"Sure is a quiet night, for a full moon and all." Patrolman Valkov said- half in jest.
"It'll pick up. You wait. The full moon always brings out the crazies." Sergeant Raimes, Valkov's supervisor, replied.
The full moon showed itself intermittently between jagged sailing clouds, and, when it did, it cast the city in feeble light and deep inky shadows. It had rained earlier and the clouds that remained were the tailing edge of the weather system. As the moon passed behind clouds, the way it lit the feathered edge of cloud seemed to be straight out of a Werewolf movie.
"Turn around here. We'll cut over to Amsterdam. There may be something going on over there." Raimes said.
"Sure thing, Sarg." Valkov responded, and then he turned sharply nosing into an alleyway to begin a three point turn.
"What the...? Stop the car!" Raimes said and then he immediately jumped out of the vehicle drawing his sidearm while pulling out a small but bright tactical flashlight and assuming a Harries Method stance that allowed him to keep his weapon on target while also keeping the target in the beam of light.
Then, speaking to the individual in his light, he said, "Hands! Let me see your hands."
Valkov slammed the car into park, threw the emergency lights on because the tail end of the patrol car was hanging out into the street, and then got out of the car. The sight before him was almost comical. It was a Bizarro-world version of events. A pretty, young, and petite Asian girl was squatting down preparing to lift the inert form of a young man into the trunk of a car. The young man had blond-hair, was athletically built, and looked to be a college kid. His hands were bound and there was a patch of duct-tape over his mouth. The girl was also about college age, had shiny straight black hair, and was wearing a cleavage-accentuating corset top.
The girl, who looked to be Chinese, let go of the boy's head and it dropped with a quiet but disconcerting thud to the pavement. She raised her hands while slowly standing. As she was doing so, she looked from the alley to the street. The alley seemed to be a dead-end, but the opening of the alleyway onto the street didn't present an appealing escape route because it would mean running toward the police onto a well-lit sidewalk.
"Valkov, cuff her and then search her." Raimes said.
As Valkov approached the young woman, she began to slowly move to her side toward the edge of the alley. It was a subtle movement that was not meant to unnerve the officer, but rather seemed perfectly benign. Valkov, in a combination of rookie mistake and overconfidence about the threat presented by a Chinese girl of slight build, did not notice that the young woman was putting him in the line of fire between her and Sgt. Raimes.
Raimes noticed this tactic immediately, and began to shift to toward the opposite side of the alley to maintain his bead. He did not want to yell, either to Valkov or the girl, because he was afraid it would distract Valkov and the rookie would look over his shoulder taking his eyes off the woman at a dangerous juncture. Raimes, therefore, just cursed under his breath.
"Face the wall, and put your hands on your head." Valkov commanded.
The girl, now playing the shy polite Asian girl to the nines, did as she was instructed with a cute and innocent smile. As Valkov began to snap the first cuff around the girl's wrist, she spun around in an almost impossible burst of speed, snatching out a concealed dagger from her waist, and driving it into Valkov's chest. The patrolman reacted too late, and had only the time to twist sharply. Valkov shrieked and dropped to his knees. The dagger had gone into the Kevlar bulletproof vest obliquely due to Valkov's twist, and became lodged in the dense tight-knit material. The girl let go when she realized she could not easily withdraw the weapon, and knowing taking advantage of surprise was essential.
