Part 6 – The Highway Robbery – Part 2

Arriving back at the station, Iruka had already set up the board, "Please tell me we have something," he said as Sasuke and Shikamaru entered.

"We learned these guys are cosplaying as Wild West Highwaymen," Shikamaru said as he sent a picture of the dead robber's leather trench coat and the UV image of the gunshot residue on the man's hand.

"We brought the slug to a friend of mine," Sasuke said, "She says the bullet that the techs pulled out of the engine was from a Sharps. Probably .45-90, but it could be higher."

"Any words on the guards?" Shikamaru asked.

"Still in surgery," Iruka said, "Got off the phone with the CEO of Loomis, and he's waiting on the status of the investigation."

"Tell him we're on it," Sasuke said, "Tell him we at least know what stopped his truck. Also, see if you can get a description of what the truck was carrying."

Sasuke and Shikamaru sat at their desks, "Why use a Sharps when there are other, more destructive weapons that can be used to stop an armored truck," Shikamaru asked.

"Those kind of weapons are expensive," Sasuke said, "And with the government clamping down on weapons like that it'd be pretty easy to track down the said weapon."

"Meanwhile if the gun was a family heirloom…" Shikamaru said.

"They wouldn't have to register it," Sasuke said, "Plus, a Sharps isn't a heavy as any modern day weapons that could shoot something that could bring an armored truck to a halt."

"A little weird don't you think though," Shikamaru asked, "A bunch of people carrying out some kind of Wild West Highwayman fantasy?"

"Not that weird," Sasuke said, "There are a whole bunch of people that want to live the Wild West Fantasy. There are even whole towns that are dedicated to living in the Wild West."

"Getting drunk on whiskey, carrying a revolver, shooting wild animals that crawl onto your property to kill your chickens," Shikamaru asked, "If it's alright with you, I'll take going to MacDonald's and getting a Big Mac and a Coke over going to the saloon and getting wasted while listening to piano music."

"I'm with you there partner," Sasuke said.

"Think we should be looking at the pawn shops," Shikamaru asked, "Isn't it standard criminal procedure to go to a pawn shop after a robbery like this?"

"And offload what," Sasuke asked, "We don't know what the truck was carrying so they could have been after anything."

It was then that the phone rang, "Nara, Robbery," Shikamaru said as picked up his phone, there was some commotion before Shikamaru looked up, "It's your friend Tenten, she's gone through her father's books, and she's found something for us."

"Let's go," Sasuke said as he stood up.

Flashback

The next stop on Sasuke's trip was Katz's Deli, "What about working for some sort of Private Security company," Itachi asked, "You'd make triple what you were making in the Army?"

"Doesn't seem like such a bad idea," Sasuke said as he walked down the line, he already had the staples, a corned beef and pastrami sandwich Ruben style with a side of fries and half sweet and half sour pickles, all he needed was a coke.

As they took a seat, Fugaku and Mikoto took their seats as Sasuke started eating, "Pretty good?" Mikoto asked.

"Very," Sasuke said as he swallowed.

"Where should we go next," Mikoto asked.

"How about Union Square," Sasuke asked.

"They do have a very nice Capitol One there," Fugaku said as he looked at Sasuke, "We can get you access to the company's checking account."

"Come on dad, not now," Sasuke said, "Please not now."

"Now's as good a time as any," Fugaku said, "Man has to do something with his life."

End Flashback

Akihiro Arms in Downtown Pineville right across the river from Alexandria isn't exactly one of the best places to be seen if you're a gun collector. You might occasionally see a WW1 Era Colt, a Colt New Service, or a Henry Yellow Boy rifle. But if you want to find a good price on a Glock or parts for your 1911 then Akihiro Arms is the place to be.

As Sasuke and Shikamaru entered, they saw Shino inside wearing his S.W.A.T. Uniform, "Shino, hey," Sasuke said as they entered, "Good to see you, buddy."

"You too man," Shino said a she turned around, and grabbed Sasuke's hand as it came in, "How's the Case against Richter going?"

"Goes to trial next week," Sasuke said, "Meanwhile he's sitting in the Federal Prison in Pollock until the trial goes to court."

"Glad me and the boys could help out," Shino said as Tenten came from the back of the store carrying Shino's Sig Sauer P226, "Here you go Shi-no."

Shino let out a small chuckle, "Always funny Tenten," Shino said, "Everything straight?"

"Everything," Tenten said, "I even test fired it a bit at the range, works beautifully."

"Thanks," Shino said then turned to Sasuke, "Hey, I was talking to Tenten when I came in, we were going to get some drinks tonight at Konoha around 8:00. Whole gang's gonna be there, you in?"

"Hell yeah, I'm in," Sasuke said as he bumped Shino's fist with his, "See you guys tonight."

"See you then," Shino said as he walked out of the store.

"Sure you can close that early," Sasuke asked.

"I'll make it work," Tenten said as she placed a handful of books on the counter in front of the two detectives, "Daddy kept a record of every gun he worked on from 1972 to a few years ago. I've already highlighted the Sharps Rifles he's worked on."

"Back when he retired," Sasuke said as he opened to the first tab Tenten put in the book, and looked down to the name, "Alright, March 2nd, 1973… Eric Strauss, Sharps Rifle, caliber .45-70."

"How many books are there," Shikamaru asked.

"I counted seven," Tenten said, "And at least two hundred and seven entries of Sharps Rifles."

"Shit," Shikamaru said, "There's no way we have that long to sift through seven books of entries on Sharps Rifles."

"Mind if we take these Tenten," Sasuke asked as he gathered the books in hand.

"Sure," Tenten said, "In the meantime, I'll see you tonight."

"You got it," Sasuke said as he and Shikamaru walked out.

"How'd you manage to swing that," Shikamaru asked.

"Swing what," Sasuke asked.

"Having drinks with SWAT Leader Shino," Shikamaru asked, "Guy's been known to be a bit of a hard-ass when it comes to having drinks."

As they climbed into the trunk, Sasuke spoke, "Me and Shino, we go way back, as does Naruto and Tenten."

"Army days," Shikamaru asked.

"Yep," Sasuke said, "Me, Shino, Tenten, and Naruto were all part of the same Intelligence Squad. Along with a few others."

Shikamaru drove back to the station where upon returning they found Iruka was waiting for them, "Tell me we have something," he said as he walked up to them.

"We do," Sasuke said as he placed the seven books down on the table, "We need to get a few guys from tech down here to get a listing of every last Sharps Rifle in this book. These are all the records of every gun that Akihiro Arms worked on the last forty-four years."

"Why'd you go to Akihiro Arms," Iruka asked as Shikamaru got a call on his phone.

"Tenten's father, David Akihiro the founder of Akihiro Arms made his living on restoring, modifying, and remaking classic weapons after he got back from Vietnam," Sasuke said, "He's the best in the State, and he happens to be among the cheapest. He was even trained by the gunmakers at Winchester, Colt, and Remington. If you wanted an accessory rail on your M1 Garand he could make it seem like it came out of the factory that way."

"So if someone were to bring him a Sharps Rifle in need of restoration…" Iruka began.

"And you were in Alexandria, you took it to David," Sasuke said, "And antique Sharps Rifles use black-power cartridges which corrodes the metal in the barrels. You don't clean them, they don't fire."

"And modern ones use smokeless charges," Iruka asked, "What makes you think it was a black powder cartridge?"

"The amount of gunpowder on our dead shooter's hand," Sasuke said, "If you're going to put that much effort into using black-powder revolvers, then why not use a black-powder rifle?"

"Excellent deduction, Uchiha," Iruka said, "I'll see if I can get a few guys down here to scan these books."

Shikamaru walked back into the room, "That was my girlfriend," he said, "She's having some car issues so I'm gonna go get her. Can you handle things for now?"

"Yea, sure," Sasuke said as the phone on his desk rang, "Uchiha, Robbery," there was some commotion over the phone, before Sasuke spoke, "Ok, I'll be right down."

"What is it," Iruka asked.

"That was the trauma center at Rapides Regional," Sasuke said as he stood up, "They have an update on the status of the guards."

"Once you're done, report back here," Iruka said.

"Yes sir," Sasuke said as he walked out of the squad room.

As a requirement, detectives have issued department vehicles but are sometimes grandfathered in to be able to drive various other types of cars, so long as they're not personal.

Shikamaru's truck wasn't his personal truck, it was department issued, but it had been modified on special order from his father.

The car that Sasuke was issued was a 2012 Dodge Charger, strapped behind the headrests on the rack behind the back seats was a Remington M24 chambered in .308 Winchester with an x12 scope.

The drive from the station to Rapides Regional Medical Center wasn't very long, but it did take Sasuke around a few turns.

Arriving at the hospital, he was greeted at the metal detectors by security who let him pass through when he flashed his badge.

Sasuke walked up to the front desk, and held out his badge, "Alexandria PD," he said, "I understand two Loomis employees came in around 5:30 this morning with gunshot wounds."

"Rooms 243," the receptionist said as she pointed down the left hall, "Down the hall, hallway on your right, elevator to the second floor, next to last room down the east hallway on your left."

"Thanks," Sasuke said as he walked down the hall to the elevator.

When he made it to the second floor, he walked down the east hallway to their rooms and found the guards sleeping off the anesthesia, the one on the right had his left leg held above the bed in a cast, and a large bandage on his chest.

The one on the left wore the same chest bandage as his partner and had a small bandage on his finger. It's a rare occurrence in GSW (Gun Shot Wound) injuries and occurs when the person shot it holding a gun, survives, gets their weapon caught in something, and someone tries to get them out of the position they were in fast without removing their finger from the trigger-guard.

When this happens, the finger is bent out of shape, and if not handled with care, the person trying to help the victim could literally tear the tip of the victim's finger off. In this case, the wound was only a break, not a tear.

"Can I help you," one of the nurses asked as she walked into the room carrying two I.V. bags.

"Yes," Sasuke said as he walked up to her, and showed his badge, "Detective Uchiha, Alexandria PD. I've been assigned the shooting of our two men here."

"Of course," the nurse said as she went to change the I.V. bags, "What can I do?"

"Can you tell me who the surgeon was that treated them," Sasuke asked, "There are a few things I need to clear up."

"They got in pretty rapidly so there wasn't time to get a surgeon on call," the nurse said, "We had Doctor Erickson perform the operation."

"Can you tell me where I can find him," Sasuke asked.

"Yes," the nurse said, "He's checking on the children in the extended care ward."

"Point the way please," Sasuke asked.

"Just down the hall," the nurse said, "Glass doors on your right."

"Thanks," Sasuke said.

Sasuke walked down the hall to the extended care area where he saw a young twenty-something-year-old doctor with blonde hair playing with several children.

Sasuke knocked on the door, drawing the attention of Erickson when he flashed his badge, Erickson turned to the kids, spoke something, and walked over to the door.

"Can I help you, officer," he asked as he stepped out the door.

"Detective Uchiha," Sasuke said as he held out his hand, "Nice to meet you, Doctor."

"You too," Erickson said, "What can I do for you?"

"I understand you were the one that operated on our two truck guards that were brought in this morning," Sasuke said, "Bullets landed on the outside edges of their Kevlar plates?"

"Yes," Erickson said.

"Can you show me the slugs," Sasuke asked.

"Yes," Erickson said as he gestured Sasuke to follow him, "Those two are very lucky," after walking down a few doors, they arrived at a small lab-like room filled with different kinds of instruments, "Here we are," he opened one of the cabinets to retrieve two bags of bloody bullets.

The smaller bag contained small metal pellets, the bigger bag contained lead balls, "Twelve gauge percussion rounds," Sasuke said as he then looked at the bigger bag, ".36 Cap and Ball rounds."

"That was my guess as well," Erickson said, "I've only seen this kind of bullets during Civil War reenactment accidents."

"I'm sure you've seen a lot of bullet wounds in your line of work," Sasuke said.

"I saw a lot more over in Iraq," Erickson said.

"No way, you're a veteran," Sasuke asked.

"Corpsman with the U.S. Marine Corps," Erickson said, "2nd Battalion, 7th Marines."

"War Dogs," Sasuke said as he held out his hand, "Right on man, I was U.S. Army."

"What division," Erickson asked as he grabbed Sasuke's hand

"109th Intelligence," Sasuke said, "I was the team's sniper."

"Sweet," Erickson said, "Sure you got some pretty good stories."

"Maybe we can swap them later," Sasuke said, "Right now I'm sure those kids do with playing with their friend."

"Thanks," Erickson said.

As Sasuke was leaving the hospital, he called Shikamaru, "Hey partner," Shikamaru said, "What's up?"

"I have an I.D. on two more of the weapons used in the robbery," Sasuke said, "A twelve-gauge percussion shotgun, and .36 caliber cap and ball revolver."

"You talked to the doctor," Shikamaru said.

"Yep," Sasuke said, "I'm going to grab some lunch, and head back to the precinct."

"Alright," Shikamaru said, "See you back there."

Guess what will happen next