“One of the Detectives, named Lewiston, lost his temper. He didn’t like my answers to his questions,” Peace explained. “I doubt they can do much with me now.”
Polasky went over into his den and came back with a digital camera. He entered a file number and date. “C’mon boy, stand up, and let’s get this recorded just in case they have a short memory.”
“You didn’t press charges, Pauley?” Nancy asked him in surprise, as Peace stood up, and let Polasky take digital pictures from different angles.
“That would have ruined it, Honey,” Ed pointed out.
“Ruined what?” Nancy persisted. “They can’t get away with beating confessions out of people.”
“It’s not the police who will be getting away with something, Hon,” Ed answered knowingly, with a grin.
Peace kept quiet, and returned to his seat. He reapplied the ice pack.
“But Pauley didn’t do it,” Nancy said, figuring out what her husband was implying.
“No, of course he didn’t,” Ed stated, with a look of exasperation on his face.
“You didn’t do it, did you, Pauley?” Nancy asked Peace; but Peace was asleep, breathing heavily from his mouth.
Polasky laughed, and eased him down prone on the couch as Nancy put pillows under his head. Polasky put Peace’s feet up, and undid his shoes, putting them on the floor next to the couch. He signaled for Nancy to follow him out of the living room. Ed stopped at a kitchen cupboard, taking out a bottle of aspirin. He then filled a glass of water. With the aspirin and water, he re-entered the living room, placing the items on the table by Peace’s head. That done, he returned to where Nancy waited in the kitchen.
“Now, what’s this all about?” Nancy asked quietly.
“Those two dead policemen were the ones who sprung Dink, like I told you. Dan told me Peace had his whole midsection black and blue. I’ll bet the cops stopped him and roughed him up. Bad move,” Polasky said simply. “Some folks think you can just do any damn thing you please, without consequences.”
“What makes you think Peace killed them?” Nancy asked in some confusion.
“Dan told me Commander Jessup explained to him how they found the two cops’ bodies. They had their hats on, sitting straight up in their patrol car, one with his hands on the steering wheel, and the other with his com unit in hand, not a mark on them. They had been suffocated.”
As Nancy looked intently at her husband’s grin, she knew instinctively he was right. After a moment, she nodded in agreement. “Okay, but Jesus, Ed… Pauley?”
“I know what you’re thinking, Babe,” Ed sighed. “How do you think he kills bad guys in cold blood from a half mile away? Peace sensed something dangerous was on the loose. Those two dumb ass cops probably made the mistake of convincing him his life was in danger, or… hell’s bells…” Polasky smacked his forehead with the palm of his left hand in exasperation.
“What?” Nancy asked, perplexed.
“I’d bet the house Jill was with him when those two goons in uniform stopped him. That’s what cost them their lives,” Ed said matter-of-factly, shaking his head.
“Pauley really likes her, and if she was with him, I know you’re probably right, Ed,” Nancy agreed. “I didn’t mean to sound like I thought Pauley had gone psycho on us, Hon. I just wasn’t thinking about how fast this all got out of hand. It’s like…”
“I know what you meant,” Polasky interrupted, putting his arm around her shoulders. “This whole little incident is accelerating down the mountain. I think Peace cut the speed of descent in hopes of a better landing. I’m hoping no one else puts this together; but I wouldn’t want to discuss it much with Dan.”
“Pauley always claimed to be such a poor liar. How can he…”
“He ain’t a liar. He’s a survivor. Peace figures he’s temporarily behind enemy lines.” Polasky chuckled. “He really played them today. That Detective is probably freaking out, wondering how he’ll be able to stay out of jail, instead of worrying whether he can nail Peace. That was slick. Wait until Jessup gets a look at Peace tomorrow. Peace will of course refuse to press charges, and Jessup will castrate the San Diego Police Department if they even hint at talking to Peace again.”
Polasky laughed to himself, guiding his wife out of the kitchen. “Oh yeah, that was sweet. I better take the ice off of his face before he gets frostbite.”
“What about the guy who’s responsible for all this,” Nancy pointed out. “What about Dink?”
“Well,” Ed sighed, “there ain’t no law yet against stupidity. If I were Dink, I’d be looking for a hole to crawl in. I guarantee you Peace ain’t forgotten about him.”
Nancy shuddered, thinking about the dead policemen, and then remembered the country could not be protected by girl scouts. She put her arm around her husband’s waist as they walked by a very noisily sleeping Peace. Ed gently removed the icepack.
__
Commander Jessup, his fists clenched as he leaned forward on his desk, stared angrily at Peace’s at attention figure. Dan stood close behind Peace to his right.
“Want to explain this to me, Peacenik? I tell you to cooperate fully with the police, and you come back to me like you were in a prisoner of war camp.”
“I cooperated fully, Sir,” Peace said firmly. “I was in interrogation for seven hours, and I took their polygraph test as directed, Sir.”
“You took a polygraph… and…” Jessup stumbled, confused for a moment at what he was hearing. “Okay then, why the hell does your face look like someone took a baseball bat to it?”
“At the end of the day, Sir, one of the Detectives did not like the answers he had been receiving. He ran out of things to say.”
“Did you antagonize him?”
“No, Sir,” Peace stated firmly.
“Did you fight back?”
“No, Sir, I did not touch him.”
“Would you like to press charges?”
“No, Sir.”
“Why not?”
“I wouldn’t give the prick the satisfaction, Sir. Hoo-ya!” Peace barked out.
Dan slapped a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing out loud, and Jessup grinned, turning away for a moment. He clasped his hands behind his back, considering the situation. Jessup faced the two men and sat down at his desk. He placed a business card down in front of where Peace stood at attention.
“The JAG officer, who read over the depositions on this case, and has been apprised of current events, will be at your disposal. If any representative of the police department approaches you, you will give him the number of the JAG officer, and you will not cooperate any further than that. Is that clear, Petty Officer Peacenik?”
“Aye, aye, Sir,” Peace barked, taking the card, and standing at attention once again.
“Report to sickbay, son,” Jessup said.
“Begging your pardon, Sir, I would prefer to join my team, Sir,” Peace requested.
“Very well, Peace,” Jessup grinned. “Carry on, gentlemen.”
“Hoo-ya!” Dan and Peace acknowledged, turning smartly, and leaving Jessup’s office.
On the way to join the team, Dan glanced over at his friend as they walked.
“I bet that smarts.”
“Hoo-ya,” Peace grinned over at Dan. “I looked worse when I took a header off my bicycle.”
They both laughed at Peace’s reference to a walk to school long ago.
“There won’t be any more police officers being discovered holding their breath permanently, will there, Peace?” Dan asked.
“I certainly hope not, Lieutenant Dan,” Peace replied earnestly, using his sparsely used Forrest Gump reference.
“I hope not too,” Dan smiled. “I don’t want to think you may be going rogue on me.”
“That will never happen, Sir,” Peace commented politely. “Going rogue denotes an unprincipled lout. It is only our long friendship which prevents me from feeling deeply hurt by your inference, Sir.”
Dan laughed in app
reciation as they neared where Seal Team Six waited grimly for them. They had only glimpsed Peace when he arrived, before Lieutenant Righter pulled him aside, and led him away. Bull blocked Peace’s effort to walk by, hunching down to glare directly into his battered face, as the others gathered around. They all wore fatigues for the day’s training.
“It looks to me like there hasn’t been enough deaths in the police ranks,” Bull said dangerously, with a chorus of ‘Hoo-ya’s’ amplifying his remark.
“That will be enough of that talk, Chief,” Dan barked. “Are we clear?”
“Aye, Sir,” Bull said as the team snapped to attention.
Dan grinned at the look of rage on Bull’s face, knowing the Chief could care less what his Lieutenant thought about the situation. “Carry on, Chief.”
“Hoo-ya!” Jenkins barked. “If you’re all finished playing house with the local constabulary, Peacenik, would you like to join us in a brisk morning jog along the beach?”
“As long as I don’t have to hang back with you leading, Chief,” Peace answered while still at attention. “Going that slow gives me shin splints.”
“Why you…” Bull reached for Peace, but he came up with only empty air, as Peace ducked past him, and the rest of the team cracked up. The words ‘…fighting soldiers from the sky’, from The Ballad of the Green Berets, drifted nasally back to them as Peace streaked out at full speed.
“Light duty for the man who runs that disrespectful, Green Beret lovin’ prick into the sand. He’s injured, so let’s kick him while he’s down, and teach him a lesson in humility,” Bull shouted.
Another chorus of Hoo-ya’s answered the Chief’s call to arms as they all followed Peace. Dan watched them pound down the corridor at a dead run, and out the door. He jogged after them, smiling, as he knew there was a snowball’s chance in hell of anyone collecting on the Chief’s light duty offer, including Dan.
Dan pulled up in front of Ed’s, and Peace turned towards him from the passenger seat. “T’anks for the lift, Dan.”
“No problem, Peace. Did they say when you could spring your Buick from police custody?”
“I’m to call tomorrow, the JAG officer said,” Peace replied. “I think I’ll get another car though until things die down. I believe these unfortunate accusations will make me very unpopular in my Buick with the rest of the SDPD.”
Dan considered Peace’s thinking, and nodded in agreement. “You would be extremely unpopular with them. Good thinking. Stay out of trouble tonight, brother.”
“I will, Lieutenant Dan,” Peace said, opening the passenger side door, and glanced around the area professionally before exiting Dan’s car. “I’m just tending bar for a few hours. Say hi to Becky and the kids for me. I’ll come over and see them when I don’t look like Frankenstein’s monster.”
“Apparently, you’ve forgotten what you looked like before,” Dan quipped. “It’s an improvement.”
Peace was still laughing when Dan drove away with a wave out the driver’s side window. He walked in through the door, and directly into the bar. Only two couples were having drinks in the booths, with Ed behind the bar. Polasky smiled grimly at Peace, who joined him behind the bar, returning Ed’s smile, and giving Polasky a little salute.
“Hey, t’anks for icing me up last night. It helped a lot,” Peace said.
“It don’t sound like it. I think your singing career just went on hiatus until your nose heals. Damn it, the gig you just did with Syl was the most profitable evening we have ever had.”
“Really?” Peace asked. “How about that. Jill brought us good luck.”
“Define good luck.”
Peace laughed. “Hey listen, it wasn’t her fault Dink decided to turn my world upside down.”
“She was with you, wasn’t she?” Ed asked in a whisper.
“With me where?” Peace asked.
“I figure those two dildos with a badge…”
“Jill,” Peace interrupted, looking around, “was with me from the time I left the base on the day I took her back to LA.”
Polasky nodded. “That’s what I figured.”
Polasky put his arm around Peace’s shoulders, turning him away from the bar.
“That was one cold, professional hit, son. I doubt there are many guys in the world could have pulled off an op like that with so little prep. I can’t for the life of me figure out how you did it,” Polasky said, admiration plainly in his voice. He grinned. “Posing them afterwards iced it. Jesus, that was sweet.”
“Posed who?” Peace asked.
“The heat’s on,” Ed continued, ignoring Peace’s question. “If Dink gets found mysteriously out of breath, they’ll just throw you in a dungeon somewhere.”
A shadow passed across Peace’s face, and his lips tightened, making his permanent grin a deadly looking crooked slash. “He knows about Jill.”
“I know,” Ed replied solemnly.
“I’m in love with Jill, Ed,” Peace said suddenly. “I’m going to marry her.”
Ed held out his hand, and Peace shook it. “Congratulations son, I knew she was a special lady the first time I saw her walk in. Love at first sight, huh?”
“I can’t think of my life without her in it,” Peace confided simply.
“That’s how it’s supposed to be. Dink’s people won’t ever let up if something happens to him, and they won’t depend on the cops to do the dirty work. If Dink’s connected enough to have cops on the payroll, you can bet they’ll come after everything you care about.”
Peace nodded in agreement. “I have to think this through. Jill asked me to drive up to LA the weekend after next to meet her parents. They’ll be real thrilled with my appearance. Any suggestions on how to break it to them gently.”
Ed laughed, turning back to the bar with Peace. “You’re on your own there, kid. I hope they have a sense of humor.”
“I hope they don’t think I’m a lightning rod, endangering their daughter.”
“Hey, she hunted you down, not the other way around,” Ed reminded him. “They’ll just have to deal with it.”
“One good thing, her Dad owns his own law firm,” Peace replied. “No one wants to mess with lawyers, especially the cops.”
“I hate lawyers.”
“Can we keep that between us, Ed?” Peace laughed.
“What, you think I’d just blurt it out at your wedding,” Polasky asked, trying to look hurt.
“No, but I just wanted to make sure we’re on the same page,” Peace kidded him.
“Hey, I ain’t doing anything to blow my chances with the grandchildren.”
“Jill likes you and Nancy a lot. I doubt she’d let anything like insulting her Father curb your chances of playing around with any kids we might have,” Peace replied.
“Point taken,” Ed sighed. “It’s nice talking about grandkids.”
“Agreed.”
At eight o’clock, the bar became more crowded, and being busy took Peace’s mind off his aching face. Ed noticed him doing nasal impressions of Elmer Fudd with the customers. Peace worked as waiter and busboy at the tables, while Ed did the bartending. With the music from their jukebox, and the laughter from his customers, Ed felt it was almost like any other night. Polasky saw Peace straighten suddenly, staring at the entrance. Polasky moved to be able to see more clearly what had drawn Peace’s attention. Two men, one black, and the other a smaller, bald headed white man, dressed in suits, strolled into the bar. Peace walked behind the bar with the money he had collected, and his empty tray.
Polasky watched the men approach the bar, and sit right in front of where Peace stood with his back turned as he deposited the money in the cash register. He turned finally to face them. Polasky saw the unmasked anger apparent in the black man’s face, and noticed the raw marks on the knuckles of his right hand. Ed looked around the bar to make sure his customers were taken care of, and then he walked over next to Peace.
“Can I get you gentlemen something to drink?” Peace asked.
Mobry looked uneasily at Peace’s face. “I’ll have a diet Pepsi. Get one for my partner here too.”
Peace turned to get the drinks, but Ed shook his head.
“I’ll get them, Peace.”
“That’ll be five dollars, Sir,” Peace said, as Ed poured the sodas from his mix hose into two iced glasses.
“Five dollars?” Lewiston said in surprise. “I can get a case of the stuff for five dollars.”
“There’s a supermarket down the street and to your right, Detective Lewiston,” Peace said amiably. “Batiste always griped about our prices whenever he came in too.”
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” Lewiston asked angrily, getting to his feet again as he shrugged off Mobry’s restraining hand.
“It just came to me how similar you two are,” Peace replied, as Mobry handed him a five dollar bill, and Ed placed the sodas in front of the two men.
“Why you little shithead, I’m…” Lewiston reached for Peace’s shirtfront, but instead had his hand gripped in a rapidly closing vice.
Mobry grabbed Peace’s hand, where it locked on Lewiston’s wrist; but could not budge it with both of his. Polasky grinned, wiping the bar, as he watchfully enjoyed the show.
“You only get one free one, Sir, and you’ve already had yours,” Peace said, leaning closer to Lewiston, who could not even move his other arm without bringing intense pain to the one in Peace’s grasp. “Sit down, and drink your Pepsi.”
When Peace released him, Lewiston reached inside his jacket, with Mobry’s hands now pulling on his arm in a panic.
“That better be a sandwich you pull out of there, Detective,” Peace said quietly, still leaning forward, “because whatever comes out in your hand, you’re going to eat.”
Lewiston froze, looking at Peace in a new light. He again shrugged out of his partner’s grip. Lewiston sat down and took a sip of his Pepsi. “Are you threatening me, Peacenik?”
“I don’t threaten anyone,” Peace stated calmly, handing the five dollars to Ed.
“This ain’t over,” Lewiston retorted.
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