Chapter 45

September 7, 1998

"How you been?" I asked Marvin Branagh as I sat in the diner with a cup of coffee in hand.

"I'm good," Marvin replied with a sigh as he rubbed his eyes. "It's been hell this past few weeks though."

"I bet," I replied as I took a sip of my coffee. "The city seems to have gone crazy after the mountain incident."

"You're telling me," Marvin grunted. "I've been pulling double shifts all week just to keep up with the paperwork. On top of that, we've Got Chief Irons 'Not available' at times when we need the chief to be present."

"Wish I was able to help," I said as I accepted the plate of waffles and bacon from the waitress.

"SWAT wishes you were there too," Marvin said as he accepted his plate of toast, eggs, and sausage. "They've been run ragged all month trying to keep a lid on the gang violence that's going on."

"Well, even if I don't work with y'all anymore, you guys can still give me a call when you're off if you need some off-the-books first aid."

"I'll keep that in mind," Marvin grunted as he began to eat. "The rest of STARS leave town or something?"

"Yeah," I replied. "I think it's just Jill, Brad, and myself still in town."

"I don't know what Chief Irons was thinking," Marvin said as he scarfed down his food in between gulps of orange juice. "But we could have used all of you. As it is, we're getting a bunch of fresh graduates from several police academies. We don't need fresh officers here though, we need experienced cops ready to get shit squared away."

"Anything else new happening?" I asked, curious to see if things were moving as quickly as I suspected.

"Nah," Marvin shook his head. "Just a hectic week so far, and I'm ready to go on vacation already."

"You got the PTO for it?" I asked.

"Nah," Marvin shook his head. "I've already got Christmas and Thanksgiving scheduled off this year."

"Then I hope you get to enjoy them," I said honestly as we both began chatting about the other things that were going on in the RPD currently.

–

–

"Anything new out of the RPD?' Jill asked.

"Yeah," I replied with an odd look on my face. "Chief Irons keeps disappearing from his office periodically and not even Deputy Chief Douglas knows where he is during those time periods."

"Should we take a look and see what we can find out?" Alice asked.

"I mean," I shrugged. "It could be related to Umbrella, so it may be worth a shot."

"We'll have to work something out," Jill said as she considered the idea. "We'll start making plans tonight and move on from there."

"I'll be continuing the prep work on the Humvee tomorrow," I replied. "I've also got a couple of other things to work on."

"We'll take care of investigating Chief Irons," Jill said. "The cars being in working order is a big deal."

"Your Toyota needs more work than I can provide," I said as I gestured toward the car that was in horrible shape. "I'll see what I can do for your engine, but I'm not making any promises."

"Eh," Jill shrugged. "It was a beater when I bought it in the first place."

"So y'all are going to investigate Irons starting tomorrow while I continue working at the school?" I double-checked.

"Yep," Alice said as she finished loading up the rest of her Beretta magazines. "But first, let's finish this range time. It's been a while and I need to make sure I'm up to speed."

"Alright," I agreed as I stood up from the table at the outdoor range. "Want me to help walk you through some of the speed and accuracy drills that I use?"

"Sure. I'll bet Jill has some that'll help too," Alice said as she made sure her holster was secured.

"I've got a few," Jill replied. "We'll work through all of them slowly though, don't want to overwhelm you after all."

"Step one is to relax, the more stressed out you are about the shot the more fatigued your arms will get over time. A handgun might not be heavy at first, but after thirty minutes or more of practicing with a handgun the small muscles in your forearms and wrist will start getting worn out and you'll start missing shots."

September 9, 1998

"So, why is Chief Irons leaving out of a back exit?" Alice asked as the two women watched the heavyset man look around before vanishing into a side alley.

"That is a very good question," Jill said as she exited the car. "Let's go see if we can find out."

"Right behind you," Alice said as she made sure her boots were laced tight.

Moving forward into the alleyway, they saw a small glimpse of the man as he disappeared down a manhole, the cover setting quietly down behind him as he climbed down with a flashlight held between his teeth.

"Why go into the sewers?" Jill asked quietly. "What are you hiding down there?"

"We should wait a few seconds before following him," Alice whispered. "We don't want to be heard by him and risk discovery."

"Agreed," Jill replied. "You got the camera?"

"In my backpack," Alice said. "Don't want to risk dropping it into sewer water right now, after all."

"Alright, let's get this manhole cover up and start moving, I don't want to lose Irons," Jill said as she leaned down and began picking up the steel plate.

"The ladder here is surprisingly sturdy," Alice observed as she began climbing down.

"It has to be if Irons wants his bulk to get down without any problems," Jill responded as she slid down the ladder, her gloves working as a brake while she dropped.

"Huh," Alice said as she finished climbing down. "I'm surprised the lighting in here is as intact as it is."

"It'll be enough for us to find Irons," Jill said as she drew her Samurai Edge. "Let's go find out what's going on here."