The Protectors: Vigilante Justice (Vigilante Cops Book 1) Page 6

  “There’s only so far he’ll stick his neck out though. We have to be super careful from now on if we’re bucking Stennis and his cohorts in city hall. That was a hell of an idea to round up some backers and go to a city council meeting.”

  The pair walked through the precinct waving off the catcalls about their civilian dress and out into the Frank H Ogawa Plaza area.

  “Want to get a coffee over at the Fountain?” Ellie asked, referring to the Fountain Café across the street.

  “Sure.”

  “Had you been thinking about these stepped up police methods before you put the kidnappers to rest?”

  “I’ve been thinking about it ever since the first time my old partner Russ Atkins first started rounding up suspects to crimes the day after they took place. He’d take one look at the description and we’d go out and round up the perp. I think he had a success rate of ninety-five percent.”

  “What took you this long to try a change?” Ellie asked as they walked into the restaurant together and stepped into line.

  “Not everything falls into place at the same time. Russ was in charge of training me. After he retired, I trained you. I always had it in the back of my head to go all out. You’re right though. It was the incident with the kids that shocked me out of safe mode.”

  They fell silent while their turn came and Ellie ordered two black coffees. Connor held the coffees while Ellie paid the cashier. Taking her coffee from Connor, Ellie held it up.

  “I don’t know how the hell you ever talked me into drinkin’ this stuff black.”

  “I put French vanilla Coffee Mate in mine when you’re not looking.”

  Ellie nearly lost the sip she was swallowing out her nose. Connor laughed, patting Ellie’s back while she struggled to keep from choking. They found a place to sit outside. The two sipped their coffee in silence for a few minutes while watching the people passing by.

  “By safe mode you meant not getting me killed, right?”

  Connor nodded. “Plus, I wanted to see if you even liked the job. You have skills, El. Even most cops would have frozen up, and hesitated taking the shot until it was too late the other night. I knew you were pumped. You controlled it and probably saved Jas and Luis. The kids made me start thinking about how I want folks to look at us. I don’t care anymore to visit someone to tell them we found the people who broke into their business or house and robbed them blind. I want them to wave at us from their house or business as we go by because we prevent the gangbangers, drug dealers and thugs from terrorizing them.”

  “What the hell made you wait so long to tell me that, Opie? This job means everything to me… for just those reasons you listed,” Ellie admitted. “You know I grew up right on Surrey Lane here in Oakland. My Mom and Dad moved my sister and me the hell out of here before we hit high school because they didn’t think we’d survive it. It cost them everything to move down to San Leandro.”

  “They love their place though and you and Tara did survive. Heard from Tara lately?”

  “Ever since she married Stanley the tycoon and moved up to Washington I don’t hear much of anything else… Tara has a mansion… Tara’s kids are divine… Stanley and Tara are investing in real estate… Tara hasn’t gained a pound since high school… Tara’s going back to get her masters degree… Tara…. oh barf!”

  Midway through the list, Connor was laughing and humming cadence while snapping his fingers. He put a comforting arm around Ellie’s shoulders.

  “Count your blessings, El. You love your nephews. They think you’re way cooler than Tara because you’re a cop.”

  “That’s right.” Ellie’s face lit up as she remembered her older sister’s sons riding along on patrol with them during their last visit. “I thought Tara’s head would explode when she couldn’t get Tommy and Devon to shut up about riding along with us.”

  “Besides, you have a BA degree from Cal State Hayward in air hockey or aerobics, don’t you?”

  “Accounting, damn it!” Ellie grabbed hold of Connor’s ear and twisted.

  “Okay… okay… accounting,” Connor allowed, his head tilted comically.

  Ellie released him. The two sat quietly for a moment with Connor checking the seconds until he knew Ellie would be unable to maintain the silence.

  “I was bored to death by the time I graduated,” Ellie said.

  “Two minutes and ten seconds of comfortable silence, El, almost a new record,” Connor replied, holding up his watch.

  “Bite me, Opie.” Ellie giggled.

  “You can’t say anything about what I’m about to say, El. Bartola let me in on a reason why Stennis was on our asses this morning and why he won’t be off them anytime soon.” Connor lowered his voice. “Guess what name was mentioned in the investigation of our Holy Names drug entrepreneur?”

  “Oh say it isn’t so.”

  “Yep, Ray Stennis Jr., the illustrious fullback for Holy Names.”

  “Let me guess. Jiminy Cricket’s parental units are trying to buy Jiminy off the hook.”

  “Nope, I think Jiminy’s parents know better than to screw around with Stennis. Darrel Carstairs, the guy who ran over Doc Morrison is on the hook for a nickel at Folsom if he doesn’t come up with something real interesting. Naturally, it’s our fault the favored have been caught up in this dastardly dragnet.”

  “Does Stennis really think Little Ray’s in danger of getting sucked into this on Carstairs’ word?”

  “Bartola says Carstairs turned over vids of Ray Jr. along with Jimmy Terrance making buys.”

  “Holy shit, Connor, this isn’t funny.” Ellie leaned forward, shaking her head. “We’re going to have to be really, really careful. No more executions and that’s final.”

  “I’ll make a note.”

  Chapter 5

  Breakthrough

  Ellie’s cell phone chimed and she looked at the caller ID. “Shit, it’s Jules.”

  “I told you not to keep postponing the appointment,” Connor said in a sing song ‘I told you so’ tone which earned him a harder than usual head slap.

  “Hello.” Ellie glared at Connor while answering. She listened for a minute, her mouth tightening. “Today’s my day off, Jules. Couldn’t we… huh… okay, fifteen minutes. I’ll be there.”

  Ellie put her cell phone away. She grabbed Connor by the ear again. “You’re coming with me, Opie. This is all your fault.”

  “Of course it is.” Connor tried to take a sip of coffee with his head canted at an angle.

  * * *

  Doctor Morrison stood up as her secretary showed Connor and Ellie into the inner office, a look of confusion on her features.

  “I brought Opie with me, Jules. Anything we say can be said in front of him.”

  “That’s… uh… not exactly the way we do things, Ellie. Did you come here of your own free will, Connor?”

  “I came here by way of Ellie’s will,” Connor answered with a grin, blocking an elbow shot to his ribcage. “My partner asked me to come along and here I am. We answered questions for the board on officer involved shootings too. No one died, Julie.”

  “Do you regret that, Connor?” Julie asked, getting a disgusted headshake and roll of the eyes from Ellie.

  “Maybe you better wait outside, Opie. Otherwise Jules here will turn this conversation into a hatchet job on you.”

  “You can stay if you like, Connor. I didn’t mean to sound confrontational,” Julie remarked defensively. She gestured the two onto the office couch and sat down opposite them with her notepad. “What prompted you to invite Connor into our meeting, Ellie?”

  “All the TV cop buddy shows are doin’ it Jules. Don’t you ever watch ‘Bones’?”

  “I don’t watch TV.”

  “Wow, that explains so much. What do you do after work without an imagination?”

  “That’s hardly fair. I read, write in my journal, and go over my case notes.”

  “Promising.” Ellie nodded speculatively. “What kind of fiction do you read? I r
ead all the time. Maybe we’ve read a few of the same books.”

  “I read only nonfiction and journals in my field of study.”

  “Oh gag.”

  “Ellie!” Connor barked out her name. Ellie stopped short of the choking, about to vomit pantomime she was starting.

  “Wait a minute.” Ellie snapped her fingers. “I read Dr. Thomas Sowell’s books. Connor introduced me to them. His stuff is nonfiction.”

  “I find his judgmental writings on economics, education, and politics far too confining and closed minded.”

  “It makes sense you wouldn’t like Dr. Sowell’s works,” Ellie stated with a false undertone of acknowledgement Connor knew hid the knife she was about to stick in Dr. Morrison. “Dr. Sowell has a value system and believes in right and wrong. He wouldn’t spend ten seconds worrying about Connor’s state of mind when he dispatched those three excrement skin bags the other day, nor would he worry about my wounding a man getting ready to kill two fellow officers. Yes, I agree, Dr. Sowell would be far too confining for you.”

  “I notice you speak more formally when you feel real passion for a subject, Ellie.” Julie avoided taking the bait. “Why don’t we stop psycho analyzing me and find out if there are any problems from your shooting incident. Were you displaying any signs of stress before the incident?”

  Ellie looked at Connor questioningly.

  “Do you want me to leave, El?”

  “No… no… I just… okay, maybe I was a little pumped,” Ellie admitted. “I saw the arm poke out along the window with what looked like a machine pistol. It turned out to be an Uzi. I knew he was going to spray my guys in front with it so I fired.”

  “And afterwards?”

  “I…I had the shakes a little.”

  “It’s the adrenaline,” Connor added. “Nothing abnormal about that.”

  “I agree.” Julie nodded at Connor before turning again toward Ellie. “Did you feel any remorse, Ellie?”

  “None at all.” Ellie knew she should be playing the regret card but couldn’t manage to get the right words out. “Connor knows.”

  “You wanted to be like Connor but you couldn’t,” Julie said with smiling confidence. She knew by the sudden shocked look on Ellie’s face she had dropped her smart bomb right on target. “You felt the man’s pain. You would have dropped to your knees but you knew Connor was watching. He would know.”

  Dr. Morrison’s look of victory turned to surprised horror as Ellie launched out of her seat for the express purpose of tearing Julie’s face off. Connor caught her up in his arms with only inches to spare. He clamped her tight against him, damping the growling fury of Ellie’s grasping arms. Connor turned Ellie away from Dr. Morrison.

  “El! Don’t do this!”

  “El…Ellie… I didn’t mean it like you think,” Julie cried out, jumping up and taking Ellie’s hand. “You…you’re his conscience!”

  “Shit!” Ellie went limp in Connor’s arms, realization filtering through the red rage. She pulled her hand away from Julie. “Let me go, Connor… I’m okay… shit!”

  Connor released her slowly, having felt the rigid fury still making Ellie so tense she felt made of stone. He traded stares with Dr. Morrison for a few seconds. Julie saw in the moment what Ellie had witnessed after Connor snapped child molester Fred’s neck - no one was home. She backed away, inadvertently falling into her seat, cringing as Connor took a step toward her, the dead look in his eyes making her turn away from him.

  “Connor… she’s right.” Ellie pulled on Connor’s arm. “I…I wanted to… oh hell… I don’t know what exactly I wanted.”

  “I know, Ellie. Dr. Morrison has made a breakthrough,” Connor said mechanically, taking care with each word. “I believe we’re all in touch now with our feelings. Do you think we made progress, Julie?”

  Julie nodded, looking fearfully up at Connor. “I’m sorry if I-”

  “Don’t be sorry, Jules.” Ellie’s tone reflected a grudging respect. She patted Connor’s shoulder. “Sit down, Opie. I’m sorry I lost it there for a moment, Jules. It won’t happen again.”

  “Per…perfectly understandable,” Julie replied, her breathing still ragged.

  “My hands shook a little after the shooting and my heart was racing,” Ellie admitted after she and Connor sat down again. “I may act out a little for Connor’s approval but I’d never do harm to anyone, at least not as some weird ritual to please him. We may temper each other, Jules but Connor already has a conscience - a very moral one.

  Ellie paused, looking away from Dr. Morrison for a moment and then back at her again. “I shouldn’t have played you like that anyway, Jules, especially since it’s obvious I can dish it out but can’t take it. It’ll be straight up from now on, okay? Would it be alright if Connor comes to our next appointment too?”

  “Ah…sure,” Julie agreed, looking down at her notepad. “I have an opening next Wednesday at this time.”

  “We can make that. C’mon, Connor, you’re buying me lunch. Hey, Jules, when do you get off for lunch? Want to join us?”

  “That’s very kind of you.” Julie pretended she was checking her schedule. “Unfortunately I have appointments from now to day’s end. Thank you anyway. Perhaps another time?”

  “Sure, Jules.” Ellie shook Dr. Morrison’s hand. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome, Ellie. Goodbye Connor. Nice seeing you again.”

  “Yeah, Doc, see you soon,” Connor replied without enthusiasm. Something in Ellie’s complete change in attitude from violent confrontation to meek acceptance bothered him more than the danger Dr. Morrison posed to their active duty patrol.

  “Want to tell me what the hell all that was about?” Connor let the door to Morrison’s outer office swing shut behind them as they walked down the corridor.

  “She was right and it pissed me off.” Ellie shrugged, meeting Connor’s questioning gaze for a moment. “The other night I wanted to handle shooting someone like you did. I didn’t want my hands shaking so bad I had to grip my belt so you wouldn’t notice.”

  “You think you’re the first cop who ever got the shakes after shooting someone?”

  “You didn’t.”

  “When I was called up to active duty back in ’02, I spent a lot of the next couple years with the shakes. After the VA hospital released me, Ray requested my reinstatement as his partner. The first week back on duty I killed a man who fired at us when we caught him burglarizing the market on McArthur Blvd. You think they gave us a bad time during our little escapades out in the field these past few weeks? Try returning from a war zone after being wounded, and then killing a civilian during your first week back. I didn’t get cleared for over a month. They gave me a full psyche workup even though Ray had fired his weapon too.”

  “Did Ray hit the guy too?” Ellie asked, surprised Connor had never mentioned his having been wounded. She knew he had been called to active duty during his second year on the force but he’d never launched into any detail with her about it.

  “No, my rounds were the only ones to hit.”

  “Let me guess… head shots.” Ellie grinned, gesturing Connor through the door.

  Connor walked outside ahead of Ellie without comment. She followed and yanked on his arm.

  “So, you were questioned as to the choice of targets because you were in a war zone. I get it.”

  “I’m glad Julie didn’t go hunt that particular fact up.”

  “Think of it this way. When you shoot the perp in the head there’s not much doubt about them shooting before you did because they don’t do much shooting afterwards.”

  “You sure are in a good mood after nearly attacking the department psychologist, which by the way would have been major bad.”

  “Yeah, Jules rang my bell,” Ellie agreed. “I’m glad I dragged you in with me.”

  “You were acting out because I was there.”

  Ellie stopped in her tracks, the beginning of outrage welling up. Connor kept walking, his shoulders moving s
lightly as he choked back laughter. She sighed and took a deep breath.

  “Nice one, Opie, but payback’s a bitch.”

  * * *

  Connor followed Ellie into the District Attorney’s conference room. Sergeant Donaldson and District Attorney Joseph Gravitts sat at opposite ends of the conference room table. Ray Stennis and Ray Stennis Jr. sat with Jimmy Terrance and Terrance’s parents on the table side facing the door. Terrance’s parents, whom Connor had met the last time Connor and Ellie caught their son, looked up at him with undisguised distaste. Terrance’s Father, Victor Terrance, with combed back, thinning brown hair, carried nearly thirty pounds of excess weight. Because of the very well tailored grey suit he wore, it was nearly unnoticeable. His wife, Janice, an attractive auburn haired woman in her late thirties, dressed in a black dress suit with low neckline. The two young men sat together, wearing nearly matching dark suits. The DA, Joseph Gravitts, a rail thin balding man in his fifties with ruddy complexion stood up and shook hands with Ellie and then Connor, gesturing them into seats opposite the two families. Donaldson smiled at them but said nothing.

  “We’re here at the request of Councilman Stennis and Mr. and Mrs. Terrance,” Gravitts stated officially. “Although you two did not arrest Ray Stennis Jr., your bust of the drug dealer located near 17th Avenue and International Blvd. led to his implication. If-”

  “Alleged implication,” Councilman Stennis interrupted.

  “And what borders on harassment of our son,” Janice Terrance added.

  “Yes,” Gravitts acknowledged the interruptions, “which is why I had Sergeant Donaldson come in. Would you explain our case, Sergeant? Then we’ll get confirmation from the arresting officers and hear from your other witness.”

  Sergeant Donaldson passed out printed copies of drugs found in the knapsack Jimmy Terrance had been carrying. He then turned on the room monitor and started a video. It showed first young Terrance laughingly making a buy of the drugs on the printed sheet. An earlier dated video came next showing Ray Stennis Jr. making a buy of similar drugs. The videos had not been previously shown or revealed to the three parents present. The young men looked down at their hands after the first couple minutes. Connor could see first surprise followed by petulant rage spill over the parents’ features. Donaldson paused the video.