MARIEL

3~ Caged ~

"Weird that Lt. Wilson from Internal Affairs is retiring and moving so suddenly, isn't it?" Recruit Thompson whispered, loudly.

Hands behind her back, Tira stood to the side of Recruit Thompson, who sat at the end of four folding tables stationed side by side in the middle of the turf field.

It was Friday afternoon, hours before she would meet Esther Caravan by absolute chance, and several days after she had removed Lt. Wilson from the picture. Today, the recruits sat at the tables, palms flat on the tables, eyes wide. Placed on the table before them, each recruit had been given an unloaded rifle and handgun. In her pockets, Tira held military grade pepper spray and, in a moment, she would spray the eyes of the recruits. Their requirement: take apart and put together their weapons until given further command.

Unfortunately for the recruits, they did not know they were about to receive the spray.

Recruit Thompson would be first.

"Would you like to share, with the rest of us of course, what you just whispered to Recruit Carter?" Tira asked. Slipping her hands into her pockets, she played with the cap of the spray. Her eyes, bitterly sharp, looked upon Recruit Thompson, but her face was stoic.

Silence.

"No, ma'am."

"Then stop talking, please." Tira stepped in front of the seated recruits and turned to face them. The warehouse lights glowed brightly against her golden hair, lifted into a loose bun. Scanning their faces, she took a small step forward. "Listen closely. On my command, you will begin with the rifles, take them apart, put them together, and then immediately switch to the handgun and do the same. Once finished with the handgun, you will repeat the same process until I command you to stop. Is that understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." In unison, the recruits chorused loudly.

"Whatever happens, do not leave this table until I command you to do so."

"Yes, ma'am." Bleak sounding, but prepared.

Tira stepped towards the table again, looked at Recruit Thompson to ensure he was positioned as necessary, lifted the bottle, and sprayed.

He screamed, tried to cover his eyes.

Swiftly, Tira moved past the tables, her arm extended, her finger on the bottle's trigger. The red mist floated in the air in specks as the hot liquid doused across each recruit's eyes. When she reached the end of the table, they were shouting, cursing, trying to understand what had just occurred.

"Go!" Tira shouted. Her voice echoed, and the recruits fumbled for their weapons. As she watched the recruits, who were gasping and red-eyed, pissed and crying, she glanced at the monitoring watch, confirmed that Esther's heartbeat was normal, and reviewed the night of Lt. Wilson's fright.

'What the fuck?' He stared at her with a combination of anger, fear, and even a small remainder of lust. 'You're gonna go to prison for a very long time, you fucking bitch.'

'Shut up. I'm going to make this as quick as possible, because I'm tired and I'd like to go to bed. Answer me one question. Would you like to live or die?'

Lt. Wilson's eyes widened. He tugged at his wrists, which was ironic to Tira, because as a cop he should have realized that it was hard to get out of handcuffs if they had been properly applied and locked, considering he had most likely handcuffed hundreds of people in his life as a patrol officer.

Tira wanted to laugh at this irony, but she could not bring herself to smile. Lately, she had no desire to smile.

'What the fucking hell are you asking me? Do I want to live or die? What is wrong with you?' Lt. Wilson's face turned red, pink almost, and he slammed his heel against the floor in the flood of panic and wrath.