Broken Shield

by Ryan Garner

  “It scared the hell out of me when I saw him take a swing at you.” Karina Cherry said as she leaned up against the opposite counter across from John, clutching a glass of wine in her right hand.

  “He did seem a little sketchy, but I wasn’t quite expecting that.” John said before continuing, “… I really appreciate you sending the UAV to look out for me though.”

  Karina shrugged her shoulders, “No problem…” A sly grin then danced across her face, “…somebody’s gotta look out for you.” John chuckled as he watched Karina take a sip of her wine. He winced slightly from the pain in his bruised left cheek, a reminder of the “present” he had been given a day earlier when Justin Abell had struck him.

  “Yeah really…” John said, “…God knows nobody else is going to.” Almost immediately after speaking these words John realized that he was only half joking. It was a bit of a sad realization for him, but not one that he visibly acknowledged.”

  “What did he end up blowing?” Karina asked, referring to the Intoximeter.

  “Double the legal limit, point one-six.” John replied.

  Karina whistled a “wow” in response. “Glad you got to him before he killed someone.”

  John nodded his head, “We’ve been stretched so thin lately we barely have any time to do anything proactive like DWI stops anymore. This one kind of just fell into my lap.”

  “That’s sad…” Karina said before pausing momentarily to take another sip of her wine. “I hate wearing you guys out on the radio like we do, but the 911 calls just keep coming in at a never ending pace. I’m freak’n exhausted by the end of my shift, so I can imagine how you guys feel.” John nodded again before taking another drink from his beer.

  “Yeah it’s pretty rough. Sometimes you just wanna be able to sit in your patrol car for a minute so that you can catch your breath, but there are days when we don’t even get a chance to do that.”

  “Well all…I’m off.” a flirtatious feminine voice said, interrupting John and Karina’s conversation. Glancing over his shoulder John saw Karina’s roommate, Tiffany Ellwood come strolling into the kitchen area. A beautiful young woman with sultry green eyes who was in her mid-twenties, Tiffany stood approximately 5’08” tall with straight dark brown hair which was carefully pined up in place, but it was still long enough to allow parts of it to run down the back of her neck. She wore a thin, loose fitting and low cut, short brown dress, hemmed at a length that fell far short of her mid-thigh. Tiffany had also pulled the sleeves of her dress down around her upper arms so that her shoulders were left exposed. Accenting her attire were quite a few silver earrings in each ear, along with a silver necklace that plunged far below her collarbone, and bright red 5” high heels. She was certainly dressed to kill and John could not help, but raise his eyebrows slightly at her entrance.

  Karina smiled brightly at her friend, “Subtle…” she then said in a playful tone to which Tiffany shrugged her shoulders.

  “A girl’s gotta put forth a little effort. Seth and I have after all been seeing each other for weeks now.” Tiffany smiled as she looked over at John. She then cocked her head to one side while at the same time putting her hand on her hip as she slowly rocked it out to one side.

  “I’m hoping he can take a hint…think he will?”

  John snickered upon hearing Tiffany’s question, “I don’t think there’s any danger of him not.” he said to which Tiffany giggled and then quickly turned away, allowing her dress to frill out, briefly exposing even more of her thigh,

  “Don’t wait up dah-ling.” she called out to Karina in a devilish tone as she walked out of the room.

  Karina chuckled at Tiffany’s seductive exit, “I love that girl…” she said in a lilting voice.

  “That guy’s not gonna know what hit him.” John responded in a similar tone.

  “Oh I’m sure he won’t.” was the reply before hearing the front door to the apartment close.

  “It only took her about two hours to pick out that outfit. I think she tried on nearly every dress she has and then some of mine…as you can see by the mess in the living room.”

  John laughed at Karina’s comment before raising his beer back to his mouth and taking another drink. He knew that she was not really annoyed at Tiffany’s behavior prior to her date, but rather amused by it. John had learned long ago that unlike Tiffany, Karina was notably more confident when it came to her overall appearance. Preening herself for hours before a date was something he had never known her to do.

  The room momentary fell silent as there was a brief lull in the conversation. Before long John noticed a nervous look on Karina’s face. Concerned, and somewhat confused he Crinkled his forehead,

  “What’s wrong?” he asked. Karina’s eyes shifted about the room and suddenly she appeared almost ashamed.

  “So…I saw Jennifer at her graduation.” she finally said still not able to make eye contact.

  John immediately raised his eyebrows as a look of disappointment streaked across his face. Taking a split second to force himself to regain his composure he finally managed to speak.

  “How’d that go?” he asked trying his best not to sound too worried. Karina immediately laughed.

  “That bad huh?” he then added.

  “Yeah…that bad.” She responded.

  “Why’d you go?”

  “I don’t know…” Karina replied as her voice grew strangely timid, “…I felt like I couldn’t, not go.”

  Numerous questions sprang to John’s mind, but he knew that to ask any of them right now would only cause his friend more emotional pain. He had never quite understood the “control” that Jennifer had managed to maintain over Karina even after their romantic relationship had crumbled and completely fallen apart. But, he did understand that it was definitely there.

  Karina took a nervous sip of her wine. “I know it was stupid to go there.”

  “We all make mistakes.” John replied trying to maintain a soothing tone of voice.

  “Needless to say I won’t be telling Darren.” John was barely able to stop himself from visibly flinching at the mention of the name.

  “He gets jealous enough of my friends…” she added before laughing nervously, “…don’t need to add a meeting with Jennifer into the mix.” John nodded his head as he tried to hold his own emotions in check.

  Karina laughed again, “There are times when I think he’s even jealous of Tiffany.”

  John did not say anything; he knew the best thing he could do now was sit quietly and listen to his friend. He and Karina had been round and round this conversation previously with little change in the particulars. Even if he could disregard his own personal feelings about her, there was something about Darren Siegal that he did not like and it went beyond the man’s naturally possessive nature. Darren was too suave, too smooth; and though John couldn’t quite put his finger on why, he knew he simply did not trust the man.

  “But he can get over that…” Karina said in a curt tone pulling John from his line of thinking. “After my father left, and my mother was too busy trying to get high, Tiffany was all I had.” John’s look softened; he had heard this story before. She and Tiffany had lived together since Karina was 16 and even though Tiffany might not be the most stable or controlled of individuals, she was at heart a good person who cared deeply about Karina and had been an emotional support in her life since she was twelve years old. John never said it, but he suspected that at times Tiffany had been her only support.

  Karina had endured a harsh life to say the very least. She had never known her father. He had left her and her mother when she was just a young child and Karina had no idea where he was. At times he wondered whether the lack of knowledge might be better than the truth itself. Karina’s mother had been a heroin addict for most of her life, and even though she had eventually managed to break the addiction things between the two women were far from amicable. They barely spoke and when they did the conversation was usually damaging to both.


  For most of her romantic life Karina had endured both intense and harsh relationships that had left her broken and scarred. Her disastrous affair with Jennifer had been her most destructive union so far. Jennifer had used her seductive qualities to manipulate Karina in ways that John would never have imagined possible. But even after all this time she still managed to exert some sort of strange emotional hold over his friend. Needless to say the woman he had met just two and a half years ago in the police department’s Emergency Communication Center had been a jaded and closed off individual. But over time they had warmed to each other, eventually a true friendship had blossomed.

  “So how’s the new recruit?” Karina asked again completely breaking John’s concentration.

  “He’s…” John balked taking a moment to gather his thoughts as he slid himself off the counter top allowing his feet to impact with the floor.

  “He’s pretty good actually. The time’s Chris has ridden with me he’s done fine. I feel bad for him having to work with Morrisey though. I think I’d be a neurotic mess if I had to sit in the same vehicle with that guy for twelve hours a day.”

  “I can imagine.” Karina responded. John had already told her several stories of his conflicts with Eric Morrisey.

  “It’ll be nice to have the help though.” John said to which Karina responded with a nod. “If we didn’t have to deal with the damn Occupy Congress protestors on a nearly daily basis it would be even better.” he then added before taking another drink from his beer.

  “They’re just trying to change things for the better.” Karina said in her usual placid tone of voice before continuing, “I mean I can understand some of the stuff they’re trying to accomplish.”

  John nearly choked on his beer when he heard Karina say this, had it been anyone else, but Karina making the remark; he would have almost certainly torn into them immediately; especially after Terrance Walth’s death. He very nearly had to bite his tongue to keep from speaking.

  Seeing the visible shock in John’s eyes Karina hurriedly continued, “I’m not saying that everything they’ve done has been right, or that there aren’t extreme individuals involved in it, but I think at its core what they are trying to accomplish is for the better.”

  John’s mind raced through question and answer after question and answer as he tried to see some logical point of view behind what he considered to be a truly mistaken statement.

  Occupy Congress had started just a few years before President Jordan had signed the National Preservation Act. It was originally slated to be a peaceful movement aimed at changing the government from within through the use of nonviolent means. However, just a short time after its creation Occupy Congress had transformed itself into a darkly violent reflection of its former self. Many argued that the dramatic shift in the movement was directly linked to the very changes in the government that it was originally intending to modify. President Jordan himself had named Occupy Congress as one of the reasons for the need to pass the National Preservation Act and to start the National Governing Police force. As a whole the country remained deeply divided over whether to support such an organization or not. Nevertheless, Occupy Congress’s numbers seemed to be growing by the day along with their violent tendencies. Depending on the circumstances firearms and even explosives were now being found on members of the group.

  “But they’ve killed numerous police officers.” John couldn’t help, but let that one slip out.

  “And obviously I don’t agree with them at all on that one.” Karina immediately responded, “But, their message that things need to change is what I do agree with.”

  John couldn’t dispute the fact that the overall stability of the country appeared to be growing worse practically by the minute or that a shift in another direction was desperately needed, but he would never think to align himself with or defend such an extreme group. His mind continued to race with numerous unasked and unanswered questions, but he knew to raise them would only lead to a circular conversation. He and Karina were very different in many ways, but strangely they had both found that these stark contrasts made them nearly identical in other ways. In the end it somehow all managed to bring them closer together.

  Finishing off the last bit of wine that was in her glass, Karina gracefully moved across the kitchen and over to John. He was standing next to the counter where the open bottle had been placed. She poured herself another glass and then looked over at him immediately noticing the visible confusion and conflict that was still apparent in his eyes. She gave him a warm smile and playfully nudged up against him with her shoulder, pushing him slightly off balance and forcing him to catch himself.

  “Hey…” she said with a continued smile on her face, “…relax.” In nearly an instant John felt his anxiety begin to fade from existence as he looked down at her beautiful face. He could not help, but produce a small smile.

  How does she do that? He thought quietly to himself.

  …..

  The aroma of saltwater was in the air and a steady cool breeze whipped along the Riverwalk Boardwalk located on the Cape Fear River. Bearing a slight resemblance to a regular boating dock, but still managing to maintain a commercial appearance with various, shops, restaurants, and wineries the Riverwalk was a very nice place for a quiet stroll or for people to come and simply relax and look out at the river. The sun had just set over the trees that grew from a land mass situated across the canal, and tall light fixtures which were placed about every fifteen feet and attached to the wooden railings of the boardwalk were now beginning to illuminate the area.

  Boat horns could be heard sounding in the distance, and the noise of clanking metal on metal echoed across the river as brass fixtures attached to the ropes that ran up numerous sets of boat flag poles banged against each other. Situated at various spots along the boardwalk were cast iron and wooden benches. Not necessarily the most comfortable seating arrangements, but their look fit in well with the overall scene. It was at one of these benches that Darren Siegal sat quietly staring out at the river with his brown eyes. A tall, well built, and toned male in his early thirties, he had brown eyes, and neatly combed black hair and near perfectly tanned skin. Well dressed with a gray sport jacket, dark red button down dress shirt, blue jeans, and formal shoes Darren brought a cigarette to his mouth and took a long drag from it, eventually allowing the smoke to exit out of his nose. Other than this occasional movement, he sat virtually unmoved.

  Suddenly, there was movement over Darren’s shoulder. Without bothering to glance at the silver and gold watch that was on his left wrist he spoke.

  “Right on time…” He said. There was a momentary pause before the response came.

  “I have always believed that punctuality is an important character trait in a man.” The voice contained a heavy Middle Eastern accent.

  “That’s good…” Darren responded. “…because I hate to be kept waiting.” He looked over his shoulder as Nasir Malik Zahir Kamil sat down next to him.

  “How was your flight?” Darren asked as he reached into his pocket retrieving a pack of cigarettes before holding it out to Kamil who nonchalantly waived them off.

  “Abysmal…” he responded.

  “That’s unfortunate.” Darren said as both men turned their eyes to the Cape Fear River.

  “I will never understand why you Westerners feel a need to try and make conversation with perfect strangers simply because they have been placed within a few feet of you.” Kamil stated. He was recalling the passenger he had been seated next to on his flight from London. The man had been a veritable nonstop chatter box and Kamil had fought the urge to strangle him with his bare hands.

  “Think of it as nervous energy.”

  Kamil snorted at Darren’s words. “They have no idea what true fear is…yet.”

  “No, most of them do not...” Darren retorted. “Do you have it with you?” he then asked.

  “It is in a safe place.”

  “Where?”

  “You do not ne
ed to know where; you simply need to know that it is safe.” Darren immediately looked away from the river and over at Kamil giving him a frustrated look. Kamil did not bother to return his gaze.

  “Let us get one thing straight Mr. Siegal…” Kamil said in his thick Arabic accent, “…I do not give a damn about your cause.”

  “Nor I yours…” Darren interjected in an ominous tone which garnered a momentary pause of annoyance from Kamil.

  “Once I have confirmation that the money has been deposited into the account only then will we continue with our arrangement.”

  Darren took another puff from his cigarette. “Very well.” He said as the smoke flowed out of his mouth.

  “You shall have your money…tomorrow.” Darren paused briefly, “But, don’t even think for a minute that you can play games with me.” Darren’s gaze returned to the river.

  “Double cross me and I will kill you myself.”

  Kamil’s head slowly turned towards Darren and he stared at him with his cold, almost lifeless brown eyes.