The Protectors: Vigilante Justice (Vigilante Cops Book 1) Read online

  “Billie’s coming back,” Jimmy whispered, keeping his eyes on the arguing Zeke and Bess. He knew when the couple stopped arguing, they’d be in trouble. “He can outrun Fred any day.”

  “I…I want my Mommy…” Bonnie began to sob.

  Jimmy quickly put a grimy hand over her mouth. “Shhhhhhh…. Bonnie… don’t cry. They’ll hear you. Bess’ll get the switch out.”

  It was then they heard the camper door burst in against its latch. Four loud gunshots in rapid fire shattered the momentary silence between when Bess and Zeke stopped shouting at each other and Jimmy saw them turn toward the door. The boy watched in dread fascination as the bullets drove Zeke and Bess against the far wall, only to collapse like dancing rag dolls as hell embraced them. A huge shadow edged into the light. Jimmy pulled at Crystal and Bonnie, trying to get them further into the corner where the bed butted up against the camper wall. Jimmy watched the big man come into view, his gun held out in front of him. It was a policeman. The stern faced man turned toward them and smiled, making a hushing gesture. The policeman searched around in the van. Another shot startled the three kids. The policeman approached them slowly then, his hands making calming gestures. He knelt down next to the bed without touching the children.

  * * *

  Connor heard a man and woman shouting and cursing at each other as he pulled new Nitrile gloves on. He approached the old cab over camper with care, listening for any change of tempo in the voices. When he reached the rear camper door, Connor paused, trying to pick up any other sound besides the couple’s voices. Connor tried the door. It opened. He rushed into the darkened interior, his Ruger in hand. A rail thin, middle aged woman with stringy blonde hair stood arguing toe to toe with a taller man. He looked to Connor as if he might be Fred’s older brother. They heard Connor and turned together toward the noise. Connor fired two rounds into each of their heads without hesitation before either could react. Even as the bodies dropped grotesquely to the floor, Connor searched the cluttered camper. He found the children huddled together on one of the bunks, tightlipped with fear. Connor gestured at them to stay quiet. He checked to make sure the man and woman were dead. He searched the van carefully. Connor found drugs and left them alone. He also found a loaded thirty-eight Smith and Wesson pistol in a drawer. Placing it in the dead hand of the male corpse, Connor fired a round, pressing the dead man’s finger on the trigger. The shot smashed into the rear door jamb. He found a knife with the food utensils, and put it in the woman’s hand. Connor approached the kids slowly.

  “Hi kids. My name’s Connor. Your friend Billie sent me. He said the monsters had you. I’m here to take you home.”

  Bonnie, who had been staring wide eyed at Connor burst into tears, and dove into Connor’s arms, her hands clasped tightly around his neck. Connor hugged the little girl back, reaching out with his free hand to pat Crystal’s hand and squeeze Jimmy’s shoulder gently.

  “Why don’t we all go outside where we can meet up with Billie? He’s real worried about you three.”

  “Are…are they really gone?” Crystal asked, trying to see around Connor to where Zeke and Bess lay dead. “Mon…monsters can come back… and… and Fred’s still out there.”

  Jimmy’s face twisted in fear, hearing Crystal’s reminder of Zeke’s vicious younger brother. He clutched Connor’s arm, horrified Fred could surprise them at any moment. “We have to leave… we have to go now… Fred… he’ll-”

  “Look at me, son,” Connor urged calmly, taking the boy’s hand in his. “I had the pleasure of making that particular monster extinct.”

  “Really?” Jimmy stared hard at Connor with both doubt and hope.

  “Oh yeah,” Connor confirmed with a big grin. “We haven’t been introduced. You three know my name but I don’t know any of yours.”

  “I’m Bonnie,” the little girl on his arm stated, lifting away from Connor’s shoulder momentarily to smile at him.

  “I’m Crystal,” the other little girl told Connor and gestured at the boy. “This is Jimmy.”

  “I have another arm for you Crystal and Jimmy can climb aboard my back. I’ll ride you all out of this place in style,” Connor said, taking Crystal up in his free arm. He turned so Jimmy could hop on his back.

  With all three children riding on arms and back, Connor carefully threaded his way through the camper door and out into the sunlight. He galloped a little, making the kids laugh as he transported them beyond the foliage at the overpass base. Connor knelt when they were in the open so Jimmy could get down. Jimmy yelped in delight, waving and dancing as Connor put the two little girls on their feet. A squad car with Billie waving from the window drove up and parked.

  * * *

  When Ellie drove anxiously by the overpass again, Connor was kneeling on the ground next to two little girls and a boy. Billie waved excitedly at the children as they danced around waving back. Ellie parked and Billie ran over to the other three children.

  “I told you… I told you I’d get help,” Billie said, as the other three kids swarmed him.

  “Billie, you and your friends stay with my partner, Ellie,” Connor told the oldest boy as Ellie hurried up next to the group.

  “Watch the kids El while I slip Dead Fred into the camper scene with his friends.”

  Ellie nodded, joining the happy children. Connor went to the squad car and took his cuffs off Fred. He shouldered the corpse with ease while carrying along Fred’s sap. A minute later the younger children cried out. They saw Fred’s body draped over Connor’s shoulder as the policeman hurried past them. Ellie shushed the kids.

  “Now don’t you pay no attention.” Ellie knelt down with the kids. “My partner needs to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic.”

  “Is Connor going to get into trouble?” Billie asked.

  “I don’t know and he don’t care so we’ll see what we’ll see.” Ellie chuckled. “The important thing is all of you are going home.”

  “Well, I didn’t see anything.” Billie smiled and turned to the other children. “We didn’t see anything, did we?”

  Ellie laughed as three little heads moved side to side in sync.

  “I don’t want you kids worrying about stuff,” Ellie told them. “You all say whatever you want when the questions get asked. My partner and I can take care of ourselves.”

  “I’ll tell them he killed the monsters,” Crystal said simply.

  “He killed the monsters,” Billie repeated, nodding in agreement.

  “He killed the monsters,” Jimmy signed onto the verbal pact quickly.

  “Yep,” Bonnie added.

  “Works for me,” Ellie said.

  * * *

  Connor entered the camper and placed Fred off to the side as if he had attacked Connor at the doorway, sap in hand. He took a last look at his improvised scene with satisfaction and ran back toward Ellie and the kids. Ellie stood up as Connor approached.

  Connor waved as he went by, a big smile pasted on his face. “I’m calling it in, El. I was attacked in the camper and barely made it out with my life. Unfortunately, there were casualties. How are you and my little buddies getting along?”

  “Just fine.”

  Two hours later, Connor and Ellie sat on the hood of their patrol car, waiting as a forensics team went through the crime scene. The kids had already been taken away by ambulance. Ellie waited for Connor to say something but she could stand it no longer.

  “Are you going to talk to me?”

  “About what, El?” Connor kept looking straight ahead.

  “You’re lucky that dolt Donaldson hasn’t separated us yet. Give me the story.”

  “We found four children. Their kidnappers are dead. It happened so fast, we’re fuzzy on the details.”

  “Yeah, they’ll eat that up.” Ellie shook her head in frustration.

  “You’ll be surprised,” Connor assured her.

  Donaldson approached them from the crime scene. He was smiling.

  “Give me your piece, Connor.
Anything you want to add to the story our crack forensics team came up with?”

  Connor un-holstered his Ruger, popped the clip and cleared the chamber. He put it all into a baggy Donaldson held out. “I don’t think so, Sarg.”

  Donaldson nodded. “You two take off. We’ll handle it from here. I’ll get the Ruger back to you in a few days. You both will be ridin’ desks for the time being. Good solid police work, Connor… don’t ever fucking do it again.”

  Donaldson walked away. Connor and Ellie entered their squad car with Ellie driving again.

  “There’s a bar near my place we can walk to,” Ellie told Connor. “Want to have a sleepover?”

  “Sure, as long as you do all the talking.”

  “Figures. What the hell was all that?”

  “One of the best days of my life, El,” Connor replied, leaning back with his hands behind his head contentedly.

  Chapter 2

  Aftermath

  At Highland hospital, the children refused to be separated. The nursing staff cleaned them up while two pediatricians completed examinations into their general health. Two burly police officers guarded the door against unwanted visitors. They straightened hours later when Sergeant Donaldson approached them.

  “Hey Mac.” Donaldson nodded at the older policeman at the door. “You and Ed here have any trouble today?”

  “Not so far,” Mac answered. “A few reporters tried us on for size but we expected company, what with it getting out over police ban.”

  “What’s the story,” Ed asked in a hushed voice. “We heard Connor-”

  “The investigation is ongoing,” Donaldson cut the officer off with an impatient gesture. “Don’t be screwin’ this up with rumors, Williams. I’m only here to meet the parents of the youngest child, Bonnie Demarco. They’re flying in from Carson City, Nevada. The other parents won’t be here until tomorrow morning. We found a shitload of stuff on a nationwide child pornography ring on the laptop one of those slime-balls had in the camper.”

  Fifteen minutes later as Donaldson filled in the other police officers on what they found where the children were rescued, a wild eyed couple rushed down the hall from the elevator. Donaldson stepped out to intercept them.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Demarco?”

  “Yes… where’s my baby?” The thin blonde woman demanded. “Is she okay… we-”

  “Your daughter’s fine, Ma’am. You two are the first to arrive. The kids insisted on staying together. When you get in the room, please try to remember the other kids are waiting for their parents too. There are two nurses in with them. My men will make sure no one bothers you.”

  “Oh… thank God,” the woman sobbed, trying to calm herself as the living nightmare would soon be over.

  Donaldson moved aside.

  “What about her kidnappers?” The husband asked, putting an arm around his wife, the haggard helplessness being replaced on his features by a look from the dawn of mankind.

  “They were killed during the rescue,” Donaldson answered simply. “Please keep that to yourselves as we try to keep a lid on this with the press.”

  “Gladly.” the man shook Donaldson’s hand gratefully.

  “We…we were afraid Bonnie would have to…to give some kind of testimony,” the wife said, opening the hospital room door almost fearfully.

  “No Ma’am, the people who kidnapped your daughter are awaiting judgment elsewhere,” Donaldson replied, closing the door behind the couple.

  “Where’s Connor, Boss?” Mac asked.

  “I believe he and the redoubtable Officer James are celebrating today’s rare triumph of the law somewhere adult beverages are served.”

  “Amen to that,” Mac said, leaning against the wall with a sigh.

  * * *

  “Thanks a lot, Connor.” Ellie butted her shoulder into Connor on his way by with an armload of case files. Her sideswipe nearly landed her on a nearby desk instead of knocking Connor off stride though, much to Connor’s amusement. He adroitly shifted the files and steadied Ellie.

  “Are you referring to our continuing perfection at file clerking, partner?” Connor smiled attentively. “We’re getting very good at it. Bartola complimented me just this morning on my writing style and report proficiency. How about you, Officer James?”

  “Oh just dandy, Opie,” Ellie answered, hands on hips, as a few of the other police officers within earshot began eavesdropping. “Donaldson put me on the women’s holding cell yesterday. I never realized what a turn-on cavity searches were, and I owe it all to you.”

  General laughter erupted. Connor put his free arm around Ellie’s shoulders comfortingly.

  “Just a couple more days, El, and we’ll be back patrolling wondrous East Oakland once again,” Connor told her, beginning to sing his own version of the 1960’s TV theme to ‘Car Fifty-Four, Where Are You’, as a couple other officers began humming along comically:

  “There's a hold up at Jack London,

  Fruitvale's broken out in fights.

  There's a traffic jam on Skyline,

  That's backed up to Lincoln Heights.

  Gang bangers going wild,

  The Governor’s gettin’ really riled.

  Connor and Ellie, where are you?”

  Ellie brushed off Connor’s hand, trying without success to keep from breaking up. “Damn it… Opie… I tol’ you no more watchin’ Nickelodeon. As for the rest of you jokers.” Ellie whipped around, pointing threateningly. “Stop egging him on. Get back to work, you slackers.”

  An officer, with Jenkins on his nametag walked up to Ellie, his face completely serious. He handed her a folder. “Big Tina was just booked in, Ellie. They need you at holding right away.”

  “Big T… oh hell no… I’ll shoot her first… no way do I…” Ellie recognized the name as an oversized lady of the night who worked a corner on International Blvd. Ellie eyed Jenkins suspiciously believing she was being played.

  The officer who handed Ellie the folder erupted in laughter and hurried out of her reach.

  “Oh… I see… it’s Ellie James amusement day.” Ellie turned on Connor. “I hope you’re happy.”

  “I stopped in to see Billie last night,” Connor lowered his voice. “He’s the only one left. They have a few leads on his folks they’re still running down, along with computer generated pictures of what Billie probably looked like at three when they took him. We played Monopoly until they threw me out. Man… he’s a good kid.”

  “I saw him at lunch. He says you promised him a ride-along if his folks don’t show by the time we get on the road again. Billie’s hoping they don’t show now, genius,” Ellie replied, as the other officers went about their business - the Connor and Ellie show having ended for the time being. “If you hadn’t killed all the people who knew where he came from…” Ellie let the sentence hang. It had the desired effect of Connor dropping his head in mock shame.

  “Thanks, El, I needed that,” Connor mumbled, trudging by her without looking up.

  “Hey, Opie, want to have dinner with Billie tonight at the hospital?”

  “That sounds good to me, El.” Connor perked up, turning back. “Say hello to Tina for me.”

  “Ha ha!” Ellie opened the folder Jenkins had given her only to find Big Tina had indeed been booked. “Oh shit! Jenkins… you little turd… you’re toast!”

  * * *

  “You wanted to see me, Boss?” Connor poked his head in Sergeant Donaldson’s office door.

  “Come in, Connor, and have a seat.” Donaldson gestured Connor in and finished typing on the keyboard of his desk computer. He took a baggie out of his desk drawer holding Connor’s Ruger .40 caliber handgun. He handed it to Connor. “Here’s your piece back.”

  “Thanks.” Connor removed the Ruger from the baggie. “Any word on when El and I can hit the streets again?”

  “I scheduled you for a department mandated evaluation with Dr. Morrison in one hour.” Donaldson looked over from his computer screen in time to see Connor’s l
ook of distaste with amusement. “Make her happy and I put you and James on the streets tomorrow morning. By the way, we’re sending a couple of Philly detectives over to talk with a woman we think is Billie’s Mom. The computer generated image of the boy at a younger age matched a vic’s picture from Philadelphia. We wanted contact done in person, just in case. The DNA test will be rushed through if the detectives think she’s the right one.”

  “Outstanding,” Connor said with obvious relief. “I saw last night you only have hospital security checking on Billie. Does that mean the Press has eased off the trail?”

  “It’s old news to them now, especially since it was the bad people that got killed instead of the kids. There’s nothing they hate more than a happy ending. Since there isn’t anyone clamoring to lynch you, they got nothing.”

  “If I can get this Dr. Morrison to clear me, can El and I take Billie out with us tomorrow morning for a few hours?”

  “I guess I can list it as a transport. Gettin’ attached to the kid, huh? I know you were worried we wouldn’t find his folks. With all the high tech crap we have I knew it wouldn’t take long. Get going and concentrate on your evaluation.”

  “Anything I should be worried about?”

  “I don’t suppose you could shed a few tears for the Doc, could you?” Donaldson saw Connor’s mouth betray an attempt to keep from smiling and sighed. “Yeah… that’s what I thought.”

  * * *

  Connor entered Dr. Morrison’s outer office, smiling at the receptionist, who looked up questioningly. “Hi, I’m Connor Bradwick. I have an appointment to see Dr. Morrison.”

  The receptionist, a heavy set woman in her middle fifties, used the intercom to inform Dr. Morrison of Connor’s arrival. Dr. Morrison opened the inner office door. She came out to greet Connor, shaking his hand with a firm grip. Connor thought the doctor looked a little younger than he was, her blonde hair arranged in a tight bun. The white blouse and black skirt she wore gave Dr. Morrison the appearance of being slim almost to the point of emaciation.

  “Hi… Connor, is it? Please call me Julie.” Dr. Morrison guided Connor into her office and seated him in a plush leather chair which faced another chair of like design. Dr. Morrison sat down opposite Connor, a notepad in hand. “Now then, I’m sure your Sergeant Donaldson explained what this meeting is about. I need to make sure you’re okay to come off desk duty.”