Calvin said, "He's slowing down." Just as
he said that, the brake lights came on and the passenger door came open.
"Wait, Johnny. A man's getting out. Man, that
guy fits Yancey's description!" Calvin had to make the call. He grabbed
the mic and said quickly, "Valley 17 to Philly 35, blue van out front
pulling away, grab Dugan and try to get it stopped, we're going in." Calvin
popped the door handle and was out on the sidewalk. Johnny shut off the car and
grabbed the keys. He was about six steps behind Calvin as they sprinted toward
the figure walking from the van up to the front door.
Don thought he heard something on the radio. It was
muffled from where he was standing in the dark alley just behind the big
station wagon trying to piss as fast as he could. He drank a lot of Mountain
Dew with the salty ham and it was catching up to him.
Frank Dugan saw the van pull up and the black guy
get out. The light was better on his side of the house and he recognized Jerome
Yancey from the mug shot. The van was driven by another, bigger, black male and
it pulled quickly away as soon as Yancey was out. Dugan decided, fuck the van,
he knew the troopers wanted to talk to Yancey. Now appeared to be the time. He
popped his door open and figured he would meet up with the troopers and see
what Jerome had to say.
"Hey, Jerome, got a minute?" Calvin called
from two houses away. Jamal was on the step and turned to see two men, one
black and one white, running toward him. He knew what that meant, cops.
"Valley 17, did you call me?" Don spoke
quietly into the radio microphone. "Calvin, did you say something?"
Jamal accelerated into the front door and hit it
hard with his left shoulder and turned the handle at the same time. It was
locked, but only with the knob latch. That gave under his weight and the door
burst inward with a crash. Dugan saw the suspect slam into the house and
started running as fast as his out of shape legs could move him.
"Johnny, do you copy?" Don asked over the
air.
Calvin got out, "Police, stop!" but only
Jamal's back was visible going through the door. Calvin caught the movement of
Detective Dugan to his left and shouted to Johnny, "He's gonna come out
the back!"
The two women and the older man visibly jumped when
Jamal exploded into the room from the front door. The mother got out a
"Hey!" as Jamal leaped the coffee table and knocked over the bottle
of beer in front of the man, flashing between them and the new television.
Calvin started his turn to the right and motioned
with his left hand pointing to Dugan advancing on the front steps. Johnny was
just registering Calvin's warning about the back and now tried to interpret
what he meant by the hand signals. They hadn't gone over this part. Calvin was
even farther ahead of Johnny by now and was up to sprinter's speed angling for
the right side of the house. It flashed in Johnny's mind that Calvin wanted him
and Dugan to go through the house to keep Jerome from going back in and they
would grab him in the alley. Yeah, that was it.
Dugan huffed across the small lawn, almost tripping
over the short step up onto the front walk and could see the front door was
open and lights were on inside.
Jamal was through the dining room and into the
kitchen in four long strides and went straight for the back door. His right
hand was behind him reaching for the Colt and he extended his left to the lock
set above the knob. He knew it would be locked. He reached the door and his
forward motion pushed him into it hard. The .45 wasn't firmly in his grip and
almost tumbled from his hand. He caught it by the barrel and held on.
Calvin crossed the yard and went down the side of
the house. Several lawn chairs and a small table were on a concrete slab
between Calvin and the back. He had to slow and clipped one of the chairs as he
passed through them. His feet stumbled in the dirt and he had to slow even more
to regain his balance.
Johnny watched Calvin pulling away and move into the
dimmer light of the side yard between the houses. To his left he could see
Dugan trudging to the steps and followed him up and onto the porch.
Jamal got it on the second try and yanked the door
open. He took a quick step out, bringing his pistol up and out in front of him.
Hesitating just a moment, he looked for any cops at the back before starting
onto the landing and down the steps to the alley.
It was close enough to see the back door just past
the red Lexus open and a figure step out. The figure sort of jumped onto the
little porch and stopped. Jeez, that guy's got something in his hand, Don
thought. The man on the porch then jumped down the steps and was in the alley
looking to his right.
Dugan stopped at the door and Johnny almost ran him
over. He sidestepped around him and brushed past to enter the house. Even with
the television on, Johnny could hear the back door bang against the frame.
Calvin did a stutter step and got back on course for
the right rear of the house. He took three more big steps and saw something
move behind a big bush at the corner of the house. He knew it didn't belong
there and as his body moved closer, the movement turned into the shape of a gun
barrel. Calvin thought gun and started to reach for his Glock at his right hip.
The next step he took was a bit longer than the last and his foot didn't hit
the ground at the same level as the last one did. Calvin's left knee extended
and his upper body began to drop.
Jamal heard the noise as he moved in the alley to
the right rear of the house. The .45 swung at chest level toward the corner and
he closed the distance in two quick steps. His thumb pushed the safety off and
he started his trigger squeeze.
He couldn't move fast enough. Don saw the man take
the steps down in a leap and swing the gun out toward the corner of the house.
Don's left hand was on the door handle and his right was gripping his
automatic, while his whole body moved left to get out of the car.
Johnny slowed to look at the occupants of the room.
The younger woman was starting to get up out of the chair and the woman on the
couch with the man had her hands up to the sides of her head and began a
scream.
Calvin was falling and he knew it. The hole was only
four inches deep, but the effect it had when he stepped into it with all his
weight was to jolt him hard and force him down and to the left. He couldn't get
his hand on the gun and now could clearly see it was Jerome standing just
beyond the bush pointing the gun at his chest.
He’s worried about being due in Federal Court tomorrow
and trying to enjoy his day off when it turns ugly once again. Corporal Sam
Deland is drawn into another mystery double murder in his usually quiet
suburban community and Sam’s team of state police investigators have to dig
deep into the gang and drug underground to find the shooters. The Oz, Calvin
and Johnny are as different as could be but these tough, smart state troopers
meld together their talents to work through the twisting trail of leads on this
bloody case with Sam. But just as Sam sees the mystery starting to come
together he is slammed in the face with his own family tragedy when Sam’s 18
year old son and his son’s beautiful Cuban-American girlfriend turn up missing
and in danger over a thousand miles away.
REVIEW:
SIDE SLIP -- A Sam Deland
crime novel. Book III
Mike Fuller
Rating--5
Reviewed by G. Lloyd Helm
Side Slip is not an easy
read, but well worth it. There is nothing predictable about this book, but it
does have a sort of familiarity. It has everything a crime novel reader could
want. There are decent plot lines, but
it is character driven all the way, which is why it is sometimes hard to read.
Fuller has made the characters so real that the reader sympathizes with them,
even the bad guys. And he gives you a wide range of characters to choose from,
Pennsylvania State Troopers, Male and Female, Florida Sheriffs, Male and
Female, Farmers that used to be Navy
SEALS, Dope seller/ murderers, crooked cop/burglars, and dogs.
Side Slip is worth the read.
BLURB
Stuck in paradise and he isn’t very happy about it. Even
the beautiful lady detective that gunned down the man trying to kill them both
can’t get him to stay. Corporal Sam Deland wants out. Back to work leading his
squad of state troopers and home where he can take up the life he had to put on
hold. But Sam isn’t the only one wanting him to return. The woman he left
behind is waiting for him and so is the Russian Mob. Sam’s past is catching up
with him, and he doesn’t see it coming, yet. Detective Christie O’Shea, the
pretty Florida cop that nursed Sam back to health won’t have the time to miss
him when he’s gone. Murder is what she’s paid to solve, and she has to go after
a killer that has sent shock waves deep into the police community around her. A
triple play of heart stopping and heart warming suspense, action and life as
Sam, his troopers and Christie all find they are in the middle of murders and
mobsters. A story that twists and turns through the investigations and the
lives of characters you will grow to know, to cheer and to fear. Sharp
dialogue, real characters and enough drama, humor and mystery to keep the
reader up late not ready to put it down yet. Another thrilling Sam Deland crime
novel from the author of Sink Rate
and Rope Break.
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