I walked into the stations men's locker room and headed towards my locker, dressed in my civilian clothing, a pair of jeans with a cotton t-shirt with The Fast And Furious imprinted on it, as dark faded Rey Bans covered my eyes, I took them off and stashed them in their case and stored it in my locker.
I opened my locker and threw my back-pack in it, I reached for my uniform a black cotton t-shirt with the LAPD's emblems on the shoulders with black nylon work pants. I placed my civilian car-keys on a hook inside my locker.
Mac walked on in, humming the tune of Dumb Things by Paul Kelly to himself as he strolled to his locker.
"Howdy, Chris, ready for some action today?" he asked as he opened his locker taking out his uniform.
"Fuckin' hope so, this week has just been nothing but dealing with drunken people and teenagers having cannabis on them, I arrested ten so far this week for illegal possession of drugs, I wish they would fucking grow up." I replied.
He glanced at me as he slid on his nylon work pants.
"Couldn't agree more, little shits, they should quit doing drugs, get an education and a job. God if I was their parents I would teach them a lesson." He said.
He noticed my shirt. "You watch that shit?" he asked.
I looked down at my shirt. "The Fast And Furious is not shit." I said.
"Ah yeah huh, it's crap." He said pulling on his shirt. "Hooligans in hotted up muscle cars, pulling stuns and heists, give me a break, if that such thing happened for real here in LA I would be on them like a sack of shit hitting the ground. Any way we live in the real world."
"You gotta at least like one of them, Mac?" I said putting my shirt on and tucking it in.
"Number five is my favourite, I'll have to admit. Plus I like Vin Diesel he is a great actor." He said putting on his tools belt, picking up his 9mm Glock 19, pulled the slide and slid it into his holster.
I pointed my finger at him and gave a click. "That's the way, number five is one of my fav's," I said.
He finished up by putting his radio on and clipping the mic to his chest. He strolled past me giving me a light punch to the back. "See you round big fella." He said.
He stopped in his tracks. "Oh, Chris, Christie is looking for you." He mentioned.
"Didn't you just tell her I'm in the locker room's getting ready?" I asked.
He made a frown and a motion with his head. "You know whata mean."
"Oh," I said. I mouthed the words, "You reckon she has the hots for me?"
He laughed and shrugged his shoulders then stuck his finger at me; I returned the favour as well.
He was about to exit the locker rooms. "Hey Mac," I called out to him; he stopped and looked at me.
"Yeah?" he said.
"In the middle, in the middle, in the middle of a dream." I sang as I pointed my fingers at him.
"I lost my shirt, I pawned my rings, I've done all the dumb things." He replied singing then gave a laugh.
"Great you got that song stuck in my head." I said as he walked out humming the tune to it.
I finished up by picking up my 9mm Glock 19, grabbing a fresh magazine sliding it up the handle and pulling the slide and then holstering it.
I was about to walk out of the lockers, until I realized I forgot my radio.
"Fuck, where's my radio?" I said to no one in-particular. I noticed it atop of my locker, I reached up and grabbed it as I slid the receiver into its slot on my belt, ran the wire over my shoulder and clipped the mic to my shirt.
"Final touch." I said as I clipped my name badge on, read the words: Senior Constable Chris McGuire.
I placed on my cap and marched out of the men's locker rooms and headed for the Officer's Briefing room on the way there I walked past the cafeteria and saw a long-term friend and colleague of mine Dave, or Constable David Wells. I've known him for five years on the force.
I stopped to see him trying to work the new coffee machine which came in a few days ago, he gave it a smack. "Where's my fucking coffee? Work you useless piece of.."
"See you having a bit of a dilemma there trying to make a coffee, Dave?" I asked him.
"Yeah, damn thing doesn't want to do the simplest thing like make me a coffee." He replied.
I walked into the cafeteria. "I'll help you, I've used these machines before, and they can be stubborn at times."
"First you place your K-cup into the machine, which you already have done, you push that button that selects your cup size, then that button on how hot you want it, then you push enter, then press the brew button." I said.
"You smart fuck, how do you know that?" he asked.
"Comes from owning a coffee machine myself." I said giving him a grin.
"Lucky prick." He countered.
He sipped his hot beverage, "You know where Christie is by any chance?" I asked him.
"Yeah, I ran into her in the office of the west wing. Why is that?"
"Mac said she's looking for me, not really specified why but I'll find out once I see her." I replied.
He gave a cat call and a whistle. "Really, did you just have to go on and do that?" I said.
"Just saying, she prob's has the hots for you." He said sipping his coffee with a nonchalant expression.
"Man, I've been on the force for ten years now and I let alone can't get laid, so the odds of her having the hots for me are slim to zero." I said.
"Yeah, you won't get laid with that kind of attitude." He said
"Do you want to get tasered in the balls?" I asked him.
"Not really, I don't feel like it at the moment, plus it would spoil my coffee." He said giving a laugh.
I smiled and punched him in the shoulder. "Smart ass." I said.
I put my cap back on and headed for the door. "And where do you think you're going, Mr Fancy-car?" he asked.
"Hey my Chrysler 300C would flog your raggedy ass pick-up, I'm going to look for Christie and plus," I took my cap off flipped it between my fingers and landed it back on my head, "Duty calls." I said.
"What're shift you pulling tonight?" he asked.
"Highway Patrol and residential district, you?" I replied.
"Morning shift, you lucky fuck." He said.
I gave him a 'boo-yeah- motion with my hands and he just stuck his finger up at me. "See you in the early hours, Dave, don't fall asleep on me." I said as I headed for the Briefing room.
As I walked down the hall way, marching past other officers who nodded their head at me and smiled I was about to enter the Briefing room when a voice stopped me in my tracks.
"Yo Constable Maguire, I've been looking everywhere for you." Came a female voice that had the twang of an angel and the tone of authority.
I turned around and noticed a sleek woman dressed in her LAPD uniform looking sharp and crisp. She had long blonde hair and piercing green eyes and a friendly smile that would make your heart stop like an electric shock passing through it.
She gave me a salute. I saluted back. She offered a hand shake which I gladly accepted. "First Officer Christie Dolton, just been transferred from Dallas, I've been assigned to you as your new partner." She said.
"Nice to meet you Christie, I'm looking forward to be working with you." I think I'm sounding too cheesy.
"As am I, I'm willing to learn the new ways of being a cop in LA." She said.
"You have much to learn, I'll teach you a few tricks." I said.
"Sounds good to me." She said.
"Well let's get to it, shall we?" I said as I started heading for the car-park door.
"What're we on tonight?" She asked.
"Highway Patrol and residential." I replied.
"Ah, I always like the high-life." She said.
We arrived at the door, I tapped my key-card and the door unlocked as I pushed it opened we made our way to our police cruiser we were assigned to.
"Good old Unit 098 treated me well for my ten years on the force." I said as I patted the roof of the vehicle as we arrived at the driver's side door.
"Ten years eh?" she said opening the passenger door.
"Ten years of knowing how not to get shot." I said.
She laughed. "Isn't that every officer's priority number one?" She asked getting in.
"It would seem so." I replied getting in and shutting the door.
I clipped my seatbelt on and grabbed the mic. "Dispatch, Unit Ninety Eight, hard copy?" I said into it.
"Loud and clear, Unit Ninety Eight." Came the voice.
"How's suspension going John?" I asked John our dispatch, plus he is on a two week suspension for placing his firearm on a counter at a Cafe and went to a toilet break and came back to see a little kid playing with his loaded gun.
"Shut it, Maguire, it's not my fault that I placed my gun on the counter and forgot to holster it and to find out a kid was playing with it, that kid should of known better not to play with a gun or even touch one." He replied.
"Yeah yeah, excuses, excuses. You should of just gave the kid your badge and let him take your job." I said.
"You funny fuck, Chris." He laughed.
"See if you can play a good song for me, John, since you're dispatch." Said Christie.
"Christie says for you to play a good song for her, loud and clear as you're dispatch." I said into the mic, I clicked off the button.
"Yeah, I'll play Money For Nothing, Dire Straits, today I'll be your host on 193.5FM Police Music Radio One." He said in a radio host kind of tone.
I and Christie just cracked up laughing.
"You funny shit, John, you know how to make us laugh." I said.
"Have fun with your shift, you two." Came his voice.
"Will do, we'll radio in if anything gets shit out of luck." I said.
"10-4." He said.
I turned the ignition key, the V8 rumbled to life, I drove out of the dedicated parking lane between other police cruisers and drove to the steel security gate.
I tapped my key-card and the gate started opening horizontally. With a big enough gap I drove out of the station out onto the main boulevard the police station was located on.
I turned to Christie who was amazed with the scenery, the palm trees, the houses of the LA lifestyle; I guess coming from Texas you don't see that kind of things often.
The LA traffic and people were kicking into action.
"Ima gonna make a pit-stop at Krispy-Kreme, want anything?" I asked her as I drove to the nearest Krispy-Kreme found a parking spot and switched the car off.
"Sure, I wouldn't mind a glazed doughnut and a Cappuccino, a bit of milk, crème and three sugars." She said.
I nodded. "Sure thing." I said as I opened the car and got out; I shut the cruisers door and made my way to the entrance.
I walked in as I slipped my thumbs under my belt.
There were a dozen or so people in here, mingling, coffee dates, socializing. A few gazes looked at me, to see a LAPD cop has just strolled in.
I walked to the counter. "Hello, Officer, what would you like?" asked the staff member.
"Two glazed doughnuts and two Cappuccinos', one crème and milk, three sugars, the other one all milk a bit of crème and three sugars." I said.
"Certainly, that will be $15.95." She said.
I handed her a twenty. She cashed it in and handed me my change. "Your coffees won't be long." She said.
I nodded. "Thanks." I said.
I leaned on the counter as her and her staff member went busy making a real cafe style coffee using the real expensive espresso machines.
I looked around and took a glimpse of everyone. Everything's normal, no trouble, everyone is doing well.
After five or so minutes. "Officer, your doughnuts and coffees." She said as she handed me a tray for the doughnuts and a cup tray for the two Styrofoam cups of coffee.
"Thank you a lot." I said taking them.
"You have a good day." I said.
"You to, officer." She replied.
I walked to the door, with my hands full I used my body to push open the door and swung it open and walked out letting the door close behind me.
I walked to our cruiser, I sat the trays on the roof, opened the door and handed Christie the doughnut tray and her coffee, which she placed in the cup holder in the centre console.
"Thank you, Chris." She said taking her coffee and giving it a sip.
"Damn that's good java, always the best here." She said.
"We could have gone to Dunkin' Donuts, but I always come to this place for my coffee." I said as I strapped on my seatbelt.
I sat my coffee in the cup holder and started the engine. I drove out of the parking lot and out on to the main street.
Christie detached some paper-work that was clipped to a clip-board that was positioned on the dashboard.
"According to our Shift-Sheets, we are supposed to..." she said over-looking some paper-work "...patrol the M41 today, one of the busiest freeways in LA and then do residential patrol of San Marino and South Pasadena." She said.
"Ah, the M41 never gets old and plus I haven't patrolled those two suburbs for quite a while now." I said.
"Which one you wanna do first?" she asked.
"Let's take the residential patrol first, see if any trouble is brewing in the neighbourhood, it's a high-class neighbourhood so everything should be normal." I said as I drove down the main streets to reach the suburb.
"Sounds fine to me, always good to view the high-life." She said.
I drove down a residential street, it was mid-July so it was summer, we saw kids playing, people watering their lawns, mowing their lawns, as they looked up and saw us drive by in our black and white police cruiser they would give us a friendly wave, I would give them a wave back.
"What streets this?" I asked Christie.
She looked on the computer screen, "We're on Dunstan Street." She replied.
I kept driving until we got to a junction; I turned left and went down another street. Christie looking around to see and spot any signs of trouble or anything out of the ordinary, I too was doing the same while concentrating on the road.
As we drove along at a steady pace, I was looking at the nice houses to my left until Christie got my attention.
"Hey, Chris check it out." Said Christie.
"What is it?" I asked her.
She nodded her head in the up ahead direction. "Look at that big crowd of people. And by the looks of it, two men are armed. That's not normal." She said.
"Ahh, shit, great start to our shift. Looks like we gotta domestic dispute." I said.
As we drove, we didn't get any calls on the radio from dispatch for a domestic disturbance or anything relating to that matter.
The crowd of what looked like to be neighbours of the area were speaking to each other some looked scared, shocked, puzzled. Two men were armed, one with a semi-automatic pistol and one with a rifle plus there were kids about as well.
A few of the neighbours noticed us driving up towards them; they were crowded out the front of someone's house.
They waved us down. I pulled up beside them as they were crowded on the nature strip. I flicked the window switch and my window came down.
A mother and her teenage daughter strolled up to the cruiser.
"What's going on here? Everything alright?" I asked.
"Officer!, thank god, you came through just in the nick of time, I and a few of our fellow neighbours spotted some creature like thing running through the neighbourhood, two of the husbands chased after it with their guns but now it's hiding in that house just there..." she said pointing to the large house with a white-picket fence and kids toys scattered across the lawn.
I looked over at Christie for some clarification.
She made an 'I don't know what to believe' expression.
"A creature, ma'am?" I asked her.
"Yes, some monster looking thing, it was dark pale grey with white on its chest running from its chin down its legs, it had a tail, it looked more like a shark." She said.
"A shark, ma'am?" said Christie baffled.
"Yes, Officer, please believe me I'm not making this up, look you can test me for drugs, I'm clean, I work and I look after four kids." She said.
"Right, we'll handle it." I said, putting the cruiser into park and switching the engine off and taking the keys out of the ignition.
I looked at Christie, "If anything else, this'll keep us busy." I said to her.
"What if it's a fucking practical joke?" she said quietly.
"If it is, we will just issue them a fine for wasting police time and resources under Code 34-9." I replied. She nodded.
I and Christie opened the doors and got out, shutting the doors.
"Thank you Officers, it frightened the kids, they had no idea what it is." She said.
I looked over the crowd of neighbours. "Anyone else see this unknown creature?" I asked them.
Christie walked up beside me with her thumbs under her belt.
"We did," mentioned a teenager and his friend, "We were walking down here and saw it run into that house, I saw the two guys with their guns give chase to it, they started on Deafly Street and chased it down here, it made a dash into that house, luckily the occupants were out the back having a barbeque, we ran though the side entrance to warn them they had a strange creature in their house, that's them just there." He said pointing to a family of five.
I looked over at the two men with their guns still drawn in their hands. "Hey, you two, lower your guns, you both better have permits for those." I said.
"We do, sir, we're licensed and each have clean records to prove it." Said the tall one who mustered a trimmed beard and wore jeans and a loose fitted t-shirt.
"Good, we'll handle it now." I said.
"Yeah we saw it too," spoke up an elderly woman who was with her husband, "it was tall, had shark features something you would see in a science fiction movie." She said.
"Aright, with all these witnesses, it sure as hell clarifies it." I said.
I turned to Christie. "Christie."
"Hm-hm." She said.
"Grab the 12 gauge; we're going to search the house." I said as I made my way towards the house.
"Right away." She said as she popped the trunk, opened it and taking the shotgun off its mounts in the trunk.
She shut the trunk with a thud. The crowd was getting bigger too, to see what all the fuss was about.
With the shotgun mustered in her hands, she walked with me to the entrance of the property; we walked up the driveway towards the front door.
We walked up the stairs and to the big wooden front door. We both stood on either side of it; I slowly pulled my pistol out of its holster and brought it up to my chest.
My heart was pounding a million miles a minute. I nodded to Christie, she grabbed hold of the door knob, slowly turning it and opening the door slowly.
The crowd gathered out the front of the house on the front nature-strip.
We slowly walked in, our guns pointing in each direction; I looked down my pistols iron-sights.
Christie hefted the shotgun in one hand as she slowly closed the front door and locked it.
I gave her an affirmative nod.
I pointed the gun in each direction I looked as I walked slowly with two hands clasped around the pistol's grip.
I made a 'you check up-stair's' motion with my hand and I made an 'I'll check the kitchen and living room' motion. She nodded and went for the stairs aiming her shotgun head-height.
I slowly walked into the kitchen not knowing what I will find.
It's probably a bunch of teenagers playing a practical joke just to draw attention to themselves.
"This is the LAPD, whoever you are, come out now or you will be arrested, please step out slowly with your hands where I can see them or we will use force," I said with deliberate and authority in my voice.
"I'm giving you a final warning, come out now. And do not try to make any sudden moves or ambush us, we are armed and ready to use force if we have to." I said seriously.
I turned the corner from the hallway into the big kitchen; I saw the refrigerator doors were open and kneeling in front of it what I saw was nothing I could be prepared for in my whole ten years on the force, rummaging for food was an anthropomorphic shark, with an hour-glass figure, she wore old cut-off shorts and a tatty tank top, she also seemed to be wearing sandals. My jaw dropped and my eyes went to the size of golf balls.
I reeled back in the hallway and lent on the wall with the pistol at my chest. I gave a shaky but nervous sigh.
"Fuck, the residents were right; it is a fucking shark creature." I said quietly.
I slowly came out and walked back into the kitchen, I slowly crept up behind her and I stood about a foot behind her, she didn't know I was there behind her, I pointed my gun at her, I aimed my iron-sights at her back.
I pulled the slide of my gun loading a round into the chamber; it made that instantly recognizable metallic click.
She immediately stopped what she was doing and perked up.
She slowly turned around to meet her eyes with mine, her slitted pupils that looked like a snake's eye.
"Don't move." I said slowly and with control.
"My gun is loaded and I will not hesitate to use it if I have to," I said.
She stood up to her full height; she was an inch taller than me and slowly walked towards me.
"Stay back." I ordered.
She didn't comply, she continued to inch towards me closer.
"Stand down, now!" I said aiming my gun at her.
"You're under arrest shark creature, now get back!" I ordered.
"You're trespassing on private property now get back!"
She had a serious look in her eyes; she also had a bland facial expression. She stopped in front of me.
"I'm warning you, whatever the fuck you are, stand down or I will shoot." I said nervously.
She knelt down slowly and started undoing one of the straps on one of her sandals, followed by the other two. She lifted her leg up and carefully slid her sandal off of her foot.
Confused by this, I aimed my iron-sights at her shoulder, so if I do shoot her, I will just immobilize her not kill her.
I took a glimpse behind me. "Where the fucks are you Christie?" I asked the air.
In that split second as I turned back to look at her, she threw her sandal at me, it cleanly landing in the middle of my face. Disoriented and it hurt like a bitch to, she quickly ran at me and snatched my gun out of my hands.
She then stood in front of me, aiming my own pistol squarely at me. I shook off the pain on my face, I was pissed now but that switched to 'what the fuck am I gonna do now' mode. I told myself to stay calm, I'm a cop, and I have ten years of experience to overcome this situation.
She tilted her head a bit she clasped both her hands around the pistols grip.
I slowly put my hands up and I gulped.
"Okay, you've got me, I have no other guns on me, you disarmed me, please slowly give me my gun back and we can work this out, anything you need, I will get it for you." I said.
I saw Christie slowly creep in, to her right in her blind spot with her shotgun hefted in her hands.
She took a glance at me with my hands up in surrender and the shark creature aiming my own gun at me.
She slowly inched closer to this shark creature; she placed the barrel of the shotgun a mere inches from her head.
Christie pumped the shotgun.
The shark creature froze and slowly turned to see another LAPD cop aiming a shotgun right at her head.
"Thought I was alone, didn't you? Well you thought wrong," I said.
"Now you have a couple of options," I began as I squinted my eyes at her "consider the situation you are now in, you are wielding my pistol and clearly aiming it at me, so this is how it works, that gun you're holding has 9 millimetre bullets, yes they do damage when fired at a selected target, but that depends where you shoot the individual, plus by the expression of your face and the way you're handling that gun, you have no experience on how to use a gun nor are trained to use one, plus with that in mind you won't know where to shoot a target to immobilize or permanently kill, my partner Christie there," I gave a muffled laugh ", she's wielding a 12 gauge shotgun a mere inches from your head, it is currently loaded with 12 Gauge shotgun shells, each one packed with hundreds of little pellets that fly out of that barrel at twelve hundred feet per second, now when you conclude that to your current situation, you have no hope in hell to accomplish what you want to do, because my partner there will fire her shotgun which will lead you to have very severe head injuries, instant death may occur, by the time that happens, you would have fired my pistol clearly missing your target aka: me, the bullet hitting the nearby wall and the confrontation is over, your choice, shark?" I said with deliberate control in my voice.
I could tell she was getting stressed out, her breathing was getting heavier.
She slowly lowered my gun and I put my hands back down. "Good thinking, now carefully give me back my gun or I will pull out my taser and stun you with 50,000Volts of electricity now that will not be pleasant." I said.
Christie kept her aim clearly on her.
She then brought my pistol back up and aimed it at me "Oh shit." I said, but she moved it to the side and fired two shots at the wall, I dived on to the dining room table, it collapsed I and it came crashing to the floor, with me yelling "Ahhhh, oof!" with items on the table scattering everywhere, she then made a dash for the back door, firing off more shots, piercing all the walls making shrapnel and plaster scatter everywhere.
I heard the crowd of people out the front, scream and yell in fright after hearing the gun shots.
"FUCK!" I said shocked.
She bolted out the back door, Christie fired her shotgun, her round plugged a nearby wall, splintering it.
She ran to me, "Chris! You alright?" she said grabbing my hand and hefting me up to my feet.
"Yeah, I'm fine, that creature is defiantly not human, plus it's a female." I said breathing heavily.
"It's female?" She asked. I nodded rubbing the red mark on my face where the shark's sandal hit me.
"Fuckin' oath she is, didn't you see her hour-glass figure, she has the body of a model, but she's a shark for Christ sake, go after her, now, quick before we lose her. I'll catch up." I said leaning on the kitchen bench.
She pumped her shotgun and gave chase after the shark creature.
I brought my mic to my mouth that was clipped on my shirt.
"Shots fired, I repeat shots fired! 10-71! San Marino, Off Dunstan!" I yelled into my mic.
"Copy, Officer 234, back up has been dispatched to your location." Came John's voice.
I stretched, "Shit's hit the fan now." I said and ran through the house and out the back door into the backyard, I saw Christie get to the fence line and I saw the shark creature climb the fence and run off.
I met up with Christie, I was puffing and so was she. "Christie! Go for the cruiser, do a ring-road approach try and block her, she's heading to those set of houses!" I said pointing in the direction where she headed.
She nodded and ran for the cruiser.
(Okay, Chris let's see how well you did your training at the academy) I thought.
I ran for the fence and jumped on it, swung my legs up and jumped down in one swift motion.
"Fuck yeah that's what're I'm talking about." I said.
I squinted my eyes and looked in each direction I saw her running down an alleyway.
"You stop right there! Get the fuck back here now, you're under arrest!" I said as I gave chase for her.
"You're only making it worse for yourself!" I said.
She glanced behind her looking at me as she ran. "You fired shots at an officer; you're going to jail missy!" I yelled.
I picked up my pace, I haven't ran this fast in years, I didn't realize I could run this fast, I guess eating all those doughnuts had little effect on me over the years.
I was on her tail, she literately had a tail I was slowly catching up to her, pumping my legs with each run, pacing my breaths.
She ran across one of the streets, a police cruiser almost running her over by stopping in front of her, she jumped and slid across the bonnet of the cruiser in a dukes of hazard style and took off running again.
I realized it was Christie in our cruiser, she got there fast.
I ran passed Christie, giving her a 'what the fuck' motion with my hands. I bolted after her again, in my peripheral vision; Christie hit the lights and siren and took off to the next street.
I was right behind her, my energy was draining slowly, I was starting to not run as fast, but she kept on running she had lots of energy.
With one final push I caught up to her I was about to spear-tackle her but she made a dash to the right, the shark morph clambered over a chain-link fence dropped to the ground behind it, she stopped to look at me through the fence but what she did next truly shocked me to death, she looked directly into my eyes and she mouthed the words "I'm sorry," and she took off running down an alley-way, by the time I jumped the fence and got there, she was gone out of sight.
"Goddamn it." I said kicking a miniature pile of dirt away.
I saw my pistol lying on the ground a few feet in front of me, I walked over slowly knelt down and picked it up.
I hit the magazine release button and let the magazine full into my hand, she fired four shots, and I slid the magazine back up the handle and holstered my pistol. I took one last glimpse of the direction where she ran to.
I sighed, she was I'll admit, beautiful and attractive, I have never seen such a beautiful creature like her. I really want to get to know her more but she was on the run, she is now a wanted person. And I mingling about with a wanted shark creature for firing shots at police would jeopardize my career. (Chris what the fuck man, pull yourself together, she's a shark, you shouldn't be thinking her as attractive, she's an animal, she has killer instincts, and we've grown up with sharks being ferocious man eating killers) I thought to myself.
I sighed once more and headed for the house where all this commotion started. I brought my mic to my mouth and clicked the talk button.
"Christie, meet me back at the house, I lost her, she's long gone now." I said and let go of the button.
"10/4." Came her reply.
I walked past three streets I counted that I chased after that shark creature; I arrived back at the house to still see all the residents crowded out the front waiting for any new information.
A few noticed me walking up to them; I was still a bit exhausted from giving chase to that shark.
"Officer, did you catch the creature?" asked one of the mothers.
"No, unfortunately, we did not, in that house we had a brief confrontation, she took my gun and fired shots at us, but by the looks of it she deliberately missed those shots. We gave chase to her across three blocks, then she finally made a getaway threw an alley and was gone out of sight." I said.
Shocked looks were on the faces of the residents. "She is long gone now out of your area, she is now in another neighbourhood." I said.
Christie pulled up in our police cruiser alongside the curb.
She got out of the cruiser. "Dispatch said they've sent in SWAT with Pol-air to search for that shark creature, they'll take it from here." She said.
"That's a relief." Said an elderly man.
"Everything's under control ladies and gentlemen and children, you all can now safely return to your homes." I said.
I started walking towards the house the shark creature was in, Christie followed closely behind.
We entered the house, no guns drawn this time as there are no intruders. I walked into the kitchen and looked around.
"Chris, what're you looking for?" asked Christie.
"Just any sign of evidence." I said, I looked around the floor, it was a mess in here, the fridge was messed up from the shark creature, bullet holes were in the few of the far walls.
The dining room table was in pieces after I landed on it and it collapsed.
I looked down at the floor towards the entrance of the main hallway, I saw the sandal she through at my face sitting there.
I walked over, knelt down and picked it up.
"A sandal?" asked Christie confused.
"She was wearing them; she threw this one at my face to catch me off guard so she could snatch my gun out of my hands. I'm gonna bring this back to the station for evidence." I said.
"It's not every day you see a shark wearing sandals." She said.
"It's not every day we see a human-shark hybrid terrorizing residents in a quiet neighbourhood." I replied.
I sighed. Christie noticed the defeated look on my face. "Chris she's long gone, there's nothing you could have done, you did your best." Assured Christie.
"Yeah, you're right." I said.
"Now let's get going, we still have a whole neighbourhood to patrol. SWAT is out there looking for her as we speak with..." as she said that we heard a helicopter fly over head "...Pol-air helping them."
We walked out of the house towards our cruiser; we saw the family who owns the house.
"There's a bit of damage in the kitchen, fill out an insurance claim and give it to the precinct, the force will pay for your damages." I said.
The husband and wife nodded. "Thank you so much Officers." Said the wife.
I gave a tip of my cap. "Just doing our jobs, take care now, remember if you see that creature again, contact us immediately." They nodded.
I gave them a wave as I got into the driver's seat, started the engine and we continued our patrol of the neighbourhood.
***
We did not see any sign of the strange creature for the rest of our shift. It was around 9:00PM by the time Christie and I returned to the station. I pulled into the drive way and parked the cruiser in its space. I smiled at Christie as I unbuckled my seatbelt. "I wonder what happened to that shark we gave chase."
"Eh, the SWAT team and Pol-air probably took care of it. They would have tracked her with thermal imaging and SWAT would have nabbed her, their pay grades are higher than ours."
"I sure hope so; I was pretty freaked out back there. I bet she's hiding in your bedroom." I said elbowing her in the side and giving a laugh.
She then punched me in the shoulder.
"Ay don't say that! I bet she's hiding under your bed sheets, plus where she last ran to, isn't that where you live?" she asked.
I stopped and paused. "Oh shit." I said slowly.
Then Christie burst out into laughter.
"Aye it's not funny; it is not a laughing matter." I said.
"I think it is." She replied still laughing.
"Yeah, yeah keep laughing." I said as we neared the door.
"I will." She replied laughing giving my back a punch.
We arrived at the door.
I swiped my ID card, unlocking the door. I pushed it open, and Christie and I stepped inside. The door slowly closed behind us. Dave was still at the front desk; I noticed that he had switched to a People magazine.
"Pull the morning shift, Dave?"
"Yeah, somebody's gotta do it"
"Our shift just ended." I said in fake glee.
"Whoop-de-frigging-doo..." Dave replied with a complete lack of interest and then proceeded to sticking his finger up at me as he concentrated on his magazine.
I gave a laugh and smiled.
I walked into the men's locker room. I opened my locker and took a look at myself in the mirror. The daily grind had taken a particularly harsh toll on me tonight; I was a sweaty mess. It felt good to unbutton my shirt and peel my uniform off of my body. I would have to wait until I got home to clean myself off, so a quick wipe down with a damp towel had to hold me over for now.
I pulled out my civilian clothes and got into them, my Fast And Furious t-shirt and my pair of jeans... It was then that the fatigue chose to strike me. I must have really strained myself pursuing that shark creature; my body was positively aching! I hung my uniform on the rack in my locker with my belt and put my gun in, placing it on the box of bullets I kept on the shelf. I shut and locked it, then checked out at the front desk. "See you tonight, tough guy," I said tiredly to Dave.
"Not if I see you first big fella," Dave replied with a soft chuckle as he flipped the page of his magazine. I only smiled and walked out of the station, ready to get some much needed rest.
I got my car keys out as I crossed the parking lot. Getting into my car, a blue Chrysler 300C something not flash but simple that I can afford on a cop's salary, I spotted Christie as she got into her Chevy Impala. When she caught sight of me, I waved to her.
"Well goodnight, Christie. See ya again same time, same place?"
"Young man, you've got yourself a date!" Christie laughed and started her car.
I let her go out ahead of me, and she sped off into the not-so-dark night. There were plenty of streetlights illuminating this part of the city. I turned the ignition of my sedan and backed out of my stall. As I put the car into drive, the image of that shark I had encountered flashed in my memory for a moment. I can't help but say I was startled; sure, the incident was strange, but why would it, or should I say she, cross my mind out of the blue like this? I shook my head a little, dismissing the passing image as a lack of sleep. All the more reason to get home, I thought wearily to myself. I pulled out into the street and headed off down the street, the automated gate slowly closing behind me.