The Beginning of the End (Book 1): Toward the Brink by Craig A. McDonough Read Free Book Online

long time, Cindy.” He held her hand. “I have to.”
    “I understand. I wouldn’t expect you to do anything less. Let’s go, Cowboy.”
    Cowboy was her affectionate name for him when they were dating, and she felt it was, again, appropriate.
    “No, I want you to stay back. It could be dangerous.”
    “And if something happens to you, what do I do then? Uh-uh, no way, Cowboy. From now on, you can consider me to be your shadow.”
    “Okay then, Shadow, let’s get down there!”
    # # #
    Police cars from all directions had descended on the medical center. The front of the general admission building and the small ER were in complete disruption as protesters tried to force themselves through doors that could only handle two at a time. It hadn’t gone unnoticed by the attending police that a medical facility built to hold one hundred patients plus staff wasn’t going to cope with an additional thousand or so heckling dissidents. Officers got tired of the snail’s pace caused by the congestion and jumped from their squad cars and dashed to the center.
    “Take up positions on the road behind the demonstrators!” a police captain yelled.
    “Maybe we should wait on the SWAT truck to get here,” a young officer said.
    “Idiot, the truck’s in the shop being repaired!” the captain snapped.
    “Then why didn’t we put on our riot gear?”
    “Because this isn’t a riot, and we don’t have time. Now, if you have any more questions, go bother someone else.”
    Sergeant Mulhaven and Tibbuts had parked their black and white SUV around the side of the center near the deuce and a half and were now advancing on the staff-only door. A film of blood and a green substance could be seen smeared across the door’s window. Mulhaven also noted that it had been cracked and the door was dented from the inside.
    “Okay, Tibbuts. Stay frosty.”
    Tibbuts saw the sergeant ease his 9mm pistol from its holster and understood this was the real deal. The two edged closer to the door, placing each foot down with steady precision.
    “Rodney. Hey, Rodney!”
    The two cops froze to a sudden stop. Their hearts skipped a beat.
    “Elliot! What the fuck …”
    “Your friend again, Rookie?” Mulhaven asked ominously.
    “Yes, Sarge.”
    “Then stupidity is a common trait from where you come from, I gather!”
    “Sir, I saw what happened, sir!” Elliot yelled. He spoke loudly and concisely like his life depended on it. Maybe it did. It achieved the desired effect.
    “Go on,” Mulhaven said, his eyes wide from anger.
    Elliot relayed his story of the events he had witnessed not thirty minutes earlier. Cindy, of course, backed up every word. Two eyewitnesses are hard to beat in court and especially at the scene. Mulhaven believed them. Rodney was anxious to catch up with his old neighbor and had turned to speak with Elliot when the ER staff door flew open.
    “Help me! Help me!” A young nurse clutching a cell phone came running from the ER. “You gotta keep those things away from me. Keep them away, I tell you!”
    The nurse screamed so loud that Mulhaven’s fillings vibrated; then she collapsed. Rodney and Cindy went to her aid immediately, but Elliot, like Mulhaven, stared at the ER staff door that the young nurse had left ajar. Elliot recalled the words of the captain. “Don’t let them out …” But it was too late now. All those protesters had gone inside, and the front doors had been open all along.
    “Listen,” Elliot said. “What can you hear?”
    While Rodney and Cindy checked on the nurse, Mulhaven holstered his pistol and listened.
    “I can’t hear anything, boy,” Mulhaven said.
    Aside from the din around the front of the main building, there wasn’t a peep coming from inside.
    “Precisely, Sergeant. Precisely. With all those people inside, you’d think we would be able to hear something, don’t you think?”
    “Elliot, we better get a doctor for this woman; she’s bleeding,” Cindy said.
    “It looks like a