Free Night of the Black Bastards (An Action-Packed Thriller) by Casey Christie Page B

today?”
    Sergeant Night looked at her. If she was anybody else he quite literally would have told her to fuck off and mind her own business! But the sincere concern in her voice and her gentle manner softened him.
    “You know we don’t talk of these things Lis. Not with Civvies anyway. You know that.”
    “I know Mike but he is my friend as well and I care about him.”
    Sergeant Night stood silently for a while, not even he was sure why, a mixture of pent up emotion, sadness and anger at another good man’s death. Another brother fallen by the gun of a criminal. Then mutilated. And no one cared. Even he had to force himself into pretending he didn’t care otherwise the pain would be too much. There were so many deaths, so many good policemen, his brothers who had died in the last decade in the new South Africa, in the war on crime.
    The old policeman’s trick was to blame the death on the dead officer’s tactics. After a police officer was killed on duty one would often hear other officers talking:
    “He should never have been allowed on the road, he didn’t know what he was doing, he didn’t have the experience or know how, it’s his own fault.”
    Or
    “It was a tactical fail on his part. Now he is dead. A weak link in the force, good riddance.”
    It was the only way they could make sense of it. Sergeant Michael Night and his crew believed they would not fall because they were superior combatants to the enemy. They were better trained, had sharper skills and would be more aggressive and violent in action than any enemy could be. This, indeed, Night often thought was part of the pain – they had to be extremely violent and as Zulu had said about Wamba, Tiger as he was known then, they had to be the biggest, baddest dogs in the township. 
    Finally Night responded to her.
    “I tried calling his cellphone. It was off. Anyway what do you expect? He is Zulu and won’t talk about how he feels. He will do what he needs to do and the next time I see him he will act as though nothing has happened. Except for the bloodlust – I am sure he will let that show. Poor Satan, I actually feel sorry for him.” He smiled weakly.
    Sergeant Night grabbed their bags and loaded them into the Lumina SS, walked back to the front door where Lisa was standing.
    “You ready?”
    “Yip, just going to put the alarm on.”
    “Is everything locked up girl, all the windows and doors?”
    “Yes babe, I just double checked.”
    Lisa activated the ADT Armed Response alarm and locked the front doors.
    They walked to the car when Lisa suddenly turned to Mike.
    “Aren’t you forgetting something?” She gestured to Wamba who was sitting in front of the gate with sad looking eyes, ears pinned behind his huge head.
    “How could I. The bloody horse is blocking the gate.”
    With that Night grinned broadly and produced a thick silver leash from his back pocket.
    The four year old behemoth leapt to his feet with the energy and enthusiasm of a 12-week-old puppy, his oversized tongue flopped out of his mouth and his ears bounced in the air as he raced towards the rear car door.
    “You thought I forgot about you didn’t you my silly boy, ha-ha. I have been watching him for the last 15 minutes, waiting for any sign of the leash or any indication he was coming with us.”
    “You are so mean Mike, he has been sitting there staring at you all this time.”
    “Yeah but look how happy the little fellow is now.”
    “Little…”
    “That’s a good point actually Lis, why don’t you get as excited when I take you out of the house?!”
    Lisa punched him on the arm and hurt her hand.
    “Ouch.”
    Mike laughed as Wamba jumped in the back seat and made himself comfortable. Then Lisa got in the car and Mike stood outside while the gates opened. Firearm ready. The gates unlocked and it was all clear, Mike got in. He was careful to make sure the entrance closed fully behind them before pulling away.
    Sergeant Night had been looking forward to the