Citizen

Untitled Part 2

Chapter 2

Friday, January 15, 2021

Guy was resting at home when he received a call from Central Police Station's Captain Dempsey. Guy and Rick had been reassigned to Central following the De Montfort episode.

"Good morning, captain."

"How are you?"

"I'm good. Ready to go."

"We received a complaint from the girlfriend of the man you dealt with yesterday. His name is Jesús Luis Segura Ayala. I need to see you when you get here. If that's gotta be tomorrow, I can wait."

"I'll be in your office in 30 minutes, sir."

"Fine."

Guy dragged himself off the couch and broke away from watching his favorite TV show, Deadly Women, with that hot chick, Candice DeLong, drank the last few drops of a gin gimlet, closed the George Patton biography he was about to read on his iPad, and got out of his pajamas.

He walked one and a half blocks to Central with the cadence of an Air Force combat controller who liked the glances of both men and women. He had had a hot dog and a cigar for breakfast and wanted something more.

"It's eleven thirty. Sit down, Guy."

"Yes, sir."

"Rosa Maria Jacinto Jimenez filed a complaint that amounts to excessive force. She said you could have overpowered her man without breaking his neck. Looks like she had the help of legal aide, and it looks like the ketamine has worn off." Dempsey looked up from his green blotter. "By the way, Jesús is an illegal alien."

Oh, shit.

"Yeah, that's no concern of ours," Dempsey said sarcastically.

"Yeah, no problem, I feel great."

"You're new at Central. I don't care about your war record or your number one finish on the sergeant's oral and written. Tell me in your own words why you handled the situation the way you did."

Oh, shit.

"The guy was dangerous. When I kneed him and he fell to the floor, he acted like it was a game. I stood him up..."

"What do you mean by 'game'?"

"The way he looked at me...like I wasn't serious. He was holding his woman hostage with a knife and was about to do something to her. She needed my protection."

"When you stood him up, why didn't you cuff him at that point?"

"He was struggling to get free. I needed to subdue his sorry ass."

"Was anyone else present?"

"An old lady with blue hair. Wasn't that in the report?" Guy asked politely.

"No. Where was she?"

"Outside."

"No other witnesses?"

"No, but it was a good thing she was outside."

"All right. Next time, you and any partner you have need to coordinate better. Jesús will recover in a few weeks. He's got a neck brace on. The Office of Citizen Complaints will present its cockamamie findings to the Police Commission. Let's wait and see."

"Yes, sir."

"You start your shift tomorrow at 7:00 AM. Be on time, Del Toro."

"I really appreciate you standing behind me."