ACT 4
August, Chase, and Jack drove onto the bustling street where Bobby Cole's office was
located. They were parking their car a few feet away from the building when they noticed a
familiar face stopping at the doorway of the structure.
"Hey, isn't that Scott Perkins?" asked Chase.
"Yeah, that is him. What the hell's he doing here?" inquired August.
Lawson scoffed. "Maybe the guy's got something in common with Cole and the gang."
They watched as Perkins took out several keys and fiddled with them until he found
the right one. He unlocked the doors and went inside. As the three cops got out of the car,
Chase spoke up. "If Perkins is on Geiger's payroll, that'll explain why he was itching
to make me give up my badge permanently."
"To get you out of the way," said August, adding a little more to finish his partner's
sentence.
Before they entered through the building's doorways, the three cops unholstered
their weapons. They had to be prepared for anything, no matter how trivial it was. They
discovered that the main lobby was empty. A receptionist's desk was as vacant as the
vestibule, and the place was unusually quiet. The only sound heard in the place was an
old air vent that was still functioning.
Chase went to inspect the elevator area. He noticed that one car was headed up to
the top floors. "Hey, guys," he called out. "Perkins might have his rendezvous at the 12th
floor."
"Well, come on. Let's grab a car and go after him," Jack said.
"No, wait. If we use an elevator, Perkins will know that someone's behind him. I
wanna sneak up on the guy. We have to climb up the stairs," Chase said, planning something
ahead of time, which was new for a guy who usually jumped first.
"No, no way, Mac," muttered August. "I am not gonna climb 12 flights of stairs.
That's a little too much for me to handle."
"Oh, come on, August. You need the exercise anyway," Lawson said, grinning.
By the time the three cops made it to the 12th floor, they were huffing and panting
like crazy. Apparently, they ran up the steps. "Mac," gasped August, gripping his partner's
shoulder. "I wanna kill you now for talking me into running up 12 flights of stairs, but
now I'm too damn tired to do that." Chase and Jack were exhausted, too, but they laughed
in spite of themselves.
The trio explored the 12th floor hallway, but they found nothing but empty office
rooms. They were about to give up when they suddenly heard two voices in a room in the end
of the hall.
"Don't worry, Lt. Perkins. You will be rewarded for your services by the time you
get back to the Mack Truck warehouse in Drylake. Mr. Geiger is expecting you there," said
one mysterious voice.
"Well, I damn well better get paid for this. And handsomely, too. Getting McDonald
out of the way was more difficult than you and your boss had thought. Demoting him down to
beat cop was the best I could do because his buddies had to belly-ache to save his ass."
Perkins was whining like a small child.
"Beat cop wasn't really what we had in mind, Perkins. For that we ought to cut down
on your reimbursement, because you didn't do a job well done. "
"Oh, don't give me that, Stephen. Down-grading a popular cop like McDonald is the
only alternative I had."
"Then you should have killed me, Scott," Chase announced grimly as he and his
partners strode into the room with their weapons poised at the two criminals. "How ironic,
Perkins. A crusading cop like you, screaming how you'd bring bad cops to justice. Looks
like the bug's on you now, huh?"
"It's nothing personal, Chase," replied Perkins in a slightly nervous tone. "It's
all about getting a bonus I would never had received as a cop."
"So you've made a deal with the devil," said August. "That's a good enough reason to
bring you and your girlfriend there down."
Stephen was feeling for his weapon underneath his blazer coat when Lawson turned his
Beretta on him and yelled, "Uh-uh, sweetheart. Get your hands up, the both of you."
Perkins and Stephen hesitated at first, but the two bolted outwards from each other,
seeking refuge behind several cubicles. Chase and his pals did the same to avoid any attack
from the two criminals.
Perkins fired two shots from his revolver, narrowly missing Lawson. Luckily for him,
both bullets had hit the side of his cubicle shield, sending a shower of wood chips flying
in the air. Lawson fired a barrage of lead of his own at Perkins, but the dirty cop managed
to dodge them as well.
Meanwhile, in the other side of the vast office room, Chase and August were dealing
with Stephen. Geiger's right hand man had pulled out a MAC-10 Uzi and let out a spray of
doom onto the two cops. August and Chase managed to barely escape from the rapid fire by
ducking into a row of more cubicles.
Chase, on all fours, crawled into a space where August was hiding in. "Hey, August.
What are the chances of us hitting him, and him hitting us?"
"Uh, Mac, I have to say he's got a good chance of hitting us with about a dozen
bullets. Us hitting him, let's find out, huh?"
At the same time, Chase and August leaped up from their covers and fired several
shots. Stephen ducked and ran into another compartment. Lawson released an empty magazine
clip and quickly replaced it with a fresh one. Perkins continued to fire at his enemy,
discharging several pieces of lead until he heard a discomforting sound of a click. He was
out of bullets. He swore under his breath, and then ran into an emergency exit at the end
of the office.
Jack sprang up from his hiding place, both hands on his gun, pointing it at a
straight-forward direction. He found an open door and quickly ran toward it. In a narrow
hallway, pieces of broken glass led to a shattered window. Lawson went to inspect it, gun
first. The window connected to a metal fire escape. On the level below the top of the
escape, Perkins was climbing down.
"Perkins, freeze!" shouted Lawson. Perkins looked up in shock, then bounded up over
the railing and dropped down. It was a long way down. Lawson watched in horror on what
looked like Perkins about to meet a rough landing. That's when a transport truck carrying
cardboard boxes drove underneath him and broke his fall, speeding away.
Back in the office, Chase and August were still in the heat of battle with Stephen.
The criminal was still firing his Uzi. The cops needed a new plan. "Hey, August. This guy
doesn't seem like he's gonna give up."
"Yeah, Mac, I could see that!" shouted August over the ear-splitting gunfire. "Let's
just getting him when I count to three."
"Wait, wait. Should we shoot on three or after three?" Chase asked.
"Oh, don't start that crap again, Chase! Geez! Ok. One, two, three!" At that, Chase
and August sprang up and fired quickly. Stephen didn't have a chance to dodge this time.
Several bullets hit him, making him careen over several desks and breaking them.
Chase laughed. "Hey, it worked, August!"
"Yeah, finally," muttered the exasperated August.
Lawson ran up to the pair. "Did you get the guy?"
"Dead center, Jack," August replied. "Did ya catch Perkins?"
Jack shook his head. "No. The grease-ball got away."
Within moments, the rest of the police had shown up to investigate the ordeal. The
three cops were in the front end of the room, conversing with Captain Jensen. "Perkins is
on the payroll of a drug lord?" Jensen exclaimed.
"That's right, sir. He wanted for me to be demoted to beat so I wouldn't snoop around
their affairs as a homicide cop," Chase explained solemnly.
"He tried to kill Chase, too," August added.
"So what do we do now? With Perkins fleeing the scene, and the other assailant in a
body bag, we've got no leads," said Jensen.
"Well, we did hear the other guy say that Perkins is expected to be at a Mack Truck
factory in Drylake. That could be one possible hideout for the perps," suggested Lawson.
Jensen thought for a minute and then said, "As far as I know, there's only one Mack
Truck factory in Drylake."
"So let's get them, then!" proclaimed Chase, the king of the go-getters.
August shook his head and laughed. "That's my partner. The over-achiever."
With that remark, Chase sneered at August with mock anger.
Later, at the warehouse, Perkins entered the entranceway with a disheveled suit and a
really ticked look on his face. He shoved several of Geiger's employees out of his way. He
rushed up to Geiger's conference room, angrily opened the door, and slammed it afterwards.
"Ah, Scott. I take it something is amiss. This had better be important if you want
to disrupt our first meeting for Operation Narco." Apparently, Geiger was having a
consultation with other corporate pushers. Several Hispanic dealers were in attendance,
as well as some Americans and Europeans.
Amiss, sir? Try disastrous," stated Perkins as he gave that same angry stare that
made him so notorious and scary as an Internal Affairs dick.
Why is that?"
Because the cops are on to us, that's why. Your lackey Stephen gave a slip of the
tongue about where we are, and what the hell we are up to."
Where is Stephen?"
On his way to the morgue," barked Perkins.
At the same moment, a loud crash came from the loading dock area of the warehouse,
and outside, the loud whirring of a helicopter's blades could be heard. Geiger's face
changed from a calm composure into a look of pure anger. This was new, since the drug lord
seemed to be an expert at being cool under fire. Perkins looked around with a nervous face
as he quickly unholstered his revolver and began loading it frantically.
This is the LAPD!" a megaphoned voice boomed throughout the desert. Local police, as
well as the LAPD, were all over the place, with several SWAT trucks and a brigade of squad
cars. Chase, August, Lawson, and the Captain, along with Sam Richardson, came out of their
cars, their weapons poised at the warehouse. The voice on the megaphone went on. "We have
the building surrounded! Come out with your hands up!"
The pushers didn't want to oblige. The front gate opened up, and a group of machine
gun-toting thugs charged out to meet the police, dead-on. The police responded with a
barrage of bullets of their own. It was a full-scale war. Blood and bullets were scattered
all over the desert, and several squad cars exploded after being hit by heavy lead.
Behind a SWAT truck, Chase, August, and Lawson were shooting at the perps. Suddenly,
Chase bolted out of his hiding place and ran into a vacant but workable patrol car.
"Mac, what the hell are you doing?!" screamed August, seeing his partner doing yet
another crazy stunt.
I think I know a way for us to get into that warehouse!" Chase yelled back. He
couldn't find the keys to the ignition, so he tried to hot-wire it instead. It took a few
seconds and a couple of swear words until Chase managed to turn on the car by working on
its wires. He then found a nightstick sitting on the passenger seat and jammed it on the
gas pedal. The driverless car moved toward the warehouse entranceway as Chase made a run
for it.
Though several thugs managed to shoot its hood, the car crashed through the gated
entranceway without stopping, and caused several henchmen to scatter out of its way. It
exploded when it slammed onto a truck parked inside the building.
Seeing his plan work, Chase jumped up. "Hey, guys! Storm it!"
August, Lawson, Richardson, and several SWAT cops rushed up to the warehouse, with
Chase bounding up to the entrance, a Glock in his right hand and a Beretta in the left. He
sprayed double-fisted messages of death onto several thugs trying to block the onslaught.
August came in firing as well, hitting a suited pusher as he bolted down the stairs
connecting to the office, firing an AK-47 at the direction of the cops.
Near the garage area of the warehouse, Lawson and Richardson ran up with their guns
drawn, shooting several pushers trying to escape from the assault. Just then, Lawson
spotted none other than his ex-partner Geiger running on an elevated catwalk above the
garage.
"Perkins!" shouted Lawson, as he ran up the stairs to catch up to the drug lord.
Just as he made it to the catwalk, a gunshot rang out, and ripped Lawson in the shoulder.
Screaming in pain, Lawson toppled over and fell down the metal stairs. Geiger came
out of the office, with his Desert Eagle Magnum smoking from the barrel.
"Nice shooting," Perkins called out, sarcastically. Geiger sneered and jacked up the
muzzle of his big piece.
"Jack always was a careless pansy," stated Geiger as he joined the corrupt cop. They
escaped through a door at the other end of the catwalk.
After mowing down several dealers with double action fire, Chase suddenly turned
around to see Lawson lying on the bottom of the stairs. "Lawson!" He ran through to inspect
his fallen buddy, with August to his side.
"You ok, Jack?" August asked.
"Yeah. Forget about me. Geiger and Perkins are getting out of here."
"Where did they go?" asked Chase.
"Up the catwalk," answered Lawson.
Chase and August made a dash towards the stairs. Spotting a Mossberg shotgun lying
on the second to last top stair, Chase picked it up and gave it to his partner. "Here,
August. Some insurance."
"Thanks. I'm gonna need it," replied August, as he pumped up the heavy weapon.
The two cops entered the door on the catwalk. Inside it, they found two corridors.
"You go left, I'll go right," whispered August. Chase nodded and took off in his direction.
August slowly walked toward his corridor, both hands on the big Mossberg. He found
another door connecting to a staircase to the back parking lot. Several trucks were parked
there, providing possible cover for an escaping perp. August went out and started going
the stairs when shot nearby rang out. The bullet hit a railing near him, so August quickly
made a jump for it and landed with a semi-acrobatic role. With the shotgun in both hands,
he got to his feet and ran behind a truck.
He peeked out to see Perkins reaching out from the side of another truck with his
revolver, firing another round. August dodged the shot and quickly aimed the Mossberg to
Perkins' direction. He delivered two heavy discharges of lead, narrowly missing Perkins.
Pieces of the truck's container went flying. The corrupt cop managed to sprint away from
the fire.
Meanwhile, back inside, Chase found a door opened to another vast garage. More trucks
were being kept there. With both guns in his hands, Chase entered the door slowly and
swiftly walked down a flight of steps to the garage. He suddenly heard a cold voice echoing
in the area. "Hey, McDonald. You're not doing bad . . . for a lowly patrolman," the voice
taunted.
"Years of experience, Geiger," replied Chase, gravely.
Geiger went on. "You know, I've got my own little score to settle with you, since
you killed by partner Bobby Cole."
"He deserved to die."
"Oh, that's right, Chase. He killed your bitch Nicole Stockman." Geiger laughed. He
knew that was McDonald's boiling point, but hitting an angry spot could lead to a weakness.
"Don't worry, you'll soon be reunited with her." After his last message, Geiger dashed out
from behind a truck container and fired his heavy magnum.
Chase ran forward behind a couple of wooden crates. With his Glock and Beretta, he
let out a perfectly synchronized wave of bullets at his enemy's direction. Geiger leaped
forward, taking refuge behind the cockpit of a truck. His Desert Eagle boomed again,
splintering a huge chunk from Chase's wooden shields, but failed to take the cop himself.
Chase made another break for it, this time hiding behind a small row of Macks parked along
a wall.
Outside in the lot, August and Perkins were still in the heat of battle. Perkins
fired three shots from behind a dumpster near another platform adjacent to the back garage
entranceways. August triggered another barrage of bullets at Perkins' hiding spot, and
jacked it up. The corrupter released another round, almost hitting his enemy, but August
made a running sprint and flew through the air, firing the shotgun with one hand, and
landing behind a pillar of empty metal barrels. He regaged the Mossberg when he heard
Perkins yelp from behind the dumpster.
"Brooks. It doesn't have to be this way," Perkins said. "We can work this thing out."
The I. A. detective was pleading for some mercy.
"Sorry, Perkins, but I believe that honesty is the best policy," replied August.
Perkins stood up and fired at August's cover, but the good cop made another acrobatic
roll and fired four heavy shots, this time reaching the target. Perkins, bloody from the
multiple spread of the shotgun wounds, staggered into the garage doors, and crumpled over.
In the garage, Chase fired his guns, at the same time dodging his enemy's heavy
onslaught of magnum power. Geiger darted behind a tower of crates and took aim, but Chase
shot first, hitting the drug lord in the left knee. Geiger let out a shriek of pain, and
stumbled over to his side. Chase tossed away the Beretta and held his Glock in both hands,
aiming at Geiger's head. The pusher looked up with a look of fear at first, then he changed
the expression in his face with a raspy laugh.
"You wouldn't take advantage of a helpless, unarmed man, would you, McDonald?" asked
Geiger.
"Never. I'd never sink to your level, Geiger . . . " said Chase, quietly.
The dealer let out another hoarse snicker, and tried to reach for his ankle holster,
containing a small Whalter PPK. But he wasn't fast enough. Chase squeezed off two shots,
hitting Geiger in the chest. The criminal's head went slack, and he croaked instantly.
" . . . but there's a first time for everything," finished Chase.
"Mac! Mac!" August yelled as he ran through from the corridor entrance. "You okay,
Chase?"
"Yeah. I'm fine, August."
"Did you get Geiger?" asked August as he ran to his buddy's side.
"See for yourself," responded Chase as he walked away.
The assault was over, and the rest of the pushers were either dead or being led to
police patty wagons. Chase and August were talking to Jensen. "How's Lawson gonna be?"
asked August.
"Well, he's been hit severely in the shoulder, but he'll make it," Jensen responded.
"So you finally brought down the whole Cole/Geiger drug cartel, guys, before they can go
create their super-alliance with other major pushers."
Chase smiled and placed his hand on August's shoulder. "All in a day's work, huh,
partner?"
August had to agree. "You bet, Mac."
"Oh, Chase, I think you might get a promotion thanks to your latest bust."
Chase thought for a moment. "Hmm. I don't know, Captain. I think I'll just wait until
my time as patrolman expires. I'm starting to get used to wearing my old uniform again."
He said as he patted himself.
August and Jensen looked at each other, and laughed hysterically.
Chase gave a confused look. "What? What's so funny now?"
EPILOGUE
A few days after the warehouse offensive, things seemed to look at ease for Chase and
August. On a beautiful Thursday afternoon, Chase, August, and Kendra were relaxing in
August's backyard at the picnic table, drinking ice-cold lemonade.
After taking a slurp of his drink, Chase said, "You know, guys, I've been thinking.
Since Nicole is gone, I'm still contemplating if I still wanna be a cop."
"Chase, you're a great cop. Next to August, you're one of the best I've ever known,"
said Kendra.
"Kendra's right, Chase. Over the years, you've done everything to be a model police
officer, no matter what Internal Affairs has to say."
"Well, August, one of those guys wanted to get rid of me for the sake of a bonus,"
reminded Chase.
"The point is, Chase, you do your job well, and honestly," said August, considerately.
"Oh, by the way: how long is it gonna be when you finally get promoted again?"
"In about two weeks. Why?"
"It's been pretty quiet and boring without you lately. I'm actually starting to miss
being in a high speed pursuit," August said, laughing.
"Don't worry, partner. I'll be by soon," said Chase thoughtfully. "Well, guys, I
gotta go. I've got one more errand to do."
"And what's that?" asked Kendra.
Chase hesitated, then said "I, um . . . I have to put Nicole's ashes in the ocean."
August and Kendra looked at Chase sympathetically. "You need company, Mac?"
"Uh, no, that's okay, August. Thanks," said Chase sadly. "Well, I'll see you guys."
"Bye Chase," said August as he shook his partner's hand. Kendra walked around and
gave Chase two kisses on the cheek.
"That was for Nicole and you, Chase," she said, quietly.
Chase smiled. "Thanks, Kendra."
As Chase drove towards the shore, he turned on the radio. Sting came on and started to
softly wail his version of Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing." It was the slow, sad adaptation,
something only a rocker like Sting could play. As he listened to it, Chase started having
flashbacks. Sting's "Little Wing" was the song he and Nicole slow-danced to when they were
vacationing in San Francisco. They were in a nightclub one night, and they went on the
dance floor to slowly dance to the lovely song. While he was remembering all these good
memories, a tear slowly rolled down his cheek. Even happy memories can stir up tears in
some moments.
Chase arrived at the boardwalk in Santa Monica, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. As he
walked toward the edge, he had the urn which contained Nicole's ashes. Slowly, he opened
up the jar and released his girlfriend's remains onto the water. He was silently crying as
he did so. He whispered poignantly, "I love you, Nicole." He could still hear Sting sing
those emotional lyrics, "As she's walking, through the clouds . . . "
Chase went back to his car to put the urn back inside, but he couldn't leave. Not
yet. He felt that he had to stay awhile, to reflect on the memories he had with Nicole.
He went to a park bench on the boardwalk and sat there, just watching the ocean.
While he was still reminiscing, Chase suddenly heard a woman's voice. "Oh, Billy. I
told you not to mess around in your carriage." A woman, about in her late 20's, crouched
down to pick up a baby bag that was scattered on the boardwalk ground. Her son, who was
probably a toddler, was seated in the carriage, looking on as his mother picked up several
items that fell out of the bag.
Chase, feeling sorry for this young lady, got up from the bench and walked over to
the small family. "Here. Let me help you," he said as he bent down to aid her.
"Oh, thank you, sir. I really appreciate it." She looked up the same time Chase did,
and their eyes met with a magnetic trance. She had the most beautiful brown eyes he had
ever seen, and her silky blonde hair was flowing in the beach breeze. Simultaneously, the
lady found this gentleman to be quite handsome.
"Hi. Detective Chase McDonald," he said in that gentleman tone.
"I'm Haley Stone. And this is my five-year old son, Billy," Haley said.
Chase bent down to face the little boy. "Hi there, big guy." He shook Billy's little
hand. "I'm Chase."
"My name's Billy," the kid said with a friendly matter of his own.
"Nice to meet you Billy." He turned back to Haley. "So do you live around here?"
"Right in the heart of Malibu," she said, smiling. She thought for a moment, then
asked hopefully, "Are you free sometime?"
"Um, yeah. Yeah, I am," Chase said excitedly.
"Are you available tonight?" she asked anxiously.
"You bet."
At that, Chase raised his left arm for Haley to put her right under it. Then the trio
went for a nice late afternoon walk. They all knew, this was the beginning of a beautiful,
new relationship.
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