HTML FINAL WCCW 1.4 by Thornton Brian

Author:Thornton, Brian [Thornton, Brian]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: BSTSLLR.COM
Published: 2011-10-15T19:00:00+00:00

OFFICER DOWN

by Simon Wood

San Francisco, California

“How do you feel?” the department shrink asked.

How do you think? Webber thought. He'd had his own department issued weapon ripped off him by the perp he'd been chasing and had been shot twice in the chest with it. They'd been kill shots—he’d seen the intent in the son of a bitch’s eyes. Only his vest had saved him.

“Sore,” Webber replied.

It was two days after the incident. The hospital had discharged him the same day. Oh, the wonders of modern technology. Even a near death experience warranted only a couple of hours of hospital time. He couldn’t complain. The vest had turned the double tap into a pair of handprint-sized bruises. The Vicodin did a decent job of dulling the pain, but left him fuzzy headed, so he stopped taking them.

“Besides sore?”

“Sore with myself.”

The shrink, a thickset woman around fifty, liked that reply. She smiled, exposing neat, gleaming teeth. Webber wondered if she’d had them bleached to cover up her smoking habit. The stink of cigarettes clung to the cramped office’s interior. “Explain?”

“The son of a bitch dented my pride as well as my breastplate.”

The shrink’s smile widened into a grin.

“I have five years on the job and I got my ass handed to me by some street punk like I was in my rookie year. It cost me my weapon and nearly my life.”

“Okay, it was a mistake on your part. You survived. You’ll learn from this. You can move on.”

“Yeah, but--”

“No ‘buts’. The ‘but’ you’re inserting into this situation is of your own devising. The criminal investigation underway is focused on your attacker. No blame has been attached to you. Your colleagues are hard at work tracking down this person. All you have to do is heal and get back out there.”

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it all sounded nice and reasonable, but the harsh reality of the situation was that there was a black mark against his name. He’d lost his weapon to a perp. He’d put a gun on the street and not taken one off. It was hardly the image of protect and serve. He tried not to imagine his gun being traced back to a killing. He’d feel no different than if he’d pulled the trigger himself.

“This situation troubles you, doesn’t it?” she asked.

“Of course it does. What kind of cop would I be if it didn’t?”

“A poor one.”

“Now you’re getting it.”

“Understandably, you’re upset by this encounter, but don’t let it take over. Accept it and move on. You’re bruised physically and mentally, but bruises fade.” She smiled and checked her watch. “Our time is up. Can you drop by the same time tomorrow?”

* * *

Webber crossed the city to hook up with Murphy, his old training officer, at Murphy’s favorite haunt, Tara Hills Irish pub. Murphy had a Guinness waiting for him when he arrived. Webber had built a tolerance for the stuff, he had to as one of Murphy’s ex-rookies, but he’d never learned to love the black beer. He took his place at the bar.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.