In The Blood

Three Suspects

(Smith)

Zeroing in on the one with the broken leg, I started to jog towards the three men Kats had pulled aside. All three with blonde hair, all three with black shirts. One was standing there calmly, one was running his mouth with his arms crossed in front of him, and the third was balancing on a pair of crutches, a thick cast on his lower left leg. I figured I could rule out broken leg guy quickly. He wouldn't have been able to go running, he'd have a hard time with a firearm unless he was sitting, and I hadn't seen him in the immediate ensuing swarm.

"Hi, I'm Lance Smith, chief of secu—," I began to introduce myself, but the crossed arms guy turned to me and started to backtalk before I could even get started.

"Whataya think you're doing? You can't do this! You can't detain us! You have to let us leave! The building is under—"

"Yes, I can, and yes, I am," I had to take charge of the situation before it got out of hand in the first six sentences spoken. "A felony has just been committed and you three match the description of the gunman." I turned to the man with the broken leg. "Sir, what's your—"

"No, you're not," crossed arms guy disagreed, starting to turn around to leave. "I'm—"

I grabbed his arm. "Yes, I am. I need you to try to settle down. I know the situation is dire, but I must identify—"

"You must do nothing other than let me go!" he snapped, pulling away only to be shoved right back in place by Kats. "Stop touching me!"

"You are, in fact, detained, and will be turned over to the police when they arrive. Try to leave again and you will be restrained," I informed him coolly. "Now, what is your—"

"I know my rights and you are breaching them!" he countered, still struggling against me.

"And I am entirely within my authority to detain people who match the description of a suspect immediately following a felony being committed," I countered, pushing him into stepping off my toe.

"Just calm down, sir," the calm younger one advised. "He'll ask you a couple of questions and if you really didn't shoot off the firearm, he'll figure it out and let you go."

"With all due respect—oomph." The man with the broken leg shifted his weight. "With all due respect, I think firing a gun would have knocked me over."

"Be still," I warned the agitated guy. "If you try to step away again or get back in my face, you are going to get in more trouble."

"Was that your little boy I saw a minute ago?" the calmer guy asked him. "He's so cute. How old is he?"

The agitated guy actually started to smile. "Six months. Just turned six months on the 26th."

"Aww," the calmer guy cooed, starting to engage with him to distract him from his aggravation so that I could sort things out with the broken leg guy. I gave the calm guy a grateful smile and he nodded at me. Whew. He was actually calm, cooperative, and helping me. I almost wanted to hug him.

"Can I see your ID, please?" I asked the broken leg guy.

"It's in my back pocket. Can I get it?" he asked, looking at me quizzically.

"Yes, please. Do you need assistance?" Last thing I wanted to do was injure him further.

He shook his head, leaning against the wall. "I got it. Just wanted to let you know what I was doing."

"Thank you," I told him. "Appreciate your cooperation."

He wiggled a brown leather wallet free. "Just find the guy that shot the gun."