Target: Mendez: An Alex Mendez Tale

by Edward Hancock II

  “Well, you’re right. It does turn the occasional killer into a monster. Alex, I think you need to be concerned here, Son. Calloway did not burn off any anger, from what I hear. He focused it, as I understand it. Channeled it. And I personally believe his intention is to make good on that threat. You said it yourself. More efficient killer.”

  “Okay, so why didn’t anyone prevent his release?”

  “Can’t. He’s served his time. Wasn’t a model prisoner, but he served his sentence. Now, if we want him back in prison, we have to catch him committing another crime.”

  “So, what are you gonna do? Offer me up as bait and see if he springs the trap?”

  “No,” the chief assured him. “We’re not going to do anything that brazen. We are going to remain vigilant. If I suspect anything is misplaced for a moment, I will personally order protection detail for you, Lisa, the kids and your mom.”

  “Well, Mom is leaving to visit my Aunt in Tucson for a couple months. But, I do appreciate that gesture and I won’t be silly enough to turn it down. I have learned something in my years.”

  “You’re a young pup yet, Alex. Wait’ll you get to be my age. For now, just stay alert. If you notice anyone following you, acting strange, whatever, I wanna know about it. If this guy so much as spits on the sidewalk, I’ll have him locked up for destruction of government property.”

  “Are we sure he’s even around here? Maybe he’s disappeared. Moved on.”

  “I wouldn’t bank on it, Alex. I think we can count on one thing. Returning to what he knows. Honestly, though. I don’t know the conditions of his release. I will find out.”

  “Yes sir.” Alex whispered, looking down at his desk phone. “I should probably call Lisa just in case. I need to get in touch with Alyson too.”

  “I’ll handle talking to Alyson personally. You talk to your wife and assure her everything’s okay; that we are going to be handling this.”

  “Chief, I do have one favor to ask.”

  “Name it.”

  “I want Danny, Kellan and Janet kept in the dark about this. Danny and Kellan have already taken bullets for me in the past few months. I don’t think I could live with myself if it happened again. And Janet, well, I’ve known her far too long. She’d react like a mother hen and we both know that.”

  “Lt. Mendez, as the chief of police, I felt it my duty to apprise your commanding officer of the situation. Captain Peterson needs to know if anything or anyone is out of sorts with his team.”

  When Alex blanched at his formal demeanor, the chief softened his approach.

  “Alex, Danny had to know. I did order him to stay clear of any, uh, mischief. I see no reason to unnecessarily alarm Kellan or Janet or any other officer at this time, but that will be a call you or Danny make.”

  “I still wish you hadn’t alarmed Danny. You know as well as I do he’s going to overreact.”

  “With good reason, though, Alex. As I recall from reading the report, Danny was your supervising officer on the street and your first partner in Homicide. If my math is correct, he would have been there when you arrested this guy, which puts him in a fair amount of danger as well.”

  “I didn’t think about that! Danny is the reason I went into Homicide to begin with. Basically, he recruited me. He was there at the scene, but he was already homicide by then. Chief, can you put surveillance on Danny without him knowing it? Protection, I mean? But quiet protection, so that he’s not aware?”

  The chief nodded.

  “Whitaker,” Alex whispered.

  “Pardon?”

  “Dean Whitaker. Retired a couple years ago. Danny was my supervisor for homicide, yes. But Whit was the officer that put the cuffs on Calloway. He gave me the credit, which looked good on me, but Whit was the OIC of that investigation. Chief, I hate to ask, but—”

  “Consider it done, Alex.”

  “Can we put the protection on them both secretly? He’s a bit of an old salt. Might react harshly if he thinks we’re intruding on his retirement.”

  “I don’t really care what he thinks, to be honest. We’ll do it and we’ll do it in the open whether Whitaker likes it or not.”

  “But Danny—”

  “Danny’s a cop, Alex. It’s his job to be aware. Between you and me, I did tell him to expect protection anytime he leaves the office. It is non-negotiable for Danny, given his physical condition. But don’t tell him I put it that way. When I told him, I made sure to remind him of the important position he holds within our ranks. And of my position as his superior officer. That is all he needs to know. Wasn’t going to tell you, but since you brought it up.”

  “You’re the man, Chief!”

  “That’s why they pay me the big bucks, Son.” The chief winked at Alex, rose from his chair. “I gotta run. Meeting with the Mayor in a couple hours.”

  “About this?”

  “Nah, just a status meeting, really. New year, new budget. New problems. I can’t stand micromanagers, but Mayor Slayton likes to know what’s going on. He’s not your typical politician. Reminds me a Truman. The buck stops with him.”

  “Thanks for the head’s up, Chief. I really do appreciate it.”

  “Son, I never met this guy. Before my time and all. But he sounds like bad business. That’s all I needed to know. I’m going to do what it takes to protect my people.”

  “We love you for it, Daddy.” Alex laughed.

  “Yeah, um, don’t make me send you to the principal’s office, kid.”

  “Aren’t you the principal?”

  “Exactly, now call your wife. I’ll get out of your way.”

  “Later, Chief!”

  As Chief Steelman closed the door, Alex picked up his desks phone.

  “Okay,” he whispered to himself, as the phone rang, “Let’s try not to alarm her, shall we?”

  Chapter 4

  “But, Honey, I won’t be alone. I’ll have our resident rookie, Officer Alyson Warner, to keep watch over me.”

  He’d been down this road twice already. Third time, he hoped, would be the charm.

  “Do I sound like I find any of this funny, Alex? I remember you telling me about this guy. If he’s out of prison, you need to be watching your six. Better yet, I need to be watching your six. I may not be a cop, but I’m still your partner.”

  “Yes you are, Babe. And you’re responsible for the rest of the team. Mom is going to see Aunt Rita. Aunt Rita has never seen either of the kids. It’s the perfect time for you all to pay them a visit.”

  “To pay your aunt, who I’ve only met once, at our wedding, a visit? You want me to go without you. And this makes sense to you?”

  “You know what makes sense to me, Babe? Getting you and the kids out of harm’s way. That’s what makes sense to me. You guys have been through enough because of me. And it’s not like you’re going to visit her alone. Mom will be there with you. Joey is easier to travel with now. Christina needs a good road trip. It’ll be a girl’s trip…with Joey along.”

  “What makes you think your mom wants our company anyway? When she told us about the trip, I don’t recall an invitation being a part of the conversation.”

  “Well, she’ll need help driving. She can’t make the trip to Arizona all in one day on her own. So, you can drive when she gets tired.”

  “And you’re just going to sit there, in the house, and wait for yet another psycho to track you down? Yanno, Alex, I’m beginning to think you picked the wrong occupation.”

  “Let’s not forget, if I hadn’t picked this occupation, you and I would never have met, My Love.”

  “Don’t interrupt my freaking out with logic and facts!”

  When Lisa let go a breathy sigh, Alex chuckled.

  “I love you, Mrs. Mendez.”

  “Don’t do that either, Alex.”

  “Do what?” he whispered.

  “That thing you do that makes me melt on command and give in to your every whim.”

  “Hey, look on the bright side. On your way
out of town, you can stop by the station and bring me something to eat. We’re wrapping up a hot one tonight, so I could be late.”

  “Thought you were coming home. What happened to that plan?”

  “Well, if y’all are packing to leave, I’d just be in the way, wouldn’t I?”

  “So, you’d rather I bring the kids to the station on the way out of town?” Lisa laughed. “You’re kinda crazy, Mr. Mendez. You know that, right?”

  “It’s why you married me, Mrs. Mendez.” Alex quipped.

  “You’re such a ham.”

  “Nah, I’m an Alex. But I do like ham. Yanno, like on sandwiches and such.”

  “Okay, well if you want us to go then you can tell your mother. I don’t want to be the reason she resents not being able to see your aunt by herself.”

  Pursing his lips, Alex sighed. Cleared his throat.

  “Put her on.”

  Surprisingly, she took the news better than he’d expected.

  ***

  Dean Whitaker hated the winter time. It was cold. Cold on old bones was not good. Cold plus old bones that spent thirty years on the streets, getting shot along the way, was just stupid.

  He grumbled as he stepped out on the front porch, cinched his robe a little tighter. Between the grunts, groans, not to mention creaking and cracking of his joints, Whitaker couldn’t help but look toward the neighbors, on the off chance his clinking, clanking hip and knee replacements had bothered one of them.

  “Officer Whitaker?”

  The voice startled him upright, almost to attention. Meeting the stranger’s eyes, he tilted his head, blinked, but couldn’t place the man.

  “Not anymore,” Whit said. “I know you, Son?”

  Falling to the porch with a thud, he never heard the answer. A barely audible whump cut his grunt short. The bullet had entered the corner of his right eye socket, spraying the wall, window and screen door with evidence of his demise.

  Standing over the lifeless body, a pool of blood forming underneath the skull, Jason Kirkland passed a gloved hand in front of the face, waved, snapped his fingers. Careful not to leave too deep an impression in the skin, he tested the carotid artery. Nothing.

  Standing, he fired a second shot into the other eye socket.

  When the screen door creaked, he raised his arm, fired a bullet right into the woman’s head, cutting her scream short. From his position, he fired two more shots into her chest, turned, started down the steps. Stowing the gun in his black duster’s inner pocket, he fished his keys from the outer pocket with the other hand, stopped, turned back.

  The barking turned to whimpering, back to barking, finally to whimpering again. The dog might have been a black lab, young. The white mask on the face suggested the dog was old. Perhaps a mix breed. Too small to be a lab, but possibly having lab in him. As the whimpering subsided, the dog’s eyes met his.

  Opening his jacket, he shook his head.

  “Nah, it’s your lucky day, pooch.”

  Turning back toward his SUV, waiting a couple of blocks away, he heard the animal whimper again. Perhaps a subtle thank you for a life spared. Perhaps beseeching the bringer of death to let him join his masters.

  Reaching the end of the street, he rounded the corner. He coughed when his breath suddenly caught in his throat. Could it be?

  He was across the street, but could it be Alex Mendez?

  “Two for one special,” he whispered. Looking both ways several times, he trotted across the street.

  Chapter 5

  Martin Escalante had recently went from being a father of four to a father of five. Just two weeks ago, his wife had given birth to a son. A son that would now grow up without his father.

  Kneeling over the lifeless body of his comrade in arms, Alex couldn’t breathe. He’d seen many dead bodies. He’d even seen a cop or two. But never in his life had he ever knelt over the body of one he considered such a close friend.

  More than once, he’d felt like a rookie, looking around as if planning for the spot he would eventually vomit.

  He wasn’t alone. No one spoke, no more than necessary anyway. Uniformed officers passed evidence bags to detectives who, in turn, passed them to Alex with nothing more than a silent look. The knowing look that was a mixture of sadness, anger, hopelessness and determination. The look between members of a family born of blood shed rather than blood shared.

  “What do you have for me, Alex?” Alex felt Tabby’s hand on his shoulder as she whispered the question to him. Looking up, he saw the tears in her eyes as she struggled to do the job she was assigned. “Cause of death?”

  “GSW.” Alex whispered. Gunshot wound. “One to the chest. One to the head. You’ll have to determine which was the fatal shot. I guess the cold and this misting will make time of death harder to—” His voice broke as the tears pressed hard against the dam of the job at hand. Clearing his throat, he continued. “My guess is you’ll find the head shot was—”

  “The head shot was insurance.” Kellan finished, kneeling beside Alex and Tabby.

  “Kellan,” Alex whispered, clearing his throat again, wiping away a tear that had managed to sneak past the wall he had been trained to erect.

  “It’s one of ours, Alex. Walk with me?”

  Alex could see it in his eyes.

  “What is it? What’s wrong? Is it Lisa?”

  “Walk with me, Alex.”

  Seizing Kellan by the collar of the shirt, Alex gritted his teeth.

  “Just tell me!”

  Clearing his throat, Kellan’s sorrowful eyes met Alex’s.

  “Alex, it’s Whit.”

  ***

  A big fat nothing. That’s what they had. Scratch that. A big fat mess. Two dead officers, one dead officer’s wife. No leads.

  It looked to be the same type of weapon made all the wounds. Both looked to be up close. Quick, clean.

  “Nobody heard anything?” Alex asked a nearby officer.

  He shook his head. “Not until the dog started barking. Neighbor said they heard the dog barking like crazy. Came over and saw this.”

  “Did they touch anything?” Alex asked.

  “They said they didn’t. We took their prints just to be safe. Might have steadied themselves on a railing or something. Want to make sure we differentiate.”

  “Can’t rule them out as a suspect. But good call just the same.”

  The young man nodded. A flash of pride crossed his face, before returning to the sullen respect to be afforded a fallen officer.

  “My guess is he used a silencer.” Alex added. “It would explain the lack of witnesses. But was nobody out checking the mail or getting the paper or walking the dog at that hour?”

  “It’s cold. It’s Texas, Alex. Anybody that was out at that hour probably didn’t dilly dally. Even a dog would have enough sense to get in out of the cold. Neighbors across the street are an older black couple. Brothers don’t swim and we don’t do the cold, Alex.”

  Kneeling down, Alex met Dean Whitaker’s lifeless eyes.

  “Who did this, Whit?” Alex whispered. “Help me out.”

  As expected, no reply came.

  Alex examined the wounds up close one more time. Careful not to touch anything, Alex leaned down, mere inches from Whit’s chest. Looking back toward Kellan, Alex motioned to him.

  “Tweezers.”

  “Whatcha got, Boss?” Kellan said, handing him the tweezers from his investigation kit.

  “I do not know,” he whispered, carefully retrieving a black thread from the edge of the wound. “Whit’s clothes aren’t black. I don’t know where this is from, but it’s not from him. Bag it.”

  “Bagging it.”

  “And pray to God,” Alex sighed.

  “That’s your job, Alex.”

  “Well, somebody better do it. We’ve got a mess here. And I’m the one that has to clean it up. Two dead cops. Brothers. Kellan, suddenly I feel about as lost as a rookie, first day on the job.”

  “Me too, Alex. But they’
re counting on us. We’re trained. We know the procedures. Tabby will do her job. We’ll have to do ours.”

  “It’s real, isn’t it?” Alex said. “I’m really looking at Whitaker. I really just left Escalante. And will somebody please shut that dog up!”

  “Sorry, Boss.” Kellan whispered. With a snap and a hand gesture, Kellan directed a nearby uniformed officer toward the patrol car where the Whitaker’s dog barked insistently. “Animal control is on its way.”

  “Animal control?” Alex said. “No. I’ll take him.”

  “What do you mean, you’ll take him?” Kellan asked. “You can’t just take Whit’s dog.”

  “Well, I don’t think Whit is gonna be able to take care of him anymore!” Alex snapped. Calming himself, he continued. “Look, the dog needs to be taken into custody. We need to have a vet look him over. Make sure he’s okay. But he is also a material witness. Consider it Canine Witness Protection. Besides, Lisa and the kids are going with Mom on a road trip. So, me and Brandy can use the company.”

  Walking over to the police car, where the old, black mutt continued to bark, Alex started talking to the dog, in an attempt to calm him.

  “Open the door,” Alex said to the nervous officer next to the police cruiser.

  When the young officer cast a nervous look toward Kellan, he waved his hand and repeated Alex’s order. “You heard the man, Timmons. Open the door. Just don’t shoot him. Or the dog for that matter.”

  “Slow and easy, Timmons,” Alex said.

  As the door crept open, the dog ceased all barking. Instinct kicking in, the dog backed away from the open door. As the door opened fully, Alex could see him cowering against the opposite door.

  “It’s okay, boy. I’m not gonna hurt you. I’m a friend. Come on,” he said, clicking his tongue, “Come see me. Let’s be friends. You’re gonna go home with me. I’m a friend of your daddy’s.”

  “Alex, I don’t think the dog speaks English,” Kellan said.

  Ignoring him, Alex clicked his tongue again and stepped toward the car door, eliciting a soft growl from the frightened pooch.

  “It’s okay,” Alex whispered, kneeling where he stood, holding out his hand. “You come to me. I’m not gonna get any closer. You come to me. I won’t hurt you.”