Dad’s Policeman Friend by Lena Little
7
Caden
“I repeat, Officers Justice and Harris you are closest. Please proceed to Highbrow Liquors for a 10-64. Suspects are armed,” comes over the radio, but I don’t process.
“Captain Justice!” Sergeant Harris says.
“Oh. Right.” I shake my head from left to right and floor it to the local liquor store that is anything but high brow for an armed robbery in progress.
“Cap, you’ve been out of it all night. You good?”
“Yeah, we got this. I go in first, you got my six.”
“Like always.”
As I pull up to the liquor store we fist bump and are quickly out of the car, weapons drawn. The suspect turns and fires a single shot at me, the bullet whizzes past my ear. I hear the damn thing and suddenly I fall back on my training, returning fire and drilling the perp mid-chest.
But he doesn’t go down.
“I surrender! I surrender!” he says, dropping to the floor and putting his hands over his head as he slides his weapon a solid five feet from him.
“Checking for a bomb,” I announce to Harris as I run in and pat the subject down.
“How many more?” I yell at the shop clerk who’s as white as a ghost behind the counter.
“Just one.”
“Harris, check the rear entrance and once it’s clear get these hostages out of here.”
I run my hands up and down the suspect, checking all the areas he might have more weapons or something even worse. It’s extremely rare that a perpetrator would return fire and then quickly surrender. Especially one that actually came prepared with a bulletproof vest. Maybe my shot directly at center mass changed his mind about a shootout.
Once he’s cleared I cuff him, making sure to put a knee in his back in the process. “I’ve got a woman, punk. You trying to make her a widow?”
“No, sir.”
“I’m throwing the book at you for that shot. Enjoy taking it from behind in the shower stall for the rest of your life,” I add, dropping to his level to speak in a way that gets my point across crystal clear, in a language he can understand.
A second squad car and then a third rolls up and I step outside and help Harris.
Not five minutes later and the hostages are being interviewed by the local news and everything is under control.
Everything except the most important part, which ironically I only shared with a man who’s about to go away for life.
It’s not that I’m too old to be doing this, quite the opposite. My physical training scores are off the chart, regardless of my age. The thing that has changed, overnight, is her.
I want it all now. Her. A family. A brighter future. A life of spoiling her and my kids rotten.
And I can’t do that from inside a casket.
Police work is all I know, but now I know this has to wind down. Fast.
I never thought I’d be one of those guys who sit behind a desk and pushes a pencil, but if it means being home at a reasonable hour to eat dinner with my future children and not miss their important moments I’m all in.
More importantly, it’s not a compromise. Not in the slightest. Not only do I get to turn the page in a new chapter in my life, but when it comes to my police work I get to use my brain more than just my brawn.
Sure, there’s going to be a lot of annoying paper shuffling, but that comes with the territory. And that new territory will include sitting in the courtroom to make sure the work of our fine officers on the street sticks. I’m not going to be mad about the air conditioning, heating, or the fact that my soon-to-be bride could technically join me in the courtroom from time to time either.
And how about visits for lunch, which could quickly turn conjugal. That sounds pretty damn good to me.
Harris and I head back to the station and file our report, which is going to take the rest of the night. I haven’t slept all day, but I’m wired…knowing once my shift ends I get to see her all over again.
I can hardly wait.
