Narc
The following story is fictional and does not depict any actual person or event.
May 17, 2003
("Hanginaround" - Counting Crows)
Two of the three young men chuckled at the joke one of them had just cracked as they them walked up to the street corner.
The blonde-haired one on the left who'd just cracked the joke turned to the one in the middle. "So, Milo, how's Devereaux treatin' you so far?"
Milo, easily the tallest and thinnest of the three shrugged. "Pretty good. Guy's a little quirky though, don't you think?"
The joker shrugged. "Pays pretty good though, you gotta admit. A lot better than that warehouse, right?"
Milo shrugged and smiled. "Yeah, I guess." Milo turned to the third young man, the Hispanic one on the right. "So, Hector, how'd you start working for Devereaux?" He gestured to the joker on the left. "Jay get you that job too?"
Hector looked at Milo and didn't smile. "None of your business."
Milo and Jay both looked at Hector for a moment with surprise before all three turned towards the lights and siren of the police cruiser pulling up in front of them.
Jay groaned and Hector simply rolled his eyes and the two officers, one male, one female, exited the car.
The brunette female officer, about their age, quickly looked them over. "Afternoon, boys. Where you headed?"
Jay quickly shrugged. "We just got off work. We were just headin' out for a couple of drinks."
The male officer, younger than the rest of them, stared at Jay. "You guys work at that warehouse at the end of Morgan Street?"
Jay shifted nervously. "Uhhh... no, no, not that one."
The male officer shook his head. "Yeah, you do." He gestured to the wall of the building next to them with his nightstick. "Hands up against the wall." Hector sighed and placed his hands up against the wall. A moment later Jay and Milo did the same.
While the male officer started to pat Hector down, Milo gave the female officer a long look with a smile on his face. She finally noticed him staring and glared at him. "You lookin' at something there?"
Milo shrugged as his smile turned into a smug grin. "No, just wondering if those cuffs of yours are for business or pleasure."
Hector lowered and shook his head while Jay looked stunned. A look of fury appeared in the female officer's eyes. "What did you say to me?" Not waiting for an answer, she grabbed Milo by the collar and pulled him away from the wall. "Keep an eye on these two for a minute." She said to her partner as she dragged Milo around the corner into an alley.
"You got it." He said, turning back to Hector and Jay and glaring.
As soon as they were out of sight of the others, the female officer brought her nightstick down hard on the side of a dumpster with a loud CLANG. Milo, who had been nowhere near where she'd struck, let out a loud cry of pain.
The officer released her grip on Milo as a smirk appeared on her face. "'Business or pleasure?' You come up with that one all by yourself?"
An embarrassed smile appeared on Milo's face. "Sorry." He said, chuckling nervously. He looked towards the corner, then back at the officer. "You think they bought it?"
She nodded and smiled. "Totally." She gestured back at the corner. "I see your friend Jay's as bright as ever. Who's the quiet one?"
"He's one of Devereaux's pick-up guys. His name's Hector Ortiz." Milo gave her a serious look. "Listen, Kate, I don't think he really trusts me yet."
Kate nodded. "Okay. Well, be careful around him."
"Devereaux wanted us to pick up some stuff for him tomorrow. I don't think this is the big shipment you were talking about though."
"No, we don't think that's coming for a while. Just keep your eyes open and your head down." She gave Milo a pat on the arm and started walking off.
"Hey, Kate" He said, causing her to turn around. "We're gonna get this guy."
"Yeah." Kate smiled and nodded. "We're gonna get him."
Kate walked out of the alley, leaving Milo standing there, smiling...
Milo lay sprawled across the ground in the alley, blood pooling from the bullet wounds in his back and head... Lifting the box, marked HARRIS, M., the detective stacked it up with the others and walked off, sighing. Aside from giving bad news to family, packing up an unsolved case like this was probably the worst part of his job...
Detective Scotty Valens looked nervously at his partner Lilly Rush as they walked into the hospital. He had no idea how she felt, since the last time she'd gone there, weeks earlier, it had been on a gurney with a gunshot wound. That was probably why their boss had only asked Scotty to come, though there was no convincing her to stay behind. Of course, the reason they were there today made her being there even more awkward.
"So this Kate Wyler, you ever met her?." Scotty finally said, breaking the silence.
"No." Lilly simply said.
Scotty nodded and the awkward silence resumed for a few moments. "I thought Miller might've met her, bein' from Narcotics, but she hadn't either. I guess--"
"Scotty, I'm fine being here, all right?" Lilly finally said, turning to her partner.
Scotty shrugged in acknowledgment, though the unease in his face didn't completely disappear.
The hospital waiting room was filled with cops, both uniformed and plainclothes; typical for when a cop is attacked. Among them was Lilly and Scotty's boss, Lieutenant John Stillman, who was talking with a young black man who looked to be the only one in the room not wearing a shield.
"Boss." Scotty said as he walked up.
"Scotty, Lil." Stillman answered, a faint look of disapproval in his eyes at seeing Lilly there. Clearly, he didn't want her there, but wasn't about to say anything about it in front of the others.
Before anyone could say anything else, the two large doors swung open and out came the stricken, unmoving form of Officer Kate Wyler, pushed on a gurney by orderlies. Her face and head were covered in cuts and bruises from the attack. Her right hand was being gripped by a thin, dark-haired man of about forty.
"You're gonna be okay, Kate. You just stay with me! You hear me?" The man said before stopping in front of Stillman while the orderlies continued to wheel Kate away.
"How is she?" Stillman asked the man, as nearly every cop in the room looked up, waiting for his answer.
The man sighed and put a hand to his head. "They got her stabilized for now. They're gonna do an MRI to check for brain damage. They're still not sure how bad it is. They don't know when she's gonna wake up or if..." The man closed his eyes in pain. "I... I gotta go." He said, gesturing towards the gurney, which was almost at the end of the hall.
Stillman nodded sympathetically. "Of course. Go on."
Scotty looked at the man hurrying down the hall after the gurney. "Her sergeant?"
Stillman nodded. "Dan McKinley. Good cop."
"So what did you need?" Lilly asked, seeing the look of disapproval return to Stillman's face.
Scotty had been wondering the same thing. They were Homicide, after all. He'd feared the worst when he'd been called to the hospital after the attack on Wyler. But seeing she was still alive, if barely, he wasn't sure why they were needed.
Stillman gestured to the young man, who, up until now, hadn't said a word. "This is Tyrone Evans. He's the one that found her." He turned to Tyrone. "Just tell them what you told me."
Tyrone nodded and turned to the detectives. "Well I was out for a run. I'm training for a marathon." He said, smiling, before he saw a look of impatience on their face and quickly continued. "Anyway, I was running down the street when I hear some guy yelling from in an alley. I look and I see this guy wailing on that lady cop with like a metal pipe or a pole or something. She was on the ground, barely movin', and this guy just kept hittin' her like crazy."
"You get a look at this guy?" Scotty asked.
Tyrone shook his head. "No, man. It was dark. I could hardly see anything. I yelled at him and he ran off. Then I called 911 on my phone."
Lilly nodded. "You probably saved her life."
He looked down the hall where Kate had been taken. "I hope so." He looked back at the detectives. "Anyway, before I turned that corner, I could hear him yelling stuff. I couldn't make out most of it, but I heard him say 'This is for Milo Harris, bitch'."
"Milo Harris?" Scotty asked.
"I checked the name." Stillman said. "Milo Harris was an informant for Narcotics on that Devereaux case four years ago."
"I heard about that case." Scotty said. "Wyler worked that one?"
Stillman nodded. "Milo was murdered the night before Devereaux was arrested. They never found the doer."
"So maybe somebody blames her for Milo's death?" Lilly asked.
"Maybe." Stillman said. "Case might be worth another look."
"And maybe findin' out who went after him..." Scotty started.
Lilly nodded. "We can find out who went after her."
ROLL INTRO