Brodricksburg Pt. 02

"I have to say that I am surprised that an agent of the FBI hasn't done his homework, because if you had you would understand all of this," I said. "If you had done your homework, you would know that only two police officers on the Broderick Police Department have every been wounded in the line of duty. Of the two, only Chief Pasiak was wounded while serving on the Brodricksburg Police Department.

"Sixteen years ago, then Captain Pasiak, was wounded while stopping a man from killing his own six year old son in front of the boy's mother. The shooting happened in front of the elementary school the kid attended. The Chief was shot in the chest and the bullet nicked his spine as it exited through his back. The Chief still managed to disarm the man and hold him until help arrived. Chief Pasiak still suffers back pain form his injury and finds it difficult to sit at his desk for long periods. That is why he comes in late and leaves early but don't mistake that for him not doing his job. He works from home when he is not in his office. The Chief is a hero in this town and his is a good cop too.

"As for me, I spent seven years on the force in Baltimore. I made the homicide squad in my second year and made lieutenant after six."

"How did you get into police work in the first place?" Agent Van Horn asked.

"I grew up here in Brodricksburg. I graduated high school when I was seventeen and I didn't have enough money to go to college so I joined the Army.

"During my first week of basic training I was approached by the Provost Marshal at Fort Leonard Wood. I think it was my six foot two inch 185 pound build that interested him. He asked me if I had ever considered being in the Military Police. Bottom line, he talked me into becoming an MP and I got an opportunity to work with the criminal investigation team for a couple of years. I liked it."

"How did you end up in the Brodricksburg police department?"

"I got wounded trying to break up a domestic dispute so my wife didn't want me to be a cop in a big city anymore. Carrie was more important to me than the job, so we moved here."

"But why Brodricksburg?"

"Like I said, I grew up here."

"When I was tailing you earlier, how long did it take you to spot me," Agent Van Horn asked.

"I had you almost immediately. As soon as I saw that blue Malibu behind me, I knew you were following me."

"How did you know my car?"

"I'm a detective, remember? Even if I didn't know your car I would have spotted you by the way your were driving anyway."

"Oh, yeah? How can you be so sure?"

"Training."

"Training? You're going to have to explain that," Agent Van Horn said.

"While I was an MP I was given the opportunity to be a driver for American Diplomats and high-ranking military officers in Europe. That sounded like a great job to me so I took it.

"During my training I thought I would end up in London, Paris or Berlin. I was twenty years old and was excited by the idea of living in one of the capitals of Europe.

"It turned out that the job was more that just being a driver. I had to have small arms and martial arts training. The driver training included aggressive driving techniques and evasive maneuvers. It didn't take me long to figure out I was not only to be a driver but also a bodyguard. But I was still going to be in Europe.

"Instead of going to London, Paris or Berlin, I got Athens, Greece. Still, I thought Athens would be great and the city was but the job was much more dangerous that I had expected. At the time I was stationed in Athens, the terrorist group known as November 17 was active. Their penchant was to kill diplomats or military attaches. The modus operandi was to attack their targets when they were in their cars going to or from work.

"My driver training had included how to spot a tail and that training saved my life at least twice. I had learned to keep one eye on the road ahead and the other in the mirrors. I became very good at it. I still do that when I am driving."

"You said that being able to spot a tail saved your life a couple of times. Does that mean you saw some action?"

"Yes."

"What happened?" Agent Van Horn asked.

I wondered if he was really interested or if he was just trying to win points with me.

"You really want to hear this?"

"Absolutely," he said and he sounded as if he was really interested.

"Okay. The first time was pretty routine. I had just picked up the Lt. General that served as the Military Attaché at the US Embassy, from his home. As we pulled away from the curb I spotted a black Renault that had been parked behind us, pulling away from the curb at the same time. I kept checking him in the mirror and noticed that every time we changed lanes the Renault also changed lanes.

"When he made his move, I was in the left lane. The Renault was about three cars behind us when he pulled into the right lane and accelerated hard and quickly closed the gap between us. I was behind a car so I could not accelerate so as the black Renault came along side of us I slammed on my brakes and turned the wheel hard left. My car did a 180 and I slammed my foot on the accelerator. The black Renault tried to follow but was hit by the car that had been behind me."

"What happened to the people in the Renault?"

"Don't know. I didn't hang around to find out. My job was to get the general to the embassy and that's what I did."

"What about the second time?"

"The second time was really interesting. I was driving the CIA Station Chief from a meeting at a hotel back to the embassy. The car, a white Mercedes, pulled out of a side street and fell in behind me. There was nothing terribly suspicious about them other than I tended to keep an eye on any car that was close enough to be a threat. We had gone about two miles when two motorcycles appeared behind the Mercedes. I had noticed that the motorcycles had come up on the back of the Mercedes at a high rate of speed but then made no attempt to pass the white car. That bothered me.

"We had gone a short distance farther when the Mercedes accelerated passed me and then slowed in front of me. We were approaching a major intersection and the traffic light had just changed to red. The driver of the Mercedes had slowed gradually so that I was close to the back of his car, giving me very little room to maneuver. That's when I saw one of the motorcycle drivers pull an Uzi machine gun out of his saddle bag. I didn't have to look to know that the other motorcycle driver was doing the same thing.

"The motorcycles were coming up on either side of the car so I moved forward until I was in contact with the rear of the Mercedes and then I floored the accelerator and pushed the Mercedes into the intersection. The driver had to accelerate away from me to keep from getting hit by oncoming traffic. I then braked hard and turned right hitting the motorcycle on that side of the car and driving him up onto the sidewalk and into a lamppost.

"The motorcycle driver on my left managed to get off a short burst from his Uzi before I yanked the wheel left and knocked him in front of an oncoming truck.

"The Mercedes attempt to get through the intersection without getting hit was unsuccessful. I was then able to use the confusion caused by the accident in the intersection to get out of the area."

"Wow. Pretty hairy," Agent Van Horn said.

"That one really had my heart pumping. Most of the time the job was pretty routine and I did enjoy being in Athens. It is a beautiful city."

For the rest of the evening Kyle Van Horn and I traded stories about our childhoods and adventures on the job. We even partnered on the pool table winning several beers for the effort. While we may not have become close friends that night, we did come to an understanding and had established a mutual respect.

I was a little surprised when I looked at my watch and saw that it was nearly midnight when Kyle and I left Dominic's. I went straight home from Dominic's and was in bed asleep before 1:00 AM.