Return to Innocence
Part 4
At 1:45 the next afternoon, Peter walked into the briefing room to find several other officers already gathered. Upon hearing the door open, they all turned in unison. Most stared blankly at the new arrival, but one broke into a broad grin and approached Peter rapidly.
"My God, it's Caine!" Michael Hampton slapped Peter on the back roughly, striking harder than most Sing Wah assassins. Peter had to hold back a coughing sputter. "How the hell are you?"
Peter matched the detective's grin, "Michael, I haven't seen you in. . .what?. . .three years?" Peter made sure to return the slap on Michael's back.
"What are you doing around here? Slummin'?" Michael laughed.
"Nah. Temporary transfer."
"Geez, and the Captain told me we had minimum acceptance standards. Guess that theory went out the window," the friendly man kidded.
"Yeah, looks like they blew it when they let you in the door," Peter returned quickly, receiving a feigned look of hurt from his friend.
"Ouch. That smarts," the man said, covering his heart. He then turned serious. "It really is good to see you, Peter," Michael perched his long body on the top of a near by table. "Can't believe they let you get away from the 101 to be with this charming group."
"My Captain said they were short manpower, so she volunteered me for the job." Peter leaned toward the man, "Think there's a message there?"
"Captain Simms, right? I always heard she was a very wise woman," Michael joked again.
Peter shook his head in defeat. "So how are Kathy and Elizabeth?"
Michael reached into his back pocket, "Kathy's great. She decided to go back to teaching now that Elizabeth is in first grade. I have to show you Elizabeth's school picture."
"Elizabeth is in first grade?" Peter said, shock in his voice.
"Yep. My little baby is in school." Michael thought for a moment, "Man, I feel old."
Peter was silent, "Me too. The last time I saw her she was still in diapers."
Michael held up the picture of a perky blonde girl, missing one front tooth, hair in ponytails.
"She's adorable, Michael," Peter said truthfully.
"Yeah, she is," Michael's grin never faded. "So when are you gonna get one of your own?"
Peter laughed, "Damn, you sound like my Pop. Gotta get the wife first, and that doesn't look promising."
"I stud like you can't find a woman?" Michael laughed, punching Peter in the arm.
"I think it goes back to the minimum acceptance standards thing. All the women I date seem to find that I don't quite meet them." Peter said morosely.
"That's not what I heard," Michael said slyly.
"Why. . .what did you hear?" Peter asked, suddenly serious.
"You mean you don't know?" Michael was very serious, now.
"What. . .what do they say?" Peter pressed his friend.
"Oh man, are you in trouble," Michael shook his head.
"What? Come on Michael, tell me." Peter was standing now.
"They say that. . .you're just too much man for any one woman to handle," Michael said with a straight face.
Peter stared blankly at him. Michael broke out laughing, "Man, some things never change. You're still an easy target." He shook his head. Peter continued to stare dumbfounded at the man. Before he could recover, the door opened again and Captain Barnes entered the room.
"Alright people, let's get down to business," his voice bellowed loudly. . .too loud for the small room. The officers obediently settled in chairs around two tables.
"First of all, I'd like to introduce the new additions to our team," the Captain started. "Kevin Sipes of the 14th, Peter Caine from the 101st, Matt Debeau of the 23rd and Alex Masterson of the 120th." The Captain looked at the others in the room, "I'll let each of you introduce yourselves later. I'm sure we're all going to have an opportunity to get to know each other better over the next few weeks." Barnes picked up a file.
"All right. According to the Narcotics units of the 101st and 120th precincts, we have dealers in town hitting the elementary schools in the area. Not only that, but they also seem to be heavily armed and may be involved in some robberies in those areas. The Commissioner has asked the unit to get involved." The Captain removed three photos from the file. "Tonight, we are going to do a simultaneous strike on the three suspects." He handed the first photo to the group. "This is Tommy Huang. He used to run with the Dragons until he decided to graduate to more elaborate activities than mugging old ladies out walking their dogs." The second picture was circulated, "This is J.J. Benson. He's from out of town. Has a record in Chicago. Was run out of the area by the competition. He decided to make our fair city his new center of operations." The third picture was handed out, "This man is a virtual unknown to us. His name is Theodore Watson. Came to town a couple of months ago, near as we can tell. Has no adult record, but my sources say he was in and out of juvenile detention as a teen. He's been seen around these two men frequently in the past two weeks. We believe they are supplying him with merchandise that he is selling at his legit job at Harry's Fast Stop."
Peter looked at the three pictures in front of him. Tommy Huang he had heard of before. The punk had been quite active in the Dragons. Peter had wanted to nail him for years, but could never get enough evidence to make an arrest. J.J. Benson's face was familiar, but Peter couldn't place him. He was pretty sure he must have seen Benson in one of the local dives at one time or another. Theodore Watson, however, was a total stranger. Peter looked at the eyes of the man in the surveillance photo. There was sadness. . .and fear. Peter could feel these things as if Theodore Watson were standing in front of him.
"Here's the way we'll play it," the Captain continued, breaking Peter's thoughts. I want Team 1 to hit Huang's place. DeBeau and Sipes will join that team. Rosen here is the leader," Barnes' pointed to a slender man in his early forties, who looked like he would be better suited as a professor on a college campus than the leader of a strike team. Gonzalez leads Team 2." The Captain pointed to a large Hispanic man who looked like he could wrestle the whole group to the ground without ever breaking a sweat. "Masterson, I want you on that squad. Team 2 will take down Benson. Team 3 will be lead by me. Caine, you'll join us. We'll deal with Watson."
Michael Hampton leaned over, whispering to his friend. "Great, you're with me. It'll give us a chance to talk over old times."
Peter nodded, looking forward to the opportunity to catch up with Michael, but at the same time feeling a foreboding which made no sense to him. He started to suggest that he should be on the team which was planning on arresting Tommy Huang. Peter knew the former gang member's hideouts, knew of his habits. But then Peter looked in the eyes of Team 3's target and kept silent.
The Captain distributed files to each of the team leaders. "Inside are the search warrants and the known information about each suspect. Review the files. If our surveillance teams confirm that the suspects are located in their residences, we will hit tonight at exactly 2:00 a.m. And when we hit, it will be fast and hard. I don't want to give these assholes any opportunity to ditch their goods or to pull weapons on us." Barnes paused, looking at his crew, "Any questions."
The room was silent. "All right. We will reassemble here at 1:00 this morning. We should know our targets' locations by then. In the meantime, go over the files and then you're excused."
The police officers divided into their three teams and discussed the information contained in the suspect files. Peter read the limited background on Theordore Watson. The man was 24 years old, hailing from St. Louis. He had not graduated from high school due to confidential reasons. . .which usually meant the suspect was incarcerated in a juvenile detention facility. As an adult, Watson had not been in trouble with the law. . .but given his past history, that probably just meant he hadn't been caught.
Surveillance photos showed Watson talking with the other two suspects, Huang and Benson. He had been photographed taking possession of what was presumed to be controlled substances. Since his legitimate job was as a clerk in a convenience store, it was presumed he had decided to supply his clientele with the drugs. His clientele, however, consisted mainly of school children who came to the convenience store after school. Peter kept reading. Apparently two children had been found with cocaine in their possession. When asked where it was obtained, each had stated that a man at the convenience store had sold it to them. The cops had put one and one together, coming up with two and a reason to arrest the man and put him behind bars.
Peter shook his head. Another life that ended up in the gutter. Michael, who was reading over his shoulder, grumbled, "If a jerk like that ever came near my daughter I'd tear his throat out."
Peter nodded, feeling Michael's fatherly fear. He looked down at the surveillance photo for the umpteenth time. Something was still wrong.
Teddy left the convenience store. It was 4:15 in the afternoon, leaving him enough time to grab a quick beer at Freds and make it home before dark. He did not want to run into Benson and Huang again today. The only way he could insure against that was to make sure he saw them before they saw him. . .avoidance. If he was out after dark he wouldn't be able to detect their approach. Better to go home in the daylight.
He made it to Fred's and quickly downed a beer, looking out a nearby window, trying to detect any trace of the two. As soon as the last drop of the beer was completed, Teddy threw a couple of bills down on the table and left the bar. Fred watched the man leave without ever saying a word. He took the money, shook his head and went back to his business.
Teddy had walked half the distance to his home without having seen his tormentors. He thought he was home free. Then a beefy hand grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. Teddy couldn't help the immediate fear which came to the surface, "Don't!" he gasped.
Benson laughed, "Teddy, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost, buddy.
"Don't touch me," he sputtered.
Benson laughed again, Tommy Huang also joining in, "Man, you need to calm down."
"I gotta. . .I gotta go," Teddy turned to walk away, but Benson's hand stopped him again.
"Teddy, we need to talk," Benson said to the smaller man.
"There's nothing to talk about, J.J.," Teddy tried to keep his voice strong, but could feel his vocal cords shaking.
Tommy Huang did not look to be in a good humor with Teddy's comments, "Don't play stupid, Teddy. You know what we need to talk about. You told us you'd have an answer for us."
Teddy shook his head back and forth, "I never said nothin'. You two did all the talkin'."
Benson put his arm around the man, "Now Teddy, you said you'd give serious consideration to our business arrangement. So what's the answer."
Teddy pushed himself away from the larger man, "I didn't say shit. You said it. I told you I didn't want to be involved."
"What Teddy? You callin' me a liar?" Benson looked shocked.
Tommy Huang nodded his head, "That's exactly what he's callin' you J.J."
Benson took a step to advance towards the smaller man, a fierce look in his eyes, "Nobody calls me a liar, man."
Teddy stepped back, shaking his head in denial. "I didn't. .I didn't call you that." Benson kept advancing. Teddy fumbled in his jacket pocket and awkwardly pulled out his revolver, aiming it at the two men.
Benson's face turned from threat to surprise, "Teddy? What are you doing with that thing?"
"Just stay away from me!" he yelled at the two men as he backed away.
"But Teddy," Tommy spoke up, hand held innocently away from his side, "This ain't necessary. . .we just wanna talk."
"I don't want to talk to you," the words leaving his mouth were short and full of anger. "I just want you to leave me alone."
Teddy continued to back away from the two. When he was a safe distance away, he turned and ran as fast as he could back to the safety of his apartment. Once inside, he closed and bolted the door, vowing to not leave the confines of his voluntary prison until morning.
End Part 4
To Part 5