Injustice

by K A Kron

  “There is a house fire at 4024 Meade Street in Highlands—”

  The dispatcher cut me off mid-sentence with, “Yes, ma’am, we have that report. Thank you.”

  With a click, she was gone. I stared at the phone in disbelief. The Saturday morning calm had clearly evaporated for the Denver Police Department.

  What the hell, I thought, again dialing the phone. Who has to call 911 twice? I made a mental note to talk to Ali about DPD’s customer service.

  “911 dispatch. What is your emergency?”

  I tried another approach, even though I could tell it was a different dispatcher. “I have an emergency with my neighbor. She has multiple assault rifles and drugs in her house, and I wanted—”

  Again I was interrupted. “Okay, ma’am, give me her name and address, and I will send a detective out later.”

  Later? Later for multiple assault rifles? Later was definitely not going to work. As the crowd continued to grow, I could see Chris standing on her sidewalk next to a firefighter while smoke poured from the house.

  “Listen, the house is on fire right now, and there are firefighters in danger. The homeowner is high on cocaine and will not hesitate to use the guns. You need to send the cops to the house right now!”

  Finally, progress. “What is the address, please?”

  “4024 Meade Street in Highlands. And please listen—there’s more.” I continued to speak with the dispatcher, giving her the exact location of the weapons, drugs, and money.

  “I am sending officers right now. What is your name, please?”

  I hung up the phone.

  Within minutes, DPD had five cars at the scene, and I was relieved to see that the fire had been extinguished, as evidenced by the firefighters milling around the yard. I waited patiently while the Denver officers spoke first to the firefighters and then to Chris. With a shake of her head and a look of confusion, she led the officers through the front door.

  A half hour went by before Chris came out again, this time in handcuffs. I smiled as Jordan’s mother and some of the other neighbors almost cheered as Chris was placed in the back of a police car. Jordan walked toward the house and stopped short when he saw me sitting in the car. I nodded to him and pulled away from the curb, being careful not to hit the fire truck.

  On the way home, I stopped by Charlie’s warehouse and asked him to write two checks, in exchange for the drug money, less his ten percent handling fee. As Charlie sat at his desk writing the checks, I wrote a note to Jordan Hernandez thanking him for his generous donations to the Cat Care Society and the Boys and Girls Club of North Denver.

  Chapter 30

  A knock at the door startled me. I was in need of either sleep or liquid energy, but definitely not in the mood for company. That is, until I opened the door. In front of me stood Ali, in full uniform and with a determined look on her face.

  “Come in.” I made a sweeping gesture as she entered the messy room.

  My initial excitement at seeing her was overshadowed by fear, as I wondered if I’d put everything out of sight. A quick look around as beads of sweat formed along my body, and I realized that there were drugs sitting on the kitchen counter, albeit in a bag, but they were still out in the open. I hadn’t figured out the best place to put them at this point. My heart rate rose. A police officer wandering around my space wasn’t something I was prepared to handle right now. I wondered if Ali would be taking me to jail in the next few minutes and how long Charlie would wait before posting my bail.

  “Coffee?” I gave her what I hoped to be a natural smile while trying not to look like I was rushing to the kitchen. Ali declined, starting to follow me and then deciding at the last minute to take a seat. I scooped everything up and tossed the lot of them into the dishwasher, closing it tight. As I returned to the living room, I sat down beside her, now fully aware that my bag, containing some grenades and cash, wasn’t zipped and the coffee table had the checks Charlie had just written lying in plain sight. It was just too early for this! I picked up a magazine and placed it on top of the checks and placed my coffee cup in the middle of it, like a brick, keeping my secrets safely out of sight. Grenades, I thought. There is a fucking cop sitting on my couch, and I have grenades sticking out of my gym bag.

  “So, hey. You look different in your uniform.” I was playing the role of Master of the Obvious, but I hoped that my idiot prattling would keep her distracted. I ran my hand across her leg, feeling her muscles tense under the uniform pants. Ali smiled and leaned close, running her lips across my neck. Had I not been imagining a life in the slammer, I would have enjoyed it.

  “Yes, I had a late call, so I didn’t bother changing. I just decided to bail straight from the station and swing by to see if you were home. I’m glad I caught you.”

  “I had an early night.” I pulled back and yawned. “Just hung out here and watched TV and caught up on some homework.” I stretched to readjust my position on the couch, pushing the bag out of sight with my foot as I leaned back toward Ali.

  “How’s your night?” I asked, brushing a wisp of dark hair off her forehead.

  Ali smiled, and I felt my heart flip over. “It was awesome. I’m working the graveyard shift, and a lot of good stuff happens. I had a good assault call, intermixed with the bullshit alarms and dispute runs. I knocked a guy on his ass outside a bar last night, so I feel a little better about my officer safety skills since Tommy sneaked up on me at the school.”

  “I was meaning to ask you about that. How long have you been a police officer?”

  “Five years. I work in District 6, which is the busiest sector in Denver. I love it. I knew even when I was little that I wanted to be a cop.” Ali’s eyes gleamed, and I recognized the look I had seen so many times in others when I was overseas. I smiled, knowing I had found another adrenaline junkie.

  Ali didn’t look like she had noticed any of my rather stressful housekeeping tasks or my attempt at conversation in the last few minutes. She obviously had something else on her mind. “Riley, what are you up to for the rest of the weekend?”

  Not what I was expecting, but I recovered. “Just the usual. Studying and a little laundry and sleep. Why?”

  Her tone was playful, but left little room for argument. “Pack a bag, and let’s go.”

  I had no clue where it was coming from, but decided to play along. “And school books?”

  Her eyes rolled and I was pleased with her assertiveness. “Got it. Pack anything in particular?

  The look was one I couldn’t quite describe. “You won’t need much.”

  I paced around my bedroom, out of Ali’s view, not sure what to do. I had shit to do, but I couldn’t ignore the invite. I had to face it, I wanted to go with her, but I needed to stay focused. In the end, logic lost out to lust. I grabbed a few things, and we headed downstairs, my curiosity definitely piqued.

  A few short miles away we entered through a gate, the grounds hidden from public view behind a wall. At first, I was taken back by what Ali had concealed, and then a little pissed when I realized she was taking me to meet the fathers when I had told her that I wasn’t at that point. I’m glad I didn’t overreact and ruin the mood. “So, this is where you grew up?”

  Ali shrugged. “We’ve lived here for a few years.”

  I wasn’t sure quite what to say. “And they know we’re coming?”

  She put her hand on my knee, sending electricity through me. “Not a clue.”

  The whole place was high end. Ali gave me a tour, and in most of the rooms I noticed some kind of call boxes on the walls. “What are these?”

  Ali glanced at the one in the room we were standing in. “Intercom. It makes it easier to talk to people in other parts of the house.”

  I looked at the thing, wanting to push the button, but remembered that the two dads were in the house someplace. I wondered where, for the briefest moment. “I think you had to put them in just to find your way back out of the complex.”

  I realized that she had taken a
big risk bringing me here. Each room we entered was even more interesting than the previous one. There was a complete gym and an indoor pool. “A pool? An indoor pool?” I bent over and put my hand in the water. It was warm, really warm.

  As I was bent over the water, I heard the click of claws behind me and turned just in time to keep a pair of Boxers from catapulting me into the pool. I laughed as their wet kisses covered my face and I tried to calm them. The pair wiggled with excitement.

  Ali handled the introductions. “Riley, please meet Milo and Bella. They’re twins and my fathers’ most prized possessions. Milo, Bella, meet Riley. She’s our friend.”

  At the sound of Ali’s voice, both Boxers sat and offered me their paws in a doggy handshake. I shook both paws and wrapped my arms around the pair.

  “You’re very cute,” I said, receiving more kisses for my comments.

  Ali splashed some water on me. I didn’t care that my clothes were soaked. The air was warm, so I wasn’t cold. We both sank to the apron surrounding the pool, now sitting in the puddles the splashing had created. I was transfixed and couldn’t take my eyes off her. She leaned over, and I can’t tell you how long we kissed. Neither of us was aware of the time passing, nor did we care. She pulled off my still-soggy shirt, as well as her own. We both slid into the pool, now without clothes. For the briefest moment I looked around, in a panic. “What about your dads?”

  “They’re away. I’m house-sitting.”

  It was the best news I’d ever heard, for a minute. “What about staff?”

  Ali pressed herself against me as we bobbed in the water. She started grinning as her hands explored me under the water. “We don’t have staff, only a housekeeper who comes once a week.”

  I looked at the Boxers, who were watching us with interest from the side of the pool.

  “What about them?” I asked, smiling at their cocked heads.

  “They’re too young to see this,” said Ali, shooing the dogs from the room.

  I looked at her seriously. “So, who’s going to make dinner then?”

  She lowered her voice. “First you’re going to have to work up an appetite.”

  Chapter 31

  Monday morning I headed out for a bike ride, thinking about the wonderful weekend and only slightly unnerved that I hadn’t done enough work for school. The stress was offset by the fact that I no longer had a job, so I technically had much more free time overall. Maybe not working was a good thing, except for the not getting paid part.

  As I pedaled, my mind cleared, and I could almost swear that I was still slightly waterlogged. I laughed out loud, the passersby probably thinking I was a little off. A little off? Tommy! In my preoccupation with Ali, I had almost forgotten about him. I was already headed in that direction, so I decided to make an extended loop and see if Tommy was home. My timing was good; I saw his Jeep up ahead, just as it was pulling away from the curb. Tommy was in his uniform, and I could only assume that he was heading to work. I wavered, only slightly, and entered his building from the back door. A simple bobby pin gained me entrance into his space, and I found it much the same as I had the first time. I refilled his pills with something even stronger before I turned my attention to his camera bag, seeing numerous memory cards inside. I looked at some of photos on the card in the camera and found that they were recent ones of Ali and me, and even included shots of us driving to her fathers’ house. “Christ!”

  I left the apartment. The traffic was flowing, so I made good time. As I neared my own neighborhood, by the curb I saw something even more disturbing, if that was possible. It was Tommy’s Jeep on the corner. Checking my watch, I realized that it was still early, and he had time to get to work. I should have noticed before that he was leaving too early. I could see that he was in the Jeep as I approached from the right. I pretended not to notice him as I headed to my own front door. “Fucking little bastard!” I dialed the phone, sweat dripping from every part of me.

  An hour later, freshly showered, I was standing with Charlie in front of his very exclusive selection of toys.

  “Do you want some help?”

  I looked over my options for a minute or two. “Yes, I think I do.” I explained the situation, and he grabbed a few things off the shelf. On the way, Charlie, dressed in the appropriate brown uniform, stopped at the UPS parking lot and verified that Tommy was indeed at work, which gave us some breathing room. I waited in the car while Charlie put a tracking device on the Jeep so Tommy couldn’t sneak up on anyone.

  Charlie and I both donned cable company employee uniforms from his stash. On the ride to Tommy’s apartment, Charlie offered to just take him out, but I wanted to gather more information before making any brash moves. We worked as quickly as we could, installing a GPS in Tommy’s camera, and we copied all the memory cards. I checked to make sure that the little metal boxes were still in place. Charlie glanced at me; then his eyes widened. “Please tell me that those are what I think they are.”

  I nodded. “They are.”

  Charlie’s eyes lit up. “Seriously, Riley? You know what happened last time you tried this. I hope you’ve perfected it; otherwise it’s a waste of some good gadgets. Those electromagnetic field emitters have probably already given him headaches and nightmares from interrupting his sleep. You know there’s a good chance he’ll become suicidal.”

  I wasn’t sure exactly how to respond, but it was Charlie, after all. “Yes, my work was never thoroughly proven. The three-pronged approach, right? Driving a sane person to suicide using drugs and sleep deprivation.”

  Charlie smiled. “You want this guy to kill himself?”

  I didn’t quite know the answer. “I don’t know yet. I can always pull the plug if he gets close.”

  “Technically.”

  Back at my apartment, Charlie and I set up the software on my laptop so that the trackers could be accessed, showing a split screen. I wasn’t sure exactly how I would explain it to Ali if she noticed it, but no situation is ideal, now is it?

  For a moment, thinking that we were done, Charlie and I looked at one another. We were only partway through the project. We decided to bug my place, including cameras covering the street outside and the front entrance. Once done, we set up an additional laptop, and checked to make sure everything was working well. Charlie brought an extra monitor that ran off the second laptop. I’d have to find a way to explain them. Charlie was pulling up the different quadrants. “What about the girlfriend?”

  It was getting complicated, but we had to do it right, or the consequences could be deadly. I thought maybe I should tell him that she was a cop. Or maybe later. “Can you take care of it?”

  Charlie was as charming as ever. “Honey, I can do it while you’re off getting educated, but you’ll have to do the phone.” He smiled. “You do know she’s a cop, right? Makes things so much more interesting, don’t you think?”

  I did think it was interesting. “I figured that out, but it doesn’t really change things much.”

  Charlie was a careful, well-informed kind of guy. I should have known that he would not be left out in the cold. “I can start doing a little watching from time to time around his place and hers. Would that work?”

  It would work, and I said so. I couldn’t imagine Ali finding out about this. It was beyond needing an explanation if that happened. I would be sent to prison for a long time. Unless, of course, she decided to just shoot me instead.

  Our work done, Charlie took off, and I turned to my books. It was hard to concentrate, but I had to force myself.

  Chapter 32

  Back in class, it seemed like the law school world was so far away. Much of it was memorizing facts, as opposed to the here and now with real problems. So I started thinking about Tommy and the others I’d already come across. Everything I had done to date, and especially everything I would do in the future, would be to carefully build a case. One thing I had learned was that if you think you can win a case, find five other ways to win, just in case something fall
s through. I knew that I couldn’t actually legally use the footage I was gathering on Tommy, but I could use the information I gained from it. I knew I had to be patient.

  I waited through the first two breaks until Ali left her phone behind. I plucked it out of her bag and headed to the bathroom right behind her. Inside the stall, with her in the next one over, I pulled the back off the phone and installed the chip. Dropping it in the toilet would probably not be a good thing, so I held onto it tightly instead of opting to put it into my pocket until I stood up and cleared the water obstacle. As we washed our hands, Ali looked over at me. “You look stressed. Maybe you need a little more relaxing.”

  I coughed as I shut the water off. She leaned over and kissed me, and as she did, I slipped her phone into her pocket, embracing her tightly. “I feel more relaxed already, but I’m open to suggestions.”

  Ali grinned, an evil grin, and my heart raced as we returned to the last class of the evening. It was a wonder I could get anything done when I was around her, but I certainly wasn’t complaining.

  On the way home, I called Charlie and asked about his progress.

  “Mission accomplished,” he said, without so much as a greeting.

  “I’ve noticed that it’s the little civilities that start to go first in a doomed friendship,” I replied. “How are you? How was your day? Are you getting enough fruits and vegetables in your diet?”

  “My day went well,” he replied with exaggerated patience. “I had a nice breakfast downtown, got in a workout, and did some dirty work for my good friend Riley, who never seems to appreciate me.”

  I rolled my eyes. “So dramatic.”

  I could hear another male voice in the background. “And now, I am going to go do another kind of dirty work,” Charlie said with a laugh and disconnected.

  Chapter 33

  After yet another hellish week of law school, I was ready for a beer. Ali and I had seen each other only sporadically, and I was hoping to spend some time with her over the weekend. But the truth was I missed the bar. Although the nights were long, the physical act of moving for eight hours at a time, combined with the ever-entertaining crowd, made it worthwhile.