Vengeance of the Freeway Phantom

Chapter 8

Suddenly, Ponch's alarm went off--with its irritating beeping. As tired as he was, it took a bit for that noise to register as to what it actually was. When it finally did register, he slapped the snooze button, rolled back over and moaned. He only had nine more minutes before...beep, beep, beep," his alarm sounded again. He had instantly fallen back to sleep. "Ah, man!" he groaned. He slowly sat up knowing full well if he didn't, he'd fall right back to sleep.

His weary mind went back once again to last night. He felt that the tired feeling he was fighting at the moment was well worth it. Maybe now, Stephanie would be able to handle her grief a little better now that she wasn't holding it in. He realistically knew though, that it still would take some time for her to deal with it. Speaking of time, he figured he'd better get a move on, because at the speed he was going he'd never get to work on time.

Once everyone was seated in the Briefing room, Getraer came in making the announcement that Ponch, Jon and Stephanie already knew that one more officer was injured. Officer Ortega was still listed in critical condition as of that morning, but was expected to pull through. His injuries were serious, but with a lengthy hospital stay, therapy and more than a couple months of medical leave, in time he should be back to work.

While Getraer filled everyone in, Ponch tried to watch Stephanie for any reaction. Even though she already was aware of the accident, he wanted to see if the reminder would affect her in the usual way. Outwardly, she gave no sign that he could read. She simply looked straight ahead. He wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not.

After briefing, all the officers began leaving the room and exiting the building. Ponch tried to catch up to Jon and Stephanie, "Hey, guys, wait up!" They did, and Ponch continued, "Ah, Stephanie, can I talk to you a minute?"

"Sure, Ponch."

"I'll wait for you by our motors," her partner told her, looking at Ponch and arching a brow. Baker was wondering what his friend had up his sleeve this time.

"Okay," she acknowledged and then turned her attention back to Ponch.

"Are you going to be all right out there today?" Ponch asked, honestly concerned and definitely interested in her welfare.

"Sure, Ponch, I'm fine, thanks, really, I'm okay," she told him with a smile.

"All right, I--"

"Hey, Stephanie, we've gotta roll!" Jon yelled, suddenly, "We've gotta a MVA on our beat!"

"Sorry, Ponch, gotta run!" she turned and ran toward Baker and her motor.

Ponch watched them pull away, then he walked over to his motor to head toward the freeway he was covering that day. He prayed that she would be able to keep herself together for her safety as well as Jon's.

It was midmorning when Ponch and Jon met at Patterson's funeral home. All the officers involved in the proceedings were there. Each one was given their assignment along with their position in the procession from the funeral home to the cemetery. Both Ponch and Jon noticed one officer in particular who seemed to be having a pretty rough time dealing with the circumstances. Apparently, this man must have been very, very close to Officer Stevenson. It appeared that this situation he found himself in was going to be very difficult for him to deal with, and they could tell he was having a hard fight with his emotions.

The meeting itself didn't take very long and as soon as it was over the grieving officer quickly turned to leave.

Ponch was about to go over to talk with him, but Jon put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. He turned to Baker and gave him a confused look. Then Jon pointed out that a sergeant who was there hadn't missed the emotionally distraught man either. He was already standing beside Stevenson's buddy, guiding him away from the others.

"Rick, you okay?" the sergeant anxiously inquired. From the way the young man looked, he realized that was probably a dumb question, but he still needed to ask. Rick still seemed miles away, so the sergeant rephrased his question a bit and repeated it, "Rick are you gonna be okay?"

Rick finally looked at the man who was standing front of him with his hand on his shoulder, "Huh? Oh, sorry Sarge, did you say something?"

"Yeah, look are you gonna be okay with this, being involved in the funeral and all? You and Jim were mighty close.

"Yeah, Jim and I were pretty good friends. I...I just can't believe...that...he had to die this way."

"Look, Rick , if you honestly don't think you can go through with this I'll completely understand. The rest of the B-Shift will too."

"No Sarge, no, I'll...I'll be okay. I have to do this for me...for Jim."

Before saying anything further, the sergeant took a really good look at him. Then, "Okay...if you're sure you're gonna be able to handle this." He knew all the officers, whether involved in the funeral or not were all in a state of shock. Those who had known Jim Stevenson as a friend and fellow officer were especially having a rough time.

This time, Rick couldn't find his voice to respond to his senior officer, he was still trying to pull himself together. He was well aware of how hard this was going to be for him. But he felt in his heart even in death he couldn't turn his back on his friend and colleague--not now. So he simply left the area behind him and headed home as he had to get ready for work later that day.

Now that everything that needed to be taken care of was completed and everyone knew their places, they all filed out of the building. When they got back to their motors, Ponch just sat there lost in thought.

Jon noticed the thoughtful, dazed look on his face, "You okay?" He received no reply, so he repeated the question along with giving him a gentle nudge, "Hey, you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I just can't help but think of what a stupid way for a wife to lose her husband…or a guy to lose a friend, or a Division to lose a fellow officer. This Phantom's gotta screw up somewhere. His luck's gotta run out sometime."

"I know exactly what you mean. C'mon, let's head back to Central." With that, Baker started his bike and pulled out of the lot. Ponch was right behind him, albeit, somewhat still deep in thought.

Unknowingly, both officers were being trailed by that elusive Phantom. He had parked and waited for them while they were in the funeral home. He was really itching to take out his pigeon, but he knew now wouldn't be the time. He also knew he had become really good at knocking a cop off his bike, but he wasn't willing to risk doing it two at a time, not just yet.

Once back at Central, Jon met up with Stephanie as planned. After whatever needed to be taken care of there, they returned to the highways. It wasn't much longer after that, that Ponch was 'out and about' as well. Although he was unaware that he was being followed.

Meanwhile, the Phantom had decided he had waited, as well as researched this cop long enough. He was ready to take his next victim out. Ah, sweet revenge! So once he knew Ponch was heading back to Central, he quickly went off to look for a car he could use...free of charge, of course.

It took him a little while, but the Phantom managed to find the perfect sporty type vehicle. He had to keep up his image. When he got back to the CHP building, he parked in his usual hiding place and then checked out the area where the motorcycles were parked. From what he could tell his pigeon's motorcycle was still there in the same place it always seemed to be parked. Turned out that he had arrived back just in time, however, because it was only a matter of a few minutes when Ponch came out and headed back to the highways...with the Phantom following a safe distance behind.

He followed Ponch throughout his travels, but for some reason, things didn't work out as the Phantom had planned. The afternoon passed with Ponch never getting into a position where the felon felt he could 'take him out'. There were times when cars had surrounded the biker so that he had no room to get into position. He was really bummed that things didn't work out. However, he knew it was better to be safe than sorry. Besides, the time would come. He just had to be patient.