Ch 3 (Stilwater, April 08, 2011)
Artemis checked to make sure his crew wasn't trailed. After leaving the lot, he drove south a couple of blocks and turned west for a few more. He was getting ready to head north when he glanced into his rearview. "You've got to be kidding me!" he thought. There in the rearview mirror was a police car heading straight for them. He shook his head then continued west.
"Where we going?" protested Dice. "We're supposed to go the other way, past the Brown Baggers!" The blue and red police lights flared on. "Oh shit!" she shrieked glancing behind her.
"What we gonna do?" yelled Chaz. "They gonna search us for sure. We'll be busted with these weapons on us!" He searched for a place to stash his piece.
"Everyone just chill," said Mongrel. "Artemis, what's the call."
"Thank god for Mongrel; at least one of'em has some sense," Artemis thought. Then he spoke, "What we're going to do is get our shit under control. At least try not to act suspicious." He glanced at Chaz. "Relax, son. I got this." Artemis slowed down and pulled his car over to the right waving the police car to pass him. The cops hadn't blared their sirens yet; maybe they just wanted him out of the way.
No such luck. The police car eased behind them. A spotlight flared to life and aimed its beam at the back of the Stiletto. "Don't anyone do anything stupid," Artemis prayed. Of course, it was at that time that Dice turned around in her seat, stood on her knees and waved at the police car.
"Dice," he growled through gritted teeth, "I swear to god I will beat your ass if you don't sit down." She complied, turning around and sitting down with a huff. She focused her attention on her fingernails.
A cop exited the driver side door of the police car. He had a lit flashlight in his left hand, while his right gripped the butt of his pistol still in its holster. As he approached the car, Artemis could make out a vague outline in the front passenger seat of the police car. "Great, two of'em," he thought derisively. When the driver reached him, Artemis knew he was screwed. It was Officer Ken Terwil.
Terwil, a thirty-something year old career cop, was a constant pain to the Saints. He had been assigned to both the Projects and Red Light Districts for the last three years. Before Ultor had taken over the Saints Row District, Terwil had been assigned there. Completely average-looking, Terwil's biggest distinguishing characteristic was his constant change of new partners.
When the boss first ran with the Saints six years ago, back when Julius was leader of the Third Street Saints, Terwil went through no less than three partners. Two had been shot and killed in the line of duty; the third was the victim of a hit and run by no less than the Boss herself when she was just a lieutenant in the gang. He lived, but retired soon after that.
During the interim when the boss was laid up in a coma, Terwil was partnered with a female cop by the name of Angela DeWynter. She was shot and wounded by the Sons of Samedi last year. She retired from law enforcement a month later and moved to Steelport to work at a corporation with her cousins. Terwil's next partner was a sleaze named Tibbett who was luckily taken out by the Ronin in Rebadeaux.
Three months ago, Terwil was assigned Josh Graden. Josh seemed alright – for a cop. He was part of Troy's new style of policemen – loyal, hard-working, and surprisingly honest. Unfortunately, with so many gangs running around Stilwater, Troy couldn't just let go of bad cops like Terwil without severely handicapping himself – and the city.
"Evening, officer," Artemis greeted, smoothly flashing his license. "Is there a problem? I don't think I was speeding." He flashed one of his best smiles.
"License and Proof of Insurance?" There wasn't the slightest hint of politeness in his voice.
"Right here, officer." Artemis flipped his sun visor down. Rubber-banded to its underside was the appropriate documents. He handed these to Terwil. As Artemis waited as the policeman looked over the cards, he happened to see Dice in the rearview. She looked up from doing her nails and had a surprised look on her face, as if even she didn't believe he had the documents.
"Legal Lee's?" inquired Officer Terwil. "I doubt the sincerity of this insurance firm."
Artemis saw Dice's face suddenly dawn with understanding. Legal Lee was a lawyer who had a special understanding with the Boss and provided her and her crew with any documents they required. Dice smiled and winked at him. He refrained from returning it. "You may, sir, but it is a legal insurance company," he said, "backed by the city government."
"Turn off the engine and step out of the car," was the officer's reply.
"On what grounds?" asked Artemis. He heard Chaz take shuddering breaths as the new initiate started to panic. Artemis kept his voice steady and hoped Chaz could keep it together.
"On the grounds that I don't like your goddamned face, retard!" the officer shouted shining his flashlight directly in Artemis's face. "Now get out of the car before I arrest you for obstructing an officer of the city!"
"Sorry, sir," Artemis replied. "I meant no disrespect – we just heard that my friend's mother had taken a nasty tumble down her basement steps." He put his hand on Chaz's shoulder. "You can see the young man's quite upset by this. We were just trying to hurry. Of course, getting directions from him while he's in this state is quite difficult – thus we were going in circles." The flashlight was then directed at Chaz's face.
"Yeah," Chaz said nervously, his face looking down. "We installed a line in the basement… ya know. Cuz this happens… ya know… her falling, that is. In, uh, the basement… A lot."
The light left Chaz's face, skimmed over Mongrel's face before alighting upon Dice. Artemis saw Terwil's eyes widen with recognition. He leaned over.
"Dice? Was that you waving at us as we pulled up?" asked Terwil. "Well, if I had known it was you in the car, I would have offered you a police escort."
"If I had known it was you, Terd-wil, I wouldn't have waved," Dice muttered, keeping her eyes focused on her nails.
"Excuse me?" Terwil leaned closer. "I didn't catch that."
"Nothing," she muttered.
"Did you just threaten me?" Terwil stood upright again.
"No, I didn't," Dice told him clearly, looking up from her nails.
Artemis cleared his throat. "Um, what did you say the problem was again, officer?" he asked, trying to regain control of the conversation.
"Actually, you can go," Terwil said, handing back Artemis's documents.
Artemis smiled. "Well, thank you, sir…" he began. Terwil cut him off.
"But not her." Before Artemis could protest, he continued. "Did you know this little lady used to be a repeat drug offender? She was pulled in several times for drug use."
Artemis turned in his seat to glance back at Dice as she muttered, "I'm off that stuff." He saw her shrink into herself as she looked down at her feet. "I'm done with it." She rubbed her left arm instinctively as if to reassure herself that the needle marks were long gone.
Before Artemis could protest, Terwil continued, "Off it, but I doubt you're done with it. Maybe you're selling it now. I think you should come with me." Terwil had a callous look in his eye. "There's no female officers here, sorry, but I can search you myself since we know each other so well." A vicious smile slashed across his face. "Don't worry, though, I'll be very thorough."
Now it was Artemis's turn to panic. He glanced in the back again, not at Dice who was shuddering at Terwil's remarks… but rather at Mongrel. Mongrel was aptly named. Like any good dog, he was loyal no matter what. He was loyal to his friends, loyal to the Boss, and loyal to the Saints. Most of all, he was loyal to Dice.
The large man was completely focused on Officer Terwil. In the glare of the police car's spotlight Artemis could make out the telling signs. Mongrel's nostril's flared ever so slightly. A slight bulge in Mongrel's neck indicated he was tensing up. Worst of all, he saw the change in Mongrel's eyes. The normally sapphire blue eyes had faded to a slate grey.
Artemis had heard that some people's eyes changed color when they were experiencing different emotions such as joy or sadness – but he never actually knew anyone like that until he met Mongrel. In the eight months he had run with Mongrel, Artemis had only seen this happen three times. Each time, someone died… horribly. It was happening again; Mongrel was getting angry – no, something ugly beyond angry. Pierce, the boss lady, and God himself could not offer him enough money to try to get in Mongrel's way – Terwil was as good as dead.
Several scenarios played out in Artemis's head. Most involved shooting his way out of this. All of his plans focused on three main points. Terwil would be dead, Josh Graden – though basically a decent man – would have to go as a witness and the dash-cam as well as the computer in the police car would have to be removed. Even if Officer Graden managed to call for back-up with a description of his car, there'd be no actual witnesses. Artemis would just say his car was stolen. Of course, this meant Clementine would have to be torched.
"Damn it," he thought as he gripped one of his custom pistols. "How'd this shit go so wrong so quick?"
Suddenly, Officer Graden called out from the police car. "Ken! Wrap it up! Landers says there's a shoot-out of some kind with the Sons of Samedi about eight blocks southwest of here! All units are asked to respond!" Graden then said something into his com.
A sudden expression of disappointment fell across Terwil's face. "Sorry, kitten. Guess we'll have to play later." Heading back to his car, Terwil called out, "You kids stay out of trouble now!"
Holding his breath as Terwil got in, Artemis only sighed with relief when the police car sped away. He waited until it was completely out of sight before pulling back out into traffic.
"Everyone did well," he assured them even if he didn't believe it himself. "Now that that's over with, maybe we can get back to work." He reached under his purple shirt and pulled out his gold cross hanging around his neck, rubbing the Saints' fleur-de-lis symbol engraved on it. Chaz finally quit shaking and Mongrel was saying something quietly to Dice who was gently nodding. "Yeah," Artemis silently thought, shaking his head, "this is gonna work out great."
