Tuesday, 4th of July, 1995
10:14 pm - Coffeetopia

Walking around the corner, Kate smiled. The coffeehouse shone with light, burning through the night. The giant sequoia stood tall and straight through the centre of the place. In front, a buffet laden with food had been set up with a young man sitting at a register. She slowly walked towards it, only occasionally showing the residue of her back problems. In keeping with the night, she wore a red jacket over her white blouse accompanying her blue jeans. A small badge on the right lapel of the jacket showed off the American flag proudly.
Near the buffet table was a table, garlanded in red, white and blue, up on which rested several silver thermoses, presumably filled with varying flavors of coffee. A large banner suspended from the table proclaimed "BOTTOMLESS CUP."
Around the coffeeshop was a ribbon, compelling people to enter through one opening. In this opening, there wasn't much of a line yet, and people were either sitting at small wooden tables, or were talking with each other.
Canned music, vaguely reminiscent of the 50s beatnik culture, resounded through the clearing. Off to the side, a few instruments sat on a raised stage as if awaiting their players.
There were about 30 people either milling about or reading. A pair of UCSC students, their noses pierced, sat in one of the corners, seemingly involved in a game of chess.
Manning the entry point was a black-haired woman dressed in ablouse styled after the American flag, and a pair of blue jeans. Kate ambled up and handed over her $3.00 cover charge.
"Nice night tonight," she said with a smile.
Handing over one of the stylized mugs, the young woman smiled
sweetly.
"Yes, not bad. Not bad at all. Please help yourself to any of the coffees. They're all special blends for the night."
Taking the mug from her, she walked across and picked up one of the thermoses and poured out a rich dark mocca that flowed like molasses before sitting down at one of the wooden tables to sample the blend.
As Katherine seated herself, a young man sporting a nose ring, and clad in some sort of weird amalgamation of Modern Goth and Red, White, and Blue, motioned at the other side of the table with a smile.
"I couldn't help but notice that we're both alone tonight. May I sit here?"
He smiled, his brown eyes dancing with gold matching the hue of his unkempt hair and short, clipped goattee.
Kate looked up from her coffee and smiled.
"Yeah, have a seat. It shouldn't be long until the fireworks. Hi, I'm Kate. You are?" Kate proffered a hand across the table.
"I'm Greg," he said, taking her hand and shaking it.

Coffeetopia 10:36 pm

Kate continued conversing with the young man, who, it slowly dawned on Kate, was hitting on her; if she didn't know better, she'd say that the scruffy kid was looking to "score" on the 4th of July.
Meanwhile, crowds had continued gathering--in fact, Katherine thought she could see around a hundred or so people milling about, standing, sitting. A band had taken to the stage, and was holding onto their instruments expectantly.

Coffeetopia 10:42 pm

Kate sat drinking her mocca as Greg, the Goth, continued to do his best to impress her. He'd gone out and got her another cup of coffee from one of the thermoses and he'd kept talking. Kate found herself musing that he could only be a few years younger than Ray. She had to admit that she appreciated the company. With Ray at KWAV, she hadn't been looking forward to coming out alone. She would hate to have to turn him down when he finally made his big play, but that was life.
The young woman that Kate had seen earlier ascended the stage, and stood at the microphone.
"Welcome to Coffeetopia!" she proclaimed. "I'd like to thank our bands for being here, our sponsors for contributing tonight, and, of course, all of you for coming out to Coffeetopia." The audience applauded. "In a few minutes, we're going to begin our fireworks display. Dusty Rhodes will be providing music, but the spectacle, truly, comes from your own imagination." She seemed to glow with some sort of hidden power for a moment.

"July Fourth, day of power,
Give us your magic this happy hour."

Kate's companion elbowed her. "That's Colleen."
"Really," Kate said, watching the display with interest. "Does she own this place? Do you know her well? I'd like to tell her how nice this place is."
Colleen stepped down from the raised stage, and turned towards an open area. Raising what appeared to be a foot-long, elegantly carved stick (A wand, Kate thought, but she knew better), Colleen seemed to conduct the fireworks as they commenced.
Red, white, and blue. Green and yellow. Sounds and colors mixed, as Dusty Rhodes played a pop rendition of "The Stars and Stripes Forever."
The sky lightened momentarily as the first volley brought people's gaze's upwards. Down below, the Katherine wheels whirled into existence sending sparks flying around the grass. Rockets flew into the air, blossoming into a series of colourful stars and cascades falling slowly to earth. As they fell, the air crackled with short stacatto bursts of sound complementing the drum and bass of the band.
Colleen pointed the wand and bursts of light appeared from the ground, fizzing over and sending a low white fog across the area. Amidst this, strange blue, green, and red lights appeared shimmering through the haze. More fireworks arced their way heavenward to form bright flower shapes in the sky as the stacked wooden railings at the back half of the grass square exploded out into the US Flag. The cheers and clapping were almost drowned out by a series of loud thunderclaps from the front of the stage that brought everyone's attention back to the band as it played on.

Wednesday, July 5th, 1995 10:48 p.m.

Walking back into the station had been a disappointment to Kate. She'd expected a few surprised looks or a couple of digs at her 'slacking off', but hardly anyone said anything. They all seemed to be in a state of shock. Even Sam only grinned slightly accompanied by a "'Bout time you got here, rookie."
"Yeah right, Sam. Did you make Captain or something while I've been off?!! she said watching him finish cleaning his gun. "How did the real rookie, the computer jockey, make out? "
He shrugged. "She's just too new. She might make a reasonable cop a few years down the line but not now."
Smiling slightly, Kate sat down on one of the chairs. "Well, at least you won't have to put up with her now. I'm sure someone else will get paired with her and give her a chance."
"I'm glad you feel that way," Sam nodded back towards the desk "Because Calderon is suggesting that she fill in for me while I go on vacation."
Kate's eyes bulged and she stammered "What?!! You can't be serious. Oh God!" Calming down quickly after her outburst and looking for another topic, she looked about. "What gives with everyone around here? Everyone seems down about something?"
Sighing again, Sam popped his gun back into his holster, clipping it down.
"Marvis Purl's dead. Thirty years on the force and he gets killed by a bunch of scummy bikers. Miller managed to lose one of them and two civilians got caught in the crossfire and were killed as well. It was a bad night!"
"What!!! "Kate whispered, almost stunned by the news.
Shaking her out of her reverie, Sam said "We'd better go. There's a debriefing on it in a few minutes. Come on."
As they walked down the corridor, Kate tried to come to grips with the death but it was difficult. Instead, she suddenly thought about the gun Sam had been polishing.
"Sam, shouldn't you be on Admin. duty after the shooting? They're going to have to investigate the killings."
"Nope, I've been out with the Rookie every night since. Hell, we even did the 'Walk just last night".
Surprised by the statement, Kate stopped walking. "But that goes against all the rules in the book. You should have been on leave immediately afterwards. What the hell is going on?"
"Rules? We've bent them so much of late, there don't seem to be any. We're loosing to many cops. They need us all out in the field. Don't have time for the niceties. And the replacements they're planning on hiring make even Miller look like a veteran."
Shaking her head, Kate checked her watch. Having a few minutes until the meeting, she nodded to Sam. "I'll meet you there in a minute. I've got to check my calls."
Checking her voice mail, there is a call from Dr Benwick urgently insisting that she return for her final treatment. She returned the call, leaving a message on his machine.
"Sorry Doctor, I'm back at work now and we are totally snowed under. I have no problems with my back at all and I frankly don't have the time available for me to do so."
Minutes later, Kate sat watching Kitty Calderon as he ran through the debriefing on the fight a few nights previously. Thankfully, Dick Shimzu, Purl's partner had made it and was out of critical although still in intensive care. Pointing to a jar full of money, Kitty reminded everyone about the collection for Purl's wife. Hooking out her wallet, Kate looked at the cash set aside for the new shocks for her motorbike. She'd have to get some more out of the bank to make her donation worthwhile.
Looking back up, the sergeant finished saying that Internal affairs had concluded their investigation and cleared everyone of any problems.
Holding back a surprised look, she though ' That's damn quick for them.'
Kitty sat back on the table and indicated to Sam and the rookie Miller, citing them for showing coolness under fire in a tough situation.
"I want the bastards who did this," added Calderon to his officers.
"I'm not saying shoot on sight. But the Chief is giving you people wide discretionary powers. Don't blow it! But I want the trash that did this to Marvis. Anyone - ANYONE - who lets them get away, I will have their hide as my new desk blotter. Questions?"
Jim Olivas was first to speak up. "The bunch that did this are probably half way to Las Vegas by now. Are we getting help from outside the state on this one?"
"Yes, an APB has been issued throughout the state and also in Oregon, Nevada and Arizona. One way or another we are going to find them, but we have no indication that they have even left the city. I want everyone out looking for them, full time".
Looking around Kitty asked "Any more questions? Ok, that's it. Get out and do it."
Looking over, Kate noticed the rimmed glasses and Auburn hair that marked Sue Miller out. As she watched, Miller turned to look at Sam and both women's gazes locked. Kate nodded to Sue, who nodded back. The meeting then broke up and Kate headed out towards the locker room.

Monday, July 24th, 1995 10:00 p.m.

"Hi. You're Suzie Miller, right?"
Sue gave Kate a radiant smile and offered her hand. "Yeah, but call me Sue, everyone does. And you're Kate, if I'm not mistaken?"
" Yeah, and you can call me Officer Morrison, Rookie." she said with a big grin. " Don't worry, only kidding."
Sue jerked at Kate's reply. She relaxed a bit seeing her teasing grin. "Oh." she said, her smile creeping back at her face. "Understood, Officer."
Kate sighed. " Look kid, we can do this the hard way or the easy way. Try to completely relax now because you're not going to get another chance to really relax for about another eight hours."
Sue winced inwardly at the "kid" but let it pass. She nodding at Kate's comment instead. "I'll try."
"That's all anyone's asking of you just now."
"Sam's told me a bit about you, not all of it complimentary. Don't worry, he doesn't like change."
Sue's smile faltered. "Nice to know." she muttered, her voice a couple of degree colder than before
Kate shook her head, laughing inside at the reaction. " Don't worry, it wasn't that bad, and rookie's always get that until they get used to the routine. With all that's going down, the last thing we can afford are rookie mistakes. Remember that, it's important. As it is, I think Sam's just tired. I can't remember his last vacation."
"Oh." said again Sue. "I see. Excuse me if I'm a bit edgy. It's just that everyone is acting like graveyard shift is a private club and I don't have a membership card. It really gets on your nerves after a while."
"It is a bit, more so recently. If your lucky you don't get on graveyard and your fast tracked right into another area. Usually, only the hard bitten cops or the problems get dropped into this shift. Now, by the sound of it, we need to start bringing in the National Guard at night!"
Sue passed her hand through her hair.
"No, it's not true, I'm dramatising. Some of the guys are treating me like I was a human being. It's more the veterans like, well, like Sam, and their way of looking at me as if I was a sheep trying to be a wolf..."
"You are a sheep." Kate said " Question is, whether there is actually a wolf hidden underneath, or mouse in disguise. By the sound of it, you'll probably get the wolf after a few weeks of this. Either that or one of us will be dead." Kate's voice trailed off as she answered leaving her looking out one of the windows.
"Anyway, we'd better get going. Do you want to drive?"
Sue nodded and took a well-worn knapsack. "Let's go, then."
"What's in the sack?"
"My lunch", sparkles lighted In Sue's eyes, "and parts of 'Frankenstein's' little-sister-to-be, 'Delphi.'"
She giggled at Kate perplexed glance.
"I'm modifying a laptop to sustain my... particular needs. I brought some parts with me so I can tinker with them when I have the time."
Kate arched an eyebrow. " Still some tech in you then. You'll get plenty of time to tinker, as long as you keep your eyes open at the same time, but not whilst your driving."
"Oh. But I'm primary a tech. My true field of operation is before a computer."
She grinned. "Which gives you an idea of the twisted sense of humor that someone in the affectation department have."
"Yeah, maybe but your also a Police Officer and as such when there are problems they'll pop you out of your desk and into the action, like now. Mind you, we don't usually have this many problems."
Sue nodded vehemently. "I hope so! I'll tell something, the graveyard shift club members are right in a way, there's really a dichotomy between day and night shift. Oh, sure, we were in a kind of crisis when I got transferred, but it was nothing like what we are going through. I don't know if the moon really influences us, but the night surely does!"
Kate just nodded looking out the window.
"And don't worry, I never tinker while I'm driving. Well, let say I'm never using the blowtorch behind the wheel..."
"I'm glad to hear that!"
Sue smiled mischievously, "...I always wait for a red light to do that."
"Perhaps I'd better drive then if you're too caught up in your tech to let go for a few hours."
"Hey, relax." said Sue, not without savouring the situation reversal. "The backpack's in the trunk and my hands on the wheel. 'Frankenstein' and 'Scylla' can take care of themselves and 'Delphi's' only a pet project. My mind is entirely focused on driving, keeping my eyes open and thinking positive thoughts, nothing else."
Kate nodded and scratched her head. " Just remember that in an hour or two when your thoughts start to drift. You can bet that's when some stupid fool will walk out in front of the car or decide to knock over the local liquor store."
"Understood, boss."
"Keep the boss for someone else who has the rank. You can call me Kate as long as you remember who's in charge."
"Hierarchy's in the eye of the beholder, oh fearless leader." said Sue, all grin.
"But Kate suits me fine...." Sue raised one finger. "...with one condition. Namely, that you return the favour. No more 'kid' or 'rookie', just plain Sue." She threw a side glance at Kate. "Deal?"
"Maybe, we'll see. You do your job and I'll try to remember."
"I'll take that as an affirmative kind of answer."
Kate nodded unconsciously.
Kate and Suzanne headed down to the car, picking up the keys from the desk on the way. Once in the car, (Sue's knapsack having been dropped in the car's trunk), Sue coughed.
"So... How it is to be back in the service?" she asked, trying to engage in a conversation.
" Better than you could ever know. I never realised how much I missed being out here and being able to walk about. Plus Daytime TV is really awful."
Sue laughed. "Yeah, I kinda rediscovered this jewel of American culture in the past month. Before, I was leaving the TV on while doing other stuff, but after three episodes of Santa Barbara, I decided silence wasn't so bad after all..."
In a monotone voice, Kate said " I hated the silence even more than the soaps."
"You missed being able to walk about? Ah, yes, I heard you were injured. Was it bad?"
Kate seemed to pick her words carefully. "Should have been. I got lucky with a new experimental treatment. It managed to fix my back up in no time. It was a bit weird, but it did work."
"Well, 'seem like another kudo to modern medicine. Say, you've been working on the graveyard shift for how long?"
"Something like that. Yeah, I've been working it on and off, depending on my shifts, for a good few years now. It takes some time to get used to it I can tell you. You never know the full extent of a city until you see it alive at night!"
"Getting used to? Even if I stopped drinking coffee right now, it would take years for my metabolism to get all traces of caffeine out of my system! I'm beginning to get the hang of it, though. As for the city, I indeed learned a few thing about Santa Cruz that I didn't know... Not all of them nicey-nice. I guess I'm discovering what people feel who learn that their nice and polite neighbour is in fact a serial killer."
"Don't worry, give it a few weeks and you'll be given an earlier shift for a short time. They usually move the shifts around every few weeks so that you get a chance to see the sun. Take it from me, caffeine is the last of your problems."
"The sun? Ah! You mean that great ball of fire that I remember vaguely from the old time? Well, I'm happy to learn that. A little exposure to sun rays would be cool."
"Yeah, it makes a bit of difference on occasion, but don't look forward to it, because it may not happen the way things are going."
Sue munched on her lower lips.
"How bad is the situation? I know the whole department seems like it could use a three month vacation; and some more. I also know it's bad enough to have people like me drafted for a job usually reserved for, and I quote, 'tough as nails cops'. But I don't think I've grasped the scope of the crisis."
"It's very simple. We are losing good experienced cops, dead or injured every week. That shouldn't be happening. These are my friends, dammit" she spat angrily.
"People who have had years of experience and training and lived through all that time without too many problems. Now their dying, not being shot, but dying, and there seems to be nothing we can do about it. With what's happening, it wouldn't surprise me to see us get issued with body armour soon. It might deter the criminals from shooting first hopefully."
Sue smiled at Kate. "But here I go again. I swear I'm not usually this glum!
"I'll take your word on that!" Kate said shrugging.
" Say, are you native of Santa Cruz? Myself, I'm from San Diego."
" Nope, I originally came from San Diego as well. That was just a long time ago."
"Really? Me, I moved out only four years ago." Sue smiled. "I thought Santa Cruz would be calmer and all that."
" Oh boy, were you ever wrong. Make that the last major mistake you ever make in your life"
Sue nodded. "I should have known better that to choose a cute little city like Santa Cruz. The next time I will know better. I will aim for a big decadent metropolis. New York, perhaps."
"Yeah, you might get the peacefully little haven that is Harlem."
"Or the Bronx. Or Queens, yeah, Queens looks good. But no, I think I would miss the beach, the heat and the sun too much. Beside, 'Frankeinstein' is department property and they would never let me bring him with me."
"Yeah, I'm sure they wouldn't be keen to lose something like that. These days they count the pens that we get." Kate sat back in the car passenger seat and sighed, closing her eyes. She could tell it was going to be a long night!

Tuesday, July 25th, 1995 1:45 a.m.

The car drove slowly through the West side of the city. They had just turned off Delaware onto the edge of the industrial area on Swift, before heading down to West Cliff and then looping back towards Mission. The contrast between both sides of the street was extreme. On one side, small bungalows, old and run down, ran down towards the sea whilst the other had a series of large and small buildings, covering a good proportion of the industrial firms resident to Santa Cruz. The radio had been busier than usual. An alert had gone out to be on the lookout for the killers of Marvis Purl as they seemed to be linked to a spate of armed bank robberies in Watsonville and Capitola, all within the last few days.
A cooling breeze flowed through the window of the police car. In front of them, the fog lay stretched out at sea as it had done for many days. The sweltering heat had raised everyone's temperature leading to gang fights, brawls and a general atmosphere of violence.
Wiping the sweat from her brow, Kate sighed. "Thank god it's getting
cooler. With luck it'll cool off the hotheads for a few hours." Shaking her head, she turned away to look at the far side of the street whilst still talking. "The heat always seems to bring out the worst in everyone. You get more domestics, violent brawls and just general irritability from everyone. Hell, those gang fights in Watsonville and Salinas probably wouldn't have been as bad if it hadn't been for this damn heat."
As she said it, Sue floored the cruiser as she turned off the road, whilst flicking on the lights and siren.
Looking out into the darkness, Kate couldn't see anything. "What the hell is it?" she asked.
The only answer she got was her partner jumping out of the car and running off into the darkness.
"Miller!! What the hell are you doing???"
Fuming, Kate almost ran after her but decided against it. I doubt she's in danger she thought. After all, she can't be that stupid. Swapping the passenger's seat for the driver's, Kate reversed out of the garden and parked the car at the side of the road before sweeping the area with her flashlight. No sign of Sue or whoever she was after. About ten minutes later, Sue reappeared empty handed looking frustrated.
As she was returning to the car, Kate walked up to her with a slightly annoyed expression. "What were you doing? Trying out for the Olympics." she asked.
"Nah." replied Sue. "I saw a suspect. Tried to pin him with the car, then to catch him. Failed on both accounts."
With a look like thunder, Kate launched into a tirade. "It's lucky you didn't hit the guy or we'd have had a lawsuit as soon as look at him. I'll make this clear once and once only. NEVER run off without telling your partner what the hell your doing. That's basic police procedure and you should know that well enough. You notify and it gets called in, right?!! It's damn important you remember it. The guy you were chasing could have had a gun or some friends. Without any back-up you could have been dead or worse. Don't play the hero. Better cops than you are dying out here and we can't afford to lose anyone else if we're to do this job right?"
Sue made an annoyed gesture.
Sighing to herself, Kate seemed to relax slightly and calm down. "Ok, lets see what the little rat dropped. We might get a lead from that."
Kate walked across to the stuff that had been dropped amid the bushes. It was a dirty old jacket that somehow seemed to be familiar. Inside were what looked like bundles of unlabeled CD's and a small vial of a viscous pink liquid. From inside the pockets, Kate found a used syringe and made the connection immediately. She remembered Billy Leonard wearing the same jacket last time she had seen him. It certainly seemed to fit together well enough. Drugs and stolen goods. That had Billy's mark all over it.
"Well, it's your lucky night, Suzie. I know who owns this jacket. It's owned by a little creep called Billy Leonard. He breaks into places to feed his habit. Get back in the car, I think I might know where we can catch him."
Sue immediately started to walk back. "What are we waiting for? Let's go." she said while rushing to the cruiser.
Kate paced back to the car and got in just as Sue drove off.

Tuesday, July 25th, 1995 2:54 a.m.

Drawing into the parking lot of Z's Liquors on Laurent & Mission, Kate saw what she had expected. In front of the store, a group of youths were lounging around making a nuisance of themselves, as usual. The furtive glances at the cruiser indicated they had been trying to get some of the other customers to buy their booze for them. In amongst them was Billy Leonard sitting talking without his jacket.
"That's the one." Sue said on a low voice, looking directly at Billy Leonard.
"Yup, that's him alright." said Kate, taking the radio. Radioing in to dispatch, she carefully reported their position, then got out of the car. All of the gang look at the two cops with open hostility. As always, Kate didn't expect any less from Billy's friends.
"Hey Billy, come here." she said. His reply was as expected.
"Whad'ya want?" he says, still remaining amongst his circle of friends.
"We need to have a small chat about a couple of things."
Looking back towards a dark alley nearby, he whispered something to one of his friends and then walked across. So that's where the rest of your stolen goods are, eh, Billy! Kate thought.
"Recognise this, Billy?" she says holding out the dirty old jacket. " You should do as you dropped it when you were making your getaway from my partner here. Hold out your wrists; you're going down town for a chat."
Billy shook his head. "What I'd need a jacket for tonight? It's a little too hot for a jacket, don't you think?"
"Don't play games, Billy. Your fingerprints will be found all over the syringe in the pocket."
Billy snapped his fingers. "Yea, I remember that jacket now. It was stolen from me about a month ago. Hey, I'm glad you found it."
"It won't work Billy. This time your going down, no matter what you say. After all, you know you can't do 72 hours in the cells without your little habits and we can and will hold you that long."
Instead of pailing, Billy seemed to think for a second and then smiled to himself. "Hey, we can cut a deal,"
Kate didn't like the idea of dealing with Billy, but he obviously had something good otherwise he wouldn't have brought it up.
"Maybe, depends on what you had in mind. I don't plan to give up a solid collar on the likes of you for some useless information."
"Well, I know where those bikers are that killed that cop."
Billy looked at his watch. "But , you'll have to act fast. They won't be there long." He looks at his watch again. "In fact, I'd say you have about five minutes before they split. What do you say? Is it a deal?"
"Ok Billy, I'm interested, but your coming with us to make sure that your not lying. If we hit trouble, you hit it too, so you better be sure your not jerking us around!" Kate told him.
But Billy wasn't for it. "No way, Jose. These are some bad bitches that I choose to steer very clear of. I'd rather take the rap." He looked at his watch. "I'd say you have abour four minutos if you care to change your mind."
"And your looking at a five year stretch Billy so don't try it on. If this doesn't pan out you will be wishing you had done so. Give me the address now!"
Billy shook his head. "I'll call your bluff, officer. Take me in…" he looked at his watch and smiled, "or three minutes with your siren and you just might catch them. Let me go and the address is yours."
Sue, who had remained silent until now, choose this moment to speak up. Her tone was all milk and honey and a polite smile was on her face. But the hard glint on her eyes told that that was only a superficial calmness and that danger was lurking underneath.
"I'll tell you something, boy, and it ain't a bluff so listen hard." she began. "If you don't spit all that you know right here and now, here's what I will do. We'll take you in. As soon as your nice ass touches the cell bed, I'll begin to write my report. It will relate you're a petty thief, all right; but the main event will be how you chose 'not' to help us to catch Marvis' killers. I'll make sure everybody takes notice of this interesting trivia in a record time. Marvis was a veteran, kiddo; he had 'lots' of friends. You know how cops are - a big happy family... Anyway, there's plenty of them that want the balls of whoever butchered him. Plenty of cops that will be real pissed at you when they learn what a bad decision you made..."
Her smile widened, conveying absolutly no warmth at all.
"As Officer Morrisson told you, we can keep you in at least seventy-two hours. Seventy-two hours, that can be a long, long time... You have ten seconds to do the right thing, kiddo."
"I've got a lawyer now," Billy beamed. "She'll have me out in twenty-four hours - tops. And your case against me is circumstantial and I doubt the busy D.A. will give a rat's ass about some two-bit burglar. As for your threats," Billy nodded to Sue, "go ahead and break my face. I'll sue you and the Force and be set up for life. You'll just be out of a job."
Billy smiled at Kate Morrison. "Been doing a bit of studying in my spare time. Impressed?" He looked at his watch and shook his head, as if disapproving.
(Kate - (Intelligence + Law = 1 success). Kate wasn't sure but had a feeling that Billy might just be right on how he was calling this one.)
The punk smugness seemed to fuel Sue's anger. She bared her teeth and issued a low growl.
"Break your face?" she whispered very lowly, as if to herself, "Ooooh, no, sweetie. Nothing so crude, nothing so temporary. You'll be under the spotlight forever. Nothing like persecution, smart boy, for you will give us plenty of reason to do so, eh? Petty stealing, drug and all. Cain found the eye of God to be a nuisance, I wonder how you will find ours."
She toyed with her handcuffs. "So, do we bring the bastard in?" she asked Kate.
"I'd love to, but we've got bigger fish to fry. I want the address Billy and it had better be right!" she said almost looking straight through him.
"Billy, give me the address and you walk on this one, ONLY! Don't give me the address and I'll make sure your lawyer is very
busy. The address NOW!"
Billy smiled, the effect leaving a dirty oily feeling on the two police officer. "Alright, it's a deal. He leaned in conspiratorially and whispered, "825 Meder Street."
Suzana flew to the radio, announcing their intent to proceed to 825 Meder and also to request backup."
"See you," Sue vowed to Billy, before getting in the passanger seat beside Suzana.
Billy leaned into the car. "Hey, no hard feelings ladies. I'm just doing business; - you know, the American way."
"Get your hands off the car before I break them off," Suzana growled.
"Hey, easy there tiger. I just wanted to tell you that it's a grey stucco house with a green roof. It's next to the cemetary. You can't miss it. It's the one with plywood all over the windows."
"Crack house," Kate nodded. "Probably abandoned with plywood over the broken windows."
Billy nodded. "Was until they moved in. We've been using it since the earthquake when it was condemned."
"Thanks Billy, but I'm still not going to forget this. You'll be seeing me," Kate told him.
"Only in my dreams officer." He leaned down to look at Suzana also. "Oh and you too. Kind of a menage a trois?"
Suzana gunned the cruiser and proceeded to drive off, nearly knocking Billy off his feet.
Suzana guided the cruiser next to the house. Billy had been right. There was no mistaking it. It was a run down affair with a attatched garage and a gate to the backyard. It was grey stucco and had probably been built in the 50's or 40's. Sirens sounding the distance told Kate and Suzana that their backup was on the way. A woman screamed inside the house. This was repeated two more times, a terrified blood chilling scream which was muffled as if something were being stuffed into her mouth and then only silence.

Round 1

Kate grabbed the shotgun in front of her and turned to Sue. " Call it in. Full backup and tell them to cut the sirens," she said as she began to open the door and look out into the dark.
Sue nodded as she unhooked the radio. "We're parked before the suspects' house." she transmitted in a hushed voice. "There's a woman screaming inside, we're going in. We need a full backup. No sirens. Officer Miller out." Without waiting for an answer, she dropped the radio. She began to open her door from one hand, while the other went to rest on her gun's butt.

Round 2. Now that the screaming had stopped, everything is dead silence.
(Kate: Perception + Alertness = no successes). Proceed with a stated action, list of actions and/or dialogue).
(OK, can Kate see any Bikes out front? If she can she will try to disable them (being as she has a bike....it should and is easy I believe)...
If not, and there is nothing else of interest in the road outside then Kate will sneak up to the House (towards any windows to look in) and signal Sue to follow her....[ once she find out what is happening she may well head round the back or send Sue round to the back. But that is in the future!]
Depending where the Garage is...and if it's connected she'll check it on the way up to the house.

Round 3

Kate crepted around the side of the house with her gun drawn. Behind her, Sue was getting out of the car. Motioning her forward, Kate kept going. Detached from the side of the house by a short section of fence and a gate was the garage. Parked off to the left was a motorcycle, pushed back into the bushes. Glancing over the gate, she was just able to make out another bike amid a pile of trash and debris in the backyard. Holstering her gun, she fished inside her jacket and pulled out a knife. Without the fuel hose, it would be difficult for anyone to escape on it she thought.

Round 4

(I forgot to ask you if Kate was going to use her flashlights or not. It's standard police procedure so I'm going to assume she is. My error and I'll try to remember to ask in future. But to keep things going, let's assume she does since she'll be pretty blind without it anyway. You can opt at any time to turn it off.)

(Q: Where was the scream from?
A: From inside the house
Q: Are there any lights etc?
A: No.
Q: Can Kate get around the back without making noise?
A: She can and does try (see below). Certainly, it would seem a reasonable assumption.)

Moving past the garage, Kate pressed on through the metal gate. It squeaked horribly as she opened it up and she instinctively stopped. Looking at the gate, it was obviously rusted and not often used. With debris scattered beyond the gate, it made it difficult to climb over, so she decided to open the gate quickly to cut down the noise she would make.
Looking back, Kate waved Miller forward and indicated she was heading round the back. Accompanied by the sharp grating of the gate, she moved through to the backyard and up to the second bike. After disabling the first, it was easy to repeat the procedure, even adding to the bikes problems by removing the spark plug and wires.
For an instant, the thought that Billy might have set her up crossed her mind. If he had given her a bogus address, the scream might have been from a TV show and the bikes could belong to one of the local councillors for all she knew. If it was true then disabling them could be taken as vandalism.
Hell, she thought, If it is, then I know one little rat that'll find out how much a nightstick hurts. Just then, there was a small scrapping noise from across the yard. Whirling the flashlight towards the sound, she lit up one of the rubbish heaps. Above it, a cloud of flies circled the heap. As she got closer, the air grew sickening and cloyed at her throat.
In the middle of the beam, part of the heap moved and several large grey rats darted off into the long grass, probably frightened by her approach. Two other rats stopped in the side of the flashlights gleam, looking directly back at Kate. One of them had what looked like a large piece of carrot in its mouth. They chittered at her as she moved the beam onto them, almost scolding her for disturbing their meal and she realised that it wasn't a carrot at all, but what looked like a finger with a ring on it.
Before she could move closer, the noise of someone furiously honking their car horn erupted from further down the street and the pair of vermin skittered off into the darkness holding on tightly to their prize.

Round 5

[ Note, Kate has pistol and shot gun with her...I think....she will holster the pistol and hold the shotgun with the flashlight, if possible....]
A: No, neither the flashlight nor the shotgun could be effectively used. And the shotgun is a two-handed weapon. I'll assume pistol and flashlight paired with shotgun tucked under one arm until I hear otherwise.

Turning her flashlight on the house, showed up the back door of the house standing on a small porch. Either side of the door were a pair of windows, black and empty of any sign of life. Above them, a series of other windows ran the length of the house.
Carefully picking her way through the rubble, Kate sneaked up to the porch, looking through both sets of windows on the way. As she ascended the last step, a gunshot exploded through the silence from the front of the house. It was the familiar sound of a police revolver and therefore surely must have come from Sue. Even as it echoed around the backyard, it was followed by quick succession of shots. They were louder, obviously larger calibre but the noise sounded different. It had been partly deadened but Kate was sure that the shots were coming from inside the house. Sue must have attracted the bikers attention. Taking a quick look inside, Kate quickly crept in towards the sound of the shots.

Round 6

Standing on the porch, she checked the windows with her light. They were all closed and seemed to have been blacked out with paint. Opening the back door, she quietly headed into the house with her handgun at the ready. Inside it was almost pitch black. Kate strained her eyes to catch even the slightest sign of movement. With one hand against the wall, she edged into the building avoiding a large assortment of pieces of smashed furniture. As she got closer to the front of the house she caught a slight movement ahead and dropped to the floor. At the same point, there was a flash and the deafening blast of a gunshot sending a screaming bullet over her head into the wall. As she brought her gun up, there came the sound of someone running upstairs. Although echoing in the corridor, it seemed to come from somewhere off to her right.
Outside, the car horn continued to honk furiously before stopping abruptly as the car reved up and screeched away into the distance. The thought that someone had tried to warn the perps in the house had already crossed her mind but there was nothing she could do about it. She got back to her feet and cautiously moved forward. Underneath the crack of one of the side doors the dim light of a flashlight shone in the darkness. Beyond the door, there came the sound of groaning from outside.
Above her, the sound of breaking glass echoed down the stairs, followed quickly by a heavy thud on the lower roof and finally by a thud of something landing outside on the back porch.

Round 7

Kate shouted, "Miller, you OK?"
"SHUT UP AND COVER YOURSELF! The perps are still around and armed! I'm hit, only a flesh wound. Can't move fast, still have my gun and wits," Suzana yelled.
"How many your side? Are you in or outside?" Kate asked.
A pause. "I don't know. I'm outside, the bastard shot me through the front door. That means he's inside so watch out!" Suzana warned
"We already met!" Kate replied, ending the conversation and heading back to the backyard.

Rounds 8 & 9

As Kate moved towards the noise on the porch, she heard some muffled screams for help coming from a door under the stairwell.
My God! I'm down here! For Christsake, HELP ME! They're going to murder me." It sounded like it was a far away.
Almost immediately, there came the sounds of someone trying to jump start the motorcycle. Smiling to herself, Kate thought Dumb move buddy. I've got you now. For a split second, Kate debated whether or not to help the woman in the basement but thought better of it. You're a lot safer down there than up here. Trust me!.
Ignoring the pleas, she felt her way back to the backdoor. As it loomed out of the darkness, another shot rang out from behind her and pain shot through her back as she dropped to the ground, agony seared into her flesh.

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