26(S2E13)-Play that song... One more time...

26

(Season 2 Episode 13)

Play That song… One More time…

In movies like Lethal Weapon and Die Hard there is no paperwork.

Sure, they make jokes about how they will eventually have to do it and threats would be made to ‘want to be’ police officers by telling them police work isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, that there’s a lot of paper work.

You never actually see any of it though.

You only ever see them foil international drug dealers or bring down German bank robbers with a stunning array of gun fights and explosions.  You never see any of the paperwork.

This irritated Detective Tim Grates.

Any time an officer discharged his weapon, got into a physical altercation, used a taser, wrote a ticket or any other cop-like duty, they had to fill out a report.

As a child Tim Grates loved those movies.  As an adult police officer, he found them exhausting.

Just one of those movies would require, literally, years of paperwork.

Tim groaned and rubbed his eyes, turning away from his computer for a second in order to remain sane.

He took a drink of his coffee.  It was paperwork day and Tim was only about halfway through.

Batman didn’t have to do paperwork.

Tim smiled.  He then opened a new window and went to his Facebook account.  He clicked on the Status Update area and typed in the words.

Batman didn’t have to do paperwork.

He smiled at his witty comment and pressed enter.

His phone rang, interrupting his procrastination.

He pulled it out of his pocket.  The display showed the number as unavailable and Tim frowned.  It was probably a bill collector.

Tim was about to put it back in his pocket when he got a feeling.  It was a feeling like this was an important call.  He wasn’t sure why, but he decided to answer it.

“Hello?” He asked not using his name because if it was a bill collector he could say they had a wrong number.

“Hello?” the male voice chimed back.

“Who is this?” Tim asked becoming confused.

“Who is this?” The voice asked back, becoming angry.

“Is this some kind of joke?” Tim asked becoming frustrated.

“I’m starting to think so!” The voice on the other end said angrily.

“Look, I’m busy, so if there is something I can do for you?” Tim asked, preparing to end the conversation.

“God Damn, I hate fucking cops!”  The voice screamed.  “This is Rockwell, the Rockwell, as in patient 1314, as in killed more people than disease.”

Tim’s eyes narrowed, it couldn’t be.  Why would he be calling Tim personally?  How had he gotten Tim’s number?

“I just shot a whole bunch of people down here at the Gund.” Rockwell stated, plainly.

“You mean the Quicken Loans Arena?”  Tim asked.

Rockwell became agitated.  “Are you fucking kidding me?!  I just killed a bunch of people and you want to split hairs on the arena’s name?!  Fucking cops!”

Rockwell hung up.

Tim had to take a second.  If it was a joke or a prank and he sent everyone out, he would lose his job.

Tim looked at the computer screen and endless paperwork that was waiting for him.

Worse things could happen.

**** 

Maggie ran through the halls of the arena at full speed.

That had gone wrong fast, this wasn’t supposed to be part of the plan.

Damn, that Creegan.

She just couldn’t get rid of him.  He was always showing up like a stray dog you couldn’t get rid of.  She should have known she couldn’t kill him.

Stubbornness like that was un-killable.

She got to the walkway between the garage and the arena and stopped for a second, seeing the bodies of Elmo’s guards.  One of them had managed to pull his .38 snub-nose and tried to shoot his attackers.

Obviously this action had been in vain.

She picked up the gun and slid it into the front of her pants.  Before stepping over the bodies and continuing to the garage, she reached into her pocket and grabbed her keys.  Fumbling with them, she walked fast breathing hard across the concrete floor, her shoes making an echo throughout the structure.

Coming to the door of her rental she found her keys.

“Hey, Maggie.”  Creegan’s voice was calm but laden with intent from behind her.

She bit her lip and swore in her own head.  She had to think or this was going to be the end of the road.  She quickly pulled the front of her shirt over the gun so he wouldn’t see it, then she turned.

“Jim…I…”  Maggie fumbled with the words.  She was usually good with words but had nothing to say to the man she had used up, shot and left for dead.

Jim Creegan stood three feet away with Clay’s blood splatter dripping off of him.  His eyes were dark and intense.  She couldn’t quite meet them with her own.

There was a finality in them that scared her.

“You what?” Creegan asked.  “You shot me.”

Maggie looked away then back at Creegan.  “Yeah I did.  Sorry.”

Creegan raised an eyebrow.  “Sorry?”

Maggie looked back toward him, softening her features, doing everything she could to look vulnerable.  She needed to get Creegan’s savior complex to kick in.  “I made a mistake.”

“You made a mistake?” Creegan looked confused.  “You shot me.”

Maggie smiled internally.  The second time he said the words she could hear the depression in his voice.  He was like a child needing to know why.  He was still in love with her.  She had him exactly where she wanted him.

She stepped forward.  “I had a plan, Jim.  I knew you wouldn’t approve so I made a decision, and it was the wrong one.”

She could see his eyes soften.  She could see their history rolling through his very male, very easily controlled brain.  She knew how this was going to play out already.  She would continue to play on their history.  She would play on Jim’s chivalry.  She would play on his savior complex.  She would get close.

This time she would shoot him in the fucking head.

“So what do you expect me to do, just let that all go?”  Creegan asked angrily.  “Just forget? How many times have you sold me out or left me to die or vanished when I needed you?”

Maggie nodded, mocking a scolded look.  “I know, Jim.  You have no reason to trust me, but it’s all over now.  Elmo is dead.  We have all the power and all the money…”

She stepped in with one hand wrapping around the back of his head to pull him in for a kiss, her other hand subtly going for her gun.  “We can be together.”

Maggie’s hand wrapped around the butt of the gun.  It was all over now…

****

Jim cocked his right hand and punched Maggie in the face with every bit of strength he had.  The blow hit her in the right eye and sent her to the concrete floor.  She was out cold.

Creegan stared down at her then squatted next to her and pulled the car keys out of her pocket.

“You don’t know me.”  Creegan said then he unlocked the car and got in.  Starting it up, he smiled and backed out, leaving Maggie sprawled out on the concrete, gun sticking out of her pants, and a little blood coming out of his lip.  Her eye had already begun to swell.

He laughed then pulled out of the parking garage and merged with traffic.

In the rearview mirror, he could see the cop cars and swat vans swarming the arena.

He wondered if he could get his job back.

The insanity behind him became smaller and smaller until it was gone.

****

The next morning…

She had woken up in the ambulance.

Handcuffed.

The cops had been all over the Arena and Maggie was picked up on suspicion, taken to the hospital to get checked out, then thrown into a holding cell.

Damn that fucking Creegan.

Now she sat in a holding cell.  Waiting.  Nursing her eye and fat lip from the one ton punch Jim and laid her out with.

Damn that fucking Creegan.

She heard the door at the end of the hall open and she sat up.

It was about time.

The guard walked down the hall and opened the cell door.  “You are free to go.”

Maggie stood up.  “’Bout damned time!”

The guard looked at her with sarcastic amusement.  “Well if your stay in the county lock up was unsatisfactory, feel free to not tell us about it and make sure to go fuck yourself.”

Maggie frowned at him then walked past him.  She was taken through the rigmarole of the release and then let into the main lobby.

She smiled when she saw him.  “What took you so long?”

Standing in front of her was Antonio Rodriguez.  He was smiling.  “I had to identify a body.”

“So, is it done?” She asked, walking over to him slowly smiling.

“Indeed my dear.” Antonio said and smiled back.  “You and I run the business.  Roberto is dead.”

The two kissed long and hard.

(Season Two ends here.)

Episode 25(S2E12)-Face to Face

25

(Season 2 Episode 12)

Face to Face

Then…

Her father was a big man, both metaphorically and physically.

In the physical sense he wasn’t actually that tall, but given the fact that Patty was only four at the time, he was tall to her.  He was built like a truck.  He was a professional boxer at the height of his success.  His arms and chest bulged and threatened to bust out of his shirt.

In the metaphorical sense he was big, as in great.  He was a single father.  Patty’s mother had died giving birth, but her father had never given up, having climbed the ranks in Europe while never losing track of Patty and what was best for her.

Now they stepped off the plane and on to American soil for the first time, her dad had gotten a break and an offer to fight in the big leagues, possibly for the word title one day.

“Are you scared, wee lass?” Her father said with the same broken English that Patty would come to speak for the rest of her life.

Patty nodded.

“Did you forget who you are standing next to?” He asked with a grin.

She smiled.  “I’m standing with my da.”

He nodded.  “And your da is the strongest man in the world, right?”

She nodded happily.

Like all parents, Patty’s father lied.

****

Now…

The first shots where Patty’s signal.

She didn’t take time to look around and see what chaos was happening around her. Patty’s eyes were on the prize as she burst into forward motion, her eyes locked on the man who stood in front of her.

Elmo Kincaid.

She hit him full force and wrapped her arms around him pushing him backward, shoving him back through the entrance hallway that he had been standing in front of.  The two crashed into a folding table that was next to the wall.

The two broke the flimsy wood and hit the floor in a heap.  Patty reached into her pocket and found her brass knuckles.  Before she could bring them out to drop the hammer on Elmo she felt his boot against her chest.  He thrust his foot forward and set Patty backward across the hallway and smashing through the door to the locker room.

Patty lost her footing as she went through the door.  Falling backward she tucked and rolled to her feet, her hands came out of her pockets with her signature brass knuckles.

Elmo stepped in after her.  His teeth were gritted and his fists were clenched.  “Alright girl, let’s do this.”

****

Then…

Patty watched as her dad’s trainer taped his hands.

He was minutes from stepping foot into the ring with a former champion.  This would be the biggest chance of Patty’s father’s career.

“Who’s the strongest?” The trainer would ask over and over, his words meant to psych up her boxer father.

Patty repeated the words in her own head with the trainer as she watched.  Her father, her hero, was preparing for battle.

It was at that point that her father’s sponsor, fight promoter and benefactor walked in.

Elmo Kincaid.

Patty smiled.  “Uncle Elmo!”

Patty ran to Elmo and hugged him.  He chuckled.  “Jesus girl, you have got to start speaking English.”

“Sorry sir, she takes after me.”  Patty’s father beamed with pride.

“No problem with that, it only means she’s going to be one tough woman.” Elmo replied, smiling.

“I haven’t won yet, sir.” Patty’s father said seriously.

“How many times do I have to tell you?” Elmo said with a grin.  “Stop calling me sir.  Now go win me that fight.

Patty’s father did not win the fight.

During round four, a punch to the temple gave him an aneurysm.

Patty’s father died that night.

****

Now…

Patty didn’t need to think about it.

She charged forward and threw a big right hand but Elmo was ready, blocking with his forearm before jabbing with his left to Patty’s chin.  The blow hit flush and stunned her. Kincaid snapped off another two quick right hands to her chin.

Patty staggered and Elmo stepped in with a big left cross.  Patty regained herself in time and she ducked the heavy haymaker and brutally uppercut him to the abs.  The blow made Elmo wheeze.

Elmo would have staggered if he had time.  Instead, Patty brought her other hand into Elmo’s other side driving her hand deep into the left side of his rib cage.

Elmo knew he was in trouble and he stepped in with a hard forearm to the side of Patty’s head.  The blow was hard and she flew over one of the benches and crashed to the floor.

****

Then…

She was twenty-two now.

She dropped the ring on the table.  It was a man’s ring, covered in diamond studs.  It was easily worth $1,200.00.

Elmo looked at it with confusion, then back to Patty.  “What the fuck is that, girl?”

Since Patty’s father’s death, Kincaid felt responsible and had taken her in.  Patty had always been grateful.

“It’s Ricky Bartly’s ring.  It’s a down payment on his debt.  He won’t be needing it since the finger it was on is broken now.”  Patty briefed Elmo.

Elmo picked it up then dropped it and leaned back, staring at her.  After years of living with her she had refused to drop the accent and he had gotten used to it.  He had done everything in his power to keep her out of the business.

“You want in.  I get that, but this business is ugly.” Elmo said sternly.

Patty raised her eyebrow.  “Maybe so, but I ain’t pretty.”

Elmo decided she wanted this, which was sad to him because in the end it meant she was going to get hurt.

****

Now…

Elmo stepped on and over the bench to advance on Patty.  She was attempting to scramble to her feet But Elmo was faster, catching her head and driving his knee into her nose.

It broke and blood began to flow as she stumbled and fell back to one knee.

“What did you think was going to happen?” Elmo asked her as she tried to shake it off.  “You wanted into this business and this business is about kill or be killed.”

Patty came to her feet with a rising uppercut.  The speed and suddenness of the attack took the gnarly gangster off guard and connected on the bottom of his chin.  His front teeth slammed together and one of them shattered.

Elmo was thrown off his feet and crashed backward through the bench, the wood snapping in half.

Patty staggered back to her knees, the blow having come from a place of desperation would give her time to recover.

Elmo rolled in pain, the blow more than stunned him.

****

Roberto gasped like a fish.  He was bleeding to death from the high caliber bullet wounds that had struck him in the chest, mere minutes ago.

How had it gone so wrong?  Someone had been waiting, and who was that woman?

He felt the lights dim and thought death was finally coming…

Antonio was standing over him, grinning.

“Brother…” Roberto managed to wheeze out the words, hope filling him.  “Brother.  Help me…”

Antonio bent down over him.  “No, I don’t think so.”

Roberto looked at him confused.  “Brother… what are you doing?”

“You know brother, you never had any fun.”  Antonio explained.  “You were always so determined to follow in our father’s footsteps, you were all business.  Do you know what the problem with being all business is?”

Roberto stared as he began to realize his brother was not there as a savior.

Antonio answered his rhetorical question.  “When you’re all business, no one likes you.”

Antonio shrugged.  “Me however, they love me.”

“You can’t do it alone…” Roberto said desperately.  “You don’t have the commitment…”

Antonio nodded.  “I couldn’t agree more, that’s why, while you were trying to get that mythical flash drive back, I was finding your replacement.  Goodbye brother.”

Antonio put his forty-five caliber handgun to Roberto’s forehead and pulled the trigger.

****

“You were my fucking da!” Patty screamed pulling herself to her feet and charging forward.  She cought Elmo’s pants and neck as he was standing and slammed the man face first into one of the wooden lockers, shattering the wood.

Patty pulled him backward out of the wooden mess, his eyes where unfocused.  Patty fully cocked her left arm then launched her brass knuckle covered hand foreword, breaking Elmo’s face.  The blow cut his cheek and sent Elmo crumpling to the floor.

Patty wiped the blood from her face and stepped in for another shot but Elmo’s hand went up in surrender.

It was over.

“I’m done girl.”  He coughed out through the blood.  “I’m tired and I’m old, and I’m done.”

Patty stood over him breathing hard from the vicious fight.  “Why?”

“I never wanted to.”  Elmo said pulling himself to his knees.  “You made yourself part of the business.  I wish you had never dropped that ring on my table.”

“Fuck you,” Patty said coldly.  “Ain’t that simple.  Fuck you for making it sound like it was.”

Elmo was shocked by her response but nodded.  “Maybe you’re right.”

Patty’s shoulders sagged.  She now saw Elmo for what he was, an old, over-the-hill ex-gangster who was trying to hold on the something he had lost long ago.  The fight left her.  She realized he couldn’t hurt her.

Two gun shots broke the touching moment.  Blood misted from the fresh holes in Elmo’s chest and he went down.

Patty spun around to see Antonio standing there smiling, holding the smoking gun.  “I am glad to see you two reconcile.  I never got the chance with my father.”

He turned the gun on Patty and fired.

Patty was suddenly tackled as the shots went off, the shots meant for her.

Elmo had found a way to use the last of his life to save Patty.  After she hit the floor she felt Elmo Kincaid fall on top of her.

She looked up into his eyes and he smiled through the blood and the broken teeth.  “I’ve never said this to anyone.  Patty… I’m Sorry.  I love you”

Elmo Kincaid went limp.

“God damn old man.” Antonio said as he stepped up to finish Patty.

“Boss!” A Cuban man ran into the room yelling.  “Boss the cops are her.  We have to go!”

Antonio nodded and ran out after him leaving Patty still breathing.

She didn’t move, however.  Instead she just wrapped her arms around the body and did something she hadn’t done since her father died.

She cried.

Elmo Kincaid.

The Muppet.

Uncle Elmo.

Was dead.