Rangers Apprentice AU-Police Force

Episode 9 Pt 2-Risk Taker

Seated in the car, Halt felt some of the tension that Ed Wells had created, melting away. In fact, the farther they drove from the station and wound among traffic, the more he felt confident that Well's opinions were nothing but smoke and light to the quiet officer next to him. At that, Halt turned his head and glanced at Treaty. He had been awfully quiet during the trip-which was something the young man rarely was. Will sat watching traffic, his expression concealing whatever was going on under that dark, curly head of hair. It didn't hide the shadows under his eyes, however. Deliberating on whether or not to speak up, Will broke the silence first after all.

 "Halt, do you think Officer Wells is completely wrong?"

So he had been thinking about the break room conversation. Glad that they could have it out here and now, Halt swung the car into a parking spot along the sidewalk and put it into park. Leaning his arm against the steering wheel, he faced Will who looked surprise at the result of his question.

 "I do. For the simple matter that what Wells does isn't safe for the citizen."

"He seems to get things done," Will suggested carefully. "Last week when we had that call over the hold up, he was in the building before the man even knew he was there, and had him covered."

 Halt remembered. He had gotten a chewing from Mack for not taking care of the call in their area quicker; Mack must be under a lot of strain of late to have said as much as he did. They'd both known Officer Wells had overstepped his area of patrol, but he had gotten the job done at no risk-thankfully. "What happened there," he growled, "Was a lot of luck. If that man had taken hostages, they could have gotten killed with an officer barging in like that." He raised a hand to stop the suggestion on Treaty's lips, "And he didn't know that. He took in at a glance what he thought the situation was, and what he had heard over the radio, and ran with it. A good officer scouts his perimeters first. Slow as it is, it saves lives."

 When Will nodded his head thoughtfully, Halt felt a lot better. It was easy to find the flashy and fast rescues attractive. It grated on his own nerves at times, to have to wait and circle before making a move; and he'd been in the division ten years or more. But Treaty needed to understand the cons to the pros, before he tried making any snap judgements. Halt remembered the last snap judgement, and its consequences every day he rode. 

Neither spoke on the subject any further, and they patrolled in comparative silence. The afternoon was fast approaching when their radio suddenly crackled to life.

 Adam 12, shots fired in Rose Park Blvd. Officers need backup."

Grabbing the mike, Halt acknowledged the call and flipped the siren switch. 

"Here we go," He muttered. "Just the cherry on top to the day."

As they sped along Will got the shotgun out, his fingers gripping it tightly  but he rode calmly, his gaze focused on the side streets they passed. He'd do, Halt thought briefly.

 The street was clear as they rolled in. It was a nice neighborhood, with neat lawns and shrub lined homes. As they approached the police unit parked at an angle across from such a home, there was a loud report and lead broke the back tailight. Whipping the car around, Halt jerked the door open and dropped behind it alongside the officer who was also taking cover behind his door. Officer Mike nodded a greeting.

"You boys made good time."

"Just in the area; what's the situation?" Halt asked. Mike gestured with the barrel of his pistol. 

"People who own the place are out on a business trip. The neighbor called because she saw an unfamiliar car parked out front, and noticed someone at the window. We rolled up just as he was coming through the door and he peppered the street with his shotgun."

 Halt noted the officer was by himself and frowned. "Your partner?"

Mike grinned reassuringly. "He's out back, covering the exit there. Our robber is mighty nervous though-watch yourself."

"You don't say," Halt said dryly. Across the car, Treaty waited behind his own door with the shotgun. Meeting his partner's look he asked, "What are we going to do?"

 Just then, another patrol car rolled up from the other end of the street and Halt felt his face twist into a glare. "Just swell. Here's Custard with the light brigade."

 Ed Well didn't pull up alongside but stopped his car on the lawn. As the intruder's gun went off again, his partner had his door open and returned fire through the window. Halt was livid.

"What does he think he's doing! Leading a cavalry charge?"

Ed seemed to have something of the sort in mind because he rolled out his door while his partner covered him, making for the porch. It all happened so fast that the other officers didn't have time to react. There was a gunshot and Wells was down, then his partner dropped his gun, clutching his arm as another blast from the robber caught him too.

 Wells lay still; he had almost made it too the porch when he fell, and in direct line of fire from the windows of the house. Officer Mike started to rise but Halt grabbed his arm, forcing him back down. 

"Is he dead?" Will asked softly. 

Halt shook his head. He had seen Well's hand move, so the officer was at least, alive. But he was in a bad spot for more bullets if they robber decided to make sure he was finished off.

"Radio for tear gas and an ambulance, " Halt said shortly. He shrugged off the heavy leather jacket that officers wore in the winter months, and tossed it across to Will as Mike did what he was told.

 "Take yours off also, and shut them in the door so they block the windows on that side. Will hurried to obey, sliding into the backseat at Halt's order  and lying flat. Practically lying down in the front seat himself, Halt slid the car into gear.

"We're going to get Wells. You cover us. The man has only two barrels, so we'll try to get him to fire them, and load up Wells while he reloads."

"Good luck," Officer Mike said grimly.