stomach. Coen’s third and fourth were both head shots, and Jimmy Burke was dead before he’d even begun falling to the floor.
James Tetley watched as one of his best friends waged his one-man war against his LAPD counterparts, then passed out from the pain of his leg wound just as what was left of Jimmy Burke’s body crashed to the ground.
17
Even though we were anxious to get in there, Charlie and I duly waited for the back up to arrive, which it did with a commendable amount of silence, as instructed. Unless, as a resident of the Boulevard, you were standing at one of your front windows looking out directly onto the road or happened to be at the front of your house doing one-or two odd jobs like a couple of the residents were, you would never have known about the significantly increased police presence.
Signalling that we would take the front, I silently directed three teams of two officers round the sides and back of the detached number twenty-two. Once at the front door, we gave it about thirty seconds for the rest of the team to get in position. I nodded to Charlie, who took the door off its hinges with one powerful kick.
Seconds later, I heard a crash, which signified that my team was also coming in from the rear. So far, so good. No surprises. Nothing out of the ordinary. A quick sweep of the ground floor rooms uncovered nothing further. It just appeared to be your typical suburban house. The kitchen was clean, but with several dirty plates and bowls piled high in the sink and the leftovers from a meal lay on the breakfast table. The living room looked comfortable and well used; cushions and magazines strewn across the sofa, a dining room that looked more for show than for any practical purpose. But we were here for a reason, weren’t we? Whilst Charlie and I had taken the downstairs, two of the backup team had taken upstairs.
‘Hey Patton’, I heard one of them shout, the sense of urgency in his voice undeniable. ‘Get up here! Master bedroom’
Taking the stairs three at a time, my mind was racing. Was this what we were here for? I’m not quite sure what I was expecting but I was surprised, even bewildered at what we found.
Looking very tired and extremely frightened was a woman, sitting up in bed, hugging her knees tight to her chest and pulling the duvet cover right up to her chin. The room was spacious and daylight penetrated the room from a slit in the drawn curtains.
Whilst the rest of the backup re-scouted the house under Charlie’s supervision, it took me around five minutes of questioning to ascertain some basic facts. Once over the initial shock of having four strangers burst into her bedroom, she was extremely forthcoming and a couple of quick checks via the PD confirmed her story.
Her name was Laura Edwards and she worked as a full time nurse at one of LA’s busiest hospitals, The Cedars Inter-Community Hospital in Inglewood. She was on overnighters this week, meaning that she started work at ten at night and worked through to eight in the morning after shift handover at half past seven. Looking around the room, I could see her nurses uniform slung over the back of a chair, and her bloodshot eyes spoke volumes; turned out she had been in bed for just over half an hour before we burst in.
‘Do you have any idea why your address would be in a code, given to us?’ I asked. I had been vague with the details, certainly no mention of The Chemist, or the fact that we were chasing a potential serial killer.
‘I don’t, I really don’t’, she seemed genuine to me. ‘I’m sorry I can’t be of more help to you Detective Patton’.
Charlie returned and a quick shake of his head confirmed that there was nothing relevant after a preliminary search. I declined to tell Laura at this stage that several officers would remain here all day anyway, and that she was unlikely to be going back to sleep.
I sighed, looking around the room, more out of exasperation and frustration than anything
James Tetley watched as one of his best friends waged his one-man war against his LAPD counterparts, then passed out from the pain of his leg wound just as what was left of Jimmy Burke’s body crashed to the ground.
17
Even though we were anxious to get in there, Charlie and I duly waited for the back up to arrive, which it did with a commendable amount of silence, as instructed. Unless, as a resident of the Boulevard, you were standing at one of your front windows looking out directly onto the road or happened to be at the front of your house doing one-or two odd jobs like a couple of the residents were, you would never have known about the significantly increased police presence.
Signalling that we would take the front, I silently directed three teams of two officers round the sides and back of the detached number twenty-two. Once at the front door, we gave it about thirty seconds for the rest of the team to get in position. I nodded to Charlie, who took the door off its hinges with one powerful kick.
Seconds later, I heard a crash, which signified that my team was also coming in from the rear. So far, so good. No surprises. Nothing out of the ordinary. A quick sweep of the ground floor rooms uncovered nothing further. It just appeared to be your typical suburban house. The kitchen was clean, but with several dirty plates and bowls piled high in the sink and the leftovers from a meal lay on the breakfast table. The living room looked comfortable and well used; cushions and magazines strewn across the sofa, a dining room that looked more for show than for any practical purpose. But we were here for a reason, weren’t we? Whilst Charlie and I had taken the downstairs, two of the backup team had taken upstairs.
‘Hey Patton’, I heard one of them shout, the sense of urgency in his voice undeniable. ‘Get up here! Master bedroom’
Taking the stairs three at a time, my mind was racing. Was this what we were here for? I’m not quite sure what I was expecting but I was surprised, even bewildered at what we found.
Looking very tired and extremely frightened was a woman, sitting up in bed, hugging her knees tight to her chest and pulling the duvet cover right up to her chin. The room was spacious and daylight penetrated the room from a slit in the drawn curtains.
Whilst the rest of the backup re-scouted the house under Charlie’s supervision, it took me around five minutes of questioning to ascertain some basic facts. Once over the initial shock of having four strangers burst into her bedroom, she was extremely forthcoming and a couple of quick checks via the PD confirmed her story.
Her name was Laura Edwards and she worked as a full time nurse at one of LA’s busiest hospitals, The Cedars Inter-Community Hospital in Inglewood. She was on overnighters this week, meaning that she started work at ten at night and worked through to eight in the morning after shift handover at half past seven. Looking around the room, I could see her nurses uniform slung over the back of a chair, and her bloodshot eyes spoke volumes; turned out she had been in bed for just over half an hour before we burst in.
‘Do you have any idea why your address would be in a code, given to us?’ I asked. I had been vague with the details, certainly no mention of The Chemist, or the fact that we were chasing a potential serial killer.
‘I don’t, I really don’t’, she seemed genuine to me. ‘I’m sorry I can’t be of more help to you Detective Patton’.
Charlie returned and a quick shake of his head confirmed that there was nothing relevant after a preliminary search. I declined to tell Laura at this stage that several officers would remain here all day anyway, and that she was unlikely to be going back to sleep.
I sighed, looking around the room, more out of exasperation and frustration than anything
Similar Books
![Wendy's Wild Wolves [Shy River Pack 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)](https://fs.dianahicksbooks.com/527744/thumbs/152x264/wendys-wild-wolves-shy-river-pack-1-siren-publishing-menage-amour.png)
