January Gets Her Gunn

Chapter 5-3

He reached into his back pocket and took out a card case. Extracting several cards, he handed them to January.

“My wife and I have just established our practice in Riverton. We’re not in the phone book yet, and it’s a little slow. Give one of those cards to your dispatchers and tell them we’ll take emergency calls like this. In fact, Carey is out helping a mare foal. That’s why I came. She left about a half-hour before Bobby came and I had just gone back to sleep.” John chuckled. “This is Carey’s week to take night calls, so now she owes me one.”

While they had been talking, Bobby had settled the pup on a small board and gently strapped it down. He stood there cradling the board against his chest.

January felt weak with a mixture of anguish and relief. “I want to thank you both. I guess I better get back to work.” She offered her hand to the doctor and then to Bobby, who blushed.

January hurried up the ramp, finding all the vehicles marked and mostly empty of occupants. Manley and Alvarez stood near the top of the ramp watching firefighters sawing into a final crushed vehicle. “Get the dog taken care of?” Manley enquired as she approached.

“Yes, a vet actually came out and took it. He said he didn’t think there was much hope but he’d try. A man named Bobby got him for me.”

“Yeah, Bobby is always helping. He isn’t too swift, but his heart’s as big as all outdoors. He always shows up at big tragedies and runs errands and stuff. He stays out of the way, so we tolerate him and let him do things.”

Hal must have noticed January’s expression. “Hey, Bobby Fish isn’t stupid, he’s just a slow, deliberate thinker, takes his own time to learn things. He doesn’t forget and he’s as honest as they come. He’s the best friend we cops have in town.”

“Wow.” January whistled softly. “I didn’t know him from Adam, when he came up and offered to get a vet. I was trying to steel myself to shoot that poor dog when he and Doctor Bennett showed up.” January pulled out one of Doctor Bennett’s cards and handed it to Hal Manley. “Bennett and his wife are new in town. He says they’ll come out on cases like tonight. He gave me a card to give Dispatch.”

“Great,” Manny Alvarez spoke up. “We need a professional like that, instead of those Rent-a-Bums the local SPCA hires.” Hal nodded in agreement. When Manny’s face suddenly turned white, January wheeled around to look. The fire fighters had cut a hole in the crushed vehicle and were removing what appeared to be an adult female.

January could feel the gorge rise in her throat at the sight. She had never seen a human body so mangled. The woman couldn’t be alive. Why are they removing the body before the Coroner arrived? “Why are they removing her?”

“We heard someone moaning in that vehicle.” Manny’s face was still ashen, his voice thick and pained.

“You mean someone is alive in there?” January couldn’t believe it.

“There was a few minutes ago. I hope they aren’t that torn up. If they are, they’d be better off dead.” Manny turned away. January did the same.

“Oh s**t! Here comes the vampire from TV News.” January felt herself turn red with anger. Rafferty. Just what we need is that sorry b***h lapping up the gore! Hal briskly moved over to the firefighters to warn them. Then he went to meet the TV crew. “Don’t come any closer and keep those damn bright lights out of the firefighters’ eyes,” he ordered.

“We’re the news media and the public has a right to know. You’re violating the First Amendment.” Sophia Rafferty started to push past Hal.

“Under Arizona law you are interfering with government operations. If there is anyone in that vehicle still alive and they die because you impaired a rescuer’s vision, I’ll see you are charged with the wrongful death. Now, do as I say or go to jail. Your choice, Rafferty.” Hal stood directly in front of the news woman. Manny and January moved up to stand on either side of him.

An ambulance backed slowly up the ramp, the left wheels off the pavement. An EMT walked behind it, directing the driver. Hal motioned to the left. “Get up on the bank there and let this ambulance through.” The news crew looked back and started slowly toward the bank.

“Move it!” Hal ordered. January started to step forward. “No Farrell, let the ambulance hit them. Then we can book them for interference in rescue operations.” At that, the news crew scrambled up the bank.

The three officers moved aside to let the ambulance pass them and stop by the vehicle the rescuers were working on. Hal turned to January. “You’ve done enough, Jan. Manny and I can handle things from here on. There might be some coffee down at my unit. Go take a break, but keep your brick on. Okay?”

“Thanks Hal, I think this rookie needs a break.” January struggled to summon a wan smile for the traffic officer.

“You’re no rookie in my book. You do all right.” Hal nodded, as if to himself.

“Hal’s right. You’ve done all right since your first night in the jewelry store. You can be my partner anytime, Jan.” Manny smiled at her.

“Thanks guys. You’re the greatest.” January beamed as she walked down the ramp, the night’s horrors briefly fading. Wow, the guys really know how to make you feel good. I’d do anything for those two. Gunn should take lessons from them.

At the foot of the ramp, Tom-Twelve sat parked up on the grass shoulder, the trunk lid down with a big two-gallon vacuum bottle sitting on it. In a cardboard box there were Styrofoam cups in cellophane sleeves, along with packets of sweeteners and dairy substitutes. Another box held assorted doughnuts.

January poured a cup of coffee and went to the passenger side of the unit. She opened the front door and sat down with her feet on the ground. The coffee was still too hot to drink. Taking her cap off, she sat with her elbows on her thighs. The slight breeze riffling her hair felt good. She looked at her watch. It’s 3:25, no wonder I feel tired. What happened to the time? Her mind was so weary she just sat there, staring at the ground.

A county EMT and a city firefighter came to the car and got some coffee and a doughnut. They walked over to January and introduced themselves. “A real mess. I’ve never seen anything this bad,” the EMT commented.

“Hey, you’re the officer who stood over the officer who fell at the Cazador, aren’t you?” the city firefighter exclaimed.

“Yeah, that was me.”

“Boy, you sure moved fast. You know how to use that club, too. I bet that scumbag’ll think twice before he pulls a knife in front of you again. That was good work.”

“Thanks, you must have been there.”

“Yeah, I was on the hose. We didn’t want to turn it on, but you know how it is. The captain is real chicken. He’ll write you up for scratching your nose wrong.” The firefighter shrugged, then smiled. “I guess you’d like to know—he gets five days suspension when we go off shift. Boy, was the chief hot about him hosing the place down. I don’t think he would have had us turn on the water, if Gunn hadn’t been there. He’s had it in for Gunn ever since Gunn arrested him for brawling in a bar.”

“Well, that explains a lot. Thanks for telling me.” January smiled at the fire fighter.

They chatted a few minutes longer and then the two men moved off. January got herself another cup and a doughnut. Sitting back down, she nibbled on the drying doughnut and sipped the coffee. She started thinking about the night’s events. She wondered about the little boy and then if there was any hope for the dog, the woman in the wrong man’s vehicle and whether she would be paralyzed. There’d been a lot of tragedy in this single night.

January was staring at the bottom of her empty cup. She got up and refilled the cup and almost took another doughnut, but instead she walked down the grassy shoulder along Centennial to where a fire truck was parked. Only one man was at the truck, sitting on the back bumper smoking a cigarette. “Okay to smoke here?”

“Sure, we washed down Centennial and there’s no fumes here, anyway.”

January sat down on the curb, took her cigarettes from her pocket, and lit one. “First one in four hours.”

The fireman laughed, “That’s the price you pay for working in the fine metropolis of Riverton. They do keep us busy.” He was silent for a few minutes, then said, “I can’t really complain. I’m the engineer on this truck and I have to stay with it and operate the pumps and all. I can smoke, drink coffee, or eat while on the job and I don’t have to handle mangled bodies.”

January suddenly remembered the woman being removed from the crushed car. The semi-stale doughnut and the coffee in her stomach started a fight. She knew she couldn’t hold it back this time. Ducking behind some ornamental bushes, she stooped over and heaved. It didn’t take long to rid her stomach of everything. With her nose running and her eyes streaming tears, she felt like hell. Taking a handkerchief from her pocket, she started wiping her face. Some slight sound alerted her. She looked up. There was Thad Gunn, looking at her with a strange expression on his face.

“You okay?” Gunn’s voice was oddly solicitous.

She couldn’t trust his tone. In fact she felt sicker than ever thinking of the lecture or snide comments that were surely going to come. “Yeah, I guess.” What dirty nasty trick have you got up your sleeve now, Senior Officer Thaddeus Gunn? You’d better be careful or I’ll puke all over your shiny boots.

“You sure you’re okay?” She doesn’t look okay to me. She’s still a sick puppy.

“Yeah, Gunn, Code 4.” Farrell glared back at Thad.

“Good, we’re released back to Patrol. I picked up your brief case and cap and put them in the unit. We can go up the street to a service station and you can freshen up.” Thad turned away. He walked back to the unit and stood, watching Farrell approach. “I’ll drive until your stomach settles.”

Farrell nodded and got in on the passenger side. Thad started the unit. “Don’t be embarrassed. It happens to all of us sooner or later. One of the occupational hazards of being a cop. Usually it’s a combination of things, like some bad scenes plus too much coffee on an otherwise empty stomach. Cops live on coffee, but we’ve got to put something else in there besides a couple of doughnuts or a candy bar.”

Thad pulled into a Night Owl Market and parked the unit. “I’ll just be a couple of minutes.” Without waiting for an answer he got out and went into the store. In five minutes, he came back out carrying a paper bag.

“Here, you’ll need these.” Thad handed the bag to Farrell as he got in. Farrell looked into the bag and found a tooth brush, tooth paste, a package of Handi-Wipes, a package of anti-acid tablets, and a small bottle of mouth wash. When Farrell looked up, he grinned. “I keep a bottle of milk of magnesia and a small pack of soda crackers in my brief case. I figured you wouldn’t want to use my toothbrush. You might catch something.”

Thad pulled in at the nearest service station and parked the unit. “Go ahead and get that taste out of your mouth. It will put a different light on things.”