pictures after they collected
whatever evidence there was; when he saw her pushed beyond the yellow tape and
started taking photos.
Angrily he stormed over to the
reporter and without thinking he pushed her camera. The device fell on the
concrete driveway and he could hear the crack as it hit the ground. Without as
much as an apology he turned and walked towards the porch of the house. Soon
after another officer came and asked her to move.
Natalia was pissed and for good
reason. Ever since she was assigned to the department the detective gave her a
warm time. She had no idea why he hated her so much. Now her brand new camera
was broken and he was showing no signs of remorse. She wasn’t going to let it
slide and she was determined not to leave the scene without photos so she took
out her phone and started snapping.
Robert was busy and had taken his
mind off the pesky reporter. He thought she would be busy piecing back her
camera together. He had no idea it was broken for he thought her outburst was
typical. They all yell that their cameras were broken in order to get
attention.
Natalia didn’t get to talk to the
wife nor the husband who was suffering from multiple cuts on his arm and a
shallow stab wound. However she got an earful from the nosy neighbor who told
her that the husband was cheating and was caught with his pants down. It was a
very funny story and she could not help giggling under her breath as the
neighbor told her about it.
“I tell you, he deserved it. Glad it
wasn’t worse but that poor woman has…,” the neighbor was saying as her phone
went off.
“Excuse me,” she said and walked
towards her car, “hello?” It was this phone call which forever changed her
life.
“I got something for you,” it was one
of her sources.
“Tell me,” she replied.
“437 South Avenue, eleven tomorrow
night…. click ,” before she could respond he hung up.
This was not strange behavior for the
guy was constantly looking over his shoulder. He was a member of the Blood Fire
Posse. She believed he was and undercover cop but could not prove it. He always
gave her very valuable information but she also knew he liked her. Natalia
could not figure out his angle and that often made her anxious.
Eleven was pretty late for her to be
alone but she could take care of herself. Usually she would check out the
location in daylight to get an idea of where she would hide herself then she
would park her car a block away and get there earlier in order to see what was
happening. She found that worked best for her for she didn’t like surprises.
At ten thirty the following evening
Natalia found herself crouched behind the hedges of an abandoned lot. Across
the road was 437 and in front of the red brick apartment building was an
unmarked car with two men drinking coffee. Directly in front of the car was an
abandoned vehicle without tires. The car was on her side of the street in the
shadows but it was obvious to her who the men were. She shook her head. Natalia
had no idea where the target was but there was the detective and his partner on
a stake out.
“This isn’t good,” she whispered to
herself. “They’ve been busted! Jeez, what have I got myself into?”
As she pondered her options a shadow
stepped from behind the huge dumpster at the far end of the building. The area
was a bit dark and the car with the detectives was facing the opposite
direction. Another shadow appeared from the building next to the apartment,
still behind the car. As the two shadows approached the parked vehicle a bit
stealthily the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She could sense that
something was amiss.
Peering through the darkness she
could make out the silhouette of a gun in the hand of the man who came from
behind the dumpster. The other man was still in the deep shadows so she wasn’t
sure if he was packing but her instincts told her that they were up to no good.
It was when he crouched and started
moving slowly towards