Milton House, Early Morning, Chad, Icene, NPC's, (closed)
The morning had dawned clear and crisp, chilly, but not damp. Between the suburbs and the City's apartment blocks and business district was a buffer of smaller apartment blocks mixed in with individual houses. Some of the apartment blocks were empty, slated for demolition so redevelopment could take place. The area was a little run down, but still occupied by a good number of families. The small grocery store in the little row of shops was open, selling the essentials without fuss or fanfare. He'd chosen an empty apartment in one of the closed off blocks, easy enough to break in and set up, and he knew the routine of his victim very well. First, stop off for the papers, deliver them to the local neighborhood, then return to the store, pick up his school bag and something to eat, and then head off to school at Andover. He intended to take the kid out once he'd completed the paper round, no sense in missing out on the crossword later.
In the street along from the shop, Larry sighed as he sat back in his car seat and uncapped the top of a takeout coffee. It had been taken out some time ago and was now tepid but better than no coffee at all. Howard, who was partnering him today, looked at him enviously. He had only bought a regular and had finished it an hour ago. Larry sipped, not unsympathetic. Howard would learn - just like he'd learn about the screw-necked jar Larry kept under his car seat for jobs like this. Comfort was important.
Howard glanced in the wing mirror and grunted. "Here's the target," he said. "Jeez, wouldn't want to be in his shoes."
Larry grunted too and capped the coffee again and put it back in the cup holder. Then he leaned a little watching the paper boy approach.
Danny went into the store, the empty bag that had contained the papers swinging from his hand. He grinned at the man behind the counter, "No problems today, how was my time? Did I beat my record?"
The storekeeper smiled back, "By about five seconds, but you know, any complaints and I mark you down again right?" He waved towards the back, "I got your breakfast for you, the usual wrap, snacks, fruit and a juice right?"
"Yup, thanks Mr K, appreciate it, now, gotta run, get to school." Danny grabbed the food and stuffed it into his backpack, apart from an apple, which he was going to eat on the way in to Andover.
Chad was sitting near the middle of the counter, dressed in casual guy attire, jeans and a long sleeved black shirt under his leather jacket. When the boy came in, he'd smiled, thinking about Logan. Curiosity poked to want him to ask if the boy knew Logan, but he couldn't risk it. His objective was protection, not making himself a target as well.
He pulled money out of his pocket to pay his check. Smirking at the conversation between kid and shopkeeper he piped up. "Should take into consideration the validity of complaints before penalizing the boy." Oh yes, he'd done a paper route, and he'd had several people continually complaining. Usually the ones that wouldn't bother to control dogs or week to week wanted their paper thrown in a different place.
"Sure, and we all know Mrs Williamson will make her inevitable complaint that the paper was late," the storekeeper looked at Danny, who laughed and replied, "only Mr Williamson hasn't left for work yet, so how can it be late?"
Danny grabbed up his school bag and slung it over one shoulder, "Well, I have to get to school, or I will be late, and I don't need another detention. See you tomorrow Mr K."
"Same time, same place Danny, have a good day now," Mr K grinned, and wiped down the counter before moving off to serve another customer.
====
Up in the apartment, Corey checked his watch, then his rifle, and lined up his sights on the doorway. Should he go for the instant of distraction as the light changed for the boy, or perhaps wait until he was about to cycle away and then drop him? He mused on this while waiting for the boy to come out of the shop. He didn't have a name anymore, he was just 'the boy'. Carefully he'd cut a hole in the window, some days before, and now he set the rifle on it's rest, about six inches of the barrel being through the hole in the glass, and stilled himself. Breathing and heart rate slowed, he relaxed as the familiar feeling of the gun soothed him, prepared him.
====
Chad stood and stretched, looking outside as a gust of wind shook the tree branches. "Looks awful windy out there. How was it on the paper route this morning, Danny?" He asked somewhat impulsively. He didn't want the kid to be late for school, but he really didn't want to walk out into the blustery cold unprepared either.
====
Icene was holed up in an apartment block just behind the row of stores. She was using binoculars to scan the buildings that had line of site to what they had assessed as the perfect kill zone. Carefully, window by window she was looking for open windows, or broken panes of glass. It was slow going, and she knew that there was a good chance she wouldn't spot the shooter. But then, to her surprise, a window had a hole in it. A circular, perfectly cut out hole, and through that was showing several inches of rifle barrel. Quickly she sent a text to a number of phones, anyone who was on the operation basically, but no-one else: 7th FL, Milton Hse, opp store, gun showing
The radios were quiet, partly in case anyone who shouldn't have one was still listening in on a handset.
Chad's phone was one of the one that had been notified. He looked at the phone momentarily, realizing he would look like a complete jerk for answering it while just having asked a question himself. "Kids and cell phones..." He said, a slight smirk up at Mr. K "Hold on a sec, Danny."
Flipping open his phone, he read the message, looked out the window toward his car - and the building in question - then sent another message back. Thx 4 heads up. He closed the phone and stuck it back in his pocket. He thought of the well disguised flack jacket in his car. No way was this shooter going to take another kid. Not on his watch. "He says he forgot his jacket but found the extra one so I shouldn't worry. How's that jacket hold up against the wind Danny?"
Danny pulled his old parka round him. "It's a bit draughty, but I'm hoping I can buy myself a new one in a couple weeks, paper round might not pay so well, but my after school job is better." He grinned, "No offense Mr K, but you know the way it goes, right?"
====
Larry read the text, and without moving his head looked over at Milton House. "We have a sighting, this is it. You ready?"
Howard shifted in his seat, pulling his own cellphone out of a back pocket, reading the message he leaned to get a look, at the building, only to find Larry's hand stopping him.
"If he sees you, he'll pull out, do you want to blow this?" Larry explained patiently, "As it is, we're too damn close, and yet, not close enough for the kid's sake."
====
It was a long shot hope, since Chad didn't know if Danny would go for it. Had he been the kid in the situation, he knows he'd have taken it. Though Logan wouldn't. Too many factors and too many things changed over time. "You wanna take Logan his jacket then? Wear it in to school and stay warmer? It's supposed to be nicer once the afternoon hits."
Icene read Chad's reply, and wasn't entirely sure what she should do now, but her fingers were busy, noting as best she could the time, weather conditions, light quality, wind direction, and realising that this morning was a perfect day for a long range kill, and this wasn't even that long range. No way was he going to miss. She picked up her notes, and her stuff, and putting on the hard hat and hi-vis jacket that disguised her as a surveyor for the contractors, headed down the stairs as fast as she could make it. At the bottom, she paused, getting herself under control and looking as though she should be there, and everything was fine. This was the second building she'd been in this morning after all.
====
Chad walked out of the store with Danny, not letting there be too much of a distance between them. They reached his car and he opened the back passenger door. "Thanks for helping me out here, Danny. I know he won't mind you wearing it to school. Carries easier that way." He'd been skeptical since he hadn't quite achieved the status of "regular" so far for breakfast. Maybe the kid did know Logan and honestly thought he was doing Chad a genuine favor. Chad smiled lightly. If the kid only knew how much of a favor it would be to keep alive for them...
He looked past his car to the street beyond. No sign of any other cars he could recognize. While he knew they were there, he was glad they weren't obvious. Holding out the jacket, he waited as Danny slipped his arms through the sleeves. "Kinda heavy but it'll keep block the wind and keep you warm." Chad had gotten used to the flack jackets, but for a kid it would be heavy. Protective but heavy. Hopefully it would do the job if there was a shot fired.
Across the street, and half a block down, Icene came into view, noting on the clipboard some complete nothings as she moved from one building to the next, Milton House. She paused halfway between the two buildings, pacing out the parking areas, the small play area in between them, staying visible, but obviously doing something that had a purpose. It happened she was simply trying to figure out where to stand, and pacing was helping keep her from running in there and probably ruining everything. Turning again at a corner, she looked over at Chad, checked her watch and noted that the kid had the jacket on. So far, so good.
Howard grinned when the target put on the jacket, they'd had some fun getting that sorted in the right size, but this was a good thing, "Kid's jacketed, that should help right?"
Larry sipped again at his coffee, then put the lid back on and set it down, "Phase one, complete. Now for the fun part." There was an emphasis on fun that said exactly the opposite was expected. "Let's hope he doesn't go for the head shot though, or the kid's toast in these conditions."
Chad waved as Danny started off to school, apple in hand and jacket zipped up. He so desperately wanted to offer Danny a ride in to school. Just for today, but he told himself that he couldn't. He was working. Plus if he took Danny to school they wouldn't be able to catch the guy in the act. Just as every other day in the past week, Chad got in his car, pulled out of the parking space and eased on to the road in the opposite direction. And for the first time in a long time, he prayed for the safety of the boy he'd just left behind.
Corey watched the stranger hand over the jacket, there was something odd there, but the kid was walking, in a minute he'd be cycling and the opportunity would be lost. He breathed in, then slowly out, the boy staying steady in his sights, and then, between one heartbeat and the next he squeezed the trigger. The bullet flew straight and true through the still morning air, and he watched it through the rifle's sight as it impacted high on the boy's chest. The boy span round, stumbled, and then dropped to his knees. Corey smiled, "Got you another one kitty Kat,"
Still smiling he pulled the rifle back through the window and quickly, efficiently, packed it away before taking another look out of the window. The blonde surveyor woman was sprinting towards the boy, but by the time she got there he figured it would be all over. Whistling to himself he stood up and pulled the old abandoned table back to where he'd found it, wiping the top down with antibacterial wipes. Then he grabbed his bag, and headed for the stairs. That was a gripe, they'd turned the lifts off sometime last week.... he hadn't been happy climbing all those stairs.
====
Once Danny was on his knees Larry threw open his car door and sprinted for Milton House. He could hear Howard right behind him, and from the surrounding streets and buildings police and CSI's began to appear all heading in the same direction. There was no way out of the block, by the time his old friend got to the bottom, he'd be well and truly trapped. Larry hated that it was going down this way, but, they had to stop him killing kids.
Icene made it to Danny in what she figured should be a personal best. "Stay down, play dead," she gasped at him as she dropped to her knees beside him, her back to Milton House and rolled him over onto his back, "just keep breathing OK?"
She unzipped the top of the jacket and slid a hand inside to check. There was no wetness, and her fingers came out regular skin colour. Beside her Danny lay still, eyes wide and he was kind of gasping a little. She smiled, "It's alright Danny, you'll be fine, he got the flak jacket not you, you'll have a super bruise, but you're not hurt otherwise. Just keep still and let us finish our job here this morning."
====
He hadn't wanted to drive off the block, but it was his routine now. For the past week it had been and if he faulted routine he was certain they would never catch the person responsible. Nothing said he couldn't swing back around the other side though. Chad turned as usual, but took another turn down the very next street to bring him around again. He parked along the back side and walked the rest of the way around the third corner.
He saw the boy on the ground, Icene was kneeling next to him and he'd caught the blurring as Larry and Howard headed up to the building. He knew the plan. He knew the block would be surrounded in mere moments. He wanted to do something more though. He turned and nearly knocked Mr K over. The man looked grief stricken and panicky. Chad spoke clearly but softly. "Go inside. Grab a pen and paper, write down exactly what you saw. I'll come in after everything here is settled down." They would need at least one witness statement.
Once the man had gone back inside, Chad walked to where Icene and Danny were. He laid his hand on her shoulder. "We stopped him." It was a self satisfying statement, knowing that they had trumped the shooter at least once. "Though there's always two ways out of a building."
====
Corey came out of the apartment, and into the stairwell, he wasn't rushing, he had no reason to be rushing, at least, not until he heard footsteps, running footsteps. Cursing under his breath he made his way silently up to the eighth floor planning on hiding out there until he could sneak past whoever the footsteps belonged to.
Larry was glad he still worked out, Howard was gasping for breath as they reached the seventh floor. "Guard the door, I'll search the floor," he said, and dashed through to search the apartments.
Corey wasn't impressed, he considered the fire escape, and opted to at least look at it. It was outside, yes, but hopefully it wasn't being watched.
===
Icene looked up at Chad, one hand still resting on Danny's shoulder, "Yeah, we stopped him this time, now we have to catch him." She smiled, "I can only hope we do catch him, he should be inside where he belongs. So the kids in the City can feel safe."
She caught a glimpse of movement, on the fire escape of Milton House, she wasn't sure, but counting said it was the eighth floor, and that made her think. "Larry and Howard go in together, stairwell covered, dammit, Chad! He's coming down the fire escape!"
Danny winced, "What? I hurt, can I get up yet?"
Chad looked in the direction of the fire escape. He didn't see anything himself, but he didn't doubt that Icene had. Hopefully it was one of those old rusty fire escapes that squeaked and wobbled as somebody walked on it. His hand automatically reached around to his back and gun holster. "You're quicker up those things than me. Go ahead. I'll cover you from here."
He nodded at Danny. His breathing had calmed down and he probably shouldn't be in the middle of this any longer. "Sit up and make sure you can breathe okay. There's an ambulance by my car around that corner" he pointed to where he parked "they can check you all over."
Icene had started moving, almost before Chad had finished talking to her, she wasn't going to be daft, just make sure the shooter knew the fire escape was covered. She could do that by clanging on it with any luck, and staying under cover at the same time. Her Kevlar vest was tight, but she didn't even think of loosening it off as she jumped for the ladder, making the whole construct creak and groan. Luckily, her weight was enough to bring the ladder screaming downwards, slowly cos it was rusty and stuck, but loudly so whoever was up there stopped moving.
====
Larry heard the clatter of the fire escape, and stuck his head out of a window, just below him he could see the back of Corey's head. With a silent sigh he stepped out onto the fire escape, "It's over Corey, we know it's you, give it up now."
Howard picked up a silent text on his phone, and obeyed the instruction to head out to the fire escape from the eighth floor. That put him a floor above Larry, and he too could see Landau, if not as well. He leaned out over the rail a little and caught a glimpse of CSI Callan clambering up to the third floor. "Stupid woman, get out of here," he grumbled under his breath, "whoever sent you here was an idiot."
Icene made it to third, she could see the shooter much more clearly from here, and there was no way he could make it past her. Now she simply crouched down, gun drawn and waited. She kept her eyes trained on the shooter though, even if she was taking in the two cops as well.
====
Chad had deemed Danny worthy of walking toward the ambulance. He'd motioned to the two plain clothes EMT's sitting near the corner that Danny was on his way over. Fairly certain that the kid wouldn't be taking off the jacket, he warned him to not go in the store just yet. "Mr K is all right, I just don't want him to get hurt. We don't have the bad guy yet." Danny nodded and took off for the ambulance and EMT's.
That left Chad with the concern of nabbing the bad guy and making sure the other three officers immediately involved made it through. They all had flack vests and weapons, but nobody knew what Corey was going to do once he realized he was trapped. The sensible choice was for Chad to stay put, on the ground, and provide another set of eyes for coverage.
====
Larry moved a little closer, a bit more visible to Corey, he could hear Howard moving above him, and he could see CSI Callan below, "You're not going anywhere Landau, you're surrounded, give it up and put the gun down."
Corey looked up, his old friend, holding a gun on him? Surely not. He chuckled, "Who are you kidding Benedict? I've been in and out of here too many times for you to stop me, besides, if you're all out here, who's inside?" He barrelled his way through a window into an apartment on the fifth floor, and headed straight for the door. The door was easily undone from inside, and he was off, sprinting down the stairwell as fast as he could go.
Chad muttered the curse out as he heard Corey threaten the inside stairs again. Then before Chad moved, Corey was back inside the building. He was the one on the ground. He was going to be the one inside. Hopefully he wouldn't be too late, he thought as he raced to the building and into the stairwell. At least he knew what floor to go to.
He opened the door of the stairwell and heard footsteps pounding down. No way else for him to go but up. He sure as hell wasn't going to wait for Corey to come down on him and give him another target. Gun drawn and ready was a hard thing to pull off while running up steps, but Chad had his gun out and in hand.
Corey heard the footsteps coming up, and a few seconds later another set coming down. He had nowhere to go, and nothing to run to. The rifle was no good, but he had his handgun. With a small smile, he shouldered his way through a door, only to hear a woman's voice shout out, "Armed police, drop the weapons."
Dammit, he slid back into the stairwell using the doorway for cover. The footsteps coming down stopped, and he heard Benedict repeating the same words, "Armed police, drop the weapons Landau, don't make this any harder than it has to be." Was that a hint of pleading in the voice of his old friend?
"Forget it Benedict, I don't have anything left to worry about."
He pulled the safety off on the handgun, his years of service doing him one last favour, he knew where to aim.
Chad was below Landau, his gun aimed at the guy's leg. Injury was better than killing, he could still be tried injured. "Drop the weapon Landau. You've got no other choice."
"There's always a choice, never forget that. I've made mine." Corey thought about Kat, his little girl, precious, precocious, full of attitude and life, and then the way he'd last seen her, laid out on the gurney in the morgue. He positioned the gun, eyes flicking between the stairs and the woman in the corridor, who was moving towards him, "Stand still Blondie, I don't want you to get all messed up now."
Icene stopped, "Put the gun down, don't do this, it doesn't have to be this way."
Larry stopped moving too, he could see where Corey had the gun, "Corey, come on, please, put the gun down, because we don't want it to be this way, what would Kat say?"
Howard winced, he was still moving down the stairs, providing back up for Larry, it wasn't until he saw the way Corey was standing that he realised they weren't getting out of this without a shot being fired.
Chad stood uneasily on the landing of the floor below Landau. He didn't want to have to shoot, but if he had no other choice he would. "Stop thinking stupidly. Put the gun down and nobody else gets hurt." His own hand gun was aimed steadily just below the knee. Not near any major blood vessels and still a somewhat incapacitating hit. He stood and waited, anticipating the inevitable shot that was bound to be fired.
Corey didn't care, yes it was over, and no, he hadn't managed to get everyone on the list, but he'd had a damn good try, "Sorry Kat," he whispered, pressing the gun up under his ribs, and then he pulled the trigger.
The gun dropped from his hand as his knees buckled under him. He slid down the doorjamb, leaving a smear of red behind him, coughed a couple of times, and then slumped to the side.
Chad grimaced as he saw the blood splatter across the wall of the stairwell. Suicide was the coward's way out. He put the safety back on his hand gun and grabbed his phone. The ambulance around the corner wouldn't be much assistance now, but he could at least put the call through that they were in need of the coroner.
"I guess he's not going to trial by a jury of his peers..." Chad said after closing his phone.
Icene pulled gloves from her back pocket, and pulled her phone out of her pocket. One foot kicked the gun away from the dead man's hand, purely out of reflex, as she called for CSI's to attend for photographing, bagging and tagging of evidence. Her voice might have sounded deflated, but then again, she didn't consider suicide offered justice for the victims or their families. She snapped her own phone closed as Chad spoke, and looked up, "I guess, but that just leaves the survivors with a hole they can't fill."
Larry came down the stairs to join them, "Saves the taxpayer a lot of dollars though," he said practically, then sighed. "He was my friend, once. He wasn't the same after Katherine died in the Andover shooting."
Howard rested a hand on Larry's shoulder, sympathising, "Yeah, but he didn't have to do this Larry, this was all wrong, and he wasn't well."
Larry looked up, "Yeah, I know, and he needed stopping, I'm just glad I didn't have to shoot him myself."
Icene shook her head briefly, "Well, none of us had to shoot him. Small mercies huh? Now, I need to secure the scene, how about you two go get yourselves a coffee or something? I'm sure Chad and I can finish up here, the Coroner shouldn't be long, and my team are on their way already."
Chad nodded. "There's an older guy across the street. I told him to stay out of sight until somebody came in to get him. He should have a statement written up. Let him know the boy is honestly okay and take him to the ambulance too?"
He watched both men nod and walk around the mess, careful to not step on anything, as they went down the stairs together. There was nothing left to do now but process the scene and file the paperwork.