The Protectors: Vigilante Justice (Vigilante Cops Book 1)

by Bernard Lee DeLeo

  The man’s last sight on earth was the muzzle flash from Connor’s Ruger. The AK47 once again clattered to the sidewalk across the street.

  Connor immediately ran around Morton toward his own patrol car. He heard one weapon fire back at where he had been.

  Ellie saw Connor running toward her. She popped up and fired the riot gun three times. When she crouched down, there was silence. Connor arrived at her side a split second later.

  “Hey, El, whatcha’ doin’?”

  Ellie laughed - her voice thin and strained. “You’re frackin’ mental, Opie!”

  Squad cars and ambulances, sirens wailing, arrived on scene from both directions. The ambulances slowed a hundred yards from the purported war zone.

  “Let’s go make the scene safe for the new arrivals, El.”

  “Couldn’t we just wait?

  Connor put a hand on Ellie’s arm. He could feel the tremor running through her body. “What fun would that be? This is the only action we’ll see for a while.”

  “Frack! Okay… I’m right behind you.”

  Connor moved along the patrol car’s side, peeked around the trunk, and ran in another zigzagging pattern toward two cars parked on the corner. He didn’t stop until reaching the car’s trunk furthest to the left. Ellie put a hand on his shoulder to let Connor know she was there. Connor could hear moaning groans of pain from the vehicle’s other side, even with the wailing sirens now surrounding them. He inched around the trunk. Five bodies lay on the sidewalk. Only two writhed slightly, both a bloody mess from the riot gun.

  Connor moved from body to body with Ellie covering him, riot gun at the ready. Once he had secured the weapons, Connor called out to the tense officers in firing position surrounding them.

  “Clear!” Connor stood up slowly after holstering his Ruger, hands up in the air, carefully presenting himself with as small a target area as possible. Ellie cleared the riot gun. She set it down over the car’s hood and straightened next to Connor. Six officers led by Jenkins approached from all sides.

  “Three dead, Marty, and two badly wounded,” Connor explained. “Detective Morton needs immediate transport. He’s across the street behind the silver Lexus. One of the dead back here is Councilman Stennis.”

  “Stennis?” Jenkins holstered his weapon, signaling all clear. “I’ll get the EMT’s over. Are you two okay?”

  “Yeah,” Connor replied, looking over at Ellie. “We’ll go over with Detective Morton.”

  Jenkins nodded and deployed the officers with him to secure the scene while he jogged over to the ambulances.

  “What the hell you two get into here?” An officer with Washington on his nametag asked. “You don’t look so good Ellie.”

  “I’m a hell of a lot better than the five on the sidewalk, Terry,” Ellie replied, picking up the riot gun again. “We were first on scene. We don’t know anymore than the rest of you.”

  She followed Connor around the vehicle and toward the Lexus.

  Morton was passed out when Connor reached him. Connor helped him into a sitting position and loosened the belt tourniquet slightly. Morton groaned. His eyes squinted at Connor, pain and shock registering as he regained consciousness. Connor took out a pair of Nitrile gloves and slipped them on quickly.

  “The EMT’s are on the way over, Luke,” Connor told him. He put a hand on Morton’s Sig 9mm, still gripped in the Detective’s hand. “Let me bag your weapon.”

  Morton released his grip and Connor put it in the bag Ellie held out for him.

  “What happened, Luke?” Ellie asked, stunned by the ashen look on Morton’s face.

  “Ray got a call from… Araya. He wanted the meet today. Ray called me and… and we decided to go for it. I was down in the backseat with our recording equipment. They… they executed him minutes after he walked across the street. I…I got out and started around the car when they fired a burst. I knew I was hit bad – returned fire - dragged myself back here.”

  The EMT’s arrived with Jenkins and a stretcher. Ellie grabbed Morton’s arm as the medical techs eased Morton onto the stretcher.

  “Stay alive, Luke. The MIB’s will blame me and Connor for this if you don’t.”

  In spite of pain twisting his face into a mask of agony, Morton chuckled with a rasping wheeze. “I’ll try and stick around, Ellie.”

  Ellie released Morton’s arm but Morton grabbed her hand.

  “I’m… sorry about setting you up last night.”

  “Forget it. If you pull through long enough to get me and Connor off the hook, I’ll let you pat my butt again.”

  Morton grinned and let her go. “Thanks… I’ll hold you to that.”

  When the EMT’s were rolling Morton away, Jenkins blocked Connor and Ellie’s path. “Why would anyone think you two caused any of this? What the hell’s going on?”

  “Even we’re not real sure, Marty,” Connor answered. “Did you leave anyone at the station?”

  Jenkins laughed. He shook his head in the negative. “All we have there are a couple people from dispatch holding down the fort.”

  “You’re in charge until the boss gets here. Those two FBI agents from Homeland Security will have to be notified too.”

  “Dispatch put Agent Fulton through to me on my way over here, asking for details we didn’t have. He and Guzman will be here soon.”

  “Want us to stick around, Marty?” Ellie asked, her hands clutching the riot-gun tightly to keep from shaking. “We could go watch the precinct while you handle things here. Opie and I will be on desk duty now until hell freezes over anyway.”

  “I don’t know if leaving right now would be a good idea, Ellie. Fulton already asked if you two were involved.”

  Ellie nodded her understanding. “Want our weapons now or later?”

  “Maybe now would be better.” Jenkins put on gloves. He bagged each of his friends’ side-arms and then took the riot-gun from Ellie. Connor handed him Morton’s bagged Sig. “I’ll take good care of them. How the hell did you two survive the bursts through your windows? Your squad car looks like a bomb went off in it.”

  Connor smiled. “Training and perseverance, Marty.”

  “Dumb luck, huh?”

  “That’s a big ten-four, good buddy,” Connor replied.

  “We’ll be sitting on our wreck,” Ellie added. “Unless we smell gas.”

  “I’ll call in a fire truck. I should have done it on the way over. Any idea what the names of the dead are over there?”

  “One of them is Terrell Araya,” Connor replied. “I don’t know any of the others except Councilman Stennis.”

  “The MS-13 gang leader? I don’t want to know what this is all about, do I?”

  “Probably not,” Ellie answered. “But you will soon enough. This will have to be kept under wraps for the time being until someone can contact Stennis’s family. He sent them back East.”

  “Thanks, Ellie, I’ll relay that.”

  “Morton told me he had some recording equipment set up in the backseat of the Lexus. You’ll need to let the FBI know about it when they come,” Connor said.

  “Will do.”

  Connor and Ellie walked over to their squad-car. Connor opened the trunk and retrieved their jackets while Ellie sniffed around for gas. When she didn’t smell anything, she put on her jacket and brushed glass fragments off the hood with her sleeve. Ellie sat on the hood, watching Connor.

  “How much trouble do you think we’re in, Opie?”

  “None with Oakland PD. Fulton and Guzman will be unhappy. I’m beginning to think Stennis had a death-wish. Too bad he dragged Morton along with him. If he wanted to commit suicide, he should have gone alone.”

  “That’s cold.”

  “Colder than hauling your best friend who should have known better to meet with the most notorious gang leader in the area?”

  “You have a point. I guess if Morton didn’t see the warning signs, it would have been tough for us to pick up on them. I wonder why he bothered giving us the tap
ed confession.”

  “It seems more like a suicide note than a confession now. I hope Morton was able to record something useful. I’d sure like to hear the story Stennis used to lure Morton into this killing field.”

  “Damn it, Opie! Why aren’t your hands shaking like mine?”

  “I’m shaking internally.”

  Ellie laughed. “Bullshit! Jules will have a field day with us. How many shots did you fire?”

  “Two.”

  “Oh boy. We are so desk bound forever.”

  “You blasted two of them.”

  “Yeah but I’m remorseful.”

  This time Connor laughed. He saw Ellie look over his shoulder just before slipping down off the hood.

  “The MIB’s just arrived.”

  The FBI agents flashed their badges at the officers who had taped off the crime scene and were now guarding it nearest Connor and Ellie’s patrol car. Neither Fulton nor Guzman looked their way after ducking under the crime scene tape. Jenkins met them near the fallen gang members’ cars, giving them an update on the situation. They watched the EMT’s stabilizing the wounded, taking their own pictures before the bodies were moved.

  Jenkins led them over to the Lexus, where the two gloved agents took pictures before sealing the equipment in the backseat. After depositing the evidence in their own vehicle, the two returned to issue orders to Jenkins. They then walked toward Connor and Ellie with Guzman in the lead.

  “By the tightlipped look on Guzman’s face, I think she’d like to come over and cuff us,” Connor whispered.

  Ellie looked up at the sky with a prayerful look. “Please God, let it be.”

  Guzman walked right up into Connor’s face, her hands on her hips in an aggressive stance. “I don’t really need to ask this but were you the one who headshot our main links to the terrorist cell?”

  “They were wearing armor, you stupid cow!”

  “Easy Officer James,” Fulton said, stepping in front of Ellie, his hands up in placating fashion.

  “For God’s sake! Did you get a look at our patrol car?!” Ellie barked out angrily while trying to get around Fulton.

  “Answer the question, Bradwick,” Guzman ordered, not taking her eyes from Connor.

  “Yes, the two headshots were mine.”

  “Did you even consider waiting for backup so the scene could have been stabilized, and a surrender negotiated?”

  “I might have if we hadn’t had an officer down call from Detective Morton,” Connor answered. “I don’t know how the FBI reacts in gun battles when an agent’s wounded but we don’t write our guys off out here.”

  “You bastard!”

  This time Fulton grabbed his partner in mid swing. Connor hadn’t moved.

  “Let’s cut the crap, ‘Nita,” Ellie said, moving to face Guzman. “No more ‘hold me back, Drax’. Come get some, you FedEx skank!”

  Guzman struggled in Fulton’s arms but Connor could tell she didn’t want any part of Ellie. Connor saw Donaldson heading their way at nearly a jog from across the intersection. Connor put his hand on Ellie’s shoulder.

  “The boss is on his way, El.”

  “Jenkins tells me you two have confiscated evidence!” Donaldson shouted at Fulton and Guzman as he approached. “I hope interrogating my officers without me present was an oversight. Give me the Reader’s Digest version, Connor. I’ve already been in touch with the hospital. They’ve stabilized Morton and he has a good chance to pull through.”

  “That’s really good news, Boss. He’ll be able to clear up a lot of this. Luke told me Stennis talked him into going on a meet with Araya on their own. It was a trap. They executed Stennis. The equipment taken from Stennis’s Lexus contains what Morton managed to record before all hell broke loose. Ellie and I were first on scene.”

  Connor gestured at their squad car. “We took automatic weapons fire and returned it. Luckily, the bad guys went down and we didn’t. Believe this, Boss, we had nothing to do with the meet other than arriving head on into the aftermath.”

  Donaldson nodded. “Yeah, I don’t see either you or Ellie backing up a cluster fuck like this. As you say, it’s a good thing Morton will be able to shed some light on this.”

  Donaldson turned on Fulton and Guzman. “What the hell is your problem? Homeland Security writes their own ticket on this investigation for security reasons as far as a supervisory role. It does not involve evidence tampering at a homicide scene.”

  “Bradwick put holes in the heads of Araya and one of his lackeys!” Guzman argued. “If he’d had the sense to secure the scene, we’d have-”

  “Are you stupid?” Donaldson cut her off, gesturing at the patrol car. “Does this look like Araya was starting up a dialogue? Shooting your mouth off like you are right now tends to back up exactly what Ellie thought would happen if things didn’t go your way. Oakland PD did not have Stennis under observation. You two did.”

  “We lost them after last night’s party,” Fulton admitted. “Neither man returned home. I’m thinking they set this up last night.”

  “May I make a suggestion?” Connor asked.

  “You’ve done enough, Bradwick,” Guzman retorted, shaking off Fulton’s grip. “If you and-”

  “Go on, Connor, I’d like to hear it.” Donaldson gestured Guzman to silence with an angry wave.

  “The two MS-13 gangbangers Ellie wounded may be here illegally. Why not threaten them with a ‘Rendition’. If you can convince them the El Salvadoran military is going to question them for us, I’d bet money they’ll give up what they know about a terrorist cell.”

  “I like it,” Donaldson said, seeing Fulton and Guzman exchange surprised glances. “We can hush most of this up by getting the streets cleaned up quick. Can you get some of your people to take custody of the wounded men?”

  “Right away.” Guzman headed for the FBI’s vehicle without another word.

  “Not bad, Bradwick,” Fulton told Connor. “Can we keep the recording equipment? I promise our forensics lab will keep you in the loop, Ben.”

  “See that you do. With Councilman Stennis dead, I’ll be up to my eyeballs in media. If you can find out real quick if it was Araya or his dead sidekick who killed Stennis, we can paint this picture to a mutually beneficial conclusion.”

  “Done deal.” Fulton shook hands with Donaldson and followed his partner.

  Donaldson leaned against the patrol car. He folded his arms over his chest, looking at Connor and Ellie expectantly. “Well?”

  “Ellie covered me while I ran to check on Luke and wounded one of them with the riot-gun. I found Luke with a bad leg wound and applied a tourniquet to keep him from bleeding out. Araya fired at Ellie with an AK47. Luke had told me they were wearing armor so I shot Araya in the head. One of his men tried to fire on us with the AK47 and I popped him. Ellie wounded the last one covering me on my way back over to her. We secured the scene for the cavalry.”

  Donaldson smiled. “You two are going to log so much desk time you’ll think you’re back in high school.”

  Ellie groaned.

  “Shut up, James. For obvious reasons I have to keep you two out of the public eye for the time being. I should put you both on administrative leave but I’ll see what the DA and our courageous mayor want to do.”

  Donaldson straightened away from the car. He shook hands with Connor and then with Ellie. “That was one hell of a gritty gun battle. I’m glad you two are the ones walking away. I’ll have Jenkins drive you back to the precinct. We’re going to need help there today if you two are up to it. I’d understand if either of you want to go home.”

  “Like Opie told me, nothing gets rid of an adrenaline rush like filing reports.”

  Donaldson laughed. “I know Jenkins has your weapons. Do you both have backups? I don’t want either of you going anywhere unarmed.”

  “I have an old Colt .45 auto in my locker,” Connor replied.

  “My Sig’s the only one I have other than a shotgun at home,” Ellie added.

/>   Donaldson pulled out his own weapon, handing it to Ellie. “Take my Glock. I have a backup in the car. Don’t wear your holsters. Keep the weapons and spare clips hidden. The media idiots will be looking for an angle to make martyrs out of murderers. We don’t want them thinking we’re letting you two off without some introspection. It’s the game we have to play. We don’t know how many of these MS-13 gangbangers are around. They won’t be happy. Starting tomorrow, we’ll do a roundup. Let’s see if we can get some more info by widening the number threatened with your ‘Rendition’ scheme, Opie.”

  “I don’t suppose we could help in the roundup… could we?”

  “The only roundup you’ll be doing is in Admit, Ellie. Don’t forget to bring extra gloves.”

  “That’s just… mean,” Ellie grumbled dejectedly.

  Chapter 17

  Hospital Emergency

  Thanks to the New Year’s holiday, calls into the precinct proved manageable with the now vastly depleted staff. With all available officers working the recent firefight crime scene, the two dispatchers filling in for missing personnel were very happy to see Connor and Ellie. Officer Damon Whitlow nodded at the two with a big smile as he continued with a call, while Officer Louise Kennedy had just finished handling one. She rushed around her desk and embraced Ellie.

  “Good Lord, girl! We heard what happened.” Louise, a stout ruddy-faced woman of Ellie’s height patted Ellie’s shoulder comfortingly. “What the hell are you and Opie doing here?”

  “The Boss asked us if we could help out here, Lou. I’m glad. Put me to work so I can get buried in paperwork.”

  “Damn Ellie, you’re not going to give Lou and me a blow by blow?” Damon Whitlow asked as he finished handling the call on his line. Opie never wants to tell us anything. We depend on you for the action reports. Cut a brother a break.”

  “Some other time, Damon,” Ellie replied, taking the sheaf of incident reports Lou handed her.

  “I don’t know who this Opie guy is but you better call him up,” Connor threatened. “If you two want to order someone around named Opie, I’ll go home and kick back for the day.”