So what happened?
Read on.
Poor Wandering One
David Perry
“Ugh.”
“Yeah.”
“Now that’s a killshot.”
The body lay sprawled on the sidewalk. The head—well, the remnants—blossomed from the neck in a splatter across the pavement. The back of the skull had practically been pulverized, liquefying the brain, but leaving the face eerily intact, but “unwrapped” from the bone, leaving the body horridly moonfaced.
Bo looked at his partner. “I think cause of death is going to be easy with this one.”
“It was a professional hit.”
Detective Chu rose a brow. “Professional?”
“Oh, yes,” said the coroner. “Officer Bronsky was right. He’s the SEAL, right?”
Chu looked at the body. White male, early forties. Medium height and build. “Yeah, he is. Dammit.”
Now Lydia rose a brow. “You not like him?”
“What? Oh, no. This guy was an informant for us.”
“Well, somebody found him out,” Lydia replied. “Did you find the bullet?”
“Forensics is still at the scene.”
Lydia turned back to the body. “Well, I’ll tell you this: With this kind of damage, you’re looking for a sniper bullet. Standard issue just can’t do this. That Bronsky knows his guns.”
Chu shrugged. “SEALs do.”
Captain Bruce Renard was talking with Officer Bronsky when Chu entered.
“Detective Chu.”
Bo rose and nodded to the other man.
Continued Rendard. “Bronsky was first on the scene. He suspects it was a professional hit.”
“He’s right,” Chu replied. “Autopsy confirmed it. Forensics has found the bullet yet, but Lydia’s sure it was a sniper.”
“She already diced him?” Bo asked. “That was quick. Why the rush?”
Chief and Detective exchanged dark looks.
And Bo caught it. “What? What did I just ask?”
“His name is Jerry Cook,” Renard replied. “He was an informant in a case.”
“You’re gonna need a new one,” Bo remarked. Then he put two and two together. “Informant? Professional hit? Hoo, boy.”
“There goes the star witness,” Chu said, slumping into a chair. “At least we have the eviden—“
“Officer Bronsky, would you excuse Detective Chu and I for a moment?”
Bo immediately got up, fought the old habit of saluting his superior officer, caught a very odd look between the two men, left, and like any Navy SEAL with a slight paranoid streak, hung outside the office within earshot.
Of course, the shouting match that erupted between the two men did not quite require what the world calls “subterfuge.” It brought the entire room to a halt, even if it did simmer down very quickly. Detective Dexter Chu charged out of the office, slamming the door so hard Bo was sure the glass would break. His face was pure anger.
Sargent Renard, a few seconds later, came out of his office, his expression one Bo couldn’t indentify. “Um…,” Bo started. “Sir?”
“Nothing, Officer Bronsky,” Renard replied coolly. His face seemed to made out of candlewax. “Return to your duties.”
Interoffice chatter being what it was, Bo knew Dex was working a major human trafficking ring case. While he may have been a former SEAL, Bo was still just a rookie cop, so he wasn’t privy to all the fact, but it was clear the investigation hit a serious bump. He wasn’t up on is legal procedure, but even if a star witness was iced, in the hands of the right D.A., it could be spun to make a better case…
“Dex?”
The man looked up to see Bo. Chu threw his shirt into his locker.
“Aren’t you still on-shift?”
“I’ve been given the day off.”
Bo shifted his weight uncomfortably. “Your case. You were ordered to drop it.” It didn’t take a genius to figure it out. Dexter Chu was a decorated officer, and one of the most level heads in the precinct. He didn’t have tantrums unless the rug was yanked out from under him. “Why?”
Chu scowled. “I was reassigned.”
Bo rose his brows. “What?”
“Renard thought that my ‘immeasurable skills could be put to better use elsewhere.’”
“He said that?”
Chu shot him a glace. Yep. He said that.
“But…but, I mean, you had a strong case. You were working on it for a year and a half! There’s photo evidence!”
The other man yanked his jeans on. “Yeah, well, probably not for much longer.”
“What?”
“D.A.’s dropping the case.”
Bo blinked. “That doesn’t even make sense.”
Chu slammed his locker shut. “No. Doesn’t.” He passed the rookie without ceremony. “Doesn’t.”
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