Expendable
Chapter 19
by Bridgid
The crack and flash were secondary. What pierced the air right then was a
blood curdling scream and it came from her. It was the first time in his life
that he'd seen fear in her eyes. His baby was scared and he wanted to hold her,
to tell her that nothing could ever harm her when his arms were around her. Bud
didn't even notice the man beside him drop and drain into a pool of crimson.
"Get out of here, now." The order was directed at Thomas from the corner of
Nordstrom's mouth. He had no choice, he went into this unarmed so he raised his
hands and backed out of the line of fire. A quick glance toward Bud got him a
nod and he moved for cover.
"There you go," Nordstrom yelled out to Bud White. "It's you and me. I saved
your life now you owe me. I want Brodie. You give me Brodie and I'll give you
the girl."
Neither man paid attention to the activity around them. Traffic had been stopped
from both direction and officers with shields moved about, tending to the body.
To Nordstrom and White there were only three people there to be concerned with
at the moment.
"Take me instead. Let her go." Bud took control of his voice but his weapon was
still trained on the blonde man.
"I'm not a tall poppy. I'm middle management just like I figure you are. If I
take Brodie it'll spare me some grief."
Bud's eyes narrowed. He was between a rock and a hard place with this guy and
the only plausible end he could see to this situation didn't look pretty. As
long as Lonnie survived it he didn't give a shit. "I can't deliver Brodie." It
took a moment for his eyes to adjust as a cloud passed overhead but the sudden
and brief dim light exposed it and it made his heart beat faster. One tiny red
dot showed for a split second at the top of Lonnie's right breast and Bud knew
exactly what it was. Maybe it was visible only with the shooters glasses in the
bright sun but some entity allowed Bud to see it.
Now he was never what you'd call good at math or geometry. He had no idea how
many steps it would take to block the path of the snipers line of fire. A few
steps forward would put the heat of the snipers fire on his back but it would
also stir the pot between Nordstrom and White further.
"Stop! What are you doing? Don't come any closer." Nordstrom tightened his grip
on Lonnie so much she could barely breathe.
"Trust me," Bud rumbled. "None of us are gonna live through this. A least let
the woman go. She was doing her job. That's all, pal. You already wasted a cop.
You think they're gonna let you waltz outta here?" Bud shook his head.
"What if I do? How will I get out? And if I give up they'll send me up the
river. What are my options?"
A flash off the glasses of another shooter on the roof above him drew Bud's eye
for a split second and when he looked back Nordstrom had eased his grip on
Lonnie. The man was thinking and it least it was progress, hopefully in the
right direction.
Bud moved closer. He knew the man was nervous now and he knew he had him. "You
did the crime now you gotta do the time asshole. Rock and a hard place. I'd say
snitch, live and spend the rest of your life being somebody's cunt. It's that or
we all die from a dose of lead poisoning, pal. You call it here and now but the
clock is ticking. Let's get this over with before lunch."
Nordstrom backed up. His eyes widened and his nostrils flared. Fight or flight,
what was it? How sweet a deal did they give Brodie? Would they match it for him
or was his back really against the wall? He drew a breath, then another. In a
split second decision he shoved Lonnie toward Bud and he threw his arms up in
the air. She was shuffled behind the big cops back as he retrieved his cuffs and
with one hand he snapped them on Nordstrom's wrist spinning him to clasp the
other. The shotgun was tucked under his arm and he brought Nordstrom to his
knees. A throng of officers headed their way but Bud only saw one at the moment,
Lonnie.
"You okay?"
"Yeah," she answered in a small voice.
"Good," Bud replied sharply. "Get her downtown." His order went to a uniformed
cop who was standing nearby. "We've got to move fast. Start talking pal. I want
a location and I want it now or you'll be a favorite with the little gay boys in
the pen. No teeth." He grabbed Nordstrom by the collar and lifted him up. He was
none to gentle when he shoved him in the back of the nearest prowler. He pointed
at a Sergeant to drive and got himself into the shotgun seat. Sitting sideways
with his face pressed against the cage, Bud had every tidbit of info he needed
by the time they had Nordstrom back to HQ. He didn't offer him any sweet deals
or witness protection. He just agreed to let him keep most of his pearly whites.
Fair enough.
w
At twenty two hundred hours sharp, a crack ass tactical team led by one pissed
off Detective by the name of Bud White assembled just outside an apparent
abandoned warehouse along dock twelve. Noted, there were no female members
present on the team.
The building was skirted by six containers that reeked of neglected human stench
and they were set up to house people until they could be delivered to their
final destinations. Inside of the warehouse was a bank of phones where the so
called travel agency was run from.
At twenty two ten hours Bud nodded and the door to the warehouse was caved in.
Flash bangs were thrown to disorient those inside and it worked for about
fifteen seconds but the first shot was fired from behind a desk. That tac team
entered and the big cop stood looming in the smoke as if to say fuck you all,
we're here to bring you down, game over. He ducked a round and fired three back.
He pulled them off until he heard a click. Bud dropped a speed load and slipped
in another. There was coughing and screaming, gunfire and blood splattering for
a full ten minutes until everything went silent.
"Check in," Bud called and the men began to answer through the acrid cloud of
gun powder smoke
"Thirty two, ten four..."
"Eighty one, ten four..."
"Sixty seven, ten four..."
His entire team checked in without a single injury. Success! "Marcus, call
Emergency Services. The rest of you, move out to the containers."
The team went to open the door of the first container. It was padlocked and
chained tighter than a bank vault. It took a crow bar from the entry kit and two
men to pry it open but when they did, what they found made a few grown men shed
some tears. Two dozen or so young children and teens were huddled together and
it appeared they'd been there for weeks. They'd had no bathroom facilities, no
food and very little water. They were frightened to death of the uniformed men
who'd come to rescue them and who could blame them?
Bud stepped around the guys into the container and he nearly wretched from the
smell. The first thing he saw was a small Asian child crouching on the floor. A
girl, maybe three or four years old with a filthy face and tangled hair squatted
in filth, shielding her eyes against the artificial light from outside as she
looked up at the big scary man. She reached a hand up to him and uttered
something in Korean to him.
"Someone call Social Services," he said as he turned and walked out.
w
The hours that passed seemed like days. Lonnie paced back and forth in the squad
room and she managed to break a heel off of those prop shoes she wore. She'd
wiped her mouth on her arm so many times that there was no more lipstick left on
it. Her lips were beginning to chap. She knew it was her nerves that tipped
Nordstrom off too. He wouldn't have noticed the SRT presence if she'd just kept
her cool.
"He'll be okay."
"Thomas, I fucked up."
"You're not perfect."
"I know but..."
"Shut up."
Lonnie cocked a smile. "Bud says that to me all the time."
"He only says it because he loves you."
"I know he does. He has a strange way of showing it though."
"I don't know about that. After what he did today, I'd say he's pretty God
damned head over for you."
"I'd say he's gonna kill me."
"Here, drink this." Thomas handed her a cup of coffee. He pulled the chair out
from the desk and motioned for her to sit down. "You start your paperwork yet?"
"Fuck no."
"Maybe it will take your mind off of the wait. I'll go down to the watch desk,
see what I can find out." Thomas kissed her forehead and gave her a little pat
on the cheek like he always did before he left.
Lonnie shuffled her papers together but there was no way she could possibly
think about starting on it until she knew Bud was back. Dispatch confirmed the
team was safe but that still didn't make her feel at ease. She had to hear his
voice. It was past one AM when she finally did.
Her head was down on the desk and the office was empty. Lonnie thought she was
dreaming at first.
"What are you still doing here?"
She snapped up and turned around.
"Waiting for you. Are you okay, baby?" Lonnie stood and stepped into his arms.
"I'm alright."
"You get em, Bud? You get em all?"
Bud had a lot of things to say to Lonnie, a lot of redundant things about how it
was time she quit this job and all of that shit, but he had a few lost moments
to recover first. He held her tight for the moment he missed out on the street
when she was afraid and it broke his heart, then he held her tight for the
precious little child who needed to be cuddled in the container, the one he
couldn't weep for, then he held her tight for the other child he never had the
chance to cry for. Himself.
"I got em all. I think."