Stay For The Encore: Act Two
Police Chief Steven Avery paced in his office. Sergeant Trent Romko sat in a chair watching him with a patient yet malicious smirk on his face. Avery finally stopped and looked at Romko in disgust. "Dammit Romko! Fourteen! Fourteen damn civilians sent to the ER! All because of what? A fucking noise complaint?" Avery screamed.
Romko didn't bother to add that there had been three fatalities as well, but those had been dealt with accordingly…off the books. He just took a deep breath and spoke in a smooth voice with a touch of a rasp rattling along every word.
"We arrived to disperse the crowd after the complaint. The deviants that left the establishment then proceeded to become a threat, and we acted accordingly."
Avery began to pace again, “listen, I know you're still a bit of the old school mentality. Rough 'em up, send a message. We have the newly elected Governor coming in here, today Romko. You hear me? Today! And she has talked a big game on backing law enforcement and cleaning up the streets. Last thing I need is you or any of your boys putting that in jeopardy, you got that?" Avery had now gotten close to Romko, and was barely holding back the tempest of stress and anger inside him. His face was bright red with the restraint.
Romko threw up his hands, and then stood up. "Whatever you say, Chief. Just remember, we all know who's been dipping into the charity funds, lining their pockets with some extra cash for the holidays. Now we ain't saying nothing, yet..." Romko let that last bit linger for a moment. Avery was trying to stop his nervous eyes from twitching, but it was to no avail, beads of sweat gathered on his brow.
"Don't worry, Chief. We'll play nice today." Romko said as he turned to leave Avery's office. Avery cursed under his breath, but he had no more time to dwell on it. Governor Hargrove was on her way, and he had to look his best.
Across town Hargrove made her way through the city streets to the police station, while in another part of town, Officer Blake and his partner, Officer Whitten, were back on patrol. They had secured a new patrol car, this one with far less cracks in the windshield.
They moved slowly through the grid of the low income district looking out for easy busts. It was a slow day, however, and they hadn't gotten as lucky as they usually did.
"This whole fucking city is a dump." Blake said, tapping his fingers against the wheel. Whitten nodded in agreement. "Should burn it all down, start over. Build some fancy condos, get some nice little hotels and shit, it'd be nice around here then." Blake continued.
As they rounded a corner they spotted a man in a black jacket and green ski mask vandalizing a wall with spray paint. The jacket the man was wearing was covered in safety pins and patches. He was putting up some sort of graffiti, and Blake and Whitten exchanged a malevolent glance.
It was the punk from the night before. The one that got away.
Easy bust. A great bust in fact, one to turn the whole day around. Blake hit the light and weaved through traffic recklessly. The car came to a halt as the punk turned to face them. There was something wrong with his face and the mask he wore. The holes for the eyes and mouth were devoid of anything alive and seemed to be dripping out a black oil like liquid.
The Guttersnipe faced them for a second before darting further down the alley.
Blake shook off the slightly terrifying sight and threw the car into drive in pursuit. They raced down a narrow back alley, seeing the figure of the Guttersnipe now quite a distance away, turning around a corner up ahead.
"Damn he's fast!" Whitten remarked. Blake offered no reply as he focused. The car sped down the alley and then skidded around the corner. They drove down the next narrow road, large rundown buildings walling them in on both sides.
"Where did the bastard go? Whitten asked, peering through the windshield.
"Must've jumped into one of these shit-holes." Blake said. He stopped the car and then glanced behind him to reverse out the alley, but then he froze.
Behind them, standing in the entrance to the alley, was the Guttersnipe. The punk produced a switchblade from some hidden pocket and snapped the edge out with a flare. The sun caught the metal, shining directly into Blake’s eye.
"Dammit, they are gonna hate us for this." Blake muttered as he hit the gas and floored the car in reverse towards the Guttersnipe. Blake kept the figure in his view watching it get bigger and bigger on approach.
Just as the patrol car was about to hit him, the Guttersnipe dove headfirst to meet it and threw himself into the rear windshield. The glass shattered and both Blake and Whitten instinctively closed their eyes and threw their arms up. Blake couldn't see where he was going and the car slammed out of control into a brick wall. The impact knocked the two officers immediately unconscious.
Now outside the patrol car, the Guttersnipe opened the door and pushed Blake away from the drivers seat and further into Whitten passed out in the passenger seat.
The car drove away, leaving silence and a gaping wound in the derelict structure it had impacted.
As the cop car turned a corner, across town Governor Hargrove had already begun her scheduled inspection and tour of the police station.
Avery had been guiding her along, explaining the meaningful history of every part of the old station and talking her ear off. They were just wrapping up, and Hargrove decided to address everyone gathered at the station. "Thank you, everyone. There is definitely a lot of character in this old building." She said. Everyone put out a good forced laugh, and then Hargrove's face become deathly serious. "But character is not what I'm looking for in our law enforcement. It is war out there, and I need men and women up for the task." Avery's smile faded fast.
"This district is full of rampant criminal activity, and there is just not enough action being taken. I plan on changing that, now." Avery was now fidgeting back and forth, his whole career suddenly flashing before his eyes.
"Let me acknowledge someone here…Sergeant Romko, will you step forward?" Hargrove said, and Avery nearly shit himself in fear.
Romko strode forward calmly, whimsical surprise on his face as Hargrove moved him to stand next to him. She was fairly young for a Governor, and wore her black hair loose over her lavender pant suit. Romko stood almost a full foot taller than her, but she still felt like the biggest prescence in the room.
"This officer has lead the battle against crime better than most would ever hope to. His diligence, aptitude, and belief in justice has created a stellar record. I would like to publicly commend Sergeant Romko for his bravery, even just recently in quelling the riots that would tear this city apart. I wish I had a hundred of you, sir." Hargrove said, and now the room laughed happily.
Avery felt his heart attempting to burst from his ribs and had a flash vision of himself wrapping his hands around this bitch’s neck.
The room filled with applause, and a photographer stepped forward to get a picture of Hargrove and Romko, smiling and shaking hands. Hargrove leaned in and whispered to Romko as the camera flashed. "You keep doing what you're doing out there. You will have my full support. This place is a cesspool, and I need someone to rid it of the filth." Her words tickled Romko's ears as she spoke. He simply smiled and nodded back.
As this was happening, another officer flew into the room in a panic, the group at the front turned to see him as he stood there panting. "Just got a call in. Officers down. It's Blake and Whitten, and it sounds bad. Real bad." He said, his voice trembling. Romko looked at Avery who hesitated for a second too long.
"Tell me where, I'm on it." Romko spoke loudly as he followed the young officer out of the room to get geared up. Avery was soon left all by himself, wondering if his time, like Blake and Whitten, had just run out.
STAY TUNED FOR PART THREE TOMORROW
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