Backlash, p.22
Backlash, page 22
“Reigns get your ass over to Duncan’s place.” Frank ordered. “He has his grandchildren in the house with him. They are in his basement, but his house is under attack by RPD officers. Proceed with caution…Proceed with caution.”
“We’re at the officer down site. It is Bynum who is down, Chief. Are you saying there is another?” Nate asked.
“Bynum?” Frank questioned. “Nate, if they are taking out their own, Duncan doesn’t stand a chance. Hell, I’m stuck in a damn bunker while my people are being taken out one by one,” Frank stated with frustration. “You are my eyes for the night, Nate. Devin is coming to take over the Bynum scene. Get over to Duncan, I don’t know who to trust out there.”
“Give me Duncan’s address,” Nate said as he hit Tony on the shoulder. “We have another Deputy Chief in trouble.”
“Sergeant,” Nate walked over to speak privately. “Your officer Becker is more than likely the person who shot Bynum. I don’t know if you will understand this, but we are under attack, from within. Watch your back and take Becker in for questioning.”
“Reigns what in the hell are you talking about?”
“I don’t have time to break it down right now Sergeant. But as you said, we don’t know who is friend or foe. Detective Devin Williams will be here to take over the scene. Watch your back Sergeant,” Nate warned again as he and Tony ran to his car.
“How many of these are we going to get tonight,” Tony questioned as Nate pulled off.
“Buckle up,” Nate exhaled. “It’s going to be a long night.” He pushed a button on the console. “I’m going to need some serious back up.”
Ten minutes later, the gun fire could be heard as Nate and Tony pulled into the neighborhood. Police cars were all around. Officers had weapons drawn and most were outside of their vehicles aiming towards the house. Others were actually firing into the house. Bullet holes could be seen across the front of the house and the windows.
“What in the hell? It’s like they are at target practice,” Tony said as he reached for his weapon.
Nate pulled the car to a stop, jumped out then ran to one of the officers who was not firing. “What’s happening?” he asked.
“It’s crazy,” the officer said. “They are firing at a man they claimed barricaded himself inside and threatened to kill himself and two children. I would think we should take caution to try to bring the children out unharmed. But it looks like some of our officers are trying to kill both the man and the children inside the house. I did not sign up for this.”
“Everybody, hold your fire,” Nate ordered. “Hold your fire!”
“On whose authority,” another officer shouted back.
“Detective Reigns, now hold your god damn fire!”
“You don’t have that authority,” another shot back as bullets continued to hit the house.
A shot came over the hood of the police cruiser hitting the officer standing next to Nate.
“Shit,” Nate ducked behind the cruiser as he pulled the officer out of the line of more gun shots.
“Are you hit, Kid?” Tony called out. “Nate answer me.”
“No, no. I’m good,” he said as several black vans pulled up circling the officers.
“Do we fire back?” Tony questioned, “they are RPD.”
“Hell, yes you fire back. They are shooting at us. I don’t give a damn who they are, you fire back.” Nate pulled a cloth from the back seat of the cruiser then pressed it on the officer’s shoulder. “Apply pressure.” He said then pulled his weapon.
“This is the FBI, hold your god damn fire!” The voice boomed from a loudspeaker inside one of the vans. A bright light illuminated the area showing officers still firing, while others were looking back at the vans.
“On whose authority?” an officer shouted back.
“Mine.” Skylar stepped out of the black SUV and fired one shot, taking the officer down. “Let me repeat. Hold your fire,” she replied as multiple FBI agents ran out the vans with weapons pointing at RPD officers. “The next officer to fire their weapon will be placed under federal arrest. Hold your god damn fire.”
“That’s the way to get their attention,” Nate stood as Skylar walked up to him. “What took you so long?”
“I had to pull my team together,” Skylar replied.
“Get some medical help for this officer,” Nate said as he rushed towards the house. “Deputy Chief Duncan and his grandchildren are inside. We have to get him out of there.”
“Anybody looking like they are going to fire their weapon, shoot,” Skylar ordered as she ran up to the door with Nate and Tony. “They are getting mighty damn bold to be firing on a Deputy Chief like this. What in the hell is happening Nate?”
“All hell has broken loose out here,” Nate put his ear buds in his ears then pushed a button on his phone. “Chief let Duncan know we are coming in.”
“Are you alone?” Frank asked.
“No, I have Tony and Skylar with me.” Nate replied.
“Who is watching your back?”
“Federal agents,” Nate replied.
An audible sigh could be heard through the speaker. “Thank God.” Frank responded. “This kid, Mac, is talking to Duncan through the game box. He knows it’s you at the door.”
“Can you give me his location?” Nate asked as he turned the knob on the front door.
“He’s in his basement,” Frank replied. “He said go to the left hallway by the kitchen. There’s a door that leads down to the basement.”
Nate followed the directions. “Tony, cover the front door. If anybody in blue approaches shoot them.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Tony kept his eyes on the men out front.
Skylar followed Nate inside, then stood to the side with her weapon pointed at the entrance to the basement. “I got your six.”
Nate nodded. Not knowing what to expect, Nate had his weapon drawn. “Deputy Chief Duncan. It’s Detective Reigns. I’m coming down the stairs. Do not fire.”
“You better tell me something more than that son,” Duncan replied. “The minute your feet hit those steps I’m firing.”
“Say TA,” Frank said through the phone. “Just say TA.”
“TA, Deputy Chief,” Nate said, “TA.”
“You’re clear,” Duncan replied.
Nate wanted to release a sigh of relief, but he could not until he saw with his own eyes that it was indeed Duncan in the basement and he did not have a gun pointed at him.
“Chief, I got him.” Nate said as he reached the bottom step to see Duncan standing in the corner of the renovated basement with his weapon down at his side. Nate sighed.
“Deputy Chief it’s good to put eyes on you. But we are not in a position to comb through all that is happening. We need to get you…” Nate looked around. “Where is your grandson?”
“I’m right here.”
Nate turned to see a young boy around ten standing beneath the stairwell next to a car seat holding a baby. “Holy shit,” Nate said under his breath. No one told him a baby was in the house. The sight of the baby and the little boy pissed Nate off. The officer was right. There were children inside, but no one said anything about a baby. They were shooting up a house that had a damn baby inside.
“Nate.”
He heard Skylar call out.
“Nate! WE HAVE VISITORS COMING.”
“Do not open fire,” the voice from the game box that was sitting on the television stand called out. “They are there to extract Deputy Duncan and his grandchildren. Again, do not fire.”
“Let them through,” Nate called up the steps to Skylar.
“It’s not like I could stop them,” Skylar said as she walked down the stairs followed by two women he had never seen before.
“Reigns?” one woman spoke.
Nate had his weapon pointed at them. “And you are?”
“I’m Slay, this is Tank. We are here to get Duncan and the children.”
“Who sent you?”
“Oh lord,” the one named Tank walked over pushing Nate’s hand to the side as she walked over to the children.
“Patience is not her best suit,” the one named Slay stated. “Deputy Chief Duncan,” she walked by Nate over to Duncan. “TA sent us. We are going to get you out of here. Where is your trap door?”
“Over here,” Duncan stated as he kicked a rug aside.
Nate watched as the woman pulled up the trap door, then disappeared. “Where did she go?”
“Under the house,” Duncan replied.
A minute later the woman reappeared. “We have an opening,” she said as she climbed back up. She pushed a button on her earwig. “Leo, I don’t trust the trigger fingers of the men out front. We’re coming to you from under the house.” She then looked at Duncan. “Do you have a blanket we can put over the baby?”
“Yeah, right here,” Duncan’s grandson said.
The one named Tank took the blanket. “What’s your name?”
“Apollo.”
“What’s your sister’s name?”
“Eden.”
“Okay, Apollo. We’re going on a little adventure.”
“Are you going to shoot those men who were shooting at my granddaddy?”
“Damn right we are,” Tank replied.
“Children Tank, children,” Slay advised.
“Oh,” Tank looked at the little boy. “You darn right we are.” She said then took both the baby and the boy to the trap door then disappeared.
“Leo is at the ease way opening on the side of the house.” Slay stated. “Let’s go, Deputy Chief Duncan. We are going to use that as an escape route.”
Duncan looked at Nate. “Thank you for coming.”
“We got your back Deputy Chief,” Nate replied.
Duncan disappeared under the floor. Slay looked up. “See you on the other side Reigns.” And with that they were all gone.
Nate and Skylar stared at the spot on the floor. “Who in the hell were they?”
Nate shook his head. “I have no idea and don’t care. Duncan is out of this house.”
“Nate,” Tony shouted. “Another alert Nate.”
Nate and Skylar ran up the stairs and out the front door.
“Officer down…officer down.”
“That’s the third officer down.” Nate stopped on the front porch. “Something’s not right.”
“No that is the fourth officer attack.” Tony stated. “Mosley, then Bynum, Duncan and he isn’t down, but William’s house was blown up.”
Nate stared at Tony, then Skylar. “Everybody just stop,” he yelled.
“We have officers down Reigns,” someone called out. “We can’t stop.”
“It’s the perfect storm for something bigger. This is a distraction for all of us. There is something else about to happen,” Nate stated.
“There is something happening all right.” Skylar stated. “The question is what?”
“We are spread too thin.” Nate said. “Every call has been at a different corner of Richmond. What’s in the center?”
Skylar and Tony looked at him bewildered.
“Headquarters,” Nate said “HQ is right in the center. Why are they pulling people from HQ?”
At that moment it seemed as if everything went still. All the officers in front of the house started looking around. There wasn't even a leaf blowing on the trees, there was just silence.
“It’s silent,” Skylar said as she glanced around.
“Creepy silence,” Tony said.
“Yeah,” Nate nodded. “The kind when you know something just isn’t right…”
BOOM!
The sound of the explosion rocketed through the air. Nate looked towards downtown, and he knew without seeing, the police headquarters on Grace Street had just blown up.
Chapter Forty
Sunrise brought a new meaning to the city of Richmond. The citizens and the police department had been through hell over the last twenty-four hours. However, those who survived rose to a new day. During the night, the FBI had taken several officers from the Duncan fiasco into custody to question them about the assault against Deputy Chief Duncan, the shooting of Deputy Chief Bynum and the explosive device found at the home of Chief Williams.
Mayor Palmer had successfully secured Deputy Chief Rowe, and Chief Williams in the bunker located in the basement of City Hall. He had placed Captain Daniels in charge of the scene at the headquarters building. His questioning of officers revealed a fire alarm had sounded minutes before the explosion. They had cleared the building of personnel, those under temporary detainment and visitors. Whoever pulled the fire alarm saved lives. However, it was not lost on anyone that whoever alerted them also had to have known what was about to happen. That within itself created another problem for Chief Williams as they stood in the conference room at City Hall.
It was all hands on deck. The Mayor, was meeting with key personnel for the city and outside resources, including the media to assist with the situation. His executive staff, Chief Williams, and the surviving Deputy Chiefs Rowe and Duncan, Nate, Tony, Skylar, Stinger and a few reporters, including Rachel were the only ones left. Some officers had been sent home to rest. The officers and detectives remaining were going to need to be relieved at some point.
Grant Hutchinson was coordinating effort to move services to other agencies, as Officer West and Ebony Sullivan, the Mayor’s administrative assistant, were working on relocation efforts for all the men and women who worked in RPD headquarters who were all now displaced. Sapphire and her team were providing logistics coverage over the city to give the Mayor and Chief Williams time to regroup. They were all going to be working from City Hall until a new location could be found.
“Who do we immediately terminate and who do we give an opportunity to redeem themselves?” Chief Williams asked as they all sat at the conference table.
“A leopard can’t change their spots, Chief. Even if they want to,” Nate stated. “Their character is what it is. Hatred for some is their innate nature.”
“But there are some who have been brainwashed into thinking this way of life is right,” LT exhaled.
“The problem will be detecting if the change they claim is real or pretend,” Duncan stated. “Many of the men and women I came in contact with during this little operation, believe what is being told to them because of who is doing the telling.”
“Mr. Mayor, Levy is of the same opinion,” Rowe added. “Some of the recruits are drowning in hatred. Others feel the pain but are not so sure everyone who does not look like or think like them is the enemy. The person who continuously reinforces those thoughts is the one we have to silence.”
“Or prove wrong,” Nate added. “In this instance, that would be the P.I.E. organization.”
LT’s cell phone buzzed with a message. He glanced down then shook his head. “It seems we are being hit by the media.” He picked up the remote then clicked the on button. He switched the channel until he found what he was looking for, Lisa Cahill on WPIE.
“The city of Richmond is out of control. Another explosion rocked the city. This time it was police headquarters. In the last twenty-four hours there seems to have been a coordinated attack on police officers. Before the attack at headquarters, there were reports of several officers down. Before the end of the night Deputy Chief Bynum was killed on the front lawn of his home. Deputy Chief Duncan’s home was riddled with bullets. He has not been seen since. Also missing is Deputy Chief Rowe. He has not been seen since leaving RPD headquarters only moments before the explosion. Two neighbors of Police Chief Williams lost their lives when his home went up in flames. The cause of that blaze is still undetermined according to Fire Chief Richard Hasting. And like his deputies, Chief Williams has not been seen since.”
“Lisa, that is a severely dangerous situation for the city. Who is manning the police department?”
“That’s a good question Jim. But there is a part of this story that has not been released to the public, that could explain everything that has happened over the last 24 hours. Now this is my opinion and my opinion only. The part of the story that has not been reported is that Christian Vaughan, the father of Detective Cory Vaughan the very same man that was mentioned in the press conference that we had on yesterday was found dead in Detective Nate Reigns' home. Now just as I believe Detective Nate Reigns killed the two men in the Peace Intervention Emergence building, then used the explosion to cover up those murders. It is conceivable that he used the same pattern to distract from the murder of Christian Vaughan. I believe the explosions, the officer down calls, all were to distract from the reporting by Commonwealth Attorney Whitaker of the murder of Christian Vaughan at Detective Nate Reigns’ home.”
“Let me make sure I understand you correctly, Lisa. Are you saying that Detective Nate Reigns murdered Christian Vaughan, the father of Detective Cory Vaughan, who reported him on the murders of the two men in the Peace Intervention Emergence building?”
“That is exactly what I believe has taken place here, Jim. To make matters worse, I believe Police Chief Williams is using his power to protect Detective Reigns and Mayor Palmer is protecting Chief Williams. They are all covering for each other. Maybe it's a whole brotherhood thing that is happening there, but there is definitely something suspicious about all of the activity taking place.”
“Has the Mayor addressed any of these issues?”
“Jim, the Mayor has been suspiciously unavailable for questions from this network. I can only conclude that he feels our viewers are not worthy of his time or protection. How do we expect the City of Richmond’s administrators from the Police Chief to the Fire Chief to the Mayor, all of those who are controlling this city to protect us when they cannot protect themselves? Someone is going to have to step forward and take control of what is happening in this city. Mayor Palmer certainly is not doing a good job of it. We do not have enough cameras or crews to go to every site of the incidents that have happened in this city in the last 24 hours, Jim, I tell you this city has gone to hell in a hand basket under Palmer’s leadership. And there's no getting it back until we get Palmer out of that mayor seat.”
