6: A Botched Deal

P O L I C E   C A P T A I N   S U S A N  Claire slid her glock into her holster next to her hip as she walked out of the precinct, wearing sunglasses.

She stopped next to her car—a Dodge Challenger Hell Cat  and watched two detectives move past her with another man between them whose hands were cuffed in front of him. She waited until they had gotten with him into another car, a yellow cab and she did the same.

The cab was first to get out of the precinct's parking lot, followed by the captain's car.

Claire checked the time displayed on a small screen at the dashboard, next to the steer wheel, which was charged by a high power battery as well as the rest of the car after an advancement was made to replace fuel energy. Half past four o'clock in the afternoon—the exact time the delivery guy was expected to show up at the exchange point.

She kept the Hell Cat  about six feet away from the cab, allowing other cars to get in between her and the cab. She had to make sure nobody noticed that the delivery guy was being followed.

It took them eight minutes to get to the exchange point as the cab veered off from the freeway and stopped next to a kerb where a tall apartment building stood.

The exchange point.

Claire parked her car just behind the building and watched the delivery guy step out of the cab with a bag slung over his left shoulder and advanced towards the building.

As soon as he was in, Claire moved towards the building and gave a slight nod to the cab next to the kerb before pushing the rotating doors open and slipping through.

Once inside, Claire watched the delivery guy move towards the elevator after which she spoke through the tiny microphone attached to the top button of her blouse.

The delivery guy then changed course from the elevator to the stairs. The captain had to make sure she could see his every move, without having to be in very close proximity.

She waited until the delivery guy had ascended the first flight of stairs that she then followed.

They passed the first, second and third floor then stopped at the fourth where the delivery guy made a right turn, passing two doors and stopping on the third.

The captain stood at the stairwell while the delivery guy knocked on the door. A woman was heading down the stairs when the door opened and Claire stopped her.

"Hi, I'm new here, do you know where I can find a person named Grace?" she asked the woman, making it look like she was in conversation with her when a head peered out of the door, looking out for any conspicuous activity.

Claire raised an eye towards the door and saw the delivery guy enter the apartment after which the door was immediately shut.

"You know what, never mind. Have a great day," she said to the woman who simply nodded her before descending the stairs.

"He's in," she spoke down to her mic, signalling her backup waiting outside in the cab.

She then switched to the delivery guy.

"How many people?"

'Four,' came the reply.

"Any weapons?"

'Can't tell.'

"What else do you she?"

'Bags. Stashes, just like...'

"Felton. Felton!"

The communication was broken off and the captain switched back to her backup.

"Subject's been compromised. Wait for my signal. I'm going in."

With that, the captain advanced towards the door and stood on one side. She waited.

If the delivery guy had ratted her out, whoever was inside would make a run for it. Or, maybe his mic was broken but that was highly unlikely, considering where the APD gets most of its gadgets from.

Carter Laboratories  or CarterLabs  for short. The most successful and biggest research facility in all of Georgia, run by none other than Dr. Carter Hall and his partner, Dr. Katherine Patterson.

The captain had to act fast in order to try and maintain the element of surprise which was already going off the rails. So, she thrust out her right leg and struck the lock on the door, causing the door to fly open.

The occupants who were already interrogating the delivery guy watched to their amazement when the door flung open and nobody came through it.

"What the fuck is this?" bellowed one guy, grabbing Felton by the collar of his coat.

Two out of the four took out their guns and moved slowly towards the wide open door.

The delivery guy was thrown to the carpeted floor, next to the bags filled with cocaine on a table in the middle of the room.

It all happened so fast when suddenly, the man on the right and nearest to the door let out a yelp after which his gun hit the floor when he felt a sharp pain shoot up from his wrist.

The other man reacted by turning to see what was going on with his counterpart and that was when Claire appeared at the doorway and swiftly thrust out both of her arms and grabbed at the man's wrists.

She turned them sharply, twisting them as she did so and then went ahead to jab the man in his stomach with her knee as his gun fell.

A clicking sound followed, making the captain turn to the other two men in the room. Felton was still on the floor.

One of them held a gun at her while the other one, the one who threw the delivery guy to the floor, stepped closer to where the captain was standing.

"Fucking cops! Did you really think you could just come in here and catch me and my crew off guard?"

Footsteps then came from the door. The backup team. Claire raised one hand, signalling them to not engage.

"One sound out of you and your lady cop's brains will be all over this place!"

"You're the ones who have been smuggling drugs into the city," Claire started, engaging into conversation which served both as a distraction and a way of getting information.

"Oh, we're just the dealers here."

"Are you saying there are more of you?"

"The family's grown cop, and there ain't no stopping us now..." the man shook his head, "why am I even telling you this. Now you'll let me and my men go and we won't have to kill you. Deal?"

"Deal," Claire replied but not before slowly folding her left hand into a fist.

A shot suddenly went off and it sounded like it came from the outside. As Claire expected, the man holding a gun on her lost his focus after which she immediately moved a hand to her hip and retrieved her gun.

She pointed it at the stashes of cocaine and pulled the trigger, blasting the bags and sending a cloud of white smoke flying all over the place, temporarily blinding the two men.

The other two that she had taken out tried to make a run for it but not before the backup team rounded them up at the exit.

Claire moved to the direction of the man with the gun, professionally deciding to take him out first as he struggled to see through the white dust. Claire knocked the gun out of his hand and slammed his body against the wall. The dust began to clear as the other man hoisted the delivery guy to his feet.

"Don't even think about it!" he spat, holding a gun to the delivery guy's temple.

Claire raised her hands halfway and watched as the man got out of the room with Felton. The backup stood back, identifying the hostage situation in progress.

The man left with Felton and was soon out of the building, already getting into a car. He shoved the delivery guy in the back and started the engine, the car's tires screeching wildly as he got into the freeway.

The captain ran out of the building and was heading into her car when a sudden flash of pink light whizzed past her.

The dealer was still holding a gun back at Felton as he tore through the road, already marvelling about his endearing escape when a whooshing sound emanated followed by what appeared to be pink lightning and a woman dressed in pink was suddenly riding shotgun with him.

"Ah, shit! Pink Projectile!" he cursed, quickly pointing the gun at her and opening fire.

It was Carol.

She grabbed at the incoming bullets emptied from the gun like she was picking up groceries until the dealer was then just pulling the trigger and only a clicking sound from an empty gun can out.

"I think you're out of ammo," Carol said comically from behind her mask.

"I hate that name, by the way. Now...," she added right before suddenly bursting into superspeed.

The dealer then found himself standing next to Captain Claire's car with his hands cuffed to his back, together with Felton, the delivery guy.

"Thanks," Claire said to Carol and watched as the speedster hurtled away in a streak of pink lightning.