Katie swallowed. A small surge of adrenaline pulsed through her limbs.
If they need a female, there aren’t many to choose from. They’ll probably ask me to —
Officer James Kahn raised his hand. “El-Tee, I nominate Hiero for the job of female decoy,” he said.
The assembled group burst out in raucous laughter. Katie reluctantly allowed herself a small smile. Humorous moments from James Kahn were infrequent at best. Of course, it figured that he’d choose something like this to joke about. In addition to being the platoon grump, Kahn was also a dyed-in-the-wool skirt-chaser. Katie didn’t know what women saw in him, other than the badge, maybe. He reminded her of an older, less handsome and much crasser version of Giovanni.
Hiero, who sometimes rode partners with Kahn, waited for the laughter to subside. Then he shook his head. “Sir, if you assign me, the first thing I’m doing is filing a sexual harassment suit against Jimmy here. It’s hard enough fending off his clumsy advances all night. If I have to wear a skirt — ”
Another round of laughter exploded around the room. This time, Katie didn’t join in. It always amazed her how quickly gallows humor swept in to displace the anger and concern.
“All right,” Saylor said, raising both hands up for quiet. “Joking aside, this is a serious assignment. Sergeants, meet me after roll call so we can get the task force personnel figured out.”
Saylor turned and strode from the room.
“A little touchy, isn’t he?” Kahn muttered, returning to grouch mode. Katie figured he’d spend the rest of the shift that way, maybe the rest of the week.
Sergeant Shen looked around the table. “I guess he figures that these assaults are a pretty serious issue, that’s all.”
“Everything we deal with is serious, Sarge,” Kahn said.
“So it is,” Shen agreed. “Is anyone interested in volunteering for this task force?”
No one looked at Katie, but she felt the attention of her entire platoon on her. Warmth rushed to her face. Her heart pounded in her ears.
Don’t ask me to do this. Ask me anything else, but not this.
She licked her lips. Since coming on the job five years before, she’d been involved in a variety of sticky situations. An armed robber fired shots at her once in a dark construction lot. A drugged out wife-beater threatened her with a bloody knife. And, of course, she faced the unwinnable situation the previous spring on the Post Street Bridge.
She faced every one of those situations head-on. She pushed through them. She survived.
I don’t want to do this.
Besides, how many rape reports had she taken? Dozens, at least. And how many rapists had she arrested? Ten or so? More? She’d never been afraid of any of them. So why was she afraid now?
I do NOT want to do THIS!
A couple of her sector mates had turned their eyes toward her during the brief silence following Shen’s question. She looked up at each of them, then at Shen. The sergeant regarded her calmly.
I don’t want to do this.
I don’t-
“I’ll be the decoy,” she told Shen. Then, clearing her throat, she repeated, “I’ll do it.”
Sergeant Shen nodded his thanks.
Katie MacLeod, who sometimes hid but never ran, nodded back.
2127 hours
Sergeant Miyamoto Shen closed the door to the sergeant’s room behind him as he entered. Lieutenant Saylor sat reviewing and approving patrol reports. He glanced up as Shen entered and set aside the stack of papers.
“How’d it go?”
“Did anyone volunteer from the other two sectors?” Shen asked him.
Saylor shrugged. “A few cover officers.”
“But no decoys?”
Saylor shook his head. “There’s all of three women on graveyard right now. One of them is MacLeod, who’s yours. The other two females weren’t interested. One of them is going on vacation tomorrow and the other one…well, she just wasn’t interested.”
“MacLeod volunteered,” Shen said.
“I figured she would. She’s got grit.”
Shen nodded thoughtfully. “She’s a warrior, I agree. But everyone has limits.”
Saylor looked closely at Shen. “You don’t think she’s up to it?”
“I’m sure she is. That’s not what I mean.”
“Then what?”
“It’s just that she’s been through a lot in the last couple of years. I don’t wonder about her ability to handle any one incident, just about how she’ll handle the cumulative effect of all of them.”
Saylor considered, then shrugged. “That’s the life of a cop.”
Shen pressed his lips together in obvious disagreement. “I just don’t want to lose a good troop because we push her too hard or ask too much of her.”
He may be right, Saylor thought.
Nonetheless, he reached out and clapped Shen on the shoulder. “Relax, Sergeant. We ask too much of these men and women every day. At least, we ask them to face the possibility of paying too much. They can handle it. MacLeod can handle it.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” Shen said, but his voice had a hint of a doubtful tone.
“I am,” Saylor assured him. “Now, who should we assign as cover officers?”
“As soon as she volunteered, Battaglia and O’Sullivan offered to serve as cover officers.”
“Are you all right with that?”
Shen nodded. “Both are good cops, if a little immature at times. And they like MacLeod. They’ll take the job seriously.”
“Who’s your number three, then?”
“I’m going to assign Chisolm. The first night of operations for the task force is tomorrow and he’ll be back from his days off. He can rotate through with Battaglia and O’Sullivan.”
Saylor nodded his approval. The presence of a veteran officer like Chisolm would keep Battaglia and O’Sullivan grounded.
“Good choice,” he agreed.
“Let’s hope they’re successful,” Shen said.
God willing, Saylor added silently.
2319 hours
He felt it in his chest. It was like a burning pain at times. Other times, it felt more like a cold knife. No matter what, it welled up inside like a tsunami, forcing against his throat, his limbs, his mind.
It made him rock hard.
It made him tremble.
Hookers weren’t helping anymore, he discovered. He tried to go with one earlier in the day, but had to stop. He felt the energy, the power, surging inside him. He didn’t know if he could stop himself once he started. He didn’t believe that River City would care much about a dead hooker, but he didn’t want to waste his power on such a worthless target.
He wanted…no, he needed a real woman.
Someone who was closer to her.
He pulled in a deep breath of the cool night air. Sitting on a bench in Riverfront Park, he enjoyed the quiet of the night around him. The Looking Glass River flowed gently through the center of the park, located just on the fringe of downtown River City.
He liked it here. It was quiet, with only the light hiss of nighttime traffic in the distance. The air was cooled by the river. The coolness felt good on his face, eyes, and as he drew it into his throat. Although he’d been able to wash out all of the mace that woman had sprayed him with, a light burning remained.
His mind flashed to the front seat of the teacher’s car. She reminded him so much of Mrs. Reed, or what she would probably look like know. Sure, he hadn’t gotten the chance to fuck her -
Bitches ruin everything, don’t they?
— but he definitely laid the whammo on her, didn’t he? She got a good finger-banging first, then a good old fashioned beating. And if his eyes and throat hadn’t been burning like hellfire, he would have finished the job.