Book 3 - Part 6: Facing Evil - Chapter Two
Thursday – December 21st – 11:59 a.m.
“I really appreciate this, Stan. I will call you on the twenty-four, the minute she’s out of the house so you can make delivery. The door will be open.
“Helluva Christmas present, Ed. Merry Christmas to you and yours.”
“Same to you, Stan.”
Ed got in his car and headed for the house. On the way, he called Baker on her cell. She picked up in the middle of the first ring.
“You two hungry?
“Good, get ready then. I’m about eight minutes out.
“I’m not picking the place. Thought it was Stevie’s turn.
“Ah, sure, I’ll hold.”
Ed continued driving on a very cold and somewhat windy day. Not much in the way of traffic to contend with, but it did begin to snow.
“Say what? Oh, I see. An extra passenger, huh? I don’t see why not. Tell Stevie to let Ellie know we are on our way. I can see the house from where I am now. So, shoes and coats on, gang.
“Love you, too, Jan.”
Crosstown – 12:17 p.m.
“Officer’s requesting assistance. We have an armed robbery in progress.”
“Roger that. Your location?”
“Fifteenth and Banyan,” replied Prescott. “The victim doesn’t appear to be injured, but the assailant has hidden himself behind a green trash dumpster in an alley.”
“Roger that. Another unit has been dispatched and should arrive within two minutes.”
“What do you think?” asked Prescott.
“What do I think about what,” said Dianne Andrews. “The old man is safe in the car, but whoever that is in the alley is bound determined not to give up without a fight.”
“Yeah. How many rounds has he fired so far?”
“Not sure, but I think eight or nine. Wouldn’t surprise me if he has more than one clip,”
“He looked kind of young, too, didn’t he?”
“Looks can be deceiving, Johnathan, but he did look like he was still in his teens.”
Bubble lights flashing and that screeching sound of another black and white pulled up alongside their own. Two men got out and approached Dianne and Johnathan.
It was Stan McNeil and the new guy, J.W. Roberts.
“What have you got?” asked Roberts.
“Robbery gone bad. We happened along while it was in progress. The perps in the alley with no way out, and he’s armed,” answered Dianne.
Just as the words escaped her lips, several rounds were fired, bouncing off the asphalt and both police cars.
“I have an idea.” Roberts looked at McNeil. “Cover my back. I’m going to cut across the street, circle around behind him and see if I can get access from one of those buildings to get in the alley. If I can, I can get the drop on him before he has a chance to react.”
“Hold on a minute. What if he decides to not let you play Wyatt Earp and give up all peaceable like?”
“If that happens, Prescott, then I guess there’ll be another dead cop to bury, or one less thief on the street waving a semi-automatic around like it’s his best friend.”
Just that quick, Roberts took off, and McNeil, Prescott and Andrews took positions and returned fire, keeping the thief pinned down so he couldn’t see what Roberts was doing.
Then it became quiet. Almost too quiet.
“Hey! Whoever you are in the alley, this is Officer Andrews. We can keep this up all day long, or we can call S.W.A.T. in here and let them take over. I’m fairly sure you know how they would handle this. They have a record for filling body bags. Give it up. Come out, hands empty and over your head!”
McNeil and Prescott looked at each other as if to say, “What S.W.A.T team?”
“Lady, kiss my ass. I go down, I go down!”
With those words, the teenager heard the fatal click of a gun behind the base of his left ear.
“If you don’t drop that gun right and hit the ground," Roberts said tight-lipped, “you’ll go down even faster, and won’t even know it.”
The kid broke into a sweat and realized he didn’t want to die. All he wanted to prove to his friends he could be tough, like them.
Roberts knelt behind the young boy’s body, grabbed first the right wrist, then the left, and had him cuffed securely, as he yelled out, “I got him. You can come in. It’s over.”
On the ground, less than five feet tall, and maybe a hundred pounds, lay a thirteen-year-old kid, who had tried to be a tough guy. Trying to prove to the world he has what it takes to be the baddest man in town. Now, he lay face down, sweating, having already peed his pants, soaked in the already snow-filled dampness of debris.
“Damn shame, really. No Christmas tree for you this year, kid.”
Dianne Andrews thought over what McNeil said.
No tree for me either.
Roberts and McNeil took the kid down to the station house, as Prescott and Andrews followed with the old man in the back seat to fill out a statement of what happened.
Hopefully, most of this mess could be straightened out. The rest, the court would decide on.
Inside their car, McNeil driving after booking Lansing Pike for attempted robbery, attempted assault on police offers and possession of an illegal firearm; he looked over at Robert’s and said, “If that kid hadn’t put down that gun, would you have blown out the back of his head?”
Without blinking an eye,” J.W. said, “In a heartbeat. But it didn’t happen. The kid did the right thing, and so did I.”
McNeil felt a chill ripple through his body. He wondered if Roberts is a loose cannon waiting to explode.
Back inside the Twenty-Second, both Dianne and Johnathan; were finishing their paperwork. Getting a statement from old Mr. Walter Falls, who said he would press charges, but also said, “His damned parents are the ones who need locked up. They ain’t raised that boy right. He has to pay for what he did to me, but his parents need to be punished right along with him.”
Burger King Parking Lot – 1:51 p.m.
Both McNeil and Roberts settled back enjoying their fast-food delights. A double-whopper, extra tomato with extra pickles and a large vanilla shake for McNeil, and a fish sandwich, mayo, and tomato only with a carton of milk for Roberts.
Neither man spoke until they finished eating. Twenty minutes later, McNeil was first.
“That was a fine takedown earlier. What got me was how fast you got to him.”
“It was the building to his right. Went in, down the hall and found a back door that led to the alley. Opened the door and saw him crouched down about twenty feet away. Creeped up on him and bingo; he never had a clue.”
“Something else I saw, too.”
“What’s that?”
“A look of excitement in your eyes. That look of: give-me-a-reason-asshole look is what I saw.”
“McNeil, I was just doing my job. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“I hope so Roberts. We don’t need a hot-shot cop here. I say that because we all know what happened in Texas.”
“If you know, then you also know I wasn’t charged in any wrongdoing.”
“Yeah, we know that, too. But just because your whatever was killed, I guess the term is significant other these days; anyway, you went on a hunt, a goddamn vigilante hunt. You found them and killed all of them but one. We go by the book here, Roberts. Keep that in mind. Baker runs a good ship, and no one wants to see it sink, especially if you decide to go solo down the road.”
“McNeil, that, was a one-time thing. I can assure you that that won’t happen again.”
“Fair enough. But answer me a question. Why did you let the one live? I heard he got twenty years.”
“I ran out of bullets.”
There was a brief spasm of silence before McNeil started the car.
“By the way …”
McNeil looked over at J.W.
“He had a name. He was my significant other as you put it. He was also my lover and my best friend, and” J.W. looked at McNeil with a steely look, “if it ever happens again, I will do the same thing. No one gets away from destroying what I love. No one. His name is Gerald Hammer
“But like I said before. I won’t go solo on the job. But I won’t hesitate in bringing a perp down for keeps if they give me no choice. Otherwise, I play by the rules, McNeil.”
“Fair enough.”
“Adam-18, there is a disturbance at 1257 Ridgeway Lane. Possible break-in.”
“Roger that, we are on our way,” responded Roberts.
“You’d think people would give crime a rest over the holidays.”
“Wishful thinking. We both know crime never takes a holiday.”
In less than five minutes they arrived at the location, and there was a potential perp trying to break in, no less into his own house.
McNeil and Roberts were slowly making their way toward the man when they both started smiling. It became obvious he was near to falling-down drunk and his speech was comical.
“Ah, c’mon, Hel, Hel, Helen. Let me in for gos sssake. I got your prechent in the car!”
The front door opened and out walked a rather portly woman, mid-forties, and she stared past her husband to the two policemen.
McNeil motioned for Roberts to hang back as he approached the woman.
“Afternoon, ma’am. I take it this is your husband wanting to get inside.”
“Yes, but I told him no more drinking! Look at him! Drunk as a skunk and I bet he smells like one!”
“Well, ma’am, if we arrest him, it’ll be for public intoxication and being a public danger to himself and others. He could go away for a good six months to a year; especially if Judge Ward sentences him. He doesn’t care much for drunks either.”
“Six months? A year? That long? I just thought you could hold him about a week until he sobers up and realizes where he is and what he’s done to our family.”
“Ma’am, generally for public intox, we can only hold him seventy-two hours. But you also called us about someone breaking into your house, and from the looks of his current condition, he is certainly a danger to himself and others. Unless you let him back into your house, we’ll have to take him in and book him. That means an arrest. Has he ever been arrested before?”
“Charlie’s never done a mean thing in his life.”
“Ma’am,” he turned to yell back to Roberts, “guess we’ll have to take him downtown.”
“Officer, stop calling me ma’am. My name is Cathie Hinesdale, and you don’t have to take him anywhere.”
She brushed past McNeil and headed straight for Charlie. Bending down, she looked up at J.W. “No need, officer. He’s going inside with me. C’mon, up you go Charlie. Let’s get in the house before you catch a cold or something.”
J.W. looked beyond her to McNeil who was grinning, and nodded his head saying, “Case closed. Let’s go.”
And that’s exactly what they did.