Acoustic Shadows by Patrick Kendrick Read Free Book Online Page B

and sent in our SWAT.’
    ‘Understood,’ said Croll. ‘Well, sooner or later we’ll get the county consolidated. It only makes sense, right? Need to have everyone under one umbrella with one strong leader, right? It’s a waste of resources to keep all these ma and pa departments separate. Taxpayers won’t stand for it anymore.’ He stopped and looked around as if to see if anyone was listening to him. ‘Can’t believe it’s happened here. I would’ve thought if one of these events happened in Florida, it would’ve been in Miami. How are Janine and the girls?’
    ‘They’re fine, thanks,’ said Conroy. ‘Oldest is married, now, and the youngest is a junior up at UF. I’m glad they’re not around here for this. Both of them used to go here when this town used to be a nice, quiet place. Now, we can barely keep up with the ghetto people moving in, people making meth in their garages.’
    ‘Yes, it’s a shame,’ Croll added dolefully. ‘You let Agent Thiery know if you or your men need anything. He has direct access to me. Now, where is my car? I’ve got to get gone.’
    Croll and Conroy shook hands and Conroy drifted off, back through the masses that drew away from him, like Moses parting the Red Sea.
    ‘You did well, Agent Thiery,’ said Croll, when the two men were away from the crowd. ‘That’s what I was talking about when we discussed earning rewards earlier today. Outstanding. You show great confidence.’
    ‘Thank you, sir, but we still have a lot of work to do.’
    ‘Oh, of course,’ said Croll. ‘But, you’ll get it done. Get with these other departments. Alton’s a good guy, and the other fella, Chief Dormer, or whatever his name is, seems all right. Put together a report and let’s move on. There’ll be gun control fanatics and hordes of media people trying to wring every story out of every poor soul that lives within ten miles of here. The quicker something like this is put behind us, the sooner the town will heal. So, give it a few days, and get back to Tallahassee.’ He grasped Thiery’s arm like a father making a point to his teenage son. ‘You know, Jim, er, uh, the Commissioner is going to retire in less than a month, and I’d like to have his successor in place before he leaves, so he can mentor him. How’d you like Jim to give you his best on the way out the door?’
    Thiery shook his head. ‘I can’t even think about that right now, Governor.’
    Croll gave him the gecko look, again, and said, ‘Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,
Mister
Thiery.’
    ‘I’m not trying to be disrespectful, sir, but I see this investigation lasting weeks, maybe months, as we put together a prosecutable case.’
    Croll scrunched up his face. ‘Investigation? What’s to investigate? We know who the shooters are. Not much in the grey area there, would you say, Agent Thiery?’
    They walked in silence for a moment as they made their way toward the governor’s limousine, Thiery’s blood pressure rising with each step. Then Croll broke the uncomfortable void.
    ‘Do you know Brian Ahearn, the Fire Chief, up in Tallahassee?’ he asked.
    Thiery shook his head. ‘No, sir. Can’t say we’ve met.’
    ‘You should meet him some time. Smart guy. We go golfing every Thursday afternoon; he has a great swing. He’s a man looking to move up, maybe take an appointment somewhere. I bet you’d hate to have a former
firefighter
take over that commissioner job.’
    Thiery listened to the threat but he did not respond.
    ‘Anyway, you know what he told me? He told me about when he used to be out in the streets, when he went to a multi-car accident, a ten-car pile-up say, on the interstate, or wherever. He said the worst thing he and his men could do was stay on the scene too long. The best thing to do was to
clear the scene
as quickly as possible. He told me the longer they were there, the more dangerous the scene could get with traffic backing up and such, and once the initial patient care