Brooklyn Bounce

by Andrew G. Nelson

  Brooklyn Bounce

  An Alex Taylor Novel

  ANDREW G. NELSON

  Edition Notice

  Brooklyn Bounce

  Copyright © 2017 by Andrew G. Nelson

  All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual events, locales, businesses, products, establishments, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Cover Design Copyright © 2017 by Huntzman Enterprises

  First E-Book Edition: December 2017

  ISBN-10: 0998756229

  ISBN-13: 978-0-9987562-2-6

  Published by Huntzman Enterprises

  Huntzman Enterprises

  Other books by Andrew G. Nelson

  The James Maguire Series

  PERFECT PAWN

  QUEEN’S GAMBIT

  BISHOP’S GATE

  KNIGHT FALL

  The Alex Taylor Series

  SMALL TOWN SECRETS

  LITTLE BOY LOST

  BROOKLYN BOUNCE

  Cold Case Series (Novella)

  THE KATHERINE WHITE MURDER

  Non-Fiction

  UNCOMMON VALOR –

  Insignia of the NYPD Emergency Service Unit

  UNCOMMON VALOR II –

  Challenge Coins of the NYPD Emergency Service Unit

  DEDICATION

  Those of you familiar with my books know that over the years my dedications have focused on recognizing the impact of both God and my wife, Nancy, without whom none of these books would have ever reached fruition. As I sit here writing this today it remains truer than ever.

  The good Lord provided me the ability to write, but he also gave me a wife who would encourage it. Nothing you read would have been possible without them and I will never cease crediting them or singing their praises.

  Today I would also like to thank you, the reader, for being with me on this incredible journey. Any artist, be they an actor, painter, or author, longs to connect with their audience. Over the years I have had the opportunity to speak with many of you and I cherish each and every one of those moments; especially when you discuss the characters with such passion. It is that feedback that allows me to know I have created something special. I sincerely thank you for your continued support. God bless you all.

  Romans 8:28

  No one can appreciate just how tough life can be in Brooklyn unless you have worked those streets. When crime occurs in other parts of the city, folks gather around to gawk at the scene, but when it happens in Brooklyn North, folks look at what they can pick up. It’s not uncommon for a cop to chase a perp only to have them toss their shit along the way so that they don’t get caught with contraband or a weapon. If you’re not quick enough it takes a ‘Brooklyn Bounce,’ meaning it never hits the ground twice. Out here, someone is always nearby looking to scoop that shit up. – Brooklyn North Cop

  CHAPTER ONE

  Alex took a drag on her cigarette, as she stared out into the blackness of the ocean. Off in the distance she could hear the thunderous roar of the surf crashing violently against the shoreline. As bizarre as it might sound, there was actually something very calming about it.

  A bone-chilling breeze was blowing in off the water, this late December night, but the alcohol had numbed her mind, if not her body, to its effect. Inside her head, a million thoughts swirled around, as she struggled with the question that had just been posed to her. In theory, it was any easy question to answer, but the reality was that it was not so easy to admit.

  Even in her inebriated state she could still hear a faint voice that kept admonishing her, Actions, and words, have consequences.

  It was a statement she had heard repeated countless times by her police academy, social sciences instructor, Police Officer Angela Cartwright. In fact, right before they had graduated, her class had tee shirts made up with the saying along with a caricature of Cartwright. At the time they had all had a good laugh, but tonight she was beginning to fully understand what her instructor had meant.

  In the darkness of her bedroom, when no one else was around, it was easy to say the words, but she wasn’t alone now and the choice was not so cut and dry.

  How long have I kept the secret locked away? she wondered.

  In truth, she couldn’t recall a time when she hadn’t felt this way about him, but the fear of rejection was strong enough to suppress any desire to make her feelings known.

  And where exactly has that gotten you?

  It was a legitimate question and one she had continuously struggled with. But the feelings she had for him were so strong, that the idea of being rejected was simply terrifying. At least they were up until now.

  Now she simply had nothing left to lose.

  “You, James,” Alex finally blurted out. “I want you.”

  “What?” Maguire replied, a mix of shock and confusion on his face.

  Alex walked over, coming to a stop in front of him, then reached up, taking his face in her hands, and kissed him. Then she stepped back and looked at him.

  “You wanted the truth,” she said. “Now you have it.”

  “I don’t understand, Alex,” he replied.

  “What’s there not to understand, James, I love you,” she said.

  “Alex?”

  Finally letting go of the secret, which she had kept buried deep inside her for so many years, was cathartic.

  “Alex?”

  Suddenly, the images quickly faded from her memory, like the shifting sands of the beach she had been standing on, as she was pulled away from her memories and thrust back into the present moment.

  Alex looked up at Dr. Peter Bates, her on-again / off-again boyfriend, who was sitting across from her in one of the booths that filled the interior of Linda Mae’s Dinner. He had a genuinely concerned look on his face.

  “Huh?” she replied, trying to quickly snap out of the memory.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah, sorry, I’m fine, Peter. I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “You really want to know?” Alex asked.

  “I do.”

  “Well, let’s see, the board is on my ass because we have been experiencing a surge in petty crime recently. They seem to be incapable of accepting the fact that, with Joe Anderson’s retirement, we need to fill the vacancy on the evening shift as a deterrent.”

  “What do they want you to do?”

  “Move someone from day shift to cover the slot. They’re looking at it as a way to save money so that they can fund more of their bone-headed community enrichment programs. Yet they’ll be all over my ass when we don’t have enough cars available during the day tour.”

  “That’s just asinine.”

  “No argument here,” Alex replied. “They don’t want to believe that being down a man has had an overall effect on the crime, yet somehow it’s my fault that the fine young citizens of this community don’t seem to respect other people’s property. So now I have to figure out how to come up with a plan to fund an officer without it coming out of my already stretched-to-thin budget.”

  “Can you?” Peter asked, as he stabbed the pie in front of him with his fork.

  “Realistically, no,” she replied. “On top of that, I was also notified by the state that they are having a major fishing tournament down in Lake Winnipesaukee the same week as the annual regatta, so they won’t be able to provide any extra coverage on the lake. I tried to float the idea of a summ
er auxiliary program to the board, but they shot that down because of supposed insurance concerns.”

  “So what are you going to do?” Peter asked.

  Alex frowned and shrugged her shoulders.

  “I don’t know,” she replied, as she picked up her cup of coffee and took a sip, “and that’s what I have been thinking about. Happy you asked?”

  Technically, it wasn’t a lie. She had been thinking about it before, but just neglected to include the rest of her thoughts.

  “I can’t imagine what it must be like dealing with that kind of bureaucracy.”

  “There’s a part of me that would like to think I’m just being paranoid and that there is some nefarious plot underway to get rid of me; but another part of me thinks they really are just as dumb as a box of rocks and I think that scares me even more.”

  “Surely you must have some friends on the board that can help you?” Peter asked. “I mean, I know Sheldon Abbott wields a lot of power, but he doesn’t have everyone in his pocket; or does he?”

  “No,” Alex replied, “not everyone. Rebecca Norwood and Troy Wilson are pretty solid, but they are the minority board members. The rest just go along with whatever Sheldon wants them to do.”

  “What if you could change the make-up of the board?”

  “I’m not sure if I could ever make that happen,” she replied. “I don’t care how long I live here the fact is I will always be viewed as an outsider; besides which, I’m not really into playing the whole political game. I think it’s just a bullshit power trip some folks get off on.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Peter replied. “You may not realize it, but not everyone is happy with the way things are run around here. Even some of the insiders think that maybe it’s time for some new blood in City Hall.”

  “And how exactly do you propose making those kinds of changes?” Alex asked. “My understanding is that Norwood and Wilson are only there because Sheldon allowed them to run unopposed. It was his concession to the other party to at least appear to be a representative board.”

  “That’s true enough,” Peter replied, “but Sheldon might have misplayed his hand this time.”

  “How so?”

  “The way the Penobscot charter works is that the board is divided into two groups of three; each of which is elected for three year terms. For continuity of government, one group appears on the election rolls in odd numbered years and the other in the proceeding even numbered year. Norwood and Wilson were just elected last year, meaning this year all three members who are up for re-election are from Sheldon’s party.”

  “So?”

  “So what if one or even two of them could be knocked off?”

  “Never happen,” Alex replied, taking a sip of coffee. “In order to get their two people onto the board, the party bosses had to promise not to run anyone in this election.”

  “What happens if they aren’t the ones running them?”

  Alex eyed Peter suspiciously. Something untoward was afoot and it didn’t fit him; which actually intrigued her. “Explain yourself.”

  “Folks are angry at the way things get done or don’t get done around here,” he replied. “Everyone is talking about national politics, but it starts locally. I hear it every day at my practice; even among the staff and patients over at the hospital. They think that their voice doesn’t matter any longer. That only the party’s get to decide who does or doesn’t get elected.”

  “But the reality is that they do,” Alex replied.

  “Yes and people are fed up with this political nepotism.”

  “Whether they like it or not, the folks with the money get to make the rules.”

  “But what if…..”

  “What if? What if is a rhetorical question asked by people when their hearts are in the right place, but they don’t have a realistic plan to change anything.”

  “Suppose someone had a plan? Not a thought, not an idea, but an actual plan to change things.”

  “Then I would love to hear it.”

  “What if someone else were to run against them this election cycle?” he asked. “It could change the political make-up of the board.

  “What? Like a third party candidate?” Alex said with a laugh.

  “Why do you laugh?”

  “Because we all know how well that works out. Peter, third party candidates usually mean well, but they generally get pummeled in elections. They just don’t have the money the other parties have to get their message across.”

  “Ah, but maybe you’re wrong about that,” he said with a smirk. “What if there was someone willing to financially back a candidate?”

  “Are you telling me that you’re getting into the king-maker business?”

  “Me?” Peter asked with a quizzical look. “Heavens, no, maybe if I was a doctor in Manhattan or Los Angeles I would have the money for that, but not up here in Penobscot.”

  “So who is it?”

  Peter glanced around the diner conspiratorial. Most of the dinner crowd had already left and the stragglers who remained seemed to be engaged in their own conversations.

  When he was sure no one was eavesdropping on their conversation he leaned forward and, in a hushed tone, asked, “Have you ever heard of Conrad Kreutzmann?”

  Alex’s eyes went wide with surprise, “Sheldon’s father-in-law?”

  “I see you have,” Peter replied.

  “I thought he was the money man behind Sheldon’s party.”

  “He is, but his loyalties are divided. He still holds a grudge over what happened with the industrial park deal.”

  “You’re telling me that he’s willing to change his allegiance now?” Alex asked.

  “No, at least not outwardly, but he doesn’t have to. I think he saw the handwriting on the wall years ago, when most of us were still clueless, and he set-up up a political action committee through some associates. Then he just waited for the right timing.”

  “And what pour schmuck did they talk into putting their head on the chopping block?” Alex asked.

  Peter reached down and silently picked up his coffee mug; letting the question hang in the air unanswered. It only took a moment before a huge grin began to appear on Alex’s face.

  “Are you shitting me? You’re running for office?”

  “Why not?” Peter said defensively. “I’m not an outsider. People here know me and they trust me. I’ve never been politically active with one party or the other, so being an independent won’t seem strange.”

  “Yeah, yeah, fine, whatever,” Alex said, waving her hand dismissively. “If you somehow managed to get elected, you’d still be a minority voice. Even if you sided with Norwood and Wilson, that would still only be three to three and Sheldon would be the tie breaker.”

  “I didn’t say I was the only one running.”

  “One person running as an independent wouldn’t phase Sheldon, but two people would cause him to take notice that something was awry. He’d bring down the full weight and fury of the party to crush that type of political rebellion.”

  “What if only one person ran as an independent and the other ran with the parties blessing.”

  “They already agreed to not run a candidate….”

  “Not that party,” he replied.

  Alex leaned back in the booth, eying him curiously.

  Now it was Peter’s turn to return the grin.

  “Who?” Alex finally asked.

  “Mildred Parker.”

  “Oh for the love of God….”

  “No, wait, hear me out,” he pleaded. “There is no one more beloved in this town then Mildred. If she runs she’s pretty much a shoo-in. Sheldon might not like it, but even he won’t oppose the wife of his late friend and former police Chief. By the time Sheldon figures out what happened it’s a four-to-two ballgame and he’ll be shit out of luck.”

  Alex’s eyes narrowed darkly and a frown formed on her face, as she stared at Peter.

  “You know the two of you are playing a ve
ry dangerous game,” she cautioned. “Conrad Kreutzmann is wealthy and he can withstand any potential blowback, but you and Mildred won’t. Sheldon doesn’t play nice with folks who cross him.”

  “So because he’s ruthless we shouldn’t try to change things? Just accept that this is all just business-as-usual and meekly submit to it?”

  “No, that’s not what I meant,” Alex replied, “but you need to be realistic and understand the risks, especially if you don’t win.”

  “I imagine that was what the Founding Fathers meant when they said, ‘We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.’”

  “You do realize that at some point he will put two and two together, knowing how close I am to both of you. He’ll assume that I am either directly involved or at least complicit in your schemes.”

  “Does that worry you?” Peter asked with genuine concern.

  He had to admit that he hadn’t considered how his relationship with Alex would be affected by his decision to run for office.

  “Oh please,” Alex said dismissively. “The day folks like Sheldon Abbot start worrying me is the day I hang up my gun belt and take up cross-stitching inspirational verses.”

  “Oh really? I’m almost afraid to ask, but what would be your first message?” Peter asked, as he picked up his coffee cup.

  Alex thought about the question for a moment.

  “Probably something along the lines of, ‘Dear life, could you at least try using lubricant?’”

  The impromptu reply caught Peter in mid swallow and he began choking on the liquid.

  Alex waited patiently, as he struggled to regain his composure.

  “You really should be more careful,” she said dryly, as the coughing fit subsided. “I never got the hang of that whole Heimlich maneuver thingy.”