Something wasn’t right at work. Officers were being continually eliminated, killed, or fired. She had been there when James was shot. His last words to her were, “you…. you… can…can’t trust anyone….in…. in the department….. Inside….job…..save…..yourself….”
The words “inside job” continued to prey upon her mind with an unrelenting fervor.
If James was right….. who could be killing and eliminating people? Why would anyone in the department murder good, clean, and down-to-earth officers? Why?
Rain beat a steady tune upon the roads and cars alike. It was past midnight and AJ was returning home after a long day of investigations. The steep roads didn’t seem to be dangerous, but the appearance was deceiving. Her car suddenly began to pick up speed and to accelerate without her slamming her foot on the gas petal.
“What the…..” AJ breathed in a barely audible tone.
Tapping the break petal she willed the car to slow down, but the vehicle did not respond. It continued to pick up speed on the slick roads. Remembering her training she delicately spun the wheel in a zigzagging motion but something was wrong with her car. All of her training never could have prepared her for what was going to happen next.
A panicked deer bolted out of a patch of high grass and came to stop in her way. It’s glowing green eyes peered into the misted beams as if to declare “I was here first and I’m not moving.” AJ hissed, swerving around the frightened animal with one smooth motion, as she had learned at the academy.
But slick roads and swerving in the middle of a steep road do not mix well with unresponsive cars. The car speed off of the paved streets and into a wooded meadow with a gut-churning flurry of motion erupting on all sides. AJ did her best to expertly navigate the rough terrain as twigs and branches slapped against the vehicle.
Unfortunately, her valiant effort was not enough. The wild jarring of headlights slicing through the heavy darkness and fog concealed a large tree. In fact, AJ hadn’t seen it at all. The only indication that the obstacle stood in her path was the terrible roar of crunching metal and the twinkling of shattering glass. An eerie silence seized the air inside of the car but the trickling pitter-patter or raindrops continued to dance rhythmically over the scene.
AJ’s head rested upon the wheel for a moment. Dazed, the young officer slowly lifted her head and blinking her eyes a few times she inspected the scene. She let out a groan and fumbled for her cell-phone. Flipping it open she placed a call to the emergency services for assistance.
Ambling out of the car she found a place to lie down until help could arrive. Her focus drifted in and out with every passing moment; but one thing bothered her. AJ’s car had been functioning flawlessly that morning but something had gone wrong between the time she parked the car in the work lot and the time she left. But a throbbing sensation overcame her ability to concentrate on that fact. If AJ strained her ears, she could just make out the sound of wailing sirens swelling and mixing in with the sleepy utterances of night.
Soon halos of red and white tangled with the increasingly thick cover of low hanging fog clouds. Medics rushed to the young officer’s side and began assessing and attending to her wounds. Squinting up at a dark-haired medic she murmured, “I’m fine. I’m really fine. I just….” But she was being slowly lulled into deep slumber…”I just….just want to….to…” her words faded out as she closed her eyes.
“Hey, can you hear me? You can’t sleep now,” the dark haired medic protested, shaking her as gently as he could.
It was funny, how a barely noticeable buzzing sound could explode into a deafening rumble that could swallow both the sound of the sirens and the talking medic.
Numbness set in and everything plunged into an endless stream of impenetrable shadows.
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