Nine

Lee and James transport the chest

Lee reluctantly swung the trunk into the back of the police van. For the sake of bureaucracy the trunk had to be transported in a vehicle officially designated to carry evidence. Although for that matter both the chief and Brady had refused to process the huge bulk. Noticing Lee’s disappointment, James attempted to cheer him up.

‘Common Nemo, it’s not all that bad. We’ll find another case to keep us entertained in no time’

Lee scoffed. He knew this to be a lie. James had told him himself that this was the most interesting case he’d seen in years. He watched the trunk sit in the van as the doors were slammed shut. It reminded him of a funeral. Watching a coffin buried and knowing it was the last time you would ever see anything approaching a physical remnant of the person. But Lee knew, he could sense it, this would not be the last time he was in a room with this knowledge. As the doors slammed shut he walked back to his own car. The van would be driven by Brady and another officer called Chuck, escorted toward its final resting place by Lee and James in the following vehicle. He got in and sat in the passenger seat. Keeping his eye all the while on the van. ‘It’s not going anywhere’ James prodded. Lee ignored him and sat quietly, intently, while James started the car. As the van pulled away out of the underground garage it was parked in, light streamed in from the opening garage door. James followed the white and blue lead car out, tailing close behind. It was practise not to let any other car get between the two police vehicles, for sake of security.

‘What do you think they’ll do with it? The Feds.’ Lee asked, entertaining himself.

‘Truthfully? They’ll probably just put it somewhere out of sight and out of mind until a time when they really need it. Let’s face it, they won’t really care what’s in there. They just won’t want anyone else getting their hands on it.’

‘Maybe’ Lee said to himself

‘Maybe?’ James enquired

‘Well who knows? Maybe there’s some big reason they want it. Maybe the world will change’ James laughed.

‘The world never changes’ Lee found himself agreeing with the statement, although didn’t voice this opinion. He kept his eye keenly on the van still in front. After each set of lights, it was slow to get away, ensuring no distance would grow between the two cars.

‘You boys all good back there’ Chuck’s voice echoed over the radio. The man was unknown to Lee, although he got the sense the same could not be said for James. The two shared a few in-jokes as they were packing up for the trip and seemed exceptionally friendly. James picked up the radio to reply,

‘We sure are Chucky. You just keep your eyes on the road ahead why don’t ya?’, James chuckled to himself. The joke was lost on Lee.

‘Do you two know each other or something?’, Lee enquired.

‘Of course we do, you know how long I’ve been here, I know everyone’

‘You know that’s not what I mean’ Lee responded briskly.

‘Yeah, I sure do know Chuck. He was my old partner on homicide’

‘What?’, Lee was shocked. Not only did he not know James was in homicide, but he’d never heard of Chuck. Most officers only ever move off homicide via transfer or the body-bag.

‘What happened?’ continued Lee. James chuckled again to the question,

‘A heck of a lot happened. Do you remember that BTM killer a while back?’ Lee nodded. BTM stood for ‘Bind Torture Mutilate’. The killer was notorious. His name was Eddy West, currently on death row. James continued, ‘We were chasing that guy for years. We had a lot of sleepless nights on that one…’ James’ voice tailed off. His response didn’t really answer Lee’s question but by now Lee had come to realise the best way to get information out of his partner was to just allow him to speak. Lee watched as the hustle and bustle of the city turned into the winding country roads that linked the states. As the two cars continued on their journey the roads became less busy, until it was only the four officers on the road. Lee at this point started looking around outside the car. The road was flanked on either side by thick forestry, leaving the cars at a tactical disadvantage. James looked over at Lee, noticing his increased awareness. What Lee didn’t tell James was that part of his worry was his own failings. He struggled all through the academy with his physical abilities and uses of firearms. He had worked hard to improve these skills and had eventually passed all the requirements, second from bottom of his class but passed all the same. Whilst his training officer had assured him at the end of his tenure he would not have been passed if he was not deemed proficient enough, the words nonetheless haunted Lee. “Proficient enough” wasn’t something he aimed for, and not something that would fill him with confidence if those skills were indeed required. He had only ever really used them in anger once before. A drugs raid when he was just starting out. The commander of the operation had told him to hang back, but observe, to give him some experience of the situation. The gun battle became more intense than probably had been predicted. Lee had fired at the suspects from behind a police car. He didn’t think he’d hit anyone, but hadn’t made a complete fool of himself. He knew that every time may not be quite as simple. Out of the corner of his eye, whilst surveying the trees, swaying in the wind he caught the break light of the van in front flash on. The day had turned into a grey one, overcast and blowy. Lee wondered for a moment if the wind had caught Chuck out, maybe he’d slowed the van down to regain control. It was peculiar for him to be slowing down for any reason on such a quiet road. Then, as the two cars rounded the bend Lee and James saw the reason for the slow. A green people carrier was planted sideways, with the hood up and engine smoking. Blocking both sides of the narrow country road. Lee looked at James and saw what he assumed was a reflection of his own worried look and furrowed brow.

‘I’m not buying it’ said James flatly. The words echoed Lee’s own thoughts. On closer inspection he noticed there was no-one in the car. Then Lee heard the sound of an engine.

‘You hear that?’ he asked James. Before he got a response he turned to see a black Humvee round the corner with tinted windows, he noticed late that it wasn’t slowing down, turning back to the front of the car and bracing himself for the impact just in-time. It lurched the smaller car forward. Lee heard the back window smash. As he lifted his head up he saw two things. The first was James reaching for his gun, which was loosely hanging off his holster and resting on the seat. The second was the group of heavily armed men approaching the van from each side of the road. Fully clad in black overalls and bulletproof vests, Lee analysed the situation faster, clearly, than James had. They were finished. This had been a textbook ambush. At the weakest possible moment they had been surrounded and flanked. Then the men stopped, just a few metres from the van aiming at the cab.

“Open the back door and step out of the vehicle” a harsh voice boomed from behind a mask. Lee and James couldn’t see Chuck and Brady in the front of the van but could imagine the shock. At the same moment Lee looked in the wing-mirror to see a number of guns aiming towards them from behind the now side-on 4x4. He reached for his gun as James put the clutch down. “Now!” repeated the voice, louder this time. Lee knew that when the firing started it would be extremely sudden. Their biggest problem was without seeing the other officers they couldn’t co-ordinate. Then, as Lee heard the rev of the engine of the van, all hell broke loose. As soon as the men in black heard the same sound they opened fire on the lead vehicle. Its windows, Lee knew, were built of bullet proof glass, but a big design floor that had been widely ridiculed was that the doors themselves were more penetrable, and with enough pressure would give way to heavy fire. As the van slammed forward into the green saloon car most of the men fired at the cab in an attempt to kill the drivers but a couple ran round to the doors. Locked, the two men pulled out some grey mould, claymore, from their bag and started trying to attach it to the door, negotiating the moving van all the while. While this was happening the guns behind Lee and James’ car had opened fire.

‘Down!’ screamed James above the gunfire. Unnecessary as Lee had already made the attempt to minimize the target being aimed at, ducking beneath the level of the now smashed out rear window. James slammed on the accelerator, lifting the clutch suddenly so that the car jumped backwards. James had obviously thought the same, Lee appreciated, that the fastest way to stop the guns behind was to ram the Humvee. A smart idea, as long as the two men lived long enough to hit it. Lee felt a sharp heat on his left buttock. A hit, he registered. The car slammed into the Humvee and the shooting from behind stopped, though not in front, with Lee’s head slamming against the head-rest. In the chaos Lee was pointing his pistol toward the back window and firing. He had also picked up the radio and called for help, which the person on the other end had assured him was on its way. As James slammed the car into the Humvee he kept his foot on the accelerator, feeling the bigger 4x4 behind slide slightly, leaving a small gap, which he managed to manoeuvre the car through as the firing from the Humvee picked up again. Meanwhile up ahead the van had stopped moving, although the engine was still running, and the men in black stopped firing into the driver’s and passenger’s seats. A bad sign. The two men at the back finished attaching the claymore and followed the rest of their team halfway back toward the tree-line. One of them then pulled out what looked like a black remote, about the size of a phone and pushing a button, blew the doors open. Once James had reversed the car about 100 metres from the Humvee he drove it side-ways across the road, parallel to how the 4x4 and people carrier had originally been placed, although both were now somewhat slightly skewed. At this the full pelt of bullets picked up. It was impossible for the partners to communicate over the sound of smashing windows and crunching metal. James turned the engine off and both men clambered out Lee’s side. They both crouched behind the car, occasionally attempting to peer around it to see the activities taking place beyond the defensive line. Leaving the scene was out of the question. They could well be the only ones who could save the two officers in the van. Once outside they were able to hear one another a little better. The shooting had once again subsided to just a few bursts every so often designed to keep the two officers hidden behind the vehicle. James spoke first, panting, holding his gun with two hands pointing the ground.

‘You hit?’

‘I think so’ Lee responded, ‘But not too bad, should be ok, you?’

‘Caught one on the side’, James lifted up his shirt, indicating the hit point, there was no exit wound. ‘Think I’ll be alright though’.

‘What’s the plan?’ Lee asked urgently. They were in a poor position. The reality was they were lucky. If the Humvee had had a stickier hand break and hadn’t skewed to let their car out, the two would probably be dead. However, in this position, it probably wouldn’t be long until they’d be just that. James peaked over the car, ducking as another hail of bullets came their way.

‘We need to get to that van, but that’s where all the heavy duty gear is. We’ve gotta try keep them here until the cavalry show up.’ Lee nodded, peering round the side of the car he spotted four men dragging the trunk out of the van. Lee had to laugh, even these guys didn’t force one man to carry the whole thing. Then suddenly he caught something more worrying. A man stood behind the Humvee was loading a grenade into the second barrel of his gun.

‘I’m not sure we’ll be able to do that bud. Quickly run for the ditch on the right’, Lee spoke in a hurry. James turned to see what had gotten Lee so worried and upon spotting the same thing nodded to indicate he was ready to move. Just as the two started running the car exploded behind them. With Lee pulling up the rear he felt the heat on his back. Dropping his gun he flung himself into the ditch, bundling James over as he did so. He noticed that some of the smashed glass had made a cut on his head. Dazed he felt around for the blood.

‘We’ve still gotta get back there’ insisted James, not even leaving Lee time to catch his breath. Refusing to engage with the reality of the situation. Lee grabbed his senior officer.

‘James, they’re on their own. There’s nothing we can do right now to help them. The best thing we can do is survive.’ James looked down to Lee, still lying in the mud, and didn’t respond. The silence spoke as loudly as anything James could have said. Bullets continued to whizz overhead. James saw the men loading the trunk into the Humvee and all subsequently jump in. He was amazed at how many men it seemed to be able to cope with. The car then drove off in a flash leaving the heaving wreckage behind. The scene resembled the aftermath of a bomb blast. As the sound of the Humvee engine faded into the distance, James limped out of the ditch, followed by Lee in an equally poor condition. They edged toward the van, with its rear doors blown open and glass cracked. Multiple bullet holes lined the full length of the vehicle. As the two approached the driver’s cabin they both noticed the blood spatter on the inside of the windows, and were unable to see either man inside.

‘S**t.’ Muttered James bleakly. Lee put his hands on his head and sat on the ground as the sound of the sirens grew louder and louder.

Author's Note

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