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chapter five
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FALCO
A nurse came out and gave Hicks a quick triage, noting how minor her wounds appeared, then told her to have a seat in the waiting room.
I was sitting already. She sat next to me, sighing heavily, “I tried to pull the cop card, but this gal had been around the block. She didn’t even flinch. It’s probably going to be a while.”
I shrugged, “It goes with the territory.”
“You can take off if you like,” she said. “You haven’t seen the reports we have to fill out, yet. The Captain is gonna want this on his desk before we leave. No reason for both of us to stay late. Take off. I’ll call you when I’m out.”
“That’s ok,” I told her. “If it’s all the same to you, I’ll stay here.”
She raised her eyebrows and smiled, shrugging a little, “Suit yourself. That was some good work you did back there. You saved my ass on your first day. I was impressed.”
“Thanks,” I told her. “That guy was fighting out of his weight class. He didn’t have the balls to shoot and even if he did, he was so scared he would probably have missed, even at that range.”
She chuckled, “I don’t know about that. It scared the shit out of me all the same. Thanks for what you did.”
“You would have done the same for me.”
She nodded, “I would, you bet, but I’d have probably plugged the guy. I’m not good at talking things through.”
“I noticed,” I replied. “Tell me something, Hicks. Before that third perp grabbed you, you said something about a car backfiring when I said I had fired off a warning shot.”
“That’s right. In Davidson County it’s illegal for a police officer to fire a warning shot in pursuit of suspects,” she said. “You can get written up for that.”
“Oh, shit!” I huffed. “I didn’t realize that.”
“It's your first day. So, here’s what we’re gonna do,” she continued. “As soon as we get out of here, we’re going to replace the empty bullet casing in your service weapon. Then we’re going to stop by Office Depot and pick up a can of compressed air, and spray in the inside of your weapon. It wouldn’t pass a ballistics check but it will pass the sniff test if the Captain asks to see your weapon. The perps may bust us by saying you fired a shot, but we’re both gonna say a car backfired. I’ll back you up. Got it?”
“Thanks, Hicks,” I said. I really was grateful. Though it was probably not a major violation, I’d hate to get written up on my first day.
“And I need a favor from you, too,” she said.
“What’s that?”
“That beatdown I put on blondie at the end . . .” she began.
“You mean when you disarmed the perp and he resisted arrest?” I replied. "I commanded the perp to drop his weapon. He didn't. Your life was still in danger. You did what you needed to do to disarm him. That's what I saw."
She looked at me and smiled. She really was cute. A little eyeshadow and some hair management would improve things, but her ass was tight and her tits were magnificent. That little smile she flashed me went into my eyes and straight to my loins. I felt the little general beginning to twinge.
A call from dispatch came through. I answered the call. It seemed two homeless people from hobo’s palace were having trouble resolving a dispute. A passer by called it in, saying two men were yelling and screaming at each other. I looked at Hicks.
“You remember where it’s at?” she asked.
I nodded.
“It won’t take long,” she said. “I’ve handled a few calls like that. Go deal with it. No need to make an arrest, unless one of them is really over the top. Hell, they love getting arrested. For them it's a hot meal and a warm bed for the night. I should be ready for discharge by the time you get back.”
I nodded and left.
As I pulled out of the parking lot I kept thinking about Hicks. She was quite the woman. She didn’t look a bit scared when that perp grabbed her. When she reached for the mace I knew full well she would have used it. And she’d been flashing me signals ever since we got back in the car—at least I think she was.
Still, it would not have occurred to me to try to cover up a minor violation like firing a warning shot, but maybe the violation wasn’t so minor here. She seemed genuinely interested in having my six. As far as her own behavior went, the perp really was still armed and presented a real threat, though I have to admit, Hicks was rougher than she really needed to be. Still, it was a judgment call, the perp was not seriously injured and I needed to establish support for my partner.
I pulled into hobo’s palace without the blue and red flashing. I saw several people gathered around the steel drum fireplace. I stepped out of the vehicle and walked toward the group. I could tell people were used to seeing the police often, because no one seemed overly alarmed or intimidated—more interested.
“What can we do for you, officer?” a toothless woman in her fifties asked.
“I heard we had a bit of a disagreement here, Ms. . . .”
“Sally,” she said. “Oh, it weren’t nuthin.’ Happens all the time. One old boy over there took that young girl’s coat. The other was jus’ tryin’ to stick up for her, is all.”
“Did she get her coat back?” I asked.
“No, she didn’t.”
“Where’s the man who took it?”
“He done run off that-a-way,” Sally said, pointing due south. “He don’t come around here very often, officer. He’s got a fifteen-minute head start on you. We’ll be all right.”
“Had you ever seen him before?” I asked.
“Nope.”
“Anyone here know his name?”
She shook her head.
“What about the girl who had her coat stolen?” I asked. “Will she be all right?”
“You can try asking her,” Sally replied, nodding to my left. “She’s new. She don’t talk but she’s sweet.”
I looked to where I saw Sally nodding. There was a young woman, sitting alone, with her knees up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. Her hair was tucked up under her black wool hat, which had been pulled down over her forehead down to her eyebrows and over her ears. Her hands were covered in thick gray wool gloves. A worn, thin brown blanket covered her lap and knees. I noticed she was wearing a pair of dirty, worn orange and green sneakers. The shoes stood out in marked contrast against what was otherwise a nearly colorless ensemble.
She saw me approach and pulled the blanket up to her chin.
“Hello Miss,” I began. “I understand someone took your coat.”
She looked down and offered a small shrug. He hadn’t gotten a good look at her face, but she looked young, perhaps thirty-five or so. Sally walked up behind me, “Like I said, she don’t talk.”
"Is she incapable of talking or does she choose not to?"
Sally shrugged. I turned back to the young woman.
“Miss,” I continued, “what’s your name?”
She shrugged again. I looked at Sally, “Does anyone know her name?”
“She ain’t told it to me,” Sally said. “I ain’t seen her talkin’ to no one else either.”
“Miss, do you want to file a report?” I asked.
For the first time, the young woman looked up at me and blinked before looking downward again, and then shook her head, no. Her eyes looked straight into mine for only a split second. Her cheeks were covered in soot but even so, I could tell, she was a beautiful girl. What the hell was such a young, beautiful girl doing in such a godforsaken place? I wondered. Drugs, I thought—it must be.
“Hey, Falco?” the dispatcher called.
I paused, reaching up to my mic, “Falco here. Go ahead, dispatch.”
“Hicks is ready to go. Are you on the scene at hobo’s palace?”
“Roger that,” I answered. “It was a mild disturbance. The vic does not want to file a report.”
“Then pick up your partner and come into the station,” she said. “The Captain wants to speak with you.”
“Roger that,” I said.