Working Cases - Episode 17

 

Collins stood just behind the tree line. He turned to see Gabe and Nicodemus looking at him. Surviving so far had been difficult, but they had managed knowing sooner or later, luck would run out. That time was now. There was no way they would survive leaving this forest together. He had come to terms with what he had to do since they set foot in the forest. It wasn’t easy preparing to die, but it had been enlightening.
He offered them a small smile and saluted . He had to draw the men away from them. Fear coursed through him, a cold sweat breaking out. Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself and stepped over the edge. And all hell broke loose.
He let out a burst of sporadic fire, taking out a few of the men at once. They retaliated, all of them orienting on his position. A few bullets hit one of the cars’ fuel tanks, causing it to explode. He edged forward, feeling the bullets whizz past him, taking them down. One down, then two… three, four, and then the first bullet hit him in the elbow.
He winced, turned around and yelled, “Go!”
And then the second bullet hit him, and the third, and the fourth… he struggled to keep his finger on the trigger, fighting through the pain to keep up the assault on the enemy.
The bullets were coming faster now, pelting, breaking, stinging. He vaguely noticed he was on his knees

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/working-cases

. Vision was becoming hazy. Two people were running, Gabe and Nicodemus, out of the corner of his eye and he smiled. ‘Good on them!’ he thought. Then something hit him in the side of the head and everything went black.

His head hurt. Everything was pitch-black. Every sound was echoing inside his head. He could barely make out the voices. “How did he survive?” one of them was saying.

A distinctly female voice answered. “To be honest, we don’t know. He had thirty-eight bullets in his body, ruptured quite a number of blood vessels and broke twenty-seven bones. He was lucky the bullet that hit his head barely nicked him or we’d be talking very differently. The police and ambulance arrived as soon as they could. Good thing he had his badge on him or they would have left him for dead like the rest.”
Left for dead? Were they talking about him? Where was he? And why was everything black?
The first voice spoke again, it sounded a lot closer now and owner—clearly male—sounded familiar. “My God! He looks awful.”
Collins recognized the voice now. “Shut up, Nicodemus. I’ll never look as awful as you.”
There was a stunned silence. Then Nicodemus started laughing, “You’re awake! Guess you're tougher than I give you credit for.”
The lady, who Collins could only assume was the nurse cut in, “Mr. Collins, welcome back, sir. How do you feel?”
Yes. How did he feel? “Numb, I guess. Everything’s really heavy–––”
“Of course, you’ll feel so until the painkillers wear off. Then, you'll feel the pain.”
“Oh, I still feel a headache.” He felt a small panic, “And I can’t see. Is there something covering my eyes?”
There was another small silence. Then the nurse spoke. “Um, are you sure? I mean, of course. Nothing to worry about, your body is still healing.”
Nicodemus chimed in. “Yeah, bro. Have some rest. You took a lot of hits; you can’t expect to be a hundred percent immediately. The entire station has gifts for you. They’ll be here in a few hours. Make sure you’re well rested.”
The slightly wavering tone in their voices was not lost on Collins. “There’s something wrong with my eyes, isn’t there?”
Another pause.
“We have no way of knowing how extensive the damage is, or even if it’s just a temporary problem. There’s no need to worry. It could all turn out to be nothing.” 
Nicodemus spoke too, “Get some sleep, bro. And thank you. Gabe and I never would have made it out of that forest without you.”
“Don’t thank me. It’s my job.” He smiled, then added thoughtfully, “Though, I have been thinking of retiring early, get a nice place. I won’t miss my eyes much, I think.”
He heard Nicodemus sigh.
“How’s catching Duncan going?” Collins asked, changing the subject.
“Well enough. It’s been a week since we got back from the court. The guys in the department are nicer to me–––”
Collins chuckled. “Well, sorry. We all thought you were the devil. Bossy, entitled new detective walks in and changes everything we’re used to doing since forever. Did you expect us to love you? And besides, you brought danger with you. Nobody wanted to die for nothing.”
“Well, I guess… Anyway, a new taskforce has been formed to find him. We’ve been tearing down doors looking for him. All his known associates have been put in jail, permanently. But, we’ve not been able to catch him, or find any place he’s been recently.”
“Where could he be hiding? Is he out of town?”
“Unlikely. Every exit road has people looking for him, cameras watching for any suspiciousness. And one of his guys we interrogated confessed he’s somewhere still in town. He refuses to leave. He’s got something planned.”
“Any leads on what that is?”
“None,” Nicodemus sighed, “But I know someone who can help me find out.”