it got closer and Sarge swore softly to himself.
A damn cop car. All I’m going to get out of this is some damn cop wants a free cup of coffee and take a leak, using up my water….
He paused. Funny, the car didn’t really park out front. Not like the cop inside wanted to come in. He just pulled up fast, sliding in the snow right up to the door, and jumped out as soon as it stopped.
Sarge watched with growing interest as the cop went to the driver-side back door, hunkering down in the pelting snow like a boxer in the ring, and pulled out some guy in handcuffs. Took off the cuffs, turned the guy toward Sarge’s big glass door and gave him a gentle push that sent him reeling toward the building. By the time the man outside got his balance the cop was already back in the car, spinning his wheels in the snow and moving back out onto Highway 12.
Sarge watched him depart, then turned his attention to the discharged passenger.
Damn, it’s Slimmy Johnson out there! What’s he doing clear out—
Sarge looked closer. What Slimmy was doing was relieving himself against the wall by the door.
He flipped off the switch for the electric sign outside, wondering how he was going to get rid of him. Couldn’t just leave him out in the snow; even a pill like Slimmy Johnson you couldn’t leave out on a day like this. “But I sure as hell ain’t gonna keep him here long,” Sarge muttered. He wondered how Slimmy come to ride up to his door in a black-and-white taxi. Sarge figured there maybe was an interesting story here, and he put on his best professional smile as Slimmy finally got his bearings and reeled through the door saying, “Hey, where can a man get a drink around here?”
Chapter 23
Three Hours and Fifty-Eight Minutes After the Robbery
December 20, 1951
12:58 PM
Officer Drapp
“We’re under fire!” Callie yelled.
Which was thoughtful of her, I guess, but I didn’t need her right there with the news. I was already rolling out the door into the snow, trying to keep as much of that Jeep body between me and the tower as I could while I fast-crawled to the back.
That’s where I ran into Callie again. Didn’t know a big woman like her could move so fast, but then she looked a little surprised to see me there too.
We were both hunkered down in the snow, hugging the back of that Jeep like a baby getting mama’s milk, just staring at each other.
I got to say she handled it all right. Most folks, they don’t much care to get shot at, and it shakes them up some, but she just had this look on her face like this was a job of work now, but she wasn’t going to let it scare her much.
Me, I was scared.
I mean, there we were, sitting in the snow back of that Jeep and the only thing warm was the fumes coming from out the tailpipe. Somewhere in the back of my head I was glad I’d put the gearshift in neutral before we jumped out, and I remembered I’d pulled the parking brake automatically—another good habit the Army taught me—so the Jeep wasn’t going to roll away from us any.
But this was still a damn mess, and we were in it.
Callie sat close down beside me and got her legs up like I had, both of us hoping we weren’t leaving anything out for whoever was in that tower to take a bead on. “Looks like your bank robber got here ahead of us.”
All I said was, “Somebody did.”
“You mean that police car?” Inside the big fur hood she moved her head towards the slope to one side of us. “Another officer got here ahead of us?”
“I don’t see how,” I said. “We’ve only been following one set of tracks.”
“Well obviously your bank robber got up in the tower somehow and started shooting at us. Perhaps he even shot at the police car. Isn’t that what you think?”
“Doesn’t figure.” I rolled carefully to one side, keeping the Jeep between me and the tower, and looked down the slope at the black-and-white car that was already getting lost in the falling snow. I rolled back.
“Those
A damn cop car. All I’m going to get out of this is some damn cop wants a free cup of coffee and take a leak, using up my water….
He paused. Funny, the car didn’t really park out front. Not like the cop inside wanted to come in. He just pulled up fast, sliding in the snow right up to the door, and jumped out as soon as it stopped.
Sarge watched with growing interest as the cop went to the driver-side back door, hunkering down in the pelting snow like a boxer in the ring, and pulled out some guy in handcuffs. Took off the cuffs, turned the guy toward Sarge’s big glass door and gave him a gentle push that sent him reeling toward the building. By the time the man outside got his balance the cop was already back in the car, spinning his wheels in the snow and moving back out onto Highway 12.
Sarge watched him depart, then turned his attention to the discharged passenger.
Damn, it’s Slimmy Johnson out there! What’s he doing clear out—
Sarge looked closer. What Slimmy was doing was relieving himself against the wall by the door.
He flipped off the switch for the electric sign outside, wondering how he was going to get rid of him. Couldn’t just leave him out in the snow; even a pill like Slimmy Johnson you couldn’t leave out on a day like this. “But I sure as hell ain’t gonna keep him here long,” Sarge muttered. He wondered how Slimmy come to ride up to his door in a black-and-white taxi. Sarge figured there maybe was an interesting story here, and he put on his best professional smile as Slimmy finally got his bearings and reeled through the door saying, “Hey, where can a man get a drink around here?”
Chapter 23
Three Hours and Fifty-Eight Minutes After the Robbery
December 20, 1951
12:58 PM
Officer Drapp
“We’re under fire!” Callie yelled.
Which was thoughtful of her, I guess, but I didn’t need her right there with the news. I was already rolling out the door into the snow, trying to keep as much of that Jeep body between me and the tower as I could while I fast-crawled to the back.
That’s where I ran into Callie again. Didn’t know a big woman like her could move so fast, but then she looked a little surprised to see me there too.
We were both hunkered down in the snow, hugging the back of that Jeep like a baby getting mama’s milk, just staring at each other.
I got to say she handled it all right. Most folks, they don’t much care to get shot at, and it shakes them up some, but she just had this look on her face like this was a job of work now, but she wasn’t going to let it scare her much.
Me, I was scared.
I mean, there we were, sitting in the snow back of that Jeep and the only thing warm was the fumes coming from out the tailpipe. Somewhere in the back of my head I was glad I’d put the gearshift in neutral before we jumped out, and I remembered I’d pulled the parking brake automatically—another good habit the Army taught me—so the Jeep wasn’t going to roll away from us any.
But this was still a damn mess, and we were in it.
Callie sat close down beside me and got her legs up like I had, both of us hoping we weren’t leaving anything out for whoever was in that tower to take a bead on. “Looks like your bank robber got here ahead of us.”
All I said was, “Somebody did.”
“You mean that police car?” Inside the big fur hood she moved her head towards the slope to one side of us. “Another officer got here ahead of us?”
“I don’t see how,” I said. “We’ve only been following one set of tracks.”
“Well obviously your bank robber got up in the tower somehow and started shooting at us. Perhaps he even shot at the police car. Isn’t that what you think?”
“Doesn’t figure.” I rolled carefully to one side, keeping the Jeep between me and the tower, and looked down the slope at the black-and-white car that was already getting lost in the falling snow. I rolled back.
“Those
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