Super Cops

It was six in the morning and God was sitting on the small chest at the foot of Day’s bed tying his boots. He kept glancing up at his lover and saying silent prayers for the Almighty to keep him safe today. God was in his usual black T-shirt but he had on black cargo pants instead of his Levi’s. He took his silver chain with his badge off his dresser and draped it around his neck. He hooked his gun holster and secured both his weapons before turning around to see Day leaning against the doorjamb waiting on him.

Day had on a black APD T-shirt with black cargo pants too. His boots were black steel-toed and laced up tightly over his pants. His badge was hooked to his hip and today he chose to carry his two chrome 9mm handguns in his holster. He’d trimmed his beard and had a little product in his hair, making it spike and stick out in the artfully messy way the models wore it. He looked delicious and deadly at the same time.

God tucked his wallet in his back pocket, snatched his keys of the nightstand, and dropped them in the side pocket of his pants. He turned off all the lights and slowly walked over to his man. Day was resting against the door and God propped one arm on the wall and leaned in to come into full contact with him while they were still just lovers.

They both had their eyes closed while they let the moment of silence be all that they needed. Perhaps Day was praying for his safety too. God finally opened his eyes and Day followed a few seconds after.

“I love you. Be safe,” God whispered.

Day placed a firm grip on the back of his neck and God felt a power surge through him like he’d never felt before. He placed one of his hands on Day’s neck too, hoping he’d somehow feel the same strength.

He watched Day grit his teeth at his touch, obviously feeling something strong. God crushed their lips together in a brutal kiss. It was raw, fierce, and full of promises. Promised to be safe. Promised to have each other’s back. Promised to come home tonight.

When it was imperative that they breathe, God released Day’s mouth. Their breathing was ragged and labored as they tried to calm their racing hearts. God knew they had to go but neither one was moving. He couldn’t move until he heard Day say it too. God looked into those light-colored eyes and he knew the minute Day recognized what he needed.

“I love you too, Cashel.”

The huge lump in God’s throat prohibited him from speaking, so he nodded his head okay and turned to lead them down the stairs and out of the house.

The ride to the precinct was gravely quiet, but this wasn’t uncommon. While things had changed dramatically with their personal relationship, things hadn’t changed when they were getting into fight mode.

When God pulled in to the station they saw the parking lot was full of cars they weren’t used to seeing. They had SWAT, sharpshooting teams, State Troopers, divers, Coast Guard, and countless task-force detectives from surrounding precincts. This was a collective effort by the city’s officials to rid it of a virus that was killing the heart of their state.

As soon as God and Day walked into the chaos of their unit they were immediately pulled apart by administrative officers that were assigned to get them fully geared up with radios, wires, and vests.

Once God was fully set and weighed down by the heavy armor, he made his way through the throng of people to his desk. He looked up and tracked Day through the station and saw him heading to the break room, no doubt for his morning fix. He thought of following him but decided against it.

He’s not my sweetheart right now.

Day was trying to make his coffee with all the extra goddamn weight on him and it was frustrating the shit out of him. He knew it was for his safety but, fuck. He needed to hurry up and get some coffee in him and get his head right for the fight. It was seven a.m. and in fifteen minutes the department heads would be getting the teams set to roll. Everyone knew their role; no more meetings were required.

Ronowski and Seasel came into the break room; both of them noticing the seriousness on Day’s face and decided to simply fix their coffee and leave. Day shook his head in wonder. He could only imagine the look he must have on his face if Ronowski didn’t want to risk fucking with him.

A loud siren pierced through Day's thoughts and he recognized the call for them to load up. Day headed out to the yard and eased up beside God. He discreetly rubbed the backs of their hands together before crossing both his arms over his chest. God looked down at him and gave him a slight wink before turning his attention back to their captain.

Once they were loaded in their police van along with Ronowski, Seasel, the captain, and four other officers from their precinct, the driver got the signal and they took off toward Interstate 75 South for the three-and-a-half-hour drive to the Savannah Ports.

Day settled his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes, afraid if he kept them open he’d only stare at God. Somehow the time passed fast as hell; like it tends to when you're going someplace you didn’t want to go. The teams were getting into their positions. They were assuming the ready positions after receiving a confirmation that the cargo ship was in port as of a half-hour ago, which meant it was still loaded.

Alpha team, assigned to board the ship and confiscate its cargo had already rammed through the security gate and was moving fast across the ground to the pier. The security guards that were watching the gate and grounds were detained quickly.

Day held onto the handles above their heads as their driver sped onto the dock, positioning them several feet from one of the five hangars on the port… the one containing their kingpin. The other vans got into their positions as well. Some teams were there to make arrests, while others were responsible for collecting evidence, tactical support, and many others for a multitude of other duties.

The back double doors to their van swung open, and they moved quickly to the outer perimeters with their weapons pointed to the ground, surrounding the building within seconds. Day watched the other teams get into position at the surrounding hangars.

During the last meeting it was decided that an explosive would be used for breeching. This method required less strategic planning, a necessary change since they had lost two weeks of valuable planning time. Their combat engineers needed twenty seconds to place the small explosive charges on the doors and clear. The SWAT team leader’s deep voice came across their earplugs with a fast count and a go on three.

Day felt God’s heat beside him but his eyes were trained on the hangar bay doors. Day heard “three” then a loud bang as the doors exploded. They stormed in within seconds of the debris settling.

There were multiple booming voices yelling out “Freeze!” “Don’t move!” “On the ground!” “Hands high!” “Georgia police!” as most of the dockworkers dropped to the concrete and others began to scramble behind anything that would provide them with cover.

The entire force had orders to treat everyone on the scene as hostile until proven otherwise. With the limited surveillance they’d been able to amass, it was unknown which of the dock workers were dirty and which were legitimate. If they were actual working for the state of Georgia, then they would be expected to surrender.

Day kept both his weapons trained in front of him while he moved with their unit further into the building. So far so good, everyone was cooperating. Bravo team was coming in to make arrests and load everyone into the extra vans. Day felt an eerie feeling slither down his neck, meaning trouble was coming. Day estimated about fifteen men were being taken out quietly as more officers and SWAT scanned every square inch of the hangar. Day turned to signal their group to move upstairs when all chaos broke loose.

A hail of gunfire from what sounded like automatic weapons erupted on the south side of their hangar. They ducked for cover behind large crates quickly trying to locate the shooter. Day’s radio crackled on his shoulder.

“Officer down! I repeat: officer down with a fatal gunshot wound to the neck!”

Day cursed when he noticed more men with automatic weapons moving up the far side of the hangar and he quickly pushed the talk button on his mic. “We got multiple bogies coming in on the south side. Look alive!”

Day and God both began firing in the direction of the large garage-like doors on the far side of the building. This had to be their kingpin’s army. Day could hear gunfire from the surrounding buildings as more voices came across the radio reporting emergencies.

Fuck!

Day gave a hand signal for Ronowski, Seasel, and two other officers to move to the other side so they could provide gunfire from both angles. He, God, his captain, and another officer laid down cover fire for them as they ran quickly to their position. Day gritted his teeth as bullets flew in their direction.

Day and God were back to back as always, watching all around them when God’s recognizable gruffness came across the radio.

“Got a positive visual of the package. I repeat a positive visual of Joe Hansen, our kingpin. Upper level, hangar four, moving north, wearing a black suit accompanied by five heavily armed men, approach with extreme caution.”

Day turned quickly and saw their kingpin moving down the stairs at the north end surrounded by human shields. The man had on a black suit with a red tie and black dress shirt. His guards had Smith and Wesson handguns aimed and ready to fire. Day cursed as Hansen was ushered into a room that had an exit into a back corridor with limited visibility.

Other team leaders were strategically placing their officers to get into a flush-out position and Day did the same. They moved in closer to the rooms at the back and Day saw bullets fly in from over their heads, the sharpshooters effectively taking out three of the kingpin’s five-man guard.

Semiautomatics rang out in the hangar, Day and God dove behind a couple of metal barrels. Day saw God check the label on the container, careful that they weren’t hiding behind anything explosive. God gave him a thumbs-up. When there was a brief pause in the fire from the dockworkers, Day and God rose simultaneously and opened fire, both men almost emptying their clips before they had to duck back down. As soon as they did, Ronowski’s team rose and opened fire.

A loud scream pierced the air, and Day looked over to see Ronowski dragging Seasel into one of the back rooms.

Day clicked his mic on. “Officer down! Gunshot wound to the right arm.”

Vikki had been hit.

Sharpshooters fired at two men closing in on Ronowski as he tried to tend to his partner. Day heard the SWAT leader yell through his bullhorn.

“You are completely surrounded. Lay down your weapons and come out with your hands up!”

Day leaned against God’s back and peered around their cover. Two ducked heads were moving fast along the back end, trying to stay low and effectively moving out of sight of the sharpshooters firing from the rooftops seventy yards away. Day turned and saw that the back corridor intersected with the room where Ronowski was tending to Seasel’s wound.

There was still too much gunfire going on for Ronowski to safely move Seasel out the back exit. Ronowski didn’t even have his weapon out as he stayed low and used both his hands to apply pressure to the wound that was bleeding profusely. From where Day stood, he could see that Vikki had gone very pale and she wasn’t moving. Ronowski was shaking her and yelling her name.

“Ronowski!” Day yelled but the gunshots were too loud.

The last of the dockworkers were either out of the building being taken down by the outside team, or were lying dead inside. But Hansen and his last bodyguard were closing in on Ronowski fast, obviously planning to use the room as a means to get to the outside. Ordinarily they’d fire in a couple of flash grenades and temporarily blind their suspects, but they had two of their own in close range.

Day had a split second to think. If he didn’t move now, as soon as Hansen and his man entered the room, they would fire on his teammates.

“Cover me,” Day yelled and took off toward the room.

“Day!”

Day heard God yelling for him, but he had no time. He barreled through the door, startling Ronowski, and charged into Hansen’s guard as he turned the corner into the back door of the room. The hallway behind the rooms was narrow and there were few windows. He grappled with the bodyguard in the confinement of the small room. Neither man could fire their weapon nor could Hansen get past them. The bodyguard had at least three inches and forty pounds minimum on him.

Day slammed the large man into the wall, grasping the lapels of his suit jacket, yanking him away and spinning him around to slam him into the other wall. Day dropped his weapon as the man elbowed him in the ribs. With both hands free, Day connected rapidly successive punches with both fists. He landed at least half the hard blows to the man’s face and kneed him with all his might in his stomach.

He vaguely saw Hansen turn and try to run in the opposite direction but gunfire from the sharpshooters stopped him as soon as his head came into view through one of the windows.

Day took a hard left to his temple before he kneed the man in the groin, causing him to crumble to the floor. He stepped back and kicked the guard square in the chin with his steel-toed boot, propelling the man back into the corridor.

Day turned and yelled to Ronowski, “Get her out of here now!”

Ronowski needed to get Vikki out of there and to medical attention fast while he had the chance.

Ronowski had just barreled through the side door leading outside when Day spun around and came face to face with his own chrome 9mm handgun that he’d dropped during the fight. Hansen had an evil glare in his eyes as he waved it at Day to move over toward him.

“Keep your hands where I can see them,” Hansen snarled quietly through clenched teeth.

Day heard the SWAT leader on his bullhorn again.

“Joe Hansen, you are completely surrounded. Come out with your hands up or you will be fired upon!”

“Day, what’s your position goddammit?” God’s voice was strained coming across the mic on his shoulder.

The look Hansen gave him clearly told Day he was not to answer his partner.

“Do you really want to be charged with murdering an officer of the law?” Day said calmly, trying not to reveal his fear while staring down the barrel of his own gun.

“Shut up,” Hansen snarled.

“That’s the death penalty,” Day said.

“I said shut up,” Hansen growled, grabbed Day by the shoulder straps of his bulletproof vest, and put the gun to his forehead.

Day closed his eyes and took a deep breath… this was it.