Case 1: Sniper, Part 4
Disclaimer: Same as before. Look for the site Mel's Sniper Page which has cool graphics of all kinds if you want to know what the various weapons described in this casefile look like.
~ ~ ~ ~
8 May 2000: "Corso, have you seen Hal anywhere?" Ivy said, "I haven't seen him since roll call."
"He's down in the basement rifle range." Corso said, "Where the uniformed officers hold court. He's down there with Rand, one of my snipers."
As Ivy walked down into the basement she saw the range where Crimenet sharpshooters practiced their lethal skills. Hal was lying prone and firing at a silhouette of a human head. A short, mostly bald fellow wearing civilian clothes knelt at Hal's side, "High and to the right."
Hal zeroed the crosshairs again for 500 meters, and squeezed the trigger on the Accuracy International Super Magnum sniper rifle. Hal pulled back on the bolt, extracting the spent cartridge and heard Rand say, "High and to the right."
Hal zeroed the scope again and squeezed the trigger. "Hit."
"What's that for?" Ivy asked, as she walked in. She was wearing eye and hearing protection, like everyone else on the range did.
"For the Powers security detail, I'm controlling the placement of the snipers for that one." Hal replied, "Which reminds me, I've got to talk to Captain Weathers of the SFPD SWAT team later this afternoon, so I'm gonna miss lunch. How about we go over what evidence we've got over dinner?"
"Sure." Ivy replied, "My place?"
"Right." Hal replied as he picked up the rifle and pocketed the five spent casings, "If this bloke tries anything he's getting a .338 Lapua round right between the eyes."
Hal walked into the armory to sign the weapon back in and clean it as Corso said to Ivy, "He's taking this personally."
"He is. Just between us, he thinks this sniper's a guy he trained in South Africa seven years ago." Ivy replied.
"How can Hal be so sure?" Corso said. Ivy ran him through their findings of the night before and Corso said, "Brilliant, I'd not have expected that. But..."
Corso's reply was cut short when the TV in the basement broadcast, "This just in. Two SFPD sharpshooters were killed this morning near the Golden Gate Park area. Police have strong suspicions that the sniper plaguing this area has struck again."
~ ~ ~ ~
Earlier: The morning dew wasn't quite evaporating and the infamous San Francisco mist had not quite been burnt away by the morning sun when the sniper reached his lay up point. Five hundred meters separated him from his targets, two SFPD sharpshooters that were keeping watch on the road. He had to move carefully, for there were always other unseen snipers in these sorts of scenarios. But he had utter confidence in his ability to pick and choose his targets and engagements. Plus, his hide was very well camouflaged. The casual observer wouldn't have figured him hiding in the ventilation system of the building he was in.
He zeroed his first victim's forehead and squeezed the trigger, causing a spray of bloody and hot coffee from the thermos he was holding to fly. Before the second, surprised man could do anything he fired a second round into his head.
~ ~ ~ ~
The bullpen always had one or two detectives in it at any given time, but this time every chair in the small kitchenette was full. Hal walked inside and took the seat Ivy had saved for him. Armando, Maria, Zack, and Tatiana were all clustered at the table.
"So your test came back positive?" Maria said.
"Yes." Tatiana said, she was practically glowing. The fact that the life forming in her womb was conceived a month ago out of wedlock was inconsequential to her.
"Life certainly has its surprises, have you told your parents?" Armando asked.
"We told my parents." Zack said, "Tatiana wants to wait until her parents fly in next Tuesday. Mom and Dad know we're both grown people, but they were still sort of miffed that I'm a father before I'm married. Next thing you know they'll pester Ivy to settle down."
"Like that would happen." Maria said, "I can see Ivy and Carmen running around as perpetual bachelorettes just like in Sex and the City."
All five of the others at the table regarded Maria with shocked looks on their faces and it was a while before anyone spoke. "I can't see Ivy wearing a skirt or high heels at all and I grew up with her." Zack replied.
"You did too Zack, my junior and senior proms for example." Ivy replied.
"Well, if you're gonna be one of my bride's maids, then you're gonna have to wear a dress." Tatiana replied.
Ivy shot her a mock glare as Zack said, "Great going Tatiana, that'll only be the fifth time I've ever seen Ivy attempt to wear a dress."
"Zack, be nice, I'm sure your sister could easily look good in a dress. Better than you at any rate." Hal interjected, "As Shakespeare once said, 'A rose by any other name, still a rose.' So to with a lady."
"This rose has thorns." Ivy said, secretly pleased with the compliment Hal had just given her.
"True, I never said it lacked any thorns. Enough to make me feel an old rappelling injury I got when I was skiing in the Alps last year." Hal replied.
"Ouch, that had to hurt." Zack said.
"I warned you." Armando said.
"You did. Anyway, Ninja Girl, would you like a rematch when this particular Englishman heals himself?" Hal asked.
"I look forward to make you feel the old shoulder again." Ivy replied.
"I got careless that time." Hal replied, "Won't happen again."
"What were you doing in the Alps? Were you on vacation?" Tatiana asked.
"No, I was there on business with taking the Alpine Guide's Course for eighteen months whilst serving on secondment with the German counter terrorist unit GSG-9." Hal replied, "We taught the Jerries how the Regiment takes a bite out of terrorism."
"And just how does it do that?" Armando asked.
"I'll show you." Hal replied, walking them into his office. He turned on his monitor, entered his password, and showed them his desktop background, which consisted of a four-man assault team wearing black from head to toe, armed with MP-5 sub machineguns. A fifth man stood behind them with a 12- gauge shotgun about to blast a door down.
"That my friends is my unit about to do a simulated room clearance." Hal replied, "The bloke with the shotgun is me doing doorman position. The guy leading the team in is Digger, the man whose tea and coffee brews can wake the dead."
The caption of the photograph read Manus Celer Dei, "What does that mean?" Ivy asked.
"The swift hand of God. It's Latin." Zack replied.
"How many languages can you speak again?" Hal asked, "I remember Ivy having said..."
"I quit counting at twenty-eight." Zack replied.
"Jesus Christ." Hal groaned, "You're a regular boy genus lad."
"I never thought that soldiers could be so erudite." Maria said, "I mean no offence, but Shakespeare is the last thing I'd expect to hear from one, brilliant."
"Thanks, I try." Hal replied, "A lot of that reading was from my own self education in all manner of literature and history. I especially love medieval history, particularly the Crusades."
"You've got mail." The AOL chime sounded. Hal checked his e-mail and damn near froze.
"Who's GrimReaper94?" Tatiana asked.
"The sniper we've been chasing. He seems to have personal ties with Hal." Ivy replied.
"Two Janissaries slain." Hal mused, aloud.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zack asked, "This guy's a few glazed doughnuts short of a dozen."
"I know, mate, I know." Hal replied, "Jesus, it was those two policemen that he killed earlier this morning."
"Hal? What's going on?" Ivy asked.
"I just figured out who he is." Hal replied, "He was one of those guys in the picture I showed you last night. His name's Erich Spyde, South African Special Forces, a natural marksman."
"Meaning?" Zack asked.
"He could easily have made every one of those shots to every one of the victims he killed." Hal explained, "He was already an extremely good shot with a rifle, but when I got to training him back in 1993 he wasn't a true sniper."
"Hal, you're not making any sense here." Ivy replied.
"Easy." Hal replied, "Erich Spyde didn't know much more than the basics of being a sniper, camouflage, concealmeant, and counter-sniping."
"That means that he had little more than the average soldiers' skill at camouflage, he didn't know how to pick a good hideout, and he didn't know jack shit about how to avoid and turn the tables on a counter-sniper." Hal replied.
"What's a counter-sniper?" Zack asked.
"A counter-sniper is a bloke who is a trained sniper that hunts an enemy sniper that is known to be operating in the area. The SFPD sharpshooters are carrying out a form of counter-sniper action and not very well as two of their guys got picked off by Erich Spyde." Hal replied.
"You trained Spyde?" Ivy asked.
"Yes, he was a member of the South African Special Forces back then, in the interests of re-opening some doors, the South African and British governments had members of the Regiment train members of the South African Special Forces." Hal replied, "Spyde was one of my more apt and brilliant students. He picked up everything I taught him on the first try and improved on many of my old tricks. He was one of the best students I'd had and he looked up to me as a mentor."
The guilt on Hal's face was immeasurable as Ivy said, "Hal, you couldn't have known...."
"Yes I could." Hal contended, "When his family died in the Johannesburg Race Riots a year later, he wrote me often and each time the letters got more and more desperate as he sank further and further from sanity."
Hal picked up a piece of paper from his pocket, "This one was dated three years ago, 'Teacher, please know this is not your fault. I have settled all my affairs back home and swore over the graves of my father, mother, grandfather and fiancée that they would be avenged by the Master Plan. I am the Angel of Death with your teachings and findings of my own. The traitor shall be purged.' I should have figured he was referring to Powers."
"So he's blaming the South African defense minister for the deaths of his family. And he wants to kill him. We should tell him to cancel his appearance before the African Studies Union here in San Francisco." Zack said.
"Right, we should, but if I know old Mr. Powers, it's not going to stop him." Corso said, walking into the room.
Corso lead them back into the bullpen as the ZNN interview with Christopher Osborn Powers continued.
"So, Mr. Powers, does the San Francisco Sniper have any effect on your planned visit?" asked Stuart Dunston, the ZNN reporter.
"No Mr. Dunston, I does not. I cannot and will not be swayed into my apology for apartheid by a common murderer." Powers replied.
"According to our sources at both the SFPD and ACME Detective Agency you are his primary target." Dunston replied.
"Even so, I cannot let this terrorist stop my visit, it will speak rather badly of my character to my people, both black and white, if I let fear of a bullet stop my travel plans."
"Those bastards." Hal replied, "What do they do with all that evidence we gave them but turn it into a bloody press conference?"
"Hal, they don't have the final clue we have. All we have to do is figure out how to stop Spyde before he gets Mr. Powers into his sights." Ivy said.
"Right, meet me at the second floor terrace if you want to know how a sniper thinks." Hal replied.
~ ~ ~ ~
Ivy followed Hal's instructions to find him sitting at the beautifully landscaped terrace with its planters full of various types of perennial plants and flowers and its graceful old style park benches. He had the Super Magnum rifle across his knees.
He handed her a pair of binoculars, "Pick a random person in the crowd below."
Ivy followed her instructions and Hal put the rifle in her hands, "Now put the scope right on your person's forehead, tell me what you see."
"Hal?" Ivy asked.
"Just do it and let yourself be carried over. What you'll feel is how Spyde feels." Hal replied.
"I see a uniformed police officer, male, in his late thirties. He's riding on horseback down the street and he's stopped to talk to a hot dog vendor." Ivy said.
"He's got no idea we're up here. How do you feel?" Hal asked.
"Like I'm closer than the vendor to him, like I'm in complete control." Ivy said.
"Now squeeze the trigger." Hal replied.
"WHAT?" Ivy asked, "Hal, are you out of your mind?"
"No, it's not even loaded." Hal replied, opening the bolt and indeed revealing that there wasn't a Lapua round in the chamber.
"What was that for?" Ivy asked.
"To put us inside his head so we can discern his mindset. I may have been a sniper before, but I only killed when I was ordered to do so. Spyde has let go any sort of human decencies for his vengeance. The best way to get at an adversary is to get inside his head." Hal replied.
"Trust me, that's one mind I don't want to know any more about." Ivy replied, shaken but trying not to show it.
"That's why you'd make a lousy assassin, but a great detective." Hal replied.
"Thanks, I think." Ivy replied.
"About those new security arrangements for the Powers visit, do you still want me to come by your place after we've looked over the conference center downtown?" Hal asked.
"Sure, something tells me its gonna be yet another working dinner." Ivy replied, "Zack and I used to have those all the time when we were partners."
"I'll bring dinner. What are you in the mood for?" Hal replied.
"Let's just order a pizza and some sodas." Ivy replied, "Come by at seven."
"I'll be there." Hal replied.
~ ~ ~ ~
Spyde was chagrined. The SFPD, for all their blundering had actually wandered into his intended hide for the day. He stalked away from the abandoned theater where he was planning yet another shooting and instead decided to observe ACME where his former mentor now worked.
He watched as he and his partner, the auburn haired woman, talked about something on the roof. He saw his mentor cradling an Accuracy International Super Magnum rifle, a much more accurate and longer reaching rifle than the Dragunov that he currently carried, but it didn't have the concealment that his broken down rifle had. They seemed to be far better equipped than he'd anticipated. Maybe he'd best do some research and send ACME a personal message.
He knew shooting down one of those ACME whiz kids would do wonders for his bad mood. But who to shoot? He knew his intended mentor too well and wanted him to see him kill the accursed Christopher Powers. His partner. Maybe, but he'd definitely have Harold Olden after him in a heartbeat and knowing the skill and tenacity of the man, he didn't want to chance this particular pursuit. Perhaps, the blonde haired sleuth that was walking outside the building, the brother of the redhead. He wasn't gonna shoot his intended victim today, but he'd shoot eventually to tell ACME he meant business, even if it meant it might just have a certain SAS operative after him.
~ ~ ~ ~
TBC (Who's the intended target, find out next crime.)
Disclaimer: Same as before. Look for the site Mel's Sniper Page which has cool graphics of all kinds if you want to know what the various weapons described in this casefile look like.
~ ~ ~ ~
8 May 2000: "Corso, have you seen Hal anywhere?" Ivy said, "I haven't seen him since roll call."
"He's down in the basement rifle range." Corso said, "Where the uniformed officers hold court. He's down there with Rand, one of my snipers."
As Ivy walked down into the basement she saw the range where Crimenet sharpshooters practiced their lethal skills. Hal was lying prone and firing at a silhouette of a human head. A short, mostly bald fellow wearing civilian clothes knelt at Hal's side, "High and to the right."
Hal zeroed the crosshairs again for 500 meters, and squeezed the trigger on the Accuracy International Super Magnum sniper rifle. Hal pulled back on the bolt, extracting the spent cartridge and heard Rand say, "High and to the right."
Hal zeroed the scope again and squeezed the trigger. "Hit."
"What's that for?" Ivy asked, as she walked in. She was wearing eye and hearing protection, like everyone else on the range did.
"For the Powers security detail, I'm controlling the placement of the snipers for that one." Hal replied, "Which reminds me, I've got to talk to Captain Weathers of the SFPD SWAT team later this afternoon, so I'm gonna miss lunch. How about we go over what evidence we've got over dinner?"
"Sure." Ivy replied, "My place?"
"Right." Hal replied as he picked up the rifle and pocketed the five spent casings, "If this bloke tries anything he's getting a .338 Lapua round right between the eyes."
Hal walked into the armory to sign the weapon back in and clean it as Corso said to Ivy, "He's taking this personally."
"He is. Just between us, he thinks this sniper's a guy he trained in South Africa seven years ago." Ivy replied.
"How can Hal be so sure?" Corso said. Ivy ran him through their findings of the night before and Corso said, "Brilliant, I'd not have expected that. But..."
Corso's reply was cut short when the TV in the basement broadcast, "This just in. Two SFPD sharpshooters were killed this morning near the Golden Gate Park area. Police have strong suspicions that the sniper plaguing this area has struck again."
~ ~ ~ ~
Earlier: The morning dew wasn't quite evaporating and the infamous San Francisco mist had not quite been burnt away by the morning sun when the sniper reached his lay up point. Five hundred meters separated him from his targets, two SFPD sharpshooters that were keeping watch on the road. He had to move carefully, for there were always other unseen snipers in these sorts of scenarios. But he had utter confidence in his ability to pick and choose his targets and engagements. Plus, his hide was very well camouflaged. The casual observer wouldn't have figured him hiding in the ventilation system of the building he was in.
He zeroed his first victim's forehead and squeezed the trigger, causing a spray of bloody and hot coffee from the thermos he was holding to fly. Before the second, surprised man could do anything he fired a second round into his head.
~ ~ ~ ~
The bullpen always had one or two detectives in it at any given time, but this time every chair in the small kitchenette was full. Hal walked inside and took the seat Ivy had saved for him. Armando, Maria, Zack, and Tatiana were all clustered at the table.
"So your test came back positive?" Maria said.
"Yes." Tatiana said, she was practically glowing. The fact that the life forming in her womb was conceived a month ago out of wedlock was inconsequential to her.
"Life certainly has its surprises, have you told your parents?" Armando asked.
"We told my parents." Zack said, "Tatiana wants to wait until her parents fly in next Tuesday. Mom and Dad know we're both grown people, but they were still sort of miffed that I'm a father before I'm married. Next thing you know they'll pester Ivy to settle down."
"Like that would happen." Maria said, "I can see Ivy and Carmen running around as perpetual bachelorettes just like in Sex and the City."
All five of the others at the table regarded Maria with shocked looks on their faces and it was a while before anyone spoke. "I can't see Ivy wearing a skirt or high heels at all and I grew up with her." Zack replied.
"You did too Zack, my junior and senior proms for example." Ivy replied.
"Well, if you're gonna be one of my bride's maids, then you're gonna have to wear a dress." Tatiana replied.
Ivy shot her a mock glare as Zack said, "Great going Tatiana, that'll only be the fifth time I've ever seen Ivy attempt to wear a dress."
"Zack, be nice, I'm sure your sister could easily look good in a dress. Better than you at any rate." Hal interjected, "As Shakespeare once said, 'A rose by any other name, still a rose.' So to with a lady."
"This rose has thorns." Ivy said, secretly pleased with the compliment Hal had just given her.
"True, I never said it lacked any thorns. Enough to make me feel an old rappelling injury I got when I was skiing in the Alps last year." Hal replied.
"Ouch, that had to hurt." Zack said.
"I warned you." Armando said.
"You did. Anyway, Ninja Girl, would you like a rematch when this particular Englishman heals himself?" Hal asked.
"I look forward to make you feel the old shoulder again." Ivy replied.
"I got careless that time." Hal replied, "Won't happen again."
"What were you doing in the Alps? Were you on vacation?" Tatiana asked.
"No, I was there on business with taking the Alpine Guide's Course for eighteen months whilst serving on secondment with the German counter terrorist unit GSG-9." Hal replied, "We taught the Jerries how the Regiment takes a bite out of terrorism."
"And just how does it do that?" Armando asked.
"I'll show you." Hal replied, walking them into his office. He turned on his monitor, entered his password, and showed them his desktop background, which consisted of a four-man assault team wearing black from head to toe, armed with MP-5 sub machineguns. A fifth man stood behind them with a 12- gauge shotgun about to blast a door down.
"That my friends is my unit about to do a simulated room clearance." Hal replied, "The bloke with the shotgun is me doing doorman position. The guy leading the team in is Digger, the man whose tea and coffee brews can wake the dead."
The caption of the photograph read Manus Celer Dei, "What does that mean?" Ivy asked.
"The swift hand of God. It's Latin." Zack replied.
"How many languages can you speak again?" Hal asked, "I remember Ivy having said..."
"I quit counting at twenty-eight." Zack replied.
"Jesus Christ." Hal groaned, "You're a regular boy genus lad."
"I never thought that soldiers could be so erudite." Maria said, "I mean no offence, but Shakespeare is the last thing I'd expect to hear from one, brilliant."
"Thanks, I try." Hal replied, "A lot of that reading was from my own self education in all manner of literature and history. I especially love medieval history, particularly the Crusades."
"You've got mail." The AOL chime sounded. Hal checked his e-mail and damn near froze.
"Who's GrimReaper94?" Tatiana asked.
"The sniper we've been chasing. He seems to have personal ties with Hal." Ivy replied.
"Two Janissaries slain." Hal mused, aloud.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zack asked, "This guy's a few glazed doughnuts short of a dozen."
"I know, mate, I know." Hal replied, "Jesus, it was those two policemen that he killed earlier this morning."
"Hal? What's going on?" Ivy asked.
"I just figured out who he is." Hal replied, "He was one of those guys in the picture I showed you last night. His name's Erich Spyde, South African Special Forces, a natural marksman."
"Meaning?" Zack asked.
"He could easily have made every one of those shots to every one of the victims he killed." Hal explained, "He was already an extremely good shot with a rifle, but when I got to training him back in 1993 he wasn't a true sniper."
"Hal, you're not making any sense here." Ivy replied.
"Easy." Hal replied, "Erich Spyde didn't know much more than the basics of being a sniper, camouflage, concealmeant, and counter-sniping."
"That means that he had little more than the average soldiers' skill at camouflage, he didn't know how to pick a good hideout, and he didn't know jack shit about how to avoid and turn the tables on a counter-sniper." Hal replied.
"What's a counter-sniper?" Zack asked.
"A counter-sniper is a bloke who is a trained sniper that hunts an enemy sniper that is known to be operating in the area. The SFPD sharpshooters are carrying out a form of counter-sniper action and not very well as two of their guys got picked off by Erich Spyde." Hal replied.
"You trained Spyde?" Ivy asked.
"Yes, he was a member of the South African Special Forces back then, in the interests of re-opening some doors, the South African and British governments had members of the Regiment train members of the South African Special Forces." Hal replied, "Spyde was one of my more apt and brilliant students. He picked up everything I taught him on the first try and improved on many of my old tricks. He was one of the best students I'd had and he looked up to me as a mentor."
The guilt on Hal's face was immeasurable as Ivy said, "Hal, you couldn't have known...."
"Yes I could." Hal contended, "When his family died in the Johannesburg Race Riots a year later, he wrote me often and each time the letters got more and more desperate as he sank further and further from sanity."
Hal picked up a piece of paper from his pocket, "This one was dated three years ago, 'Teacher, please know this is not your fault. I have settled all my affairs back home and swore over the graves of my father, mother, grandfather and fiancée that they would be avenged by the Master Plan. I am the Angel of Death with your teachings and findings of my own. The traitor shall be purged.' I should have figured he was referring to Powers."
"So he's blaming the South African defense minister for the deaths of his family. And he wants to kill him. We should tell him to cancel his appearance before the African Studies Union here in San Francisco." Zack said.
"Right, we should, but if I know old Mr. Powers, it's not going to stop him." Corso said, walking into the room.
Corso lead them back into the bullpen as the ZNN interview with Christopher Osborn Powers continued.
"So, Mr. Powers, does the San Francisco Sniper have any effect on your planned visit?" asked Stuart Dunston, the ZNN reporter.
"No Mr. Dunston, I does not. I cannot and will not be swayed into my apology for apartheid by a common murderer." Powers replied.
"According to our sources at both the SFPD and ACME Detective Agency you are his primary target." Dunston replied.
"Even so, I cannot let this terrorist stop my visit, it will speak rather badly of my character to my people, both black and white, if I let fear of a bullet stop my travel plans."
"Those bastards." Hal replied, "What do they do with all that evidence we gave them but turn it into a bloody press conference?"
"Hal, they don't have the final clue we have. All we have to do is figure out how to stop Spyde before he gets Mr. Powers into his sights." Ivy said.
"Right, meet me at the second floor terrace if you want to know how a sniper thinks." Hal replied.
~ ~ ~ ~
Ivy followed Hal's instructions to find him sitting at the beautifully landscaped terrace with its planters full of various types of perennial plants and flowers and its graceful old style park benches. He had the Super Magnum rifle across his knees.
He handed her a pair of binoculars, "Pick a random person in the crowd below."
Ivy followed her instructions and Hal put the rifle in her hands, "Now put the scope right on your person's forehead, tell me what you see."
"Hal?" Ivy asked.
"Just do it and let yourself be carried over. What you'll feel is how Spyde feels." Hal replied.
"I see a uniformed police officer, male, in his late thirties. He's riding on horseback down the street and he's stopped to talk to a hot dog vendor." Ivy said.
"He's got no idea we're up here. How do you feel?" Hal asked.
"Like I'm closer than the vendor to him, like I'm in complete control." Ivy said.
"Now squeeze the trigger." Hal replied.
"WHAT?" Ivy asked, "Hal, are you out of your mind?"
"No, it's not even loaded." Hal replied, opening the bolt and indeed revealing that there wasn't a Lapua round in the chamber.
"What was that for?" Ivy asked.
"To put us inside his head so we can discern his mindset. I may have been a sniper before, but I only killed when I was ordered to do so. Spyde has let go any sort of human decencies for his vengeance. The best way to get at an adversary is to get inside his head." Hal replied.
"Trust me, that's one mind I don't want to know any more about." Ivy replied, shaken but trying not to show it.
"That's why you'd make a lousy assassin, but a great detective." Hal replied.
"Thanks, I think." Ivy replied.
"About those new security arrangements for the Powers visit, do you still want me to come by your place after we've looked over the conference center downtown?" Hal asked.
"Sure, something tells me its gonna be yet another working dinner." Ivy replied, "Zack and I used to have those all the time when we were partners."
"I'll bring dinner. What are you in the mood for?" Hal replied.
"Let's just order a pizza and some sodas." Ivy replied, "Come by at seven."
"I'll be there." Hal replied.
~ ~ ~ ~
Spyde was chagrined. The SFPD, for all their blundering had actually wandered into his intended hide for the day. He stalked away from the abandoned theater where he was planning yet another shooting and instead decided to observe ACME where his former mentor now worked.
He watched as he and his partner, the auburn haired woman, talked about something on the roof. He saw his mentor cradling an Accuracy International Super Magnum rifle, a much more accurate and longer reaching rifle than the Dragunov that he currently carried, but it didn't have the concealment that his broken down rifle had. They seemed to be far better equipped than he'd anticipated. Maybe he'd best do some research and send ACME a personal message.
He knew shooting down one of those ACME whiz kids would do wonders for his bad mood. But who to shoot? He knew his intended mentor too well and wanted him to see him kill the accursed Christopher Powers. His partner. Maybe, but he'd definitely have Harold Olden after him in a heartbeat and knowing the skill and tenacity of the man, he didn't want to chance this particular pursuit. Perhaps, the blonde haired sleuth that was walking outside the building, the brother of the redhead. He wasn't gonna shoot his intended victim today, but he'd shoot eventually to tell ACME he meant business, even if it meant it might just have a certain SAS operative after him.
~ ~ ~ ~
TBC (Who's the intended target, find out next crime.)