This story is part of an ongoing series.
The chronological order of my stories is listed in WifeWatchman's biography.
Feedback and
constructive
criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas.
This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above.
Part 9 - Devastation
Saturday, February 16th, nearly noon. I was in my office, dressed in my red golf/polo shirt with embroidered badge and khaki pants. I was on the computer, getting data on Tomoko Shimono, Paco, and Jerry Barsbane.
My desk phone buzzed. I considered not answering it, but something told me I needed to. I picked up the receiver and said "Troy."
"Sir, this is the Duty Desk." said the Duty Desk Sergeant. "There's been an accident on Courthouse Square. Officer Barker is down..."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I took my SUV, even though the distance was very short. I was allowed through the cordon being set up by the TCPD, and I saw the flashing blue lights of many Police vehicles on College Street.
When I got out of my vehicle and came up, I saw that there was a crowd of people being restrained by the Police in a polite but professional manner. I saw a little red haired girl sobbing in what appeared to be her mother's arms. And I saw a couple of Officers attending someone lying on the ground, who I realized was Barker. Father Romano was also kneeling there, giving what looked like the Last Rites.
Further down, a car had crashed into the front of a store. Officers had dragged the driver out of the car and had him on his belly, hands cuffed behind him. The driver looked unkempt and ragged, his shirt dirty and his jeans had holes in them. He was drunkenly babbling something.
Barky was being held back by his leash, the other end being in Patrolman Johnson's hand. Barky was whimpering as he looked at his owner, and whenever anyone came up to Barker, the dog would begin barking furiously, trying to protect his stricken human.
"Hey, Barky!" I called out as I came up. "Come here, boy." It worked. Barky knew me, having seen me a number of times in his puppyhood. He sniffed my hand, then allowed me to pick him up, though he continued to whimper.
The two Officers besides Father Romano that were kneeling by Barker were Lieutenants Rudistan and Irwin. Then I looked at Barker. His eyes were open, staring sightlessly at the sky. A pool of blood was flowing on the bricks from under the back of his head.
"He's gone, sir." said Father Romano, who had undergone rigorous wilderness survival paramedic training. Just then the ambulance arrived, and two paramedics jumped out. Rudistan, Irwin, and myself got back out of the way, and Father Romano went over to the little girl and her mother.
"Damn." I said sadly. "When was the ambulance called?"
"The people around here called 9-1-1 when it happened, sir." said Corporal Hicks, who had just come up to me. I led him back away from the body and the group.
"Let me put Barky in my car." I said. I did so, and Barky just looked out the window at the small crowd of people, still whimpering. I came back to Corporal Hicks.
"We'll have to check to see how quickly 9-1-1 notified the ambulance service, sir." Hicks said. "In the meantime, I've got several people coming up to me saying Barker threw that little girl out of the way of the oncoming car. We're getting statements now, and as usual they all differ, but the gist of it is that this car came flying hard down College Street, then veered right at Barker's table. He threw the little girl out of the way, then the car hit his table and ran over him."
"Have we secured the video of the area?" I asked.
"We're doing that now, sir." said Hicks. "Only a couple of these shops have cameras, and they're still cameras so they don't show everything. Headquarters is getting footage from the streetlights and from City Hall and the Civic Center."
"Good." I said. "Let's see if this bistro nearest the scene has any video." I led the way inside. The two shocked workers said there was a camera, but they didn't know how to get the video, that only the manager knew.
"Call him on the phone and ask him to come down." I said. They made the call and tried to explain the situation. I had the girl on the phone hand me the receiver.
"This is Commander Troy of the TCPD." I said. "To whom am I speaking?" He identified himself as Tom Jones. "Mr. Jones, I need you to come down here right away and show me the camera footage of the fatal car accident in front of your restaurant, here..."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As we waited for the manager to show up, I went back outside. "Sir," said Rudistan, "footage from the streetlight cam at Riverside and College has been downloaded to the evidence servers, and you can look at it."
I took out my Police iPhone and watched. I saw the back of the car going down the street, then almost inexplicably swerving at the very last moment to plow into the sidewalk tables. Then I saw that a camera from J.P. Goldman Bank had been uploaded. It surveyed the front entrance of the bank, but it showed College Street, and though from a distance it revealed the front of the car coming down the road, swerving, and Barker flying back, then the car continuing down and hitting a nearby store.
"Wow." I said. "It swerved right at the last second. He had no time..."
Officers were getting statements from people. I saw the red-haired girl still sitting nearby, sobbing. Why she had not been pulled back so that she would not have to witness this, I did not know, and would demand an explanation of my Officers at a later time. Father Romano was talking to her and her mom, but she continued sobbing unabated. I asked her and her mother to come down the street, further away from the crime scene, and pulled up a chair next to her and her mom as they sat down.
"Hi." I said. "My name is Don. What's yours?" I asked the girl.
"Frieda." she said.
"Are you okay?" I asked. "Were you injured?"
"No." Frieda said, then wailed: "He... he died because of me! He picked me up and threw me out of the way and the car hit
him!
" Frieda broke down into more sobbing.
"Frieda," I said. "I need to tell you something. Look at me." When I finally got the girl's full attention, I said "Frieda, he did not die instead of you. He didn't have time to get out of the way, even if you weren't there."
"How do you know?" Frieda asked.
"Because I am a Detective." I said. "I saw the video, and I know some other things, as well. And I know that either both of you would've died, or he would've died after throwing you out of the way. He chose to save you, but even if he hadn't, he still would've been hit. So do not blame yourself, okay?"
"But he died!" Frieda said.
"I know." I said, putting my arm around her. "But I'm glad he saved you."
"What happened to his dog?" Frieda asked.
"I put the dog in my car." I said. "He's okay. My dog Bowser is Barky's daddy, and we'll make sure Barky is taken care of." Frieda nodded.
