Maelstrom

To celebrate, I brewed a pot of fresh coffee and was pouring a cup for myself when I heard a commotion outside my office.

"Where the fuck is she?" I heard a woman's voice demand. The voice sounded familiar.

"I don't know." It was Neufeld who answered in a simpering tone.

I stepped out of the break room. It was DaVanna Caruso, dressed to the nines and looking like she was about to blow a gasket.

"You, in this office... now." She was looking at me and pointed to the open door to Neufeld's office.

Shit, what did I do now?

I went inside and Neufeld was about to follow me in. DaVanna raised her hand and stopped him from entering his own office.

"You wait outside." It sounded like she was talking to her dog. I think I could see steam coming out of his ears. But he was brought to heel. He waited outside and closed the door so the two of us could talk. I studied her as I leaned against Neufeld's spotless desk. She was sitting in his chair wearing a white linen suit with a low cut powder blue silk blouse underneath. Her hair was flawless and her make-up professionally applied. A beautiful but deadly viper.

"What the fuck were you doing visiting Trong Lai and my sister?"

She was using the tone of voice she'd use when cross-examining a hostile witness. I should have known she'd find out. The last thing I needed was trouble from her.

"Clearing up a personal matter," I answered, trying to keep my cool.

"Personal my ass. You copied the pictures out of the Nguyen file, and you broke the seal of the court. You are so fucked."

Oops.

Then I thought that sometimes the best defense is a good offense.

"I know your secret."

Her body language told me she sensed danger. There was a secret to hide, and a politician's first instinct is to cover her ass. I stopped the freight train.

I didn't know for sure but I had to take a shot at what I'd pieced together.

"You got Alessandra to do your dirty work for you, stealing the laptops from a law firm, then you convinced Trong Lai to threaten the witnesses who were going to testify against her. You buried the murder charges against him. Those laptops must have had some damning information on them. Damning to you. Am I getting warm?"

She went silent. I had clearly hit a nerve. And as if to admit the truth of what I said, she replied calmly, "You can't prove anything."

"But of course I can. I saw your sister's file. Now all I need to do is interview the witnesses. I bet they were strong armed by Lai. Even if I can't get them to talk, I'm sure a grand jury could."

"You're bluffing."

"Try me. I just went into Trong's shop unarmed. I don't bluff and I don't care what the fuck happens to me."

"But there's a way out. One that should be on your radar screen," I added.

"I'm listening."

"The three year statute on both of Alessandra's offenses is about to expire. Trong will have no more leverage over her."

"That's true, but that wouldn't clear me."

Figures she would be thinking about her own skin instead of her baby sister's. I thought I'd appeal to her political aspirations. That's what seemed to be driving her decision making.

"It's a risk you're going to have to take. Look, if you arrest Trong and have him put away for life, what are the chances he's going to go public with what he did for you? Are they going to believe a convicted murderer over the word of the Assistant District Attorney, about to become the District Attorney?"

I could feel my blood pressure drop as she pondered my questions. Her body language told me that her anger was gone, and her cold and calculating persona was taking over. I could almost see her running the possible scenarios through her head as she absorbed my persuasive argument.

"It'll be a war to arrest him."

I'd won her over.

"Look, the public will see that DaVanna Caruso is tough on crime."

"I'll think about that."

"It's your job to lock up the bad guys."

"I'm aware of that."

"Maybe that should be part of your decision as well."

It was worth a shot, appealing to her better instincts, though as a politician I'm not sure she had any.

She'd cooled off completely. The claws were retracted.

"You've got a lot of guts Max. You've played your hand as hard as you can."

Those were words of praise coming from her.

"If you don't play you can't win," I told her.

"Amen to that."

She walked around the desk and opened the door to the office. Neufeld was standing outside. I'm sure he heard at least some of what was being said.

"Not a word of this to anyone," she said, scolding him for eavesdropping outside his own office.

"Understand?"

I'd never seen Neufeld cower like that.

"Yes," he replied meekly. If he was her dog he'd be showing his belly now.

She left without another word. Neufeld went into his office and sat behind his desk. He looked at me with fire in his eyes.

"What the fuck are you still doing in here? Get the fuck out."

I did. He didn't see my shit eating grin as I made my way out of his office. I got to see DaVanna Caruso cut off his balls in front of his own office, in plain view of his staff. Neufeld was neutered. Perfect. I couldn't wait to transfer out of the department and away from that asshole.

Chapter Eight

Little Saigon

I was right in appealing to DaVanna's political instincts. She approved the issuance of Trong's arrest warrant for first degree murder.

Neufeld got the order from the top to arrest Trong using whatever force was necessary. In this case the force was significant -- twenty members of the SWAT team and all of their toys, robots, cameras and listening devices.

Neufeld called me into his office. He was ebullient. "Thank God we don't have to chase whores all over Cincinnati. Now we can arrest some real criminals. You didn't have anything to do with this, did you Max?"

"I don't kiss and tell, sir."

My non-answer told him that I did.

He stood up from behind his desk. He holstered his gun.

"Let's go crack some fucking skulls."

"I'm right behind you Lieutenant."

I hoped to God the idiot didn't fuck it up.

* * *

The SWAT team backed us up with twenty heavily suited officers with clear plastic riot shields, squatting low in a ready position near our mobile command post as they waited for the "Go" signal. There were five people in the fully outfitted trailer, including Neufeld and me. We were blocks away and using surveillance cameras to see what we were about to face. The half dozen monitors we were looking at showed the front and the back of the restaurant.

It looked like business as usual at Little Saigon. There was a guy in sandals and an unbuttoned short sleeve shirt and cheap slacks with a toothpick dangling from his mouth leaning against the frame of the front door of the restaurant. He was no doubt he was a lookout on Trong's payroll. The rusting sign above the door and shabby exterior gave no hint of the high powered criminal enterprise inside.

We knew that as soon as their spotter sniffed trouble they would go into full lockdown mode. The camera panned to the right, and we could see a half empty parking lot on the frontage road with an assortment of nondescript cars in it. The camera pointed at the back alley told a different story. There were four black Escalades, all freshly washed, parked in a neat row behind the storefront. They were blocking access to the back door.

The back door was a heavy security door. They didn't hide the reinforcement added to the back of the building. All the windows were bricked over and there were cameras mounted and pointing in every direction. Two men were loitering in the alley, talking and smoking cigarettes. In the safety of the back alley they didn't even bother to hide the fact that they were armed. They each had handguns in shoulder holsters. There were two shotguns resting against the wheel well of one of the SUV's.

I was looking down at a bald patch on Neufeld's head. He was sitting in front of me as I looked over his shoulder.

"Fuck, it wasn't like this when I went there," I said to him. "It was just two guys in the restaurant and one more and Trong in the safe room.

"There must have been a leak in our department. They're ready for an army," he said, without taking his eyes off the screens. There was only two access points to the building, and with the back door guarded and heavily reinforced, it left the front door as the only viable option..

Through a small observation window in the trailer I could see an armored assault vehicle the SWAT team intended to use to bust open the front entrance. Diesel smoke was billowing out behind it and I could feel the vibration of the engine through the floor of the trailer.

"I hope it's big enough," he said under his breath.

We noticed that the spotter had gone into the restaurant and that the front door was shut tight with a "Closed" sign put in the window of the restaurant. The window of course had heavy security bars protecting it. We listened to the chatter of the SWAT team coming from a wall mounted speaker.

"Red team... go!"

They were on the move, in a semi-crouch, following the assault vehicle towards the restaurant. On one of the monitors I saw an officer with a blonde ponytail embedded with the assault team.

"Is that Lesley?" I whispered to Neufeld, his eyes glued to the monitors. I was incredulous. There was no way Lesley was qualified or experienced enough to be part of this operation. I had to suppress the urge to bust out of the operations trailer and retrieve her myself. I promised to protect her and now she was putting herself directly in harm's way.

"What?" he said impatiently.

"Lesley... is that her?" I repeated, this time almost shouting.

"Uh huh," he grunted, as if it wasn't a big deal.

"You approved it and you didn't tell me?" I asked, trying not to believe that neither he nor Lesley mentioned this important fact to me.

He wasn't in the mood for an argument when the biggest operation of his life was about to unfold.

"Max... shut the fuck up and get out of the trailer... now."

He was serious. He glared at me until I opened the trailer door and got out.

* * *

By the time I got out the SWAT vehicle was on the move and the supporting officers, including Lesley, were long gone.

"God damn it!" I shouted to no one in particular. I started to run towards the action, and was about three blocks away, moving at a brisk clip, when I heard a boom and then felt a flash of searing heat hit my face. Then the chatter of small arms fire. Not good.

I kept running until I got within sight of the smoldering remains of the front entrance of Little Saigon. The vehicle had been going too fast and had penetrated twenty feet into the building. I found out later that the explosion was caused by the vehicle puncturing the building's natural gas line. Debris was everywhere and small fires were burning inside the building. It was anarchy at ground zero. People scrambling everywhere and bursts of occasional gunfire ringing out. The air was heavy with the smell of rotten eggs.

I drew my sidearm and waded through smoking shards of what used to be the Little Saigon restaurant with one thing in mind. Find Lesley.

There were wounded officers everywhere, most with their faces blackened by the blast, nursing their injuries. No Lesley. I started to become frantic, ignoring the gunfire and scanning the faces of the wounded.

I was almost to what was the front door of the restaurant when an officer came up from behind me and put his hand on my shoulder.

"You Pemberton?"

"Yes... Max Pemberton," I told him.

"Cap wants to see you, pronto."

I almost said "me?" I followed him forward through the remains of the Little Saigon. He pushed through a group of men surrounding who was obviously in command.

"Captain Robinson, I found Pemberton." He pointed to me.

Robinson dispensed with any small talk. "Trong has a hostage. He's asking for you."

This time I got to say "me?"

"You are Max Pemberton?"

"Of course."

"I've only met him once."

"You must have made an impression."

"How so?"

"He's only willing to talk to you. I guess he trusts you."

I wanted to find Lesley, not talk to Trong.

"I'm trying to find someone," I told him.

"It wouldn't happen to be Lesley Groesbeck, would it?"

"It is," I said, surprised and now apprehensive.

"She's the hostage."

Fuck.

"How did that happen?"

"I think it happened right after the explosion. Everyone on the assault team was flattened. Thank God no one was killed. But in the confusion, I think one of Trong's men grabbed Lesley. They're holding her in an armored room in the back of the restaurant. It survived the explosion."

"She's my partner."

"I know. I'm sorry." He pointed towards the rear of the restaurant, where I could see the steel reinforced room. "C'mon," he told me.

I followed him inside. The inside of what was left of the restaurant was completely trashed. All the tables and chairs were upended and there was broken glass everywhere. The smell was pungent, a curious mixture of Asian spices and propellant from the guns recently fired in that space.

There was at least a dozen officers huddled against the outside wall of the room. The door to the room had a number of bullet indentations in it, but none pierced the metal exterior. There was an intercom in the wall next to the door. I pushed the talk button.

"Max Pemberton here," I said.

There was a pause for a few moments.

"Officer Pemberton?" It was Trong's voice.

"You seem to be in a tight spot sir," I told him.

The speaker crackled. "You are right about that Officer Pemberton."

He was a smart guy. I decided to play it straight.

"There is only one outcome here. It's just a matter of time."

Silence. I could hear the crackle of the nearby fires. I thought he wasn't going to talk any more.

"You speak the truth," his tinny voice finally said.

"You have someone with you that I want."

"Ahh, you mean Officer Groesbeck."

"That's right."

"She's a lovely young woman. It would be a shame if something were to happen to her."

My blood pressure shot up. "If anything happens to her I'm going to rip your heart out."

There was a long pause. "No need for idle threats Officer Pemberton. I have what you want."

"What do you want?" I demanded.

"Your assurance that my men and I won't be hurt."

"We wouldn't do that."

"I would beg to differ. Most of the gunfire was from your side and there's what's left of an armored car inside my restaurant," he said calmly.

I looked at Robinson. He nodded his head.

"You have my word," I told him. "I'll take Lesley's place to show you good faith on our side."

Robinson shook his head. He looked furious. That wasn't part of the plan, but it was part of mine. Nothing was going to happen to Lesley.

Another long pause. "You?"

"Yes, me."

I stood by the door and waited. There were two SWAT team members behind me ready to set a charge on the door. I signaled them to wait another minute.

Then there was a click and the door opened an inch. A white handkerchief tied to a pencil got stuck out the crack. I saw through the crack in the door that Lesley was tied up and sitting in the corner. Thankfully she didn't look like she'd been hurt. An arm pulled me into the room and then the door was shut behind me. One of Trong's henchman pulled Lesley up with her hands still bound behind her back. She stared at me, probably wondering why I made this trade. She'd learn in time I'd do this in a second.

The door was opened and she was shoved out, stumbling forward. The door shut again. I was left alone with Trong and three of his men, all toting automatic weapons.

"Trading for you doesn't mean our business is finished," he told me as he wrapped duct tape around my wrists.

"I'm not sure our business will ever be finished," I told him. I tended to earn enemies for life.

"And I want you to tell DaVanna... that cunt... that I will find her!" He obviously felt betrayed. His voice quivered as he fought to control it. His eyes were shooting daggers at me.

I nodded to acknowledge his threat. He was going to be an old man when he got out, if he got out at all. I no longer gave a fuck about him.

"Give me a reason not to kill you right now," he shouted, seeing the lack of respect in my body language.

"It'll guarantee you a trip to the electric chair?" I answered. He knew the consequences of killing a police officer.

"Look Trong," I told him. "There's no end game here. They're not going to let you go and they don't give a shit about me. You were better off with my partner as a hostage. You can draw this out, but the outcome is going to be the same. It's your choice whether you want a pine box for yourself."

He was a smart man. I could see the wheels spinning in his head as he evaluated his limited options.

"OK. I'm going to agree with you," he finally said. "Guarantee that me and my men won't be hurt when we're arrested."

That was an easy one for me. I already gave it to him. "You have my word."

Trong handed one of his men the white flag and motioned for him to open the door. The SWAT team was right outside and swarmed in, cuffing Trong and his men. Robinson used a pocket knife to cut the tape binding my wrists.

"Remember Pemberton... our business is not finished!" Trong screamed as he was dragged away.

Yeah it was.

Lesley was sitting on the floor, huddled with a paramedic who had just finished examining her. I rubbed my wrists and approached her, kneeling down next to her.

"Lesley, honey, are you OK?" She was shaking. Tears were running down her soot covered face.

Her voice trembled. "Yeah... I think so."

Poor Lesley. That had to be the scare of her life. My first instinct was to scold her for being such a fucking idiot. By it wasn't the time for that. Instead, I pulled her to her feet.

"C'mon honey," I told her. "Let's go to the debrief and then get drunk."

* * *

Lesley was a cute and cheap drunk. There were only a handful of people left at the Landing Point at 2 a.m. Her head was bobbing as she cradled her sixth shot of bourbon, the liquid splashing out of the shot glass. I was drinking with her shot for shot and was only slightly buzzed. It was the perfect time to ask the question I'd been waiting to ask.

"OK Lesley. Now you can tell me what the fuck you were doing out there."

She looked at with a shit eating grin. I was worried she might pass out before I got my answer.

"Fucking Neufeld... my father," she drawled, her body swaying.

Of course. The tumblers clicked into place.

"Your father was Neufeld's commanding officer."

Her head started to droop. "Neufeld was a new cadet."

"So you begged daddy to call Neufeld," I said, putting it together.

"Uh huh."

"Those guys should be ashamed of themselves."

Then I finally was able to scold her. "And you should too. You didn't have the training to be out there."

I saw her baby blue eyes tearing up.

"Max... I fucked up... I fucked up... I'm so sorry," she said with her head resting in the palm of her hands. Her eyes were glassy but her remorse was real.

"What'd you learn Lesley?" She had to give me the right answer.

"To listen to you Max, and only you."

That was the right answer.

"Time to go home," I told her. I went around to her side of the table and bent forward to allow her to drape her arm over my shoulders. I helped her up, wobbly on her feet. We went towards the front door. I flicked a stray lock of hair that fell into her face. "Now let me get you to bed."

Chapter Nine

The Devil You Know

"I've been threatened by worse," DaVanna said dismissively to me, shaking her hand trying to dry her perfectly manicured nails. "Fuck him. You forced my hand and now I'm glad you did. Little fucker belongs behind bars." She looked perfect as usual.