Chapter II
illiam couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had come a little early for his appointment with Chief Williams as was typical of him. Sharon was supposed to meet him there and knew she'd be there shortly.
The Police precinct parking lot was a jumble of emergency vehicles, most with lights flashing, most sitting with motors running and at the end of long skid marks testifying to the fact the driver was in some kind of extreme hurry.
William parked across the street and hustled toward where the action was the thickest. What he saw nearly made him sick. On the ground was Chief of Police Amanda Williams. Her jacket had been cut up both sleeves to remove it from her body and she now lay with right arm splayed to her side, the other shattered beyond repair at the shoulder. She was bleeding out in spite of all the ambulance attendants could do.
She looked feebly at William who had knelt down by her head and touched her face. She only said one word: "Slayton" and closed her eyes. Stillwell Creek was once again in need of a Chief of Police.
Within the hour William was on the line with Victor Bension informing him of the goings on. There was going to be a huge investigating force on these shootings. They needed all the help they could get. Victor would arrive by 6:00 PM and asked William to make sure the town council meeting did not begin until he got there.
By the time Victor arrived they'd obtained few details. There certainly was little to go on. Len Mathers who was now Captain Len Mathers of the FBI, had commenced work immediately on the two cases as soon as William informed him of the Fremont and Blake shootings. Now, there was a third to add to the list.
Sharon and Melinda had been in confab with him up until 1:30 then Sharon headed for the Police Precinct to meet William. Like William she parked as close as possible then ran across quickly locating William and going to him.
She arrived on the scene just as Amanda closed her eyes. Amanda and the group, which included Victor Bension, Lane Wardlow, Len and Melinda Mathers, as well as Sharon and William, had grown very close and had worked together on several cases in the two years since Amanda had become Chief of Police.
Amanda had served with distinction; was honest and made sure she took care of her personnel. And if one stepped out of line, she was on him/her like "ugly on a ape." That was one of the many quips she used with which to make her point and keep 'em laughing. She had made quite a name for herself. Now, she lay in a morgue beside another cop who had died the same day.
One could tell Victor was extremely upset when he marched through the huge doors of the Police Station. He refused the cup of coffee held out to him by one of the rookies who knew he always asked for coffee first thing, then proceeded straight to the conference room. Several people were already there but it was yet about 15 minutes ahead of time to commence.
He then went to the office of the Chief of Police and sat down in Amanda's chair. The "group" joined him in the Chiefs office and then shut the door. Lane Wardlow and the group was there as was the Mayor. Victor took control of the impromptu meeting and said "OK, what do we know?"
The newbie to the group, was a dark haired man with heavy glasses rimmed with a thick black frame. His blue eyes looked out from under shaggy black eyebrows which matched his shaggy black hair. His suit was immaculate even though he'd worked in it all day long and it was quite hot for the time of year. But he still looked cool, calm and collected.
"For those who do not know me, my name is Banty Coker," he began. He laid the sign which Amanda had gathered from the shooting at the car wash on the table. Then, he placed another beside it, then a third. The second sign was nearly identical to the first, painted with iridescent orange paint. The third sign was almost identical except it was painted with yellow paint, but by the same hand.
"The second sign was removed from Officer Blakes cruiser before 8:00 this morning. He had been shot with a large bore pistol, striking him at the base of his neck killing him instantly. The shooter then pedaled up to the cruiser, threw the sign in and pedaled off before anyone realized what had happened.
The third sign was found next to Chief Williams cruiser, also delivered by someone on a bike. The descriptions match as to the possibility of the shooter being the same for both deaths. But the shooter of Officer Fremont wasn't so lucky and was killed by that officer. So the shooter of Officer Williams, although having the same description of the two prior shooters, couldn't have been the same.
For the Fremont shooting we have Agent Travis to tell us what he saw. William covered the details very quickly laying out the most important, which, to tell the truth, were hardly enough to tell. What he saw was pretty much after the fact, and the shooter was already dead before he got out the door to the scene. He included some of the details of his work at stopping the flow of blood of Officer Fremont.
So the only thing that tied the shootings together so far were the signs and that all three shooters rode bicycles.
Len's phone rang and he excused himself as he answered it. He returned in just a minute or so with some information: "The dead shooter, Tracy Blanton, was a half brother to a perp killed in a botched holdup of a little mom and pop store at the north edge of the town. The mans name was Trace Bradshire, a man having a heavy English brogue. That was three months ago. He was killed by Officer Amanda Williams."
A short knock on the door and it opened to a Junior officer who handed the file Agent Mathers. He said "I have the file on that particular incident but I have not perused it as of yet."
Trace had a twin sister named Grace (Bradshire) Blanton. She married their half brother Tracy. She was known to be good with firearms of all sorts, had an extremely nasty temper, and was extremely revengeful. By the time the meeting commenced at the Police station a warrant for her arrest was being served.
The reason the FBI was involved with Grace Blanton was for illegal gun sales, bringing into the country several shipments of pistols through a weak link of the thin blue line in Monterey. At the time she was still at large, but a wide net was being cast. The woman already had a list and now was added two murders and one attempted. And since she'd lost her brother and her husband, those around the table could only guess at what lengths she would go for vengeance.
Those in the town council meeting were getting apprehensive to start and sent in a runner into the Chiefs office for the second time. Victor dismissed the group in the Chief's office and they adjourned to the town council meeting. After much discussion as to who the new Chief of Police would be, three names wound up in the pot.
One was a well known Police Sergeant who'd served for about three years on the force, another was Victor Bension and the third was William Travis. Although Victor and William both protested and gave reasons why they could not serve, the vote went forward. Within two hours of the vote, William Travis was named Chief of Police of Stillwell Creek.
Victor had a runner retrieve Amanda's Bible from her desk, then approached William and said, "Raise your right hand please, and place your left on the the Bible.
William objected and Victor simply stated, "It's only for a little while. And we need someone in here who can get us some answers. Raise your right hand."
William Travis was now the Chief of Police of one of the most troubled cities in the state. There had been an immense amount of violence here, and William had been a huge part of much of it. One thing for certain; he knew how to handle the office and how to straighten things out.
Sargent Gabriel Larson, a runner up, moved forward to congratulate William stating "they got the man they needed for this job. I hope you'll please allow me to help in the case of Chief Williams. I'm at your beck and call."
"Thank you Sergeant. I'll lean heavily on you because I know you're a good man." He then turned and received kudos and congrats from the rest of the group. Upon returning to the Chiefs office, he sat in Amandas chair and took control of the new meeting just about to commence there. It was going to be a long night.
At one o'clock the meeting of the minds was adjourned. Chief Williams pulled into his driveway in the chiefs cruiser. Feeling rather stupid that he'd been goaded into the job he certainly didn't want, he felt even worse to be driving Amandas vehicle. He sure thought the world of her. Although the window had been replaced already, they had certainly not gotten all the glass out of the seat.
His phone rang just as he shut the engine off, and without even unbuckling, he answered the incessant ringing. "Ooohhh boy," he sighed. "well, I'd better get used to it."
Len said "Hello Chief. We questioned a next door neighbor to Grace Bradshire this evening who she'd known for years. But just recently she'd made a statement she was known to be fond of: "justice requires four fold shall be returned . . ."
"Chief, if I'm right about a gut feeling, I think she's planning on shooting a fourth cop. You might want to keep your eyes open!" Suddenly, the same glass that had been repaired earlier that day shattered. The report of the gun sounded as if it was right up against Wills head. William slowly slumped over as Len was shouting in the phone.
Sharon had put the baby to bed and had walked outside when she heard William drive up. Since she was in her pajamas, she hadn't turned the porch light on, making her invisible to someone on the street. She had stepped to the end of the porch and saw the person on the bicycle pedal up to the passenger side of Wills cruiser, then saw the muzzle blast and William as he slumped over.
She screamed at the shooter who then pointed the gun at her and fired. Sharon had thrown herself to one side as the bullet ripped into the side of the house. On all fours she scrambled into the house, snatching her XD as she tore through the door and hid behind the corner of the hall.
Throwing herself onto the floor she scrambled around the corner as another bullet ripped into the wall. The footsteps of the shooter who was now in the house could be plainly heard.
Sharon instantly threw herself back out into the line of fire, sliding on her side and fired three times. One of the shots hit home and she heard what she thought was the grunt of a woman. The attacker disappeared and the last Sharon saw was the bicyclist hell-bent for leather pedaling all out. She would not chance another shot at the attacker because of the neighboring houses, but raced toward Williams side.
Len had already sent the 911 to Will and Sharon's house, and within a couple of minutes the sirens were screaming to a stop. The side glass of the cruiser had turned the shot enough to make it miss, thereby delivering only a glancing blow off Williams forehead just below the hair line. Still it was enough to daze him. Sharon had certainly saved his life.
He had roused and looked over at her now, seeing one of the medics was looking at her side. She was bleeding as well. In another minute or so Len came tearing up the street with all four barrels of the big Crown Vic sucking air like a jet. Less than thirty seconds later, Melinda came sliding to a stop up against the curb, tires squalling and smoke flying.
She raced up to the where they were now placing Sharon, by now unconscious, onto a gurney. The first ambulance to the scene pulled out with her to the hospital. One could hear as the driver opened all the barrels wide open, horn and siren blaring. They did not know if they were going to get her there in time.
This was five cops shot in less than an eighteen hour period in the City of Stillwell Creek. Someone was on a rampage and they had to be stopped. God help them if one of "the Team" caught up to them.
Less than two minutes later Lane Wardlow and Victor Bension came rushing up to the scene. William was quite awake but very bloody. Sharon had lost a lot of blood after collapsing by the car. This was going to be one tough fight.
But somebody was in big trouble!
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