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I'm trying to get the chapters that have already been finished up as soon as I can, since I'd rather not wait and torture the people enjoying the story. Thanks also to the ones that have reviewed it so far. I truly appreciate your feedback :)
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When Mary finally reached her car, she was more than relieved to sit in the comfortable leather seats and turn the heat up. Just another day on the job, she thought to herself. After a few moments of sitting and warming up, she drove out of the alleyway and onto the road. All she had to do now was report back to the station over in Shoreside and return home for a much needed rest.
A light fog began to roll in as she drove out of Portland and onto the Callahan Bridge. As she made her way down the long stretch of road, and stopped at the light of the T-junction, she could hear faint sirens in the distance. She paid them no mind, after all, she was almost officially off-duty for the day, and high-speed chases weren't her jurisdiction. As the siren grew louder, a light blue Kuruma sped past, running the light. A few seconds later, a squad car roared by, clipping the side of her car, then swerving onto the main medium, taking out the pedestrians walking along it. They sure drove like no cop she ever saw before. As soon as the light changed, she floored her Sentinel and followed the speeding squad car.
As she followed the blazing duo up the drawbridge, she saw the squad continually side-swiped the Kuruma, trying to knock it into the concrete divider. They continued the high-speed game until they reached the airport. The Kuruma suddenly came to a screeching halt as it tried to swerve out of the way of the traffic backed up at the light. The driver emerged from the car, brandishing a shotgun and randomly shooting at walking pedestrians. The squad car quickly accelerated and hit the driver head on, sending the body flying up against the hood and then back onto the street. The squad then continued on driving down the road. Ignoring the flattened criminal, Mary continued to follow it. This was obviously no ordinary cop. Picking up her cell phone, she dialed into the central dispatch to see if she could ID this "vigilante".
"This is central. What can I do for you?" the voice on the other end said.
"This is detective Mary Fiore. Can I get an identification of the driver of squad car 509 please?"
There was a short pause on the other end. "That car was just recently hijacked over at the Staunton station. Looks like you found it."
"Great." Mary let out a sigh. "Get an ambulance at the intersection off the bridge near the airport. We've got a critically injured and possibly dead criminal."
"Will do Mrs. Fiore. You can let them go and just have one of our on-duty boys take care of it. I know you're ready to call it a night."
"It's alright. I'm on my way to the station anyway. Chasing this renegade won't waste too much of my time. Besides, I can't just let them keep driving like that."
"Okay, be careful then, and let us know if things get too rough and you need backup."
Mary turned on her lights and siren. Almost immediately, the squad car sped up as they crested the top of the hill and sharply turned to the left. The car then took a right and onto the road of the dam, all the while swerving left and right, nearly hitting a Moonbeam head-on. They kept driving on until they got near the apartment complexes in Wichita Gardens. The light fog that had been covering the area suddenly had gotten much thicker. Mary slowed down a bit, not wanting to run into any other motorists or pedestrians. Knowing the risk of injuring others was much too great, Mary stopped the chase. As soon as she slowed down, the squad took the opportunity and sped off into the distance and was soon swallowed up by the fog. With a heavy sigh, Mary picked up the phone once again.
"This fog is getting bad. It's too dangerous for me to continue pursuit."
"Alright, Mrs. Fiore. Thanks for taking your time. I'll send another car looking for it after the fog clears."
"No problem." she said tiredly.
"Good night, Mrs."
Mary's eyes searched around a bit more, but she saw nothing. Finally, she gave up, turned around and headed back to the station. As she walked in, the building was still buzzing. Just like the city itself, the LCPD never slept. Men and woman were going back and forth, criminals were being interrogated, people were filing complaints, officers were writing paperwork, it never ended. Mary took the elevator up to the third floor where her department, homicide, was at. As she opened the door and made her way toward her desk, she was greeted with a stern look from the department lieutenant.
"So, how did your sting work out?" he asked, a slight grin crossing his face. "Oh, that's a nice present they gave you." he added, pointing to Mary's lip.
The homicide lieutenant, Edward Hunter, was well known to have quite a strong dislike for Mary because of her family background.
"I didn't get much information..." she said, flopping down into her seat, ignoring Hunter's other remark.
"Well, what did you get?" he asked flippantly, leaning against her desk.
"Nothing we don't already know." Mary said, aggravation growing in her tone. "The Diablos are trying to move in on the Mafia's business in the Red Light and have sided with the Triads. The war's not over yet."
"And who's organizing the Mafia's "businesses" in the Red Light?" Hunter said, seething with pride, as if he had accomplished something great.
Mary's friend and partner Norris gave a look over to them and approached Mary's side. "Don't let him get to you." he whispered in her ear. "That's what he wants."
"Come on Mary," Hunter continued his assault. "You know this one. Isn't it your big brother, the pimp?"
By now, the whole room knew what was going on, and everyone stopped whatever they were doing to listen up.
"Why do you keep giving her flak about that Hunter?" Norris asked, trying to defend his partner, "Since when did it matter what kind of family background a cop has? Everyone knows how good she is."
"And why do you think that is? Because she's a crooked cop, that's why! I bet she's been in with the Leones all along!"
"Which is why she's been bustin' 'em left and right, eh Hunter? Give it a rest already, will you?"
Hunter let out a huff and headed for the door. "One of these days Fiore, I'll expose you for what you really are."
Norris rolled his eyes and looked over at his exhausted partner.
"I wish he's stop bothering you about that. You've been on the force for three years now and look at all the stuff you've been doing. That bastard's just jealous anyway. He couldn't have a record like yours in his dreams. And if I didn't know any better, I'd say he's been getting paid off by a few crime bosses. Damn hypocrite." Norris sighed, then glared at the others in the room who quickly went back to what they were doing. He then looked at Mary. "Why do you take that from him anyway? Why don't you just tell the chief he's been giving you a hard time?"
Mary was silent for a few minutes, looking down at the papers on her desk. "I can't." she said softly. "I just have to take it."
"Must be that Goterelli stubbornness, eh?" Hunter said with a warm smile. Mary returned the smile with a tired face. "Don't let him get to you, okay?" He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
Walter Norris was the kindest cop Mary had ever met. He was like her second father. Sometimes she even wished he had been. He was fifty-five with a slight beer-belly, a soft and gentle face, who was also balding save for the wisps of white hair that had collected around his head like a ring, leaving only the top bare. He had also been with the force longer than Hunter and just about everyone in the department, and most would have wanted him as lieutenant, chief even.
Mary combed through her thick black hair and untied the bun, letting her hair fall loosely around her shoulders.
"I just want to get home so I can get out of this get-up. God forbid my children see me like this." She said, grumbling through her papers.
"Worry about the report tomorrow, okay? You need to get home and take care of that lip of yours." Norris said, taking her hand and moving it away from the papers.
"Alright. I guess the paperwork can wait." she got out of her chair. "Need a ride home tonight?"
Norris let out a smile and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah. Wife took the car in to get fixed. You don't mind, do you?"
Mary shook her head. "Naw, you're not too far out of my way." she said, returning the smile.
Mary and Norris got into her blue Sentinel and she headed for his apartment in Wichita Gardens. As they road, Mary talked to Norris about what had happened just before she arrived at the station.
"Hey, did I mention I found that missing squad car from Staunton on my way to the station?"
"Really?" Norris said with a raised brow. "Probably some punk who wanted to take a joy-ride, right?"
"No. It was some mad vigilante, going after a criminal. I've never seen anyone drive that crazy before."
"Hmm." Norris said as if deep in thought, "I bet I know who was driving it."
"What do you mean?"
"Remember the huge war that happened on the dam about a month ago?"
"Yeah..."
"Remember how it was one guy who took out all those Cartel?"
"Yeah, but we don't know for sure..."
"Well, that must have been him. Heard he does that kind of stuff. I heard he's really dangerous too. He's been workin for just about every criminal organization here. Also heard he was the one who killed Sal Leone."
Mary was rather surprised to hear that. The Salvatore Leone case had been Norris' and it was he who had been working on it since the incident happened.
"If you know who it is, why hasn't he been caught yet?"
"He's a real elusive son-of-a-bitch I guess." Norris was silent for a few seconds, "We're getting closer though. We know he's in Shoreside, somewhere."
Silence filled the car again for several minutes as Mary thought about what her partner just said. Wasn't it her fault then? Had she let a dangerous criminal just slip through her fingers? Her stomach sank as she drove down Cochran Dam road.
"So, how's the family?" Norris asked, doing his best to change the subject.
"Fine. Damien and Elizabeth are just fine. Crawling along and getting into trouble as usual."
"That's great." he replied softly, as if old memories of his children's younger years were coming back to him. "How's Vinny?"
"He's fine too."
"Still working at the Pharmaceuticals lab?"
"He owns it now. Just last week."
"Oh yeah, that's right. Man, since when did I get so behind with your life?"
"Maybe you're just getting old." Mary teased as they pulled up to the parking lot of the first apartment tower.
"I guess so." Norris said with a laugh. "Well," he said, opening the door, "I guess this is where I get off." He gave a nod. "Thank you ma'm."
"Not a problem. I hate to do this, but I'll be getting off early tomorrow. I promised my mom I'd stop by for dinner and bring Vince and the kids. I'm not going to be able to give you a ride."
"It's alright. The car should be fixed by early morning. If not, I'll get one of the guys to take me. I'm sure they wouldn't mind. Thanks again, Mary. I'll see you tomorrow." he said, shutting the door and heading for the complex.
Mary gave a wave as he entered the building and then headed for her home in Cedar Grove. Commonly referred to as the "swank" homes, they were a row of four attractive and very nicely kept houses down the strip of road past the dam bridge. She lived in the one closest to the end, next door to what came to be known as the Cartel Mansion. The large place had been vacant for quite some time until it was acquired by the ring leader of the now defunct Colombian gang that had invaded Liberty during the last few months.
She pulled into the driveway and parked next to Vincent's dark green Cheetah. Turning off the car, she entered into the house and silently closed the door behind her. Vincent had fallen asleep in his pajamas, as he often did, in front of the T.V. She clicked it off and gently nudged her husband awake. She was more than relieved to see him.
Vincent Fiore was a rather tall, well-built, attractive Italian man. His hair was a jet black. He had smooth olive skin, a strong nose and chin and deep brown eyes. He had recently become owner of Liberty Pharmaceuticals in Shoreside. He was a good man and husband. Vincent had been friends with Mary since early childhood. He had grown up alongside her, Luigi and Joey. The four of them had attended school together, hung out together and usually got into trouble together. It wasn't until the early teens came about that the four learned of their futures and became more distant from one another. However, Vincent and Mary had remained very close friends and it was no surprise to anyone that they eventually married.
Stirring from his slumber, Vincent opened his eyes and looked at her groggily. "What time is it?"
"I'm home, so you know it's late." Mary took a glance at the clock in the DVD player. "About one in the morning." she said, gently stroking his head.
He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked at his wife and gave her a smile. He moved over on the couch and she sat down next to him. "Hey babe." He said, kissing her cheek. "What happened to your lip?" he asked, noticing her bruise, even in the dim light.
"It's nothing serious. Comes with the job." she said with a small laugh.
"Are you sure?" he asked with concern.
She nodded. "I just need to put something on it before bed."
"So then…anything interesting happen today?" he asked almost sarcastically.
Mary was silent for a few moments. "I'd rather not talk about it right now." She said, sighing.
Vincent gave a small nod and they got up together and as if she had just seen her husband for the first time in a long while, she embraced him tightly. Somewhat startled at this, Vincent held on for a short while before pulling back.
"Is something wrong?"
"I'm fine, really." She replied softly. "I'm just a little tired, that's all."
"Alright then. Just…let me know if there's something bothering you, okay?"
She gave a nod. "I will." She then began to walk with him to the bedroom. "Now let's get to sleep. This time on a bed, alright?"
He gave a chuckle and followed her to their room where she took care of her lip as Vincent slipped into bed. She then undressed and took a much needed warm shower. The rolling drops of warmth felt good against her skin and getting out of the rather restricting hooker outfit brought relief as well. Feeling more relaxed from her shower, she slipped into her pajamas and joined Vincent in bed. She gave him a kiss before turning over and drifting off to sleep, happy that the long night was finally over with.
