by B J Bourg
I thanked her when she handed me the food. I could feel the heat through the paper bag, and the smell of fried beef topped with grilled onions rose up to greet me. I snatched a fry on my way to the cruiser and put it in my mouth, chewing slowly to savor the flavor.
“Hey, where are you going with all of that food?”
I swallowed the fry and turned to see Heidi Beard pulling up in a La Mort Police Department patrol car that was striped out in an identical fashion to mine.
“I’m not going anywhere.” I quickly placed the bag of food on the front passenger seat and turned toward Heidi. “What’s up?”
“I was going to see if you wanted to grab dinner, but I see you already had plans.”
I glanced back at the bag. I didn’t want her to know what I was doing, so I only shrugged. “Maybe another time?”
“Sure.” She adjusted the mirrored sunglasses on the bridge of her nose and then asked if I’d had any calls yet tonight.
It was my first time working this shift and, while I’d heard a lot about Heidi, I had never met her. She’d made quite a name for herself as a rookie cop. While we had spent about the same amount of time on the force, she had graduated from the night academy and I had graduated from the day academy, so we had only seen each other in passing.
What I knew about her came from some of the other officers who had talked about her, and they all said she was as solid as they came. One of my buddies from the opposite night shift once told me she cleared out a rowdy bar all on her own. As the story went, someone had fired a gun in the establishment and she was the first to respond. The shooter was gone by the time she arrived, but there were several men fighting and causing a lot of damage. When she hollered at them to break it up, one of the men turned from the fight and charged right at her, wielding a pocket knife. Witnesses at the scene said she planted her feet and whipped out her baton. The man, who was eight inches taller and over a hundred pounds heavier than she was, didn’t bat an eye when he saw the baton—but he dropped like a tree when she sidestepped and smashed it across his temple.
“No, it’s been slow,” I said. “I haven’t had so much as a speeding complaint.”
“Yeah, same here.” She glanced around the parking lot. “I’m bored.”
“Well, I have to drop off some food,” I said casually. “Maybe we can meet up later and start some trouble?”
“That sounds like a plan.”
I waved and hurried to my cruiser. I wanted to get the food to the homeless trio while it was still hot. I checked my rearview mirror as I drove, wondering if Heidi would follow me. There had been a hint of curiosity in her eyes when she’d seen the large bag of food. Any fool could see that there was too much food in the bag for me.
When I pulled up under the bridge where the tents were located, Curly, Moe, and Flower were still sitting where I’d left them.
“Look, the twelve-year-old is back!” cried Curly as I stepped from my cruiser. “And by golly, he’s got some food!”
They all rushed to meet me and stared up with hungry eyes. I handed out the burgers, being sure to give each of them the one they’d ordered. Once the food had been handed out, I grabbed the last burger and dropped to the curb near where they were sitting.
“Are you going to eat with us, too?” Flower asked.
I had unwrapped my burger from the package and was holding it poised in front of my face, ready to take the first bite. “If that’s okay with y’all.”
Moe grunted. “I don’t care what you do. This is the first burger I’ve had in years, so I guess I owe you.”
“I tell you what,” Curly said, shuffling over to where Moe and Flower were sitting, “if you give me five dollars for a prostitute, I’ll sell you my burger and you can have two of them.”
Moe’s face broke into a scowl. “If I had five dollars, I’d get a motel room.”
I laughed. Poor Curly wanted a prostitute really bad and I was tempted to just give him the five dollars, but I decided it was best if I didn’t. I was new to police work and thought it might be possible to lose my job by indirectly engaging in such a transaction. Had he never told me what the money was for, I could have given it to him in good conscience. But it was too late—I already knew too much.
I sat there listening to their chatter, not saying much. My grandpa had taught me that I couldn’t learn anything by talking, so I had tried to make a habit of listening. Flower had begun talking about the job she used to have in her “first life,” as she described it, when my radio exploded in chatter.
“Headquarters, all units, Signal 44 in progress on Second and Lime. Suspect is a large white male, armed with a knife.”
I had begun recognizing the different radio voices of the dispatchers, my peers, and my shift supervisors from the opposite shift, but I now had to start the process all over again. Other than a brief introduction, I didn’t know anyone from this shift well, but I thought I recognized Heidi’s voice amongst the chaos. She was saying she was a block away and closing fast.
“Where are you going?” my three new friends asked when I jumped up and the burger and bag of fries spilled from my lap.
Without glancing back, I hollered, “Duty calls!”
I loved the sound of that, and I didn’t mind that Moe and Curly were arguing over who would get my leftover food.
CHAPTER 20
I was only five blocks from Second and Lime, but the drive took longer than I cared, thanks to a cyclist who ignored my screaming siren and crossed the street in front of me. I was forced to floor my brake pedal and swerve onto the curb. Thankfully, I didn’t blow a tire and I was able to arrive at the scene in time to see Heidi disappear down an alley. Off in the distance, I heard more sirens converging on the area.
“10-97!” I called over the radio, remembering that it was the code to let dispatch know I had arrived. I jumped out of my cruiser and chased after Heidi. I could hear her boots echoing off of the buildings to my left and right, but I couldn’t see her in the utter darkness of the alley. I didn’t want to use a flashlight and backlight her, so I just followed the sound of her boots and wished for the best.
I had probably traveled a hundred feet into the alley when I heard what sounded like a tin garbage can clanking to the pavement. It was followed closely by the sound of Heidi cursing and a soft thud. And then I was suddenly upon her. I don’t know what body part I stepped on, but it was soft and gave way under my boot.
“What the hell?” she cried in shock as my ankle rolled under me and I collapsed on top of her. She was solid, and I didn’t feel like my weight had hurt her at all.
We pushed and pulled on each other for ten long seconds before we managed to get untangled and were standing there trying to catch our breath.
“Did you see him?” I asked, reaching for the flashlight attached to my gun belt.
She beat me to the draw and her light suddenly stabbed at the darkness before us. “I…I can’t be sure. If it was him, he was super huge. But…” She paused, the doubt obvious in her voice as she scanned the sticky ground underfoot.
I walked toward the end of the alley, where the wall opened up into a dark field. I turned on my own light and aimed it through the large hole in the wall. Enough bricks were missing from the wall to allow a small van to drive through the hole. Beyond the buildings, there was a field of tall grass that seemed to extend all the way to the river. I could see the moonlight glistening off of the glassy surface of the water.
“But what?” I asked when she walked up beside me and added her beam of light to mine.
“There’s no way he could’ve been carrying a person, because he ran too fast. He moved too effortlessly.” She grabbed her portable radio and called for a K-9 officer. When she was done, she turned and I could see her face in the glow from our lights. “This might not be a true kidnapping.”
I considered her words. “Then what would it be?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know yet. I didn’t get to talk to the complainant.”
The other sirens I’d heard earlier had now converged upon our location, and I soon heard the sound of heavy boots stomping down the alley.
“Are y’all Code 4?” asked a booming voice from the darkness. It sounded impatient.
“Yeah,” I said, “we’re okay for now.”
“Then use your damn radio to let us know that fact!” came the retort. “You could’ve gotten someone killed responding to save your sorry asses. Damn rookies.”
I bristled at the comments and his attitude, but Heidi placed a hand on my arm, giving me the impression it would be best to sit this one out. I was relieved I’d made that decision when I saw the single gold bar attached to each collar. Lieutenant Weaver. He was in charge of a special street squad and was a tactical commander. I’d heard of him from some of the instructors in the police academy. They’d warned us to stay away from him if we could, but if we couldn’t, to do exactly what he said, when he said it.
Lieutenant Weaver was well over six feet in height and he must’ve weighed close to two-fifty. He was definitely an ominous figure and could strike fear in the hearts of those who were intimidated by stature alone. As for me, I was not. Like a book cover, outward appearances didn’t reveal what was in one’s heart. Growing up in the rough city of La Mort, I’d seen small and unassuming men fight like badgers, while large and ominous men sometimes cowered like rabbits. No, I wasn’t intimidated by him, but I didn’t want my law enforcement career to end abruptly because I’d disrespected a superior officer.
More officers began arriving and Lieutenant Weaver barked orders at them. They all sprang into action, leaving Heidi and me to stand around watching. I ambled toward the street and saw a plainclothes detective get out of an unmarked car and approach a distraught woman and two patrol officers.
The detective waved one of the officers over and they moved nearer to where I stood. Curious, I closed the distance a little. My movement didn’t draw an objection from the detective, so I kept walking until I was standing beside them.
“What happened?” the detective asked.
The officer pointed toward the crying woman, who wore a blue miniskirt and a shirt that was missing the part around the midsection. Her thick belly bulged over the waistline of her skirt, but it didn’t seem to bother her. “She’s clearly a working girl, but she claims she was out for a stroll when a giant of a man approached her friend Sherry Hebert and grabbed her from behind. She said he then threw her over his shoulder and left. She said he didn’t make a sound and there was no argument. He just approached Sherry from behind, grabbed her, and walked away.”
The detective indicated the crime scene tape that extended from the bumper of a car to a lamppost, and ended at a stop sign. “Is that where the abduction took place?”
The officer nodded. “The prostitute said she thinks he broke Sherry’s neck or something, because Sherry didn’t make a sound and she appeared limp. She said she called 9-1-1 as the man was walking down the street. She heard the sirens almost immediately.” The officer pointed toward the alley I’d just exited. “The woman saw the man run into that alley with Sherry, and then she saw Officer Beard and”—the officer shot a thumb toward me—“this new guy chasing him into the alley.”
The detective regarded me, and I him. He was an older man, probably in his late forties. His head was shaved down to his dark skin and there was a permanent scowl on his face.
After giving me a once-over, he stuck out a hand. “What’s your name, kid?”
“Clint Wolf. I just transferred from B shift.”
He nodded. “I’m Chad Robinson. Tell me what you know.”
I explained the little I knew, and informed him that Heidi saw more than I did. As I talked, he twirled thoughtfully on one side of a leather necklace that hung around his neck. As it wound around his finger, a round gold pendant slowly appeared from beneath the collar of his shirt, and he began rubbing on the pendant.
“Y’all ran into that alley after him?” he asked when I was finished talking.
“Yes, sir.”
He looked up and down the street. “Are you familiar with this section of town?”
I shrugged like I was bored. “Everyone’s heard about the Devil’s Triangle.”
“So, you know where you are?”
“Yes, sir.” I knew we were in the most dangerous part of the city. They called it the Devil’s Triangle because Second, Lime, and Cotton Streets formed a triangle, and it was within this triangle that souls went to die. There had been more drug-related murders in that area during the previous year than in the entire city combined.
“And it doesn’t bother you to be in the most dangerous part of the city?”
I considered his question and how best to answer it. Finally, I said, “A Marine recruiter tried to get me to enlist last year, but the country wasn’t at war, so I asked him what I’d be doing. He told me I’d be training until there was a war or a conflict. I told him if I enlisted it would be to fight, not to be in a perpetual state of training.” I shrugged. “That’s why I decided to become a cop. Cops are constantly at war with drug dealers, murderers, gang bangers, child predators, and a host of other criminals. I wanted to be on the front lines protecting people here at home. I joined the force to fight evil, and”—I waved my arms around—“if this is where evil lives, it’s where I want to be.”
“Well, you’ve got some balls for a twelve-year-old, I tell you that,” Detective Robinson muttered, but I saw his face crease into a slight smile. He let the pendant fall back into his shirt. “Why don’t you come with me while I interview our witness? You might actually learn something useful, unlike the sixteen weeks you wasted in the police academy.”
I only nodded. My police academy instructor had warned me that so-called seasoned officers would instruct me repeatedly to forget what I’d learned in the academy, and he told me to do so at my own peril.
“What we’re doing here is pouring a solid foundation upon which to build a successful law enforcement career,” he had told me. “If you let some washed-out officer convince you to tear down that foundation, your whole career will crumble.”
CHAPTER 21
Detective Robinson had a smooth way about him. When he spoke, his words flowed hypnotically.
“You’re the best thing that happened to your friend, Sherry,” he said to the witness in the blue miniskirt. “Thanks to your alertness, we now have a general description of the man who took her and we know his direction of travel—two of the most important things to know at this stage of the investigation. We now have an excellent chance of finding her. Please, go on and tell me exactly what you saw.”
“Well, um, I was out for a walk and I—”
“I hate to interrupt you,” Detective Robinson said, “but I just want it understood that I respect your occupation. You’re a self-employed business woman. You’re out here trying to make a living like the rest of us. If anyone tries to denigrate your profession, they’ll have to answer to me.” After allowing a moment for his words to sink in, he continued. “I need to know if Sherry is also self-employed, as this might provide some avenues for me to pursue. This man who grabbed her might be a former client or a—”
“Oh, no, he wasn’t a former client.” The woman shook her head for emphasis. “She didn’t know him and I didn’t know him. He was just some stranger who stepped out of the alley and grabbed her. He was the biggest man I’ve ever seen. He had to be as tall as a house.”
“A house?” In the light from the nearby lamppost, I could see Robinson’s left eyebrow raise.
“Yeah, the inside of a house. Like, the ceiling.”
Robinson was jotting down some notes as he continued questioning her. He asked questions I never would have thought about asking. He had been correct—I was learning some things about questioning witnesses.
“Can you describe how Sherry was positioned in relation to the man who grabbed her, at the precise time he grabbed her?”
“Um, he grabbed her from
behind. She was facing the street and her back was to the alley.” She shifted her feet and her heels made a clanking noise against the sidewalk. “She was, you know, waiting to see if a customer would come by and then I just saw that giant man step out of the darkness and wrap his arms around her.” She snapped her finger. “Just like that, she was taken. He held her from behind for a second—I think that’s when he broke her neck—and then he threw her over his shoulder and started walking away. I…I was scared to death, but I called 9-1-1 right away and began screaming at him. He didn’t even look back. The lady on the 9-1-1 call reported it to the cops right away and that woman cop was here in no time. When the man saw the cop lights and heard the siren, that’s when he started running.”
“I want you to close your eyes and take a moment to see the man as he appeared when he stepped out of the alley,” Robinson said.
The witness complied and Robinson waited patiently as she stood there with her eyes closed and her face contorted in concentration.
“Now, I want you to begin at the top of his head and slowly work your way down to his shoes. Start telling me what you see.”
“Um, his hair is long. I can’t really see his face because it’s too dark. But I know he has long hair. It looked reddish brown for some reason. I…I see hair on his face, too. It looks like a long beard, and his beard is the color of the hair on his head. Um, going down, I don’t really see what he’s wearing. It’s some kind of dark clothes—maybe a thick trench coat. Maybe wool? I think he had on blue jeans. Yeah, I can see jeans.”
After the witness stopped talking for a while, Detective Robinson coaxed her along. “Keep going. I want you to keep describing what you see, all the way down to his shoes.”
“I don’t see any shoes.”
“You didn’t notice any shoes?”
“No, he wasn’t wearing any shoes. He was barefooted.”
Robinson was silent for a long moment, deep in thought, and then he began asking more questions, coming at her from different angles. I surmised he was trying to stimulate her memory. Finally, he ended the interview and collected her contact information. “If you’d like, I could have a patrolman bring you home.”