s good news. What is atropine? Seems like they have that in the survival packs for the disaster drills.”

  “What’s good news—girlfriend, or that I identified the drug? Just kidding. Works on the body, and antidote of something. It would appear that it is a concentration of fairly significant amounts. I didn’t have enough to run quantitative amounts, but that’s the best we could do. You figure out if Geech is interested in the job we talked about?”

  “I’ve not seen him yet. He’d have to give up his key collection if he changed buildings. I’m not sure he could live without that collection. He’d have a chance to start over, though,” Michelle mused.

  “The whole city would be his domain then. You doing anything for supper?”

  “No, but I get to pick,” Michelle said as she realized that she ate with Colin most nights now.

  “OK, meet you at the digs on Bradley?” Colin asked.

  The “digs” referred to a small bar they had gone to a couple of times. It seemed equidistant for both of them.

  “That works. How are you doing on the application for the job?” Michelle asked.

  “Looking good. I asked the dude that does the final cut if he would let me come in with the MBA at all but delivered, and he didn’t seem to be too impressed. Then I showed him the minor in computer networking technology, and I thought he warmed up a bit. So far I have five more courses for the criminal justice. Those sure are a tough five classes. Who would have known criminal justice meant you had to study developmental psychology? So, how’s sevenish?”

  “Deal. My roommate’s getting the idea she’s going to have to find someone else soon because we’re seeing so much of each other. Told her not to worry. We’re too damn busy to make any plans. I’ll see you then.”

  Michelle pulled her work schedule out and started a program that assisted her in getting the controls ready for the next week. She e-mailed Hank and asked about the atropine and was surprised to get an immediate response.

  Michelle, Sis says hi. I’m home, working on my continuing medical education online. Getting caught up. Have a class I pay big bucks for, and I’m six months behind. Your e-mail came in and gave me a welcome excuse for pulling the plug on the test. Atropine mixed with Acozil is a pretty unusual trick. I know a couple of gassers that do it. The Acozil can make you sleepy, but should not cause you to need atropine. We usually will give a hit of atropine with certain cases. Tends to dry the patient out a bit before we start general anesthesia. Some of the gases we use make them pretty wet. I know two docs that will draw them together to save a few seconds. I don’t like it because I have to worry about heart rate, so I like to use them independently, and the docs that do mix them never seem to have any major complications, so I guess it is a matter of taste and habit.

  Gotta go. I guess if I were you, I would get to know someone on the gas staff that is a boss and ask if they are aware of anyone in that department doing the mix. It requires special labeling on the vial if someone is doing it on routine cases. Pharmacy should be mixing, but the guys I know that do it will mix it for each case. If your vial was not labeled, it was likely mixed at the surgery site by the gasser. That’s my guess. How many hospitals do you have to search? Must be twenty or so in your area. Good luck. Call your sister, she’s getting pretty blue, but Gus is due any time.

  Chapter 17

  Police Academy

  Michelle looked at the letter twice before she closed the computer and headed out to find Colin. The letter indicated she
had been accepted into the first class for the new position they had discussed, and the class would be starting training in a month. That would be just enough time to give notice to Ms. Borden.

  Colin was working with Geech when she arrived. The two of them were wiring a new processor for analysis of DNA. Geech was the first to react, “Oh great, look at her. She’s just about to bust. What’s the big news, as if I couldn’t guess?”

  “Did you guys get a letter? I’m in, but if you two didn’t get in, I’ll decline the job,” she said as she grabbed a cable from the floor just before Colin crushed it.

  “Good grab, and yes, we’re both in, too. This is another fine mess you have gotten us into. Ms. Borden’s going to have to change her lipstick color when she hears this one,” Colin said as he released the weight of his side of the processor.

  “I fancied it was time for a change, anyway,” came a voice from across the hall. “Just what is it you were referring to that will cause me to change it now?” Ms. Borden asked as she emerged from someone’s office.

  Colin laughed outright and said, “This is something you usually see only in the movies. Well, I’ll get right to it, Ms. Borden. The three of us have been accepted into the upcoming class for forensic field agent. We have to start in a month.”

  Ms. Borden blinked, and said, “Of course you got accepted, dears. I wrote your references when you applied, though you didn’t know it. Now finish this up and make sure your letters are on my desk tomorrow. You’ll be hard to replace, but we’ll manage. Geech, I’ll take the keys when you leave.”

  Geech unconsciously felt his hip and said, “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Now get with it, I’d like a fresh calibration from all the systems before we have new chemists in here, and it will take some time to get them covering for each other like the likes of you three are so good at. Now that you’re leaving, Michelle, my budget may come in within my estimates plus inflation. Now good day, y’all,” she said as she marched off.

  The three started laughing. Michelle spoke first. “I guess we should have known they’d check with our boss. That was pretty easy.”

  “Yeah, and I’m sure going to miss her,” Colin said

  “Me too, but I’ll copy all my keys. I’ll show you guys where I hide them when we leave here, if you ever need back in the place,” Geech said.

  “I figured that. Where’s your hiding place?” Colin asked as he started plugging in the computer processor.

  “There is a standard case for all the fire extinguishers in the building. The roof of the extinguisher case is friction fit on the top joint, and with a good punch they folded up. If you reach into the metal box and push up on the top, you’ll find it has been bent back into place. Just behind the lid there is a flat spot and a nail on the wall. I hang the key to the nearest doors in that spot,” Geech said as he started reading the next step in the installation. “Hey, this says we need to get a special backup power supply for the unit, I didn’t think of that. Michelle, do you have any idea were we’d find one? I’ll order another, but it will take a week.”

  “I’ve got one on my computer in the hub, I’ll go get it. Hey, now I’m kind of worried that we’re getting into something that may be more than we expected. I don’t know about the three-month training to be a cop, first. That sounds pretty tough.”

  Colin nodded and said, “My brother-in-law went though it. Said the first six weeks were pretty tough, but then they started treating you like you were going to be a cop. I think we’re supposed to stay at the school for the first eight weeks. I’m looking forward to the pay, means a pretty good bump right off, and if we qualify as a cop, that’s a nice bump, too.”

  “That’s true. Well, I’ll scoot for that power unit.”

  “What does this mean for your private investigation, Michelle? Are you going to have to drop it?” Geech asked.

  “I’m not sure. Seemed like that was getting pretty cold anyway. Took the evidence over to the gumshoes, and now I just have the data. I may get interested in it again, but for now, I’m off it. The Diamond Miner has popped out a good list just in time for me to put it in a safe place and then go back to school.”

  Chapter 18

  Cop School

  Michelle, Geech, and Colin stood staring at the piece of paper stuffed into a plastic wall holder. Orientation: Police Officer Training Course 55 A-1 It might as well have read, “Fear all those who enter here,” or some such announcement, but as innocent as it seemed, the three of them just stood.

  Several other people walked by hardly noticing them. These others walked into the room looking all sharp and spiffy. Hair cut to police standards, black shoes, and white shirts and dresses.

  Geech ran his hand through his long red hair and shook it loose, immediately thinking this was going to be a long day. Michelle looked at him and laughed, “Maybe we can tell them we’re here to calibrate the thermometer on the wall.”

  Geech laughed briefly and said, “I miss my keys.”

  Colin then laughed and said, “Geech, if I know you half as well as I think I know you, I’ll bet that you’ll have three keys by Friday.”

  Geech smiled and said, “You’re on.”

  Michelle started for the door when a uniformed officer excused himself and stepped by the three of them, looking over his shoulder at them and saying, “You better get in here and sign in. We’re going on a field trip and leaving in a few minutes.”

  Colin looked the officer over. He looked like he was laser printed for a recruiting poster. He glanced at Michelle, registering her look, and Colin was reassured to see her squinting at the receding figure as if he were giving her a ticket. Perhaps he had.

  They signed in and took seats near the back. A box of doughnuts was open on the back table and several cups of spilled coffee littered the remaining desk. The room contained sixty some students, all seemingly younger and dressed for the occasion.

  As if on cue, the officer that had brushed past them took the podium just as the three of them were settled.

  “Good morning. I am Officer Davis to you. You are candidates for the next three months. You will address me or the other instructors as ‘sir,’ and you will address each other as ‘candidate.’ You will be visiting the training barracks today. You will move to the barracks Monday for the first eight weeks of your training. The training schedule will be provided to you on your return to this room in six hours. You have the rest of this week to acquire your uniforms and those items listed in your training manual. Many of you have already made these purchases, and the uniform allowance was advanced to any of you that are present employees of the Los Angeles Department of Justice. Those of you who are new to this department will need to visit the purser on your return today to establish your direct deposit. Tomorrow you will be required to get your entry physical, here in this facility. This will require certain procedures such as identification pellets placed on your person, dental radiographs, and pictures. You are not required to get haircuts, but it would be suggested that your persons be ready for training. Facial hair must be removed including mustaches, as a good bit of your training is with protective environmental equipment. Earrings, body-pierced jewelry, and any devices around your neck are all not allowed during the initial training. Do you have any questions so far?”

  There were none.

  “Alright, your class is seventy-eight strong now, but we expect to graduate less than sixty. I would wish that we could graduate all of you. Your average age is twenty-two, the oldest is thirty-three. That’s older than me, for Christ sake. The youngest is nineteen. There are twelve women in this class. I am the commander of the class. I will expect you people to cooperate to graduate. You will have to learn to work together, depend on each other for problem solving and backup, and finally, you will have to get to trust each other by the badge, not by the face. It is my job to make sure the person behind the badge deserves that kind of trust. I hope you do. If anyone wishes to terminate their training during the coming week, before we
hit the barracks, you may discuss it with me, and there will be no penalties, no paybacks. Beginning a week from today, it won’t be that easy. Now, we leave for the barracks in ten minutes, parking lot in back, South-P.”

  Officer Davis stepped down and walked from the room.

  Michelle looked at Geech and smiled. “Geech, you don’t have to do this because Colin and I are into it. You don’t have to cut your hair.”

  Colin piped up, “What do you mean, ‘because we’re into it.’ I’m going to look up Ms. Borden and ask, no, plea for my job back.”

  Michelle looked at Colin and thought for a moment he was serious, and then Geech spoke up, “What hair are you talking about? I don’t have a mustache.”

  Michelle laughed and said, “Your hair is longer than mine, they told you that you have to cut your hair.”

  “No, they suggested it,” he said with a shrug.

  Surely you’re not coming back with your hair that long,” Michelle said incredulously.

  “We’ll see if I come back at all. Come on, bus is waiting,” Geech said as he stood to leave.

  The bus ride took over an hour. The barracks complex was made up of several cinder block buildings, brown with dark black trim. It was located behind a complex set of fences. A larger facility was located next to the compound. The parking area behind this facility contained military vehicles, suggesting it was a National Guard Armory. Michelle knew the general area, but could not find her bearings exactly.

  “Candidates, you must form into a platoon when you are on the ground. All movement will either be with your platoon, your squad, or as a tripod. A tripod means three of you in a formation. One is the formation leader and every formation has at least two individuals in it. The only time you will not be in tripod is when you are under cover. Under cover means you are in a building or under a structure that occludes the sun. Otherwise, you will be in a tripod or some sort of troop movement. The cadre will appoint your candidate officers when you arrive on Monday. The position of candidate officer will allow you to have certain privileges and certain obligations. They are explained in your manual. Life in the barracks will be rigorous, demanding, and degrading, though we are not allowed to physically touch you without your permission. Can anyone here tell me what it means if I touch you without permission?” Officer Davis called out.