ACT 4
Alex hurried down the hall. "Chase, I got your message. Are you okay?"
He stood as she came around the desk. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a few bumps and bruises.
Nothing to be worried about."
"Well, that's a relief."
Samantha was coming down the hall when she saw the two talking. She stopped just
before the corner when Alex asked, "You still coming over tonight?"
"Depends on what goes on with this case."
"Have you and August made any progress?"
He shrugged. "Not enough to make a connection to our suspect," he said, "but we did
manage to stop a truckload of illegal weapons from getting onto the streets."
"If the case is too much, you don't have to come over. I just thought it'd be nice
to go over some possible vacation plans?"
"No, don't worry. I'll come over."
"Okay, great. I have to stop by a friend's place real quick, then I'll be heading
home. Just give me a call before you leave so I'll know you're on your way."
"I will."
She gave him a kiss. "See you later."
"Bye." He watched her go, then sat in his seat. Just around the corner, Samantha
seemed to be considering something, but just turned and walked away.
Jensen came out of his office calling, "McDonald."
"Yeah, Captain."
"I just got off the phone with the mayor's office. They're not happy with the way
things are going."
"We're not Batman and Robin, Captain," he said. "We're doing the best we can."
"I know, Chase. But they want more done, and they want it fast."
"This Riggs is a tough guy, Captain. August and I can't get him on our own."
"Then I suggest you bring in some secondaries. Harris, Richardson, Lawson; they'll
all available. Get them on this case immediately."
"Sure thing, Captain."
"I faith in you guys, Chase. But the mayor's office doesn't." With that he left.
August came back into the room. "August, the captain wants us to bring him some
secondaries for this case."
"What for?"
"Apparently, the mayor's office doesn't have as much faith in us as Jensen does.
They think things aren't moving as fast as they could be."
A short time later, the detectives were gathered around Chase's desk with James
Harris, Sam Richardson, and Jack Lawson. "Okay, guys," Chase said. "The mayor's office
is breathing down our necks. They want things going faster than they are, so we need your
help."
August said, "James and Richardson, we want you to go back to the warehouse where
we busted that load of guns. Take Cragmeyer and Annie and see if you can turn up anything
that links that place to Joshua Riggs. Lawson, run the plates on that truck Chase took
down. See if that gets us anywhere."
The detectives all nodded and left to get to work. "What was that all about?"
Samantha asked, coming into the squad room.
Chase said, "We were ordered to bring in additional help for the case."
"What's wrong with the three of us?"
"The mayor's office wants us to do more than we three alone can do," August said,
then looked down as his pager went off. "Oh oh." He grabbed it from his belt and looked
at it. Then the second one went off, and he plucked it off as well. Then the third.
"Problem August?" Chase asked in amusement.
"I think, I think Kendra's going into labor," he said, trying to shut the pagers off.
"I gotta go." Then his cell-phone started ringing. He answered it quickly. "Brooks. Yeah,
yeah, Rosie, they just went off. I'm on my way." He hurried down the hall. "I'll call you
later, Mac."
August brushed past the Salvation Army Santa Claus as he hurried through the front doors
of Los Angeles Memorial. He ran up to the front desk. "Can I help you, sir?" the clerk
asked.
"My wife was brought in just recently, she may be going into labor."
"Her name?"
"Brooks. Kendra Brooks."
"August."
He looked to see Rosie coming toward him. "Rosie. Where's Kendra?"
"It's okay. It was just a false alarm."
"What?"
"Sorry."
He exhaled a sigh of relief. "Where is she?"
Rosie lead him into the room where Kendra was. "August."
"Hi, honey." He leaned over the bed and kissed her. "You okay?"
"Yeah. Doctor said it was just a false alarm."
Doctor Grant came into the room with a clipboard. "Mister Brooks, I pressume?"
"Yes. Hi, doctor." He shook hands.
"There's no reason for alarm."
"Sorry, August," she said. "Guess I just got excited and thought it was time."
"That's okay."
Grant asked, "When's your due date, Misses Brooks?"
"The twenty-third."
"Well, that's only a few days away, so it's safe to say that you will begin labor
soon enough."
With Rosie driving Kendra home, August headed back to the station. He couldn't believe
how close he was to becoming a dad. It felt great. It was something they had wanted for
the past couple of years, and it was now finally going to happen.
As he came to a stop at a red light, he glanced over toward a corner dirt lot being
used as a make-shift parking lot. A flashy red car was parked, and the driver was talking
to another man standing outside his window, leaning over with one arm on the hood. The
passenger was standing beside the car, smoking a cigarette and glancing about suspiciously.
When the light changed, he rolled through the intersection and parked alongside the
curb, giving himself a slightly blocked view of the car. He lifted the radio to his lips.
"Dispatch, this is 1-William-13." He strained to see the rear license plate. "Requesting
a DMV check on license plate Four-John-George-Eight-David-John-Five, over."
"Copy, 1-William-13. Stand by."
He watched the one laugh at something the driver said, then reach across the roof
and slap hands with the passenger.
"1-William-13, DMV says that license belongs to a 1986 Toyota Camry currently in
Impound, over."
The car was not a Toyota Camry. August knew something was up. "Copy that. Code Six-A
at the corner of Whilsire and Morgan, a dirt lot used as a parking lot. Over and out."
He climbed out and made his way to the lot, making sure he stayed hidden by the
trucks and some construction vehicles parked at the front of the lot. He glanced around
the back of a bulldozer and tried to listen. He could hear the kids talking, but couldn't
make out what they were saying. That's when he saw the flash of something in the driver's
hand, and then a slight turn the other guy made revealed the Uzi that was being passed to
him.
August drew his gun. "L.A.P.D. Don't move!"
In response, the driver dropped the car in gear and peeled out. The passenger ran.
And the other turned, squeezing off a spray of bullets that struck the ground near
August's feet. He pulled back as more bullets hit the rear of the bulldozer.
"Think what you're doing, kid!" he yelled. "You shoot a policeman, your life will
be over!"
The kid moved for cover behind a car. "You got that the wrong way!" he shouted back.
"If I shoot you, you're life will be over."
He fired another round. August flinched. He hurried to the front of the bulldozer
and tried to see. He spotted the kid moving around behind a nearby car, and when he stood
to shoot again, August fired a single shot, and the kid fell back without a scream. He
came around the bulldozer slowly and made his way toward the kid. He heard sirens
approaching. He rounded the car with his gun still on the shooter, and he froze in his
tracks. His eyes widened.
"Oh my God," he said quietly. "Oh my God. No." He dropped his gun and fell to his
knees, checking for a pulse. There was none. He began applying CPR as one of the officers
walked up.
"Detective?"
"Call an ambulance," August said in frustration. "Call an ambulance. This kid ain't
dying."
"Sir?"
"Just call an amublance!" he yelled, and the officer back away.
"Come on, Reggie," August said. He stopped and lowered his head to hear if the kid
was breathing, but he wasn't. He started compressions again. "Come on. You're not dying
on me, Reggie. You are not dying on me."
"What do we have so far?" Jensen asked.
Chase and Samantha stood before the captain. "Lawson ran the plates on that truck
we took down," Chase said. "They belonged to a vehicle that went into police impound
about three months ago."
"Somebody stole the plates from Impound?" Jensen asked.
"That's what it looks like," Samantha said.
"As for the warehouse, James and Richardson went back to see if they could find a
connection to Joshua Riggs."
"And?"
"No connection," Chase said. "But, there is evidence that suggests the guns we came
across were going to be purchased by John Murphy."
"Who's that?" Jensen asked.
"Someone who could be pretty deadly with those weapons in his possession. If he'd
gotten those guns, it'd be open season out on the streets. We've got police on him right
now, waiting for him to move. We're hoping he'll lead us to Riggs."
"Well, thank God you guys managed to stop those weapons from getting out of the
warehouse," Jensen said. "Okay. Get back on it. Oh, where's August?"
"He left a little while ago," Chase said. "Kendra went into labor I think. He's
supposed to call me later and let me know."
As they left the office, Samantha said, "Your partner and his wife have been trying
for a baby for awhile now?"
"For a couple years," he said, and answered his phone when it started ringing.
"McDonald. August, hey. We were just talking about you." His smiled faded away. "What?
When? Where at?" He sighed, leaned back against his desk. "Really? Oh man. I'm sorry,
August. Yeah. Yeah, sure. No problem. Bye."
"What was that all about?" she asked as he hung up.
"August was on his way back from the hospital when he stopped to investigate some
suspicious activity and got into a gunfight. Two of the suspects got away, but he killed
the third. It was a kid he knew who came to his recreation center all the time. I have
to call Kendra and let her know."
He picked up the phone and started dialing as James hurried into the room. "Chase,
John Murphy's on the move."
Chase thought he had hung the phone up when he dropped it, but it landed on the
desk instead. As the three of them ran down the hall, a voice came from the phone.
"Hello? Hello?"
It was an empty parking lot behind some buildings where the moving truck was sitting. A
lone car pulled into the lot. Asa dropped down from the cab as John Murphy stopped in
front of the truck climbed out of the car with a briefcase. "Mister Murphy," he said, and
lead him toward the back. He unlocked the padlock, threw the handle, and pushed the roll-
up door up.
Asa pulled himself up inside and didn't offer a hand. John climbed up himself and
found several large wooden shipping crates in the back. Asa removed the first lid.
Nestled inside the packing were dozens of shiny machine guns. "Fifteen AK-47s," Asa said.
"Fully automatic, extended magazine clips." He opened another crate and gestured inside.
"Twenty Uzi 9 millimeters. Everything you wanted is here in this truck."
John picked up one of the Uzis and weighed in his hands, getting the feel for it.
"Very nice," he said.
"Now it's time for you to live up to your end of the deal."
John smiled. "Of course." He set the Uzi back into the crate as Asa replaced the
lid, then set the briefcase on it, flicked the latches, and opened the lid.
Asa picked up a stack of hundreds and quickly flipped through it, then set it back
and shut the lid. "Thank you very much. Mister Riggs will be very happy."
"As will I."
At least a half-dozen police cars suddenly poured into the lot, sirens wailing and
tires squealing. John turned. "What the hell!?"
Asa grabbed the briefcase and ran up through the front of the truck and into the
cab. Before the officers had gotten from their cars, Asa was out of the cab and in John's
car, firing it up and flooring it in reverse. Two cars went after him. He bounced down
off the curb and shot up the street in reverse, spinning around as the two cruisers came
out of the lot behind him, giving chase.
John grabbed an AK-47 from the crate and opened fire. Chase climbed out and stood
in the V of his open door, Samantha on the passenger side. James and Richardson were
positioned behind their doors next to them. Gunfire erupted from the rear of the truck.
Windows shattered and hoods were punched by bullets. Officers returned fire.
"We better be careful shooting back," Samantha shouted over the noise.
"Why?"
"No telling what else he's got in there."
Chase seemed to realize the implications. "Good advice."
The AK-47 already empty, John threw it down and grabbed two more. With one in each
hand, he cut lose and nearly threw himself off his feet. Chase ducked behind the door and
looked across the front seat at Samantha. "How many of those do you think he has?"
"I don't care! I just want that son of a bitch!"
When those two were empty, he flipped open another crate and found a pile of
grenades. He smiled and plucked one out, pulling the pin with his teeth and reeling his
arm back to throw it. Samantha took aim and squeezed the trigger. John jerked back
against the wall, the grenade falling from his hands.
"Run!" an officer yelled.
Chase jumped to his feet and hauled off with the others. First John was looking at
blood on his hand, then he was looking down at the grenade by his feet, gasping as he
realized the situation. The truck exploded into a massive firepower as hundreds of rounds
of ammunition ignited. The flames reached out far, touching the nearest police cars and
turning them into fireballs, leaving them nothing but twisted steel.
Everyone stopped at the back of the lot and turned, starring at the large blaze.
Chase whistled. "L.A. heat," he said.
Joshua looked up as the door to his office opened. Asa came in with a briefcase. "I trust
the exchange went fine?"
"I wouldn't exactly say that."
Joshua stood, alarmed. "What happened?"
"The police showed up."
"How did they know about it?"
"I don't know. They must have been tailing Murphy. Two black-and-whites chased me,
but I managed to get away. I at least got the money." He set the briefcase on the desktop.
"Well, it's a shame we had to lose so many weapons again, but no big lose with
Mister Murphy. I spoke with Wu and he'll be arriving in Los Angeles soon. Once we close
the deal with him, we'll be untouchable."
As Chase returned to the station, he heard his phone ringing. Richardson was passing and
said, "I think it's Kendra."
"What?"
"She's been calling for awhile trying to reach you. She doesn't know where August
is."
Chase suddenly remembered. He'd forgotten about it the moment he heard that John
Murphy was on the move. He quickly answered. "McDonald."
"Chase, it's Rosie. We can't get in touch with August. Have you seen him or spoken
with him? Kendra's been trying to call him at the station and on his cell-phone, but he
didn't answer either one."
"I heard from him a little while ago," he said.
"Where is he?"
"He was on his way back from the hospital when he stopped to investigate some
suspicious activity. A gunfight broke out and he shot and killed the suspect. It was a
kid he knows."
"Oh my God," she said quietly. "Is he okay?"
"Yeah, he's fine. He's fine. I was just about to call Kendra and tell her when we
got a break in this case and I had to leave real quick."
"Well, if he's not there, where is he?"
Chase was about to say he didn't know, then said, "I think I may know."
Chase descended the steps into the recreation center. "August? August?" He stepped off
onto the floor and stood looking around. There were only a few lights on. A towel and
water bottle were sitting on a bench nearby, and he spotted August's coat over one of
the boxing ring ropes. "August?" he called again.
His partner came out from the locker room area. He stopped and looked at Chase for
a moment, as if he was shocked to see him, then said, "What are you doing here, Chase?"
and moved toward the punching bag. He was wearing shorts and a tank-top, and had boxing
gloves on.
"Rosie called to see if I had heard from you. I told her what happened. Kendra got
worried when she couldn't reach you. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he said, and started throwing punches into the bag.
"We just didn't know where you were, but I figured you'd be here if you weren't
at home."
"Well, you figured right."
Chase stood for a moment. He hadn't seen August acting like this since his nephew
had been found murdered, and Chase remembered what had happened when he last pressured
August into trying to talk about it.
"You sure? That you're okay?"
"I'm okay, Mac," August replied, seemingly unaware of Chase's prescence.
Another moment of silence, and then Chase said, "Okay. Well, I guess I'll go then.
I'll let the captain know you'll be back in in the morning?"
"Yeah. Sure."
Chase watched his partner for a moment longer, then turned and started up the
steps. His cell-phone began ringing as he came out of the center. The sky was beginning
to darken, a chill in the air. "McDonald."
"Chase, it's Alex." She sounded upset.
"Hi, Alex."
"Can you . . . can you come over?"
"Sure. Is everything alright?"
"Just, just come over. Please."
"I'll be right there."
Chase pulled his Mustang up before the front porch steps and hurried up to the door. He
knocked, but no one answered. The lights were all dark. Alex's Jeep was in the driveway.
"Alex?" He came down off the porch and moved around the side, toward the garage. He
slipped between the house and the garage and saw the lights in the barn were on. He
walked toward it.
He stepped inside. "Alex?"
"In here," she said quietly.
Chase went up to the second stall on the right and stopped, looking in. Alex was
kneeling in the hay. Beside her, Thunderbolt was lying motionlessly. She looked up, and
Chase saw she'd been crying. "He's dead," she said. He came into the stall and kneeled
beside her. "Somebody . . . somebody killed him."
She stroked the soft mane as she cried. Chase put a hand on her shoulder.
"I found this." She handed him an envelope. CHASE was written in black ink on the
front.
He opened it and took out the folded sheet of paper inside, read the message. It
said simply, "Next time, it'll be someone you care about."
He crumpled the letter in his fist. Alex said, "Why would . . . why would someone
do this?"
Chase seemed to be staring into space. "To send a message," he said, and put an arm
around her as she cried.
TO BE CONTINUED . . .
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