El Paso: The Mean Streets #7
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Cielo Vista Mall, Outside of the Green Zone, El Paso
Detective Clark Wayne and Bruce Kent got out of the police cruiser, its headlights barely illuminating the street it had been parked in. Hands on their weapons, the walked to the edge of the beam where an animal laid on the ground, a lead and collar buckled around its neck.
“What is that, a leopard?” Kent asked, as he tapped the animal with his foot.
“It’s a small one if it is, looks more like a house cat pumped on steroids.” Wayne answered, as he lowered his weapon and looked at the chain. “We got some complaints about scratching on doors, perhaps this is what was responsible for the disturbances.” He added, as the conversation was captured by the parabolic microphone mounted to the underside of the crossbow sticking out of the upper window. Notching a bolt, Siwang tracked Kent with the weapon, her eyes patiently waiting for the two officers to split up.
“Wait there is a blood stain on this dumpster.” Kent stated, as he turned on a flashlight attached to his pistol, his light illuminating the side of the bin he was standing by. “Call it in, and make sure that they send additional security, this place may have been cleared but it is not part of the Green Zone.” He added as Wayne walked back to the cruiser. Taking a deep breath Siwang followed him with her crossbow, the bolt ready to sink into his flesh. Releasing the trigger Siwang fired, the bolt flying through the air, the officer falling to the floor, an arrow in his back causing the bolt to splinter on contact with the wall. “What the…” Kent hissed, as he turned to look wide eyed at Wayne, before another arrow flew past the cruiser and into his chest.
Lowering her crossbow Siwang stared into the darkness, in a vain attempt to see the mystery archer. “Where are you?” She whispered, as she packed up her crossbow, and closed the window, unaware of who had taken the shot at her targets.
**
Officer Gillian West placed her hands on her hips as she watched CSI Branson examine the two arrows and one bolt he had recovered from the crime scene. To her it was an open and shut case, it was obviously the work of the Patron Saint of Crime, of that there was no doubt. Unfortunately it was not just Officers Wayne and Kent who had been slain, in the skip the body of a young woman had been found, her corpse mauled by something large and powerful.
“So what do we know about the Jane Doe?” West asked Branson. “Can we pin this on the Patron Saint of Crime?” She continued, as Branson placed the shattered bolt into an evidence bag, just as the coroner and his assistant removed the body from the dumpster. “And what about the ‘leopard’ on the lead left in the street?”
“It’s a serval.” The coroner’s assistant stated, as the young woman was loaded into the van. “There was a craze a few years ago to have exotic pet cats. We also have a name for our Jane Doe, one Megan Hunter, she was a journalism student at the community college before she was mauled.” She added, as she placed a purse in an evidence bag.
“Whatever killed her wasn’t human, it had strength beyond that of a normal human.” The coroner stated, as he took a deep breath before leaning on his stick. “The serval was killed by the same attacker by the looks of it, what is more disturbing is that she was placed in the dumpster post- mortem.”
“So not the Patron Saint of Crime then?” West sighed, “Well at least we can pin two of the slayings on her if nothing else.”
**
Holding Cells, Fort Bliss, El Paso Green Zone
Hector walked along the corridor lined with cells and military personnel, each of the former containing a criminal. Stopping at the end of the row he shook his head as he looked on the blonde woman dressed in an orange jumpsuit, her hands clamped together as if in prayer.
“Please tell me you talked some sense into them?” The woman asked, as Hector handed a piece of paper to the nearest guard, who took it and then walked down the corridor.
“I didn’t Danni, Zip-Face did, he was most displeased that someone else got the credit for his bomb attack. Combined with body cam footage we secured from the Valkyrie armour and several eyewitness accounts, the National Guard has decided to release you, at least until the city is no longer under martial law.” Hector announced, as the guard returned with a swipe card and opened the cell.
“That will have to do.” Danni stated, with a smile as she took Hector’s hand and walked down the corridor and into the main body of the tent and out into the morning sun. “What happened to the armour, what happened to the armour?”
“There wasn’t anything salvageable from the bomb site.” Hector stated, as they walked past a line of tanks. “Vance managed to get the remains back to the Chapel, but the bomb blast destroyed everything.”
“That’s a shame, although I managed to cope well enough without it in the past.” Danni sighed, before Hector unlocked the beaten-up Toyota pick-up truck parked in the ‘visitor’ car park. “I don’t suppose the police have passed us anything while I was away.”
“Something came in a few hours ago.” A voice announced, over the car’s speakers. “Nice to see you out of the big-house Danni.”
“It wasn’t really the ‘big-house’ Vance. But all the same it feels good to be out.” Danni replied, as she eased into the driver’s seat and gunned the engine. “So what’s this case?”
“A mauling, head back to the ‘Abbey’ and I’ll run over the details.” Vance stated sadly, as the truck passed the checkpoint and headed towards the ‘Green Zone’.
**
Rivers Residence, Harrison Avenue, El Paso
Gillian West sat on the sofa, glowering at the three figures standing before her, not to mention the tasteless décor and knick-knacks around the living room she found herself in.
“So what officer, you wanted to offer us an opportunity to surrender or something?” The medium sized man dressed in a blue and yellow jumpsuit, a domino mask over his face. “Because we of the Real Super-Hero Association for Justice won’t stop until justice has been served.”
“Mr Michal Rivers…” West begun to say, only to receive an angry look from the three figures.
“It’s Cloud Jumper!!” The man in the jumpsuit hissed, “My associates are Cruiser Weight and Juno Stryker.” He added, pointing to the massive black man dressed in a red and black jumpsuit and the woman dressed in urban camouflage fatigues, her brown hair tied into a bun. “Our secret identities are not to be disclosed to anyone. And when we together are you will refer to us by our faction name, the Revolutionary Reactionaries, the greatest heroes in the world!!”
“You all have several complaints against you.” West announced bitterly, her dislike of being forced into this position evident in the tone of her voice, as she got to her feet. “Assaults, B&E, Trespassing and Interfering with Police Business. My duty is to arrest you, but fortunately I have something that needs to be done off the books. If you do this, we will wipe your records once order is restored to the city.”
“Hypothetically, if were to except this job, what would we have to do?” Stryker asked as she shot West a look of suspicion.
“I need you ‘heroes’ to catch a criminal for me.” West stated. “Tell me, have you heard of the Patron Saint of Crime?”
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