This is a page from a work in progress. It's directly tied to "Amanda" Nothing like cold revenge to warm the heart this winter...
Officer Joe Marsh had just come from briefing before going on duty. His was the 3-11 shift, the most interesting time to work, he thought. Joe liked how the shift passed quickly, with one call for service after another keeping it lively. Except for the damn paperwork that went along with it. That part he would just as soon skip. Fat chance.
It was still quite warm, and although he had the Crown Vic's air conditioning running at a brisk pace, he kept the front windows down in order to hear any sounds that might tip him to trouble nearby. He liked to think of his assigned sector as "His" neighborhood. He wouldn't want to live here, or have his kids enrolled in the nearby high school, that's for sure. It was a low-income area, no doubt about it, but certainly no shortage of pawnshops, bars, and payday loan establishments. Yep, you could say there was a thriving economy here, both legal and otherwise.
Joe saw evidence of the illegal economy every night, familiar faces seen at familiar places, engaging in their own special kind of capitalism. Joe kept a running log of notes,which he turned into reports, good intel for the drug boys downtown. You had to wonder why little seemed to change here at the street level. Sure, busts were made, but the song remained the same and Meth was the piper calling the tune these days.
She used to have dreams,she thought somewhat absently, as she chopped the crystalline powder into neat ordered lines. Lines that were likely the only ordered thing in her life now. All else had spiraled into chaos since her introduction to "ice" two years ago. Oh well.... Once she snorted the neat ordered lines, she wouldn't care about those dreams anymore. The ice was here,the ice was now, and it was all she dreamed of anymore...
It was dusk now, the heat of the afternoon sun replaced by a lazy, humid warmth that would last well into the evening. Joe Marsh turned left onto 23rd, hoping to grab a burrito at the Taco Bell before the next call. The radio was quiet for now, but soon it would have plenty to say. Domestic this, drunken that, and don't forget the "shots fired" calls. At least those were good for an adrenaline rush.
Before he made it to the Taco Bell, Joe observed an individual he knew, a known street dealer named Kyle Johnston, street name "Iceman". He was stepping away from a pay phone, no doubt having concluded a "business meeting" of some kind. Joe pulled to the curb, approaching with caution, since "Iceman" was probably "tweaking", hopped up and edgy as hell. "Hey Ice!", he called. "Whatcha doin,man?"
"I ain't doin shit,man!" was the immediate, and expected response. "What the **** you want?" Ok, he was being chatty tonight, very social, and therfore not in possession of anything worth Officer Marsh's time before lunch.
"Nothin from you, dirtbag!", Joe said, ready to pull away and go to lunch. "Iceman's" mouth started to form yet another pleasant response, which Joe would never hear, since there was a shot and Kyle Johnston's head exploded in a pink mist that decorated Joe Marsh's Crown Victoria with blood and brains.
Last edited by dieseltrooper; 10-26-2005 at 08:46 PM.
"Shit!" Joe Marsh gunned the engine and accelerated out of what he considered to be a "kill zone", not knowing who was shooting or who the intended target was. "Shots fired, 800 block ne 23rd, one victim down, I need backup now!"
Pedestrians scattered like sheep and ran for safety, hoping there would be no more gunfire, except for a single homeless man who stood, holding one hand on his shopping cart and the other hand pointing down the street at a four-story brick building sporting a faded Coca-Cola mural.
Hopefully, other units would be here quick, he prayed, bringing the Crown Vic to a stop in a defensive position 50 yards from "Ice" who was now rapidly assuming room temperature, lying in a dark pool of his blood. The radio crackled to life with multiple calls from responding units. That's one of the bonuses of being a cop, Joe thought as he unlocked his shotgun from it's mount.... Always having backup.
Within two minutes, six units had arrived on the scene, arraying themselves to secure the scene and protect their fellow officer. A supervisor showed up a minute or so later to sort out what happened, followed by an ambulance to verify the obvious: Kyle Johnston would never deal "Ice" again.
"Well damn,Joe, it looks like you're gettin all the action tonight." It was Sargeant Don Thompson, a ten year veteran of the force, who wore his moustache like Sam Elliot, way beyond department regs.
"I don't know,Sarge. I was harassing Iceman and someone fragged him. It wasn't a drive-by and I'll bet you a dozen donuts it was rifle, judging by the sound. I saw one possible witness to the shooter, the homeless guy with the cart."
"Great, a reliable witness." Sargeant Thompson made air quotation marks with his hands. "Ok,the crime scene crew will be here soon, let's set up a one-block perimeter to keep the newsies out of our hair."
"Ok,Sarge."
The post-mortem was fairly routine,time of death was noted on Officer Marsh's report. No mystery there, thought Carlos "The Jackal" Virga, as he zipped the bodybag closed and attached a new seal to preserve the chain of custody. Maybe someone would claim the body, maybe not. Cause of death, gunshot wound to the head, entry at a 35 degree down angle thru the upper-right parietal bone and exiting near the left eye socket. All in all, no great loss to society. After all the domestic violence victims, the children, and sexual assault homicides, he just could not find a shred of sympathy for Kyle Johnston. Maybe he had been raised in an abusive home, or was economically disadvantaged. Perhaps Dad had given him little in the way of love and attention. Even so, Kyle Johnston had made a series of free-will choices that had ended here, on the cold, stainless steel table. "The Jackal" shed his latex gloves and clocked out.
"Good morning, I'm Jack Wallace and this is Good Morning Oklahoma." "In the news this morning, authorities have little to go on to investigate the shooting of Kyle Johnston in the 800 block of Northeast 23rd last night at around 7:30. Officer Joe Marsh witnessed the shooting,but was uninjured. Police are questioning one possible witness that may have seen the shooter and are unwilling to call this shooting a "Sniper" case. We will follow up and have an update this evening."
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