Free Devil's Demise by Lee Cockburn Page B

opposite of the area where Marcus was making his enquiry. She got out of her car and immediately spotted a group of teenagers loitering at the entrance to the tower block that she wanted to enter. The flats were twinned, two pillars looming in the night and each had 20 floors. They both had bold yellow and blue paint work on their exterior walls, with brightly lit red beacons at the top as they were on the flight path to Edinburgh airport. The lower floors were decorated with obscene pictures of genitalia and swear words from the local budding artists and poets, filling in their time before they had the opportunity to rob someone or cause an unsuspecting passer-by a heap of misery, just so they could have a laugh and boast to their mates about their exploits, or get hold of someone else’s hard earned cash.
    She strode boldly towards the entrance, not showing any fear or intimidation to the group that stood there menacingly, knowing these people fed on any little sign of weakness.
    As she walked towards the door, the loudest bold boy wolf whistled at her and leered at his mates saying, “I’d like to get myself a piece of that. He grabbed his crotch, thrusting it towards her.
    She ignored him until she reached the door, underestimating them a little, thinking that they didn’t have it in them. She was about to pull it open, when a foot appeared and stopped the door from opening. Taylor turned round quickly to end up face to face with the loud cocky male, her pulse was now racing as she was well aware of what could happen. She pondered for a moment whether to reveal she was a cop or not, as sometimes this could provoke the situation even more. Taylor stared right into the male’s eyes, which were equally locked on hers. He was slightlytaken aback at her confidence and lack of apparent fear. There were five other teenagers in the group; the main instigator was the same height as she was. He had a strong wiry build, short fair hair, stubble on his chin and was dressed in dark sports clothing, although there was no chance of him playing sport. It was almost like a uniform for the kids on the street, unidentifiable with similar brands of clothing to limit the likelihood of being identified for the crimes they had committed or were about to commit. Taylor took a bold step towards the lad and fronted up to him, his five mates astonished at her bravery, with not a word to say. Taylor politely said to him, “What the fuck do you want? Get your foot out my way or I’ll twist your fucking bollocks off!”
    He spluttered a bit, not sure what to do. Most people didn’t react in this way; she was dominating his space and making him look like a tit in front of his mates.
    His decision was made and he put his hand up to her face to try and shut her up, shoving her backwards, using her face to push and show her who she was messing with. Without flinching Taylor grabbed his fingers and twisted them right round, his wrist and arm following, and before he knew it he was on his knees begging her to release the goose neck grip she had on him. She told his mates if they came any closer she would snap his wrist and she meant it wholeheartedly.
    At that unfortunate moment her personal radio went off; it was the control room requesting a welfare check on her, the timing was that shit it put her welfare at even more risk. Taylor couldn’t respond as she would not let the teenager go and his mates were still there loitering in a menacing way. The message on the radio was repeated, again with no response, and this made the youths uneasy.
    All personal radios had GPS tracking and Taylor’s exact location would be shown on the main computer. Units were now being immediately dispatched without any radio confirmation, a fallback which was necessary for situations like this.
    The boy, who was now on the ground, yelled out at his mates to get the bitch and kicked Taylor hard in the shin. She reacted with a brutal twist of her hand and an unearthly