Broken Shield

by Ryan Garner

  Back off...back off! John thought to himself as he watched the trooper's Charger edge closer and closer to the Camry as all the vehicles in the chase streaked down the highway. Every so often they were all forced to dodge in and out between the civilian vehicle traffic on the road, flying past cars that he knew were traveling close to 70 mph as if they were not moving at all. Given the breakneck speed at which they were all traveling, John knew that everyone involved was already in danger of outrunning their own headlights. In that situation by the time a driver was able to both see and comprehend something within his vehicle's headlights field of vision it would already be too late to do anything about it. It was a dangerous situation that often happened during high speed chases.

  Suddenly, from out of the darkness of the poorly lit roadway a slow moving car appeared in the right hand lane and directly in front of the chase. The suspect immediately jammed on his vehicle's brakes creating an instantaneous screeching sound as the Camry laid down strips of black rubber on the highway before swerving into the emergency lane and passing the slow moving car.

  Upon seeing the civilian vehicle the state trooper immediately veered into the far left lane of travel, also forcing his vehicle's tires to put down markings onto the highway. Jerking his wheel hard to the left the trooper narrowly missed the civilian's car, but the moment after the collision had been avoided he slightly overcorrected his evasive maneuver by moving the steering wheel back to the right. The rear end of the Dodge Charger swung around forcing the car to momentarily travel in a sideways motion down the road. Smoke poured off the trooper’s tires when this lateral movement occurred. If his vehicle had rotated any further it would have rolled over. Spinning the wheel back over to the left the state trooper caught the out of control patrol car just in time to allow it to correct itself.

  The extra distance that John had given himself behind the suspect's vehicle and the state trooper granted the civilian driver just enough time to panic and slam on her brakes at the exact moment that John came upon her.

  “Shit!!!” John shouted as he jerked his wheel over to the right and forced his own patrol car into the emergency breakdown lane. He felt the back of his car fishtail briefly as he dodged the obstructing vehicle.

  Having slowed to well below the 100 mph mark and now almost alongside the suspect's vehicle the state trooper seized the opportunity that had been given. Tapping the breaks to his car he slowed down just enough to allow the Camry to slightly overtake him. Before the suspect knew what was happening, the trooper moved his steering wheel over to the right forcing the front right quarter panel of his Charger to collide with the rear left quarter panel of the Toyota Camry.

  The resulting impact immediately forced the suspect's vehicle to skid in a circular pattern across the front end of the state trooper's car and then back across the roadway and into the concave dirt median. A cloud of dust rose into the air as the rear of the Camry struck the cable barrier that had been placed in the median as a safety divider. The collision was so hard that two of the three steel cables instantly snapped before the final metal wire brought the car to a stop dangerously close to the opposite lane of travel on the other side of the highway. John and the state trooper's patrol cars both came to a squealing halt on the highway when the wreck occurred.

  Before John even had time to loosen his seat belt he observed the trooper spring from his vehicle and run towards the crumpled heap that was the Toyota Camry. At about the time John got his patrol car’s door open he could already see both the passenger and driver's side doors of the suspect's vehicle fly open as two men hurriedly attempted to flee the scene.

  Leaping up onto the hood of the Toyota the state trooper virtually dove into the driver just seconds after he had exited his heavily damaged vehicle. The impact caused both men to come crashing to the ground with a thud and slide a few feet across the grassy median before coming to a stop.

  Sprinting across the roadway median and bounding over what was left of the cable barrier John carefully ran across the two lane highway in pursuit of the passenger who was making his way into the wooded area on the oppose side of the road. The suspect had a good lead on John and had it not been for the extensive underbrush he might have actually gotten away. Instead his legs became tangled in the thorny vines and vegetation. He stumbled a few times before crashing to the ground. John also had trouble making his way through the thick brush, but thanks to the swath that the suspect had already cut for him, he had an easier time of it.

  Jumping on top of the man before he had a chance to raise himself off the ground John was met by an audible “Ooff” as he pinned the fugitive to the ground.

  “Alright! Alright! I give up!” The man shouted as John securely fastened handcuffs around his wrists. Gulping air into his lungs after the brief sprint John hurriedly assisted the man to his feet so that they could make their way back to the scene of the accident. While John was happy that both suspects had been apprehended and that he and the state trooper were unharmed, he also experienced some belated apprehension knowing that there would be several irate supervisors waiting for him back at his department. It was going to be a long night of paperwork to say the least.

  …..

  Samantha lay motionless on the mattress of the cheap motel room. After she and her client had finished and he had climbed off of her, she had immediately pulled the dirty, thin bed sheets up over her body to at least protect herself from the cold air pumped into the room by the air conditioning. A new collection of bruises, burns, and cuts caused a dull pain to travel continuously throughout her body. Most of her muscles ached and she was exhausted. Had it not been for the reprehensible circumstances that surrounded her, she might have chosen to stay the night, but not here, never here and never with him. Her disheveled orange hair cascaded across the pillow as she took slow deep breaths trying to gather her strength; Samantha winced from the bruising on her neck as she glanced across the room.

  Nasir Malik Zahir Kamil stood near the window talking on his cellular phone in what Samantha could only assume was Arabic. Without clothing his emaciated look and skeletal frame reminded her of all the ancient references to Death or the Grim Reaper. In the back of her mind she secretly wondered if this could actually be true about him. Vicious, cold, calculating, and unforgiving the description that easily came to mind for him was “evil” and if there ever was a representation of Death to Samantha this man could have readily embodied it. Every so often Kamil would glance greedily back at the bed where she lay and each time it caused a nauseating sensation to come over her along with a cold shiver that went down her spine.

  She couldn't understand what he was saying, but by his sharp tone she could tell that he was angry. Of course this particular client whose name remained a mystery to her always seemed to be angry...very, very, angry. Lecturing whoever was on the other end of the line he finally said something she recognized, “Burnt Mill and Randall Parkway.” The words were fast, but Samantha definitely understood them. Those two roads were near a parking lot with large buildings that before their abandonment had been occupied by multiple businesses. The only reason why she recognized the names of the roads was because she was relatively “fond” of the area. Well, not necessarily fond, but she did prefer that area over other places, especially here. Along with being close to a neighborhood where she had maintained several customers before being exclusively assigned to this man, there were several large derelict buildings that if necessary made for an excellent place to sleep at night. There was even a small pond for her to wander around should she need to relax or choose to take a swim in order to escape the hot summer night air. She had no idea why he was talking about this location, but Samantha knew that if he was going anywhere near that place it was nowhere she ever wanted to be.

  After another moment of talking Kamil moved the phone away from his ear and touched part of the screen ending the phone call. He then glared back over at Samantha who instinctively recoiled. If hiding under the covers would have done
any good she would have immediately done so. Kamil moved over to the dresser at the front of the room. After reaching into one of the drawers he retrieved several rolled up twenty dollar bills. Moving a little closer to the bed he tossed the money near her feet.

  “Time to go whore...” he said in a thick Arabic accent. Samantha mentally winced at his words. Although she knew exactly what she was she certainly did not need reminding, especially not by someone as abhorrent as this man.

  She cautiously took the money praying that Kamil would not soon change his mind about being through with her. Even though virtually every part of her body was in pain and she was exhausted Samantha forced herself to begin to search for her now torn and tattered clothes which had been manhandled off of her just hours earlier. Moving up along the side of the bed she tried to slip past Kamil without touching him.

  Suddenly, he grabbed her tightly by the wrist. Samantha gasped, due both to fear and surprise as she whimpered slightly from the pain he was now causing her. She hesitantly looked up at him.

  “Same time and place in two days.” he said gruffly. Samantha fearfully nodded her head before being released.

  Locating the rest of her clothing she hurried dressed herself before quickly making her way to the front door. She could already hear that Kamil was on another phone call and she quietly slipped through the front door of the motel room and into the open air hallway before he had the chance to beckon for her to come back inside. With tears in her eyes she walked briskly away from the room. Even though she hated the thought, Samantha desperately craved an escape and a quick one to say the least. Sadly, she knew exactly where and who to go to in order to get it.

  …..

  John sat quietly inside Captain Bennie Davis's large office located at the Wilmington Police Department’s main station. Nervously, he glanced around the room taking note of all the plaques, certificates, commendations, and photos that the Captain had hung on the walls of his large office. Most line supervisors would never have had the time to decorate their work area in such a manner, but given Davis's rank he was easily afforded more than enough time to do so.

  Seated next to John was Sergeant Gelman and next to him was Corporal Bergman. Soon after John’s unauthorized chase had ended, he and his Sergeant were immediately called back to the main station by Captain Davis. And even though he was new to the squad, Corporal Bergman had insisted that he be present as well, using the excuse that Davis had called for John's immediate supervisors and given his rank of Corporal he was now one of John's supervisors. John took slight comfort in the fact that he believed at least one person in the room was now on his side, albeit the lowest ranking one besides himself.

  “I wanna know exactly what made you think it was okay for you to disregard MY direct orders and our own department's policy and go off chasing someone like you did?” Captain Davis asked as he sat behind his large ornately carved wooden desk with his hands folded on top of it as he stared John down with anger filled eyes. From his tone and body language it was easy to see that he was extremely agitated. A commander like Bennie Davis was not used to having a “lowly” officer such as John Lawrence cross him.

  “The trooper was out there by himself, I didn't want him going into a potentially dangerous situation alone.” John tried to sound as logical and calm as possible. Sadly, he believed that this was already one of those situations he had encountered far too often within the police world; a situation where doing the right thing in the eyes of the department, wasn't necessarily doing the right thing. It had become a confusing and perplexing daily dilemma, but John knew he would rather make an ethically correct choice rather than the politically correct choice, even if it did get him into trouble at the end of the day.

  “He wasn't in a direct pursuit...” Corporal Bergman interjected trying to further explain the situation to the angry ranking officer, “...he was more or less just backing up another agency, the same as they would have done for us. Highway Patrol was the one that initiated the pursuit; Officer Lawrence was just trying to ensure the trooper's safety.”

  “I don't care what he was trying to do!” Davis viciously shot back, “It was just a stolen vehicle, let the Highway Patrol worry about their own guys if they feel it is important enough for them to get involved in such situations.” John felt himself growing more and more disheartened and angry with Davis's complete disregard for another law enforcement officer's safety. Then Davis followed with that “catch all” rational that every politically savvy leader appeared to have these days.

  “Did you ever happen to stop and think what if you had gotten into an accident with a civilian vehicle and this department had gotten sued?”

  John had heard this excuse many times before and had endured enough at this point. Even though he knew that lawsuits against not only police departments, but nearly every other government and corporate agency that anyone believed they could get any kind of money out of were at all-time highs, John felt that Davis had gone too far and before he had time to think about what he was going to say he blurted out his statement.

  “Sir, when it comes to another law enforcement officer’s life I don't give a damn about lawsuits.”

  A look of complete shock suddenly streaked across Davis's face; John might as well have reached across the desk and smacked his captain in the face. Sergeant Gelman whose jaw had dropped open when he heard the words come out of John’s mouth snapped his head over to glare at him along with Corporal Bergman who momentarily struggled to hold in a smile at the look of astonishment on the Captain’s face and secretly wished he had gotten the chance to say such a thing.

  “Well if you feel the overwhelming need to resign from Wilmington PD and make the shift over to Highway Patrol then don’t let the door hit you on the ass on the way out!” Captain Davis barked. “I hear they only have about two hundred applicants for every 1 opening that comes available. Do you think you're good enough to beat those odds in these economic times; especially without a good recommendation from Wilmington!?” Dejected, John did not respond to this statement as his eyes momentarily shifted towards the floor.

  “Well sir...” Corporal Bergman said before Davis had more of an opportunity to continue berating John, “...thankfully nothing did happen other than the bad guys getting caught. I think Officer Lawrence's heart was in the right spot for trying to look out for the trooper and I doubt he would have gotten into such an extreme situation without considering all the consequences; I also doubt that such a thing will happen again.”

  Davis's eyes bolted from John over to Bergman. Inserting such calm logic into the situation was not something the captain appreciated or even wanted. He especially did not like the fact that Bergman was not sitting quietly like Sergeant Gelman and allowing him to continue with his tirade.

  “It better not ever happen again and don't interrupt me Corporal.” Captain Davis snapped in an annoyed tone which Bergman could not help, but scowl in response as he held his own tongue.

  “I don't need you to explain to me what happened when I already know damn well what transpired.” Davis stated as he turned his attention back to John without catching the hate filled look from Bergman when he did.

  “I'll fill out the disciplinary paperwork for this incident myself and your Sergeant will get it in a few days to put into your personnel file.” John knew there was no use in trying to argue any further and instead just nodded his head, conceding defeat.

  “Good...” Davis said, “You are all dismissed then.” Sergeant Gelman stood first followed by John; Corporal Bergman paused for a moment longer as if he were debating whether he was going to continue the argument; however after this brief pause he also stood and exited the room with John and Gelman.

  CHAPTER 12

  Everyone in the squad room sat in shocked silence with their focus squarely fixed on the TV where the late breaking news story had taken everyone completely by surprise. While rumors of the matter had been flying around for quite some time the confirmation had still stun
ned nearly everyone in the country.

  Shortly after all states and local governments had been made aware of President Jordan's decree for both the revocation of all level III permits and the detainment, search, and documentation of individuals possessing any religious material an emergency meeting between Texas's Governor, Lance Gabriel and his State's House and Senate had taken place almost immediately. The assembly which had been conducted behind closed doors, had lasted for a record period of time, and eventually concluded with the shocking news.

  The media had continued to play Governor Gabriel's bold statement to the public and by proxy President Jordan over and over again. Standing behind a podium with the Texas state seal, a white star with five points encircled by olive and live oak branches, the husky, yet muscular Governor had made the following defiant announcement,

  “President Jordan, as Governor of the State of Texas I am both instructed by and agree with the majority vote of my State’s House and Senate to present you the causes which have compelled the State of Texas to formally withdraw from the Union, and on behalf of the people of Texas to resume the powers it originally delegated to the lawful Government of the United States.”