"NYPD, put your hands up!" I yelled, hoisting my gun up to shoulder-level. The two men inside the warehouse glanced at each other warily, and I could tell they were trying to keep their laughter contained. After all, who would suspected that a 5'5" woman would be a cop, much less one who thought she could take out the two biggest drug-dealers in New York?
"All right, sweetheart," chuckled the older of the two. He had a grubby face, with a frizzy beard. Tattoos lined his neck and crawled up and onto parts of his face. "Here's how this is going to work: you're going to walk on out of here, and pretend you never saw us."
"Is that before or after I drag your sorry behinds to the station?" I retorted, my finger tense on the trigger. I could see a drop of sweat fall from his comrade's face, but the older man stood tall.
"Oh, I apologize. I didn't realize you were so old that your hearing was shot," he fired back. "Let me spell it out for you: Get lost."
"Can't," I said, shrugging. "Because, you see, I have this date with somebody soon and I don't want to miss it." I raised two fingers up to the ceiling, and two consistent shots rung throughout the warehouse. The two men collapsed to the ground, each holding onto their bloody leg. "His name is You're Arrested."
"Well done, Detective McBell," my boss, Commissioner Roosevelt, commented as I signaled for two officers to walk the two prisoners to the infirmary. "Thankfully, that warehouse was closer to the precinct then we thought, so it didn't take you long to arrive."
"I like to keep my operations speedy, thanks," I replied shortly, heading straight to my desk. The Commissioner was a nice man, I guess. He just seemed too big, too happy, too serious, and everything else in between all mashed into one man. I sighed as I walked in and collapsed on my office chair. "Good grief, I could use some coffee right now."
"Aren't you lucky I know somebody who can handle coffee runs?" the cop at the desk in front of me commented. I leaned forward and gently slapped him upside the head. He moved his black hair out of the way as he rubbed the tender spot.
"Don't get smart with me, Officer Sousa," I teased, smirking. In all honesty, Peterson Sousa and I, Kathryn McBell, grew up together. Our grandparents had been thick as thieves and so we ended up that way too. "As your superior officer, I could order you to go and grab me a Soy Vanilla Latte."
"Yeah, but you won't," Peterson replied. "Who else would help the rest of the precinct tolerate your presence?"
"Everyone loves me," I laughed, before standing up and stretching. One of the boys on the case with me, Officer James Dooley, turned the corner with a notepad in his hand. "James. Give me some good news."
"I got more than good news," James laughed happily, tossing me the notepad. I grabbed it and quickly skimmed the information I could read from his messy handwriting. "The two boys fessed up to everything. Not only do we have their written confessions, but we also have a list of all their underlings."
"Oh, I like the sound of that!" I cheered. "Rounds on me tonight, boys." Peterson pumped his fist happily but all the happiness vanished as the Commissioner entered. "Anything else we can do for you?"
"No drinks tonight, fellas," the Commissioner shouted, and every person in the room groaned. "McBell, I need you to go home and rest up. Tomorrow you, Sousa, and Dooley are in charge of tracking down the known associates to these dealers."
"On it, Boss!" I said, giving him a sarcastic two-finger salute. He narrowed his eyes at me before stomping his way back to his office. "Geez, does that guy ever let up?"
"When you're the only female on the force and probably the most sarcastic, devious person in the whole block?" James said, tapping his chin. "Nope. I don't feel any lightening up." I gave him a friendly shove and Peterson snorted. "Guess we'll have to take you up on the drink offer some other time."
"Some other time it is," I agreed. "I'm gonna clock out. See y'all later!" Peterson gave me a friendly wave as I strutted towards the elevator. Once I had securely put the number of what floor I wanted, I reached up and shook out my reddish-blond hair and straightened out my black pant-suit and white blouse. Once the elevators dinged open, I walked confidently out, heading straight towards the door.
"Looking fierce, Katie!" one of the secretaries called out, a middle-aged woman with curly brown hair.
"Thanks, Lily!" I called back out. "No plans for the night?"
"With Roosevelt as a boss?" snorted Lily, rolling her eyes. "Hon, I'll be lucky if I even get a chance to go to the bathroom tonight." I clicked my tongue on the roof of my mouth disappointingly.
"Tomorrow night, Girls' Night Out!" I told her. "We'll watch old TV shows, eat ice cream, and fangirl about actors."
"It's a date!" she called back out as I walked out the precinct, laughing.
Honestly, James Dooley, Lily Roberts, Peterson Sousa, and I, Kathryn McBell, all grew up together. We were like the Musketeers. We never got angry at each other for too long, and we always worked things out together. The first time Lily got dumped, James and Peterson beat the guy senseless while I set his car on fire. At the time, we were only sixteen and seventeen while she was twenty-two. We didn't know better; well...we pretended not to know better.
I lived in an old hotel building nearby, the Griffith. It used to be where Peterson's grandmother lived, and it was the perfect location for someone with my job. Once a full-girls' boarding house, it now served as a cozy apartment building with separate floors for guys and girls. I greeted the doorman, Joey, with a wave and he responded with a smile.
"How's the precinct?" he casually asked.
"Boring, as usual," I replied, and he nodded. When Joey had learned that my dad passed away last year, he had taken it upon himself to become my new fatherly figure, so he constantly checked up with me. "We got two drug-dealers today, so that's positive."
"Always good," he answered, nodding his head. I laughed and waved him goodbye before taking the stairs up to my room. Once I was safely on the fourth floor, I headed straight towards my room. Once inside, I dropped my things and moaned, rolling the tension out of my shoulders.
My apartment was a cozy size with a small kitchenette on the side. The couch was seated close to the bed, and the covers on the bed was ruffled, like it was when I left. I placed the safety on my gun on and set it down on the counter. My phone ringed and I answered it.
"Hello?"
"Katie-Bell?"
"Hey Momma," I replied, a small smile forming on my face. My mom, Nancy, called every single week on Tuesday night (tonight) to check up on me and to make sure I was still sane. "How's life out in the country?"
"Well, besides the fact that Penny knocked over a perfectly good gallon of milk on Sunday, just because I squeezed a little too hard, everything has been fine," Nancy replied. I chuckled at that. When my father died, my mother moved to the country and tried to become a farmer. Penny was the first animal she got: a cow. "How's the city life? Found a fella yet?"
"No fellows for the female detective," I sighed, plopping onto my bed. "I guess I scare the men away before they even have a chance to get close."
"What about James or Peterson? They would make a nice catch," my mother continued, and I resisted the urge to shove my face into a pillow. No matter how many times I told her, my mother insisted that James and Peterson were the right guys for me and I just simply had to choose which one.
"None of them have popped the question yet, so I guess I don't have to worry there," I replied. "So anyways..."
I paused when I heard a loud crash coming from the hallway outside. I glanced at my alarm clock. Not even six o'clock yet, so it couldn't be the hotel's clumsy room service cook, Linus, bringing dinner.
"I'll call you back, Momma," I told her. When she insistently asked what was wrong, I consoled her and added, "I'll talk to you next week," and promptly hung up before she could do anything.
I moved quickly towards my gun and picked it up. All my hard-earned battle instincts returned at once and I moved silently, twisting the knob to my door and slowly opening it.
All at once, the door shoved itself open, causing me to stumble backwards and fall onto my back. I moaned as my head slammed into the floor. Stars and black spots danced through my vision, obscuring any part of my attacker's face. I hastily tried to aim my gun at him, but one swift kick to my wrist and the gun was sent sliding away. I crawled towards my phone to try and call for somebody, but the man knelt down on me, using his knee to push into the soft spot in between my shoulders.
Something pricked on my neck and I tensed up before feeling suddenly relaxed.
Drugs...no, no, no, no, no, no!
I tried to resist, but I heard the man say one thing before I blacked out completely.
"Tell Jackie-boy I said hello."