Missing
Chapter 3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Danny," called a woman's voice from behind the group. Danny turned toward the woman as Buddy held onto Gusler, the gun still trained on him.
"Don't," she said simply.
"What?" Danny replied, not sure of what he was hearing from his girlfriend.
"I said 'don't,'" she told him. "He ain't done nothin' to us. The blackout's over - let's just let them be. That one there on the floor ain't lookin' too good anyway. You know The Man's out lookin' for them. You don't want them comin' up and blamin' you for this guy's murder," she reasoned. Danny stood still, the look of anger in his eyes making her stomach tighten, but she didn't show it. He walked over to her and stood directly in front of her.
"Who d'you think you are, tellin' me my business?" he said, getting right in her face.
"I don't THINK anything. I KNOW that I'm the mother of your baby and I ain't raisin' this kid alone, livin' on welface and waitin' for you to get out of prison. My Mama went to see my Daddy every weekend, draggin' us kids along with her. I ain't puttin' my baby through that," she said, just as angry.
Gusler overheard the conversation and only then noticed that the woman appeared pregnant.
"She's right. We have officers on the way. I contacted them on my radio right before you guys showed up," he lied to the group. He felt the grip from Buddy tighten - not knowing if it was anger or increased nervousness at the knowledge that more cops would be there any minute. As if on cue, sirens were heard approaching in the background.
"Shut up, cop!" Danny yelled, still staring down his girlfriend. After another moment, Danny turned toward Gusler, looking from him to the injured Sgt. Christopher. He slowly walked over to Gusler and said, "You better hope your buddies are comin' for you, cause if not, your toast," he said and then, without warning, he reached up and struck Gusler on the side of the head with something. Gusler's world went black as the man holding onto him let go and he fell to the ground alongside Christopher.
Danny turned and walked past his gang and while staring at his girlfriend said, "Torch it. If they're still alive when they find 'em, so be it," and then continued to walk out of the building.
After a moment, the group sprang to action. Buddy moved Gusler's motionless form behind the counter, out of sight, as a couple of the others set the fires around the store. Everyone took a look around and then left as the smoke began to fill the air and the heat from the flames grew.
Gusler momentarily regained consciousness - long enough to realize that the place was on fire. He tried to get up onto all fours and crawl toward the doorway for help, but the dizziness prevented him from doing so. Twice he made it to his hands and knees only to fall over again. The third time he tried, he removed his radio from his belt and threw it to the doorway - hoping that when fire got there, they'd see it and know that there were officers possibly inside. He didn't know if the radio had made it to its intended destination and his injury prevented him from remaining conscious any longer.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^**^
"Okay, guys. We've got another fire burning down the street. We got no backup available for at least 15 minutes. I want one or two guys to stay here. The rest of us will head down there and do what we can. PD is on the way for crowd control. No heroics. If it's abandoned, then we stay the hell outside and fight it that way. We're not gonna lose anybody over this crap," Lieutenant Anderson ordered, as his crew continued sifting through the rubble for hot spots of their present fire
They left two of the junior guys to sift through the rubble and the rest headed down the street on the firetruck to fight the newest fire. They pulled up at the same time as Bosco and Sullivan in 55-David.
As the power came back on and the lights were again working, it seemed to soothe the crowds and they began to disburse. There were only a few groups of people spread along the streets. Another police unit came from the other direction and the officers went about keeping the people back while the fire department did their job.
D.K. and Doherty had just finished hooking up the hydrant and Billy was beginning to work the pump on the truck to force the water through the hose. As D.K. and Jimmy began to advance the hoseline toward the building, Bosco and Sully came over to Lieutenant Anderson.
"You guys seen Sergeant Christopher or Officer Gusler at all tonight?" Sully asked.
"What? Not that I recall. Why?" the Lieutenant asked.
"They're missin'," Bosco said. "We're out looking for them."
"I'll let you know if I see or hear from them, but I'm hoping this is pretty much over for tonight. My guys are beat," Lieutenant Anderson told the officers.
"Yeah - I hear that," Bosco said, feeling his own fatigue.
"Hey, Lieu!" called Jimmy from the doorway to the building as the flames were licking at the front of the building through the broken window.
"Yeah!" the Lieutenant called back, heading over toward his men. Sully and Bosco watched, periodically checking the crowd for signs of trouble.
"Sully!" called the Lieutenant.
"Yeah, Lieu?" Sully answered and the Lieutenant motioned him over.
Sully walked toward the building, the heat increasing the closer he got. "This look like one of your's?" he asked Sully as Jimmy held up a portable radio, partially melted from the heat. "We found it in the doorway," Jimmy said.
Sully touched the radio, but it was too hot to hold without the protective gloves the firefighters were wearing. "Turn it over," Sully told Jimmy. He looked at the back of the radio to get the unit number. "Crap! Our guys might be in there," Sully said, with a sickened feeling.
"Bosco!" he said, hurrying over toward him.
"What?" Bosco said, as he was having words with a couple of young punks that were mouthing off. He looked at Sully's face and immediately knew something was wrong.
"I think our guys are in there," he said, looking back at the building. "Doherty found a portable, with our house numbers on it," he added, keying his own portable.
"Central, this is 55-David. Patch me through to Lieutenant Swersky," he requested.
"10-4. Standby," came the dispatcher's voice. A moment later, he heard the Lieutenant's voice on the radio.
"This is Swersky, go David," he answered.
"Lieu, FD found a portable police radio in the doorway of the fire they're working here at 148th and 98th. Check with the desk and find out who signed out radio number 55-443," Sully told him.
"Standby, David," the Lieutenant said. A moment later he was back on. "That radio was signed out to Officer Gusler."
"10-4. You better start EMS and yourself down here, Lieu. This building's fully involved. I don't know if FD can even enter yet," Sully said somberly, as Bosco turned toward the building and watched Doherty and D.K. trying to gain access to search.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC...
Chapter 3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Danny," called a woman's voice from behind the group. Danny turned toward the woman as Buddy held onto Gusler, the gun still trained on him.
"Don't," she said simply.
"What?" Danny replied, not sure of what he was hearing from his girlfriend.
"I said 'don't,'" she told him. "He ain't done nothin' to us. The blackout's over - let's just let them be. That one there on the floor ain't lookin' too good anyway. You know The Man's out lookin' for them. You don't want them comin' up and blamin' you for this guy's murder," she reasoned. Danny stood still, the look of anger in his eyes making her stomach tighten, but she didn't show it. He walked over to her and stood directly in front of her.
"Who d'you think you are, tellin' me my business?" he said, getting right in her face.
"I don't THINK anything. I KNOW that I'm the mother of your baby and I ain't raisin' this kid alone, livin' on welface and waitin' for you to get out of prison. My Mama went to see my Daddy every weekend, draggin' us kids along with her. I ain't puttin' my baby through that," she said, just as angry.
Gusler overheard the conversation and only then noticed that the woman appeared pregnant.
"She's right. We have officers on the way. I contacted them on my radio right before you guys showed up," he lied to the group. He felt the grip from Buddy tighten - not knowing if it was anger or increased nervousness at the knowledge that more cops would be there any minute. As if on cue, sirens were heard approaching in the background.
"Shut up, cop!" Danny yelled, still staring down his girlfriend. After another moment, Danny turned toward Gusler, looking from him to the injured Sgt. Christopher. He slowly walked over to Gusler and said, "You better hope your buddies are comin' for you, cause if not, your toast," he said and then, without warning, he reached up and struck Gusler on the side of the head with something. Gusler's world went black as the man holding onto him let go and he fell to the ground alongside Christopher.
Danny turned and walked past his gang and while staring at his girlfriend said, "Torch it. If they're still alive when they find 'em, so be it," and then continued to walk out of the building.
After a moment, the group sprang to action. Buddy moved Gusler's motionless form behind the counter, out of sight, as a couple of the others set the fires around the store. Everyone took a look around and then left as the smoke began to fill the air and the heat from the flames grew.
Gusler momentarily regained consciousness - long enough to realize that the place was on fire. He tried to get up onto all fours and crawl toward the doorway for help, but the dizziness prevented him from doing so. Twice he made it to his hands and knees only to fall over again. The third time he tried, he removed his radio from his belt and threw it to the doorway - hoping that when fire got there, they'd see it and know that there were officers possibly inside. He didn't know if the radio had made it to its intended destination and his injury prevented him from remaining conscious any longer.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^**^
"Okay, guys. We've got another fire burning down the street. We got no backup available for at least 15 minutes. I want one or two guys to stay here. The rest of us will head down there and do what we can. PD is on the way for crowd control. No heroics. If it's abandoned, then we stay the hell outside and fight it that way. We're not gonna lose anybody over this crap," Lieutenant Anderson ordered, as his crew continued sifting through the rubble for hot spots of their present fire
They left two of the junior guys to sift through the rubble and the rest headed down the street on the firetruck to fight the newest fire. They pulled up at the same time as Bosco and Sullivan in 55-David.
As the power came back on and the lights were again working, it seemed to soothe the crowds and they began to disburse. There were only a few groups of people spread along the streets. Another police unit came from the other direction and the officers went about keeping the people back while the fire department did their job.
D.K. and Doherty had just finished hooking up the hydrant and Billy was beginning to work the pump on the truck to force the water through the hose. As D.K. and Jimmy began to advance the hoseline toward the building, Bosco and Sully came over to Lieutenant Anderson.
"You guys seen Sergeant Christopher or Officer Gusler at all tonight?" Sully asked.
"What? Not that I recall. Why?" the Lieutenant asked.
"They're missin'," Bosco said. "We're out looking for them."
"I'll let you know if I see or hear from them, but I'm hoping this is pretty much over for tonight. My guys are beat," Lieutenant Anderson told the officers.
"Yeah - I hear that," Bosco said, feeling his own fatigue.
"Hey, Lieu!" called Jimmy from the doorway to the building as the flames were licking at the front of the building through the broken window.
"Yeah!" the Lieutenant called back, heading over toward his men. Sully and Bosco watched, periodically checking the crowd for signs of trouble.
"Sully!" called the Lieutenant.
"Yeah, Lieu?" Sully answered and the Lieutenant motioned him over.
Sully walked toward the building, the heat increasing the closer he got. "This look like one of your's?" he asked Sully as Jimmy held up a portable radio, partially melted from the heat. "We found it in the doorway," Jimmy said.
Sully touched the radio, but it was too hot to hold without the protective gloves the firefighters were wearing. "Turn it over," Sully told Jimmy. He looked at the back of the radio to get the unit number. "Crap! Our guys might be in there," Sully said, with a sickened feeling.
"Bosco!" he said, hurrying over toward him.
"What?" Bosco said, as he was having words with a couple of young punks that were mouthing off. He looked at Sully's face and immediately knew something was wrong.
"I think our guys are in there," he said, looking back at the building. "Doherty found a portable, with our house numbers on it," he added, keying his own portable.
"Central, this is 55-David. Patch me through to Lieutenant Swersky," he requested.
"10-4. Standby," came the dispatcher's voice. A moment later, he heard the Lieutenant's voice on the radio.
"This is Swersky, go David," he answered.
"Lieu, FD found a portable police radio in the doorway of the fire they're working here at 148th and 98th. Check with the desk and find out who signed out radio number 55-443," Sully told him.
"Standby, David," the Lieutenant said. A moment later he was back on. "That radio was signed out to Officer Gusler."
"10-4. You better start EMS and yourself down here, Lieu. This building's fully involved. I don't know if FD can even enter yet," Sully said somberly, as Bosco turned toward the building and watched Doherty and D.K. trying to gain access to search.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC...