“Are you going to let your girlfriend handle us like that?”
Connor chuckled. “Okay, El, what do you propose? It’s not as if we don’t have plenty of people looking for payback on us already. What’s the downside of adding another enemy going to hurt, right?”
“Yeah, I guess so. I knew I shouldn’t have let her hang out with you. You’re a bad influence, Opie, even on trained psychologists. Your poisonous nature infects everyone near you for any length of time. I’m lucky to be immune to this evil aura of yours.”
Caught flatfooted by Ellie’s outlandish accusation, Connor struggled for a comeback as Ellie laughed at him. He simply shrugged as they walked into the parking garage together.
“This is about the darkness. You still think we were all mocking you. Did you know mimes love the darkness, especially in pairs? Their white face paint and stripes glow more eerily.”
“Connor!” Ellie gasped, looking around guiltily.
“I still think your amazingly unique dream could be a case study for others afflicted with this horrifying fear of mimes you have.” Connor glanced at Ellie with an award winning innocence of expression which made her lip curl into a sneer.
“You were sworn to secrecy on my dream. Now, you’ve needled me with it twice in the same day,” Ellie replied in a hushed voice. “Just because I zing you pretty good doesn’t give you the right to commit the sacrilegious wrong of using your partner’s secrets as fodder for public amusement.”
“Sacrilegious, huh?”
“I have a few too many one night and blurt out something in the strictest confidence and you hose me down with it like this. Sad, Opie… very sad.”
“Strictest confidence, my ass!” Connor gestured despairingly at Ellie before climbing into her Jeep. “The only reason you remember telling me at all is I asked you about it the next day. You’re lucky I carted your butt out of the party before you started sharing with the likes of Luis and Jas.”
“Well… at least it wasn’t vampire bats,” Ellie concluded, remembering the night with some embarrassment as she entered the driver’s side and started the jeep. “I don’t want Jules poking around at me about killer mimes. She won’t have to have me certified unfit. I’ll be laughed out of the department.”
“People have phobias about clowns. Besides, the Doc can’t tell anyone about what you say. What the hell makes your killer mimes so special? Is there something you haven’t told me about your dream? It’s not like we run across mimes everyday. You’re not working for SFPD. You would have to worry then.”
“San Francisco ain’t the only place with those weirdoes. I didn’t tell you but I saw one down on the pier at Jack London Square.”
“Where’d you ditch the body?”
“Very funny.” Ellie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “They give me the creeps.”
“How many times do you have the dream?”
“A couple damn times a month. Every time I have it I don’t sleep well for two or three nights. What about you, Opie. How many times do you wrestle with vampire bats?”
“This morning was my first.”
“How many times am I in your dreams?” Ellie fluttered her eyelids while tilting her head toward Connor slyly.
“A couple damn times a month. Every time you’re in it, I don’t sleep well for two or three nights.”
“Prick.”
“I bet the Doc could come up with an award winning explanation for the mimes. Although the part where they fasten you to a table and start skinning you alive would probably make it a bit more complex.”
“Ya think?”
“You wake up before they start cutting, don’t you, El?”
“Yeah, but I’m already screaming.” Ellie grimaced. “I don’t think I ever saw a damn mime until I was twelve. We went over to San Francisco and stopped at Ghirardelli Square. One was performing for a crowd out front as we walked by. The freak decided to use me as his helper. He aped my every movement for the amusement of the crowd. Everyone was howling in laughter. I…I burst into tears, and my Dad grabbed the mime. The asshole was still doing me when my Dad jammed his arm up behind his back and frog marched him the hell away from me.”
“I like your Dad’s style. Did you ever see two of them in the same place? I mean you said-”
“I said there are always two of them,” Ellie cut him off impatiently. “No, I’ve never seen two of those painted perverts at one time. The mime dream has been making an appearance ever since that night though.”
“I would’ve thought your Dad gave you closure with the way he handled it.”
“The crowd started giving Dad a bad time. He backed a few of them off too but we ended up cutting short our evening together. My sister of course blamed me. Hey, instead of me dropping you off, why don’t we walk around Lake Merritt instead of run? The sun’s out. You can continue to psychoanalyze me there.”
“What for? I’m already bored to tears.”
“Frack you, Opie!”
* * *
Ellie leaned forward, sipping her coffee while trying to focus in on the Jack London Square train station. The light fog obscuring her view from Connor’s window began drifting lazily with the breeze beginning to blow in from the ocean. The digital clock on Connor’s bedroom nightstand glowed 6:23 AM as Ellie glanced over at it to gauge whether she had time for a snack. She set her coffee cup down on the small table near her, and picked up a piece of toast from the plate to munch on as she returned to her observation. The entire Jack London station could be seen from the window with full view of the sidewalks on 2nd Street fronting the station. The first commuter train in the Capitol Corridor run would be leaving after seven. Since the last altercation at the station, she and Connor had been watching for the panhandlers’ reappearance. Connor believed they may have made enough of an impression along with Yost and Gerard’s supplementary patrols to have ended the commuter harassment for the time being. Ellie thought they would be back because of the holidays when they knew extra patrols would be out of the question. Now, on Christmas Eve day, Ellie’s hunch tingled through her with renewed vigor as she scanned the sidewalks below. Connor walked into the bedroom in uniform with a bowl of cereal in hand. Ellie already had her uniform on. He sat down next to her, crunching the Grapenuts cereal noisily, knowing it annoyed Ellie to no end. The low growl which emanated from Ellie’s throat elicited a grin from Connor. He held his spoon up where Ellie could see it, full of cereal, and plunged it into his mouth with gusto. Ellie’s eyes followed the spoon’s path as if mesmerized.
“You won’t be smilin’ when those rocks you eat bust your damn teeth apart,” Ellie warned in an exasperated tone. “I can handle the unpaid stakeouts but you and the fracking Grapenuts are making me mental.”
“I stayed in the kitchen until I only had these two bites,” Connor replied, crunching up the last bite in exaggerated enjoyment, swallowing finally with a sigh of contentment. “Um um good.”
Ellie turned her attention to the range finding binoculars Connor had set up on tripod with a final cluck of disapproval. She smiled with satisfaction, spotting Jerry and his two friends approaching from Oak Street. They were dressed in their usual regalia of dirty army surplus khaki jackets, jeans, and wool watch-caps. Ellie noticed they were all walking normally. She assumed they were all business this morning and had forgone their usual start of the day buzz.
“The boys are back.”
“Really?” Connor set his bowl aside and took Ellie’s place as she slid out of her chair. “Well I’ll be damned. They think we were just funnin’ with them.”
“I’ll go down and start to video them. We’ll go on walkie-talkie so they know I’m always in constant contact. I bet they do something stupid within ten minutes. You watch from up here to warn me if one of those clowns is sneaking up on me while I’m filming.”
“You’re not going down there alone, El, no way, no how. I can’t get to you quick enough if something goes sour. I’m going with you.”
&n
bsp; “They won’t try anything stupid if you come down too, Opie,” Ellie explained with a sarcastic edge to her tone. “I can handle these flakes.”
“Remember our talk about the darkness and not walking point for the time being?”
“The only thing dark about those bums is their smell. Don’t hit me with your superstitious nonsense. Let me nail these guys and-”
Connor’s doorbell dinged and he walked quickly out to answer it with Ellie trailing behind him. He looked through the security eyelet. Connor backed away in surprise, hesitating for a moment before opening the door. Councilman Ray Stennis stood patiently, his hands clasping the Fedora they saw him wear the morning he stopped to harass them. He had opened his overcoat and Connor saw he was dressed in dark pinstriped suit with slate gray tie.
“Councilman Stennis,” Connor greeted him, still gripping the door partially closed. “What can I do for you?”
“I need your help, Bradwick. May I come in?”
“Sure, but Ellie and I are doing a little extracurricular cop work, trying to entrap a few aggressive bums over at the Jack London Station,” Connor explained, stepping aside and waving him in. “We really need to-”
“This is perfect, Opie,” Ellie broke in, waving at Stennis with an exaggerated hand movement. “Ray here can watch from your bedroom window with one of our walkie-talkies. I’ll go down and mingle while you take up a position downstairs close enough to move in if I get into trouble. That is if Ray wants to help us take care of business.”
Stennis shrugged noncommittally without reacting to Ellie’s familiarity. “What do you want me to do?”
With Stennis perched on Ellie’s chair in Connor’s bedroom holding one of their walkie-talkies in his right hand, Ellie showed him who they were watching. The panhandlers had already spread out, covering both ends of the boarding area, and the front sidewalk. The fog was still making observation a hit and miss proposition.
“If I’m filming, and one of the other bums starts moving in my direction, I need you to warn me if you can see anything in this damn fog. Connor will be inside the front door of this building out of sight. If you think something dangerous is going down say the word ‘warning’.”
“You’d trust me not to simply root for them?”
“Hey, you’re pretty funny, Ray.” Ellie giggled, clapping the Councilman on the shoulder. “Isn’t he, Opie?”
“Yeah, he’s a riot,” Connor replied uneasily. “Do you have any questions, Councilman?”
“This isn’t entrapment, is it?”
“Since Ellie will be filming them in broad daylight with camera in plain sight there will be nothing hidden. She’ll have her com on all the time so we can hear the conversation. They’ve been accosting commuters, including women with little kids. I know this probably doesn’t come under your idea of a big crime category but it is our job to protect and serve. After we wrap this up, we’d be glad to hear about whatever problem you think we can help you out with. Fair enough?”
“I understand,” Stennis answered, taking his position.
Connor and Ellie walked out of Connor’s apartment and took the stairs instead of the elevator.
“Oh frack!” Ellie stopped suddenly. “He could put drugs in your apartment or set you up somehow, Connor. I am such an idiot. Let’s forget this and go back.”
“Relax, I turned on my apartment security cams as we left.” Connor held up the small remote for his security system. “One of the cams is aimed right at my bedroom window because of the fire escape.”
“You have a cam in your bedroom? It’s always the quiet ones.” Ellie shook her head mournfully while Connor realized with anger what she was hinting at. “When we get done I want to see all your bedroom action tapes.”
“I have no bedroom action tapes, you little tool,” Connor retorted as they reached the landing. “Don’t start with me, El, or it’ll be mimes 24/7.”
“Fine,” Ellie stated, holding her hands up in surrender as Connor stayed where he was, “but there’s really no reason to get all uppity about a few private sex tapes of yourself.”
“There are no…” Connor gasped out in rebuttal but Ellie had already jetted out the building door with a laugh. Connor shook his head, lips in a tight smile. Handled again, Opie.
Chapter 10
Darkness Strikes
“Smile for the camera, Jerry,” Ellie directed, having jogged across the street in time to interrupt the panhandler’s first approach of the morning. A woman with dark hair and knee length dress, wearing a matching overcoat, tried to get in through the station door while avoiding eye contact with Jerry. The panhandler had blocked her entrance with his hand out.
“What the hell?!” Jerry exclaimed angrily as his mark smiled, waved her thanks at the uniformed Ellie, and slipped past the enraged panhandler into the station. “You can’t-”
“Can’t what, Jer?” Ellie cut him off after pausing her video clip. “Record you harassing people on their way to work while you live like a parasitic flea on a dog’s ass?”
* * *
Stennis chuckled appreciatively, listening in on Ellie’s encounter while watching the man’s cohorts milling around on the platform. For the first time in a decade, the Councilman felt as if he were doing something substantial. In spite of his many speeches excoriating law enforcement for concentrating on small crime enforcement, Stennis was getting a thrill being a part of Bradwick and James’ ploy to disrupt panhandling at Jack London Station. For a few minutes his involvement made him forget the trouble he sought out Bradwick and James for.
* * *
“Where’s your asshole partner?” Jerry asked, looking around suspiciously. “You don’t have the guts to come poking around here without him.”
Ellie laughed instead of allowing Jerry to provoke her into forgetting what they were there to accomplish. “You better hope he stays away from here, Skippy. My advice would be to pick up your playmates and get the hell away from the station. Otherwise, I’ll get your pictures and post them in the station for people to make sure they don’t give you three anything but a hard time.”
“You can’t get away with this!”
Ellie followed Jerry as he waved his arms petulantly, walking toward the station platform. Wispy tendrils of fog drifted lazily around them. Ellie glanced over at the Jack London Station building, noticing for the first time how obscured it had become in the fog.
“Did you get all that?”
“Yeah, Ellie,” Connor replied, looking at his watch. “The lady you intervened for was early. The main crowd of commuters won’t be arriving for another ten minutes. You’re staying out front, right, El?”
“Officer James,” Stennis interjected. “I thought the plan was to not be where all three of these men are. They don’t do their panhandling in a trio, correct? Bradwick, the fog has moved back in and I can’t see the station platform.”
“El!” Connor called out without an answer, rushing through the apartment building exit at a headlong run.
Through the fog bank which had drifted in, Connor saw crackling blue arcs in the distance where he assumed the loading platform lay. His hand reached down for the Ruger at his side but hesitated for the first time he could ever remember. Even with the possibility of facing a life and death situation, Connor ran toward the platform without any weapon in hand. Stennis, hearing no answers to his queries on their walkie-talkies, left his station and ran through Connor’s apartment to the stairs.
* * *
Ellie fought for her life. With obscured vision, Ellie had bumped into Jerry near the platform as he and his companions stepped out from behind a stanchion suddenly. Ellie had pulled her stun-gun out but sweeping back with his left arm, Jerry knocked it out of her right hand. He added a pinwheel right to her face which knocked Ellie to the ground. Jerry’s two cohorts joined in the moment Ellie hit the platform concrete. She tried to free the Mace at her belt but took a hard kick to her ribcage, previously bruised by Fanny Camacho. Ellie’s breath rushe
d out of her in a whoosh of pure pain, clamping her right hand over the weapon still holstered. She turned onto the holster, blocking the clawing hands reaching for it. Ellie heard the crackle of her stun-gun. She kicked out with her left foot, hoping to hit the one holding it before he could reach her. She struck Jerry’s knee instead, buckling it. Ellie grinned when she heard him scream out in pain just before his cohort stun-gunned her. The long jolt plunged Ellie into pain filled unconsciousness.
* * *
Connor heard Jerry’s scream. He saw another long crackling arc through the thick fog while praying it was Ellie in control. Nearing the milling figures on the platform, Connor saw Jerry writhing on the concrete, gripping his left knee while the other two men grappled with Ellie’s holster. Still Connor did not draw his Ruger. The tall, skinny one with wispy beard was kneeling across Ellie with stun-gun in hand. His stockier partner tugged at the holster under Ellie’s limp body.
* * *
Ray Stennis ran across 2nd Street, barely glancing both ways in the dense fog. He thought he glimpsed Connor running ahead of him, but he couldn’t be sure due to the thick fog. Stennis heard the commotion on the platform as he approached. Figures loomed out of the fog in eerie shadow like forms. Stennis saw Bradwick plant his right foot and smash a man’s face kneeling over Ellie James’ body with a round house kick. The man Bradwick struck sailed up and into a stationary metal bench, rebounding off the bench into an unmoving lump next to it. Stennis watched mesmerized as Bradwick quickly pulled back his left leg, and pivoted to punch down at a stocky man just clearing Ellie’s weapon from her holster. Bradwick’s fist struck the man flush on the temple. The man’s body flopped down sideways only to ricochet limply as the 9mm automatic clattered to the cement from his nerveless fingers. Stennis had enough sense not to run up on Bradwick.
* * *
“I’m here behind you, Bradwick,” Stennis called out.
“I saw you, Councilman.” Connor checked Ellie over while keeping the downed men in sight. “I think they stunned her. Can you come take her while I frisk these assholes and cuff them?”
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