fin

This is the city. Overcrowded, people commence to push and shove; tempers flare. Things can get out of hand quickly. This is where I come in. We were working the day watch out of Homicide Detail. The Chief is Captain Welch. My partner is Frank Smith.
My name is Friday. I carry a badge.
It was cold in Los Angeles. The phones were quiet. Frank was on a roll repeating a joke to anyone pointblank in earshot about the laughing cow with milk coming out of its nose. Funny, each time I heard Frank tell it the inflection in his voice would embellish a certain word differently, but it would still be just as funny.

Things can change in a wink. This chilling call came in at 11:04. Two officers down at a routine traffic stop with three suspects on the loose. One officer, Dan Willow, was dead; now it belongs to Homicide Detail like any other. Before we reached the scene we were diverted by a radio call with information on one of the suspects. It was 11:45. An eyewitness recognized the shooter and knew where the punk lived. Luckily we were in the immediate vicinity.
We rolled the car silently up to the curb fifteen yards away from the suspect’s address. Rather than wait for backup, Frank grabbed the shotgun and covered the back. Gun drawn, I cautiously approached the front. It was 11:57. Two slow steps up to the front porch, I hear a shotgun blast from the rear of the two story. When I get around back, Frank, blood spattered on his nice suit, calmly says, ‘I called for him to halt. He pointed it right at me Joe.’ Then, with voice breaking, ‘like a cornered animal, Joe.’
‘It’s alright, Frank.’

***

I stood behind Emily Willow with my hand on her left shoulder as she looked through a brown paper bag half full of items from her husband’s locker like a wide-eyed archeologist finding treasure. She wanted me there. Being single, Dan and Emily had welcomed me to a good home cooked from time to time. I’d always hear Emily singing in the kitchen. They were childless, so I guess I…I don’t know. Nothing good ever lasts.
‘These fish, Joe.’ She ran her thumb over them twice.
‘Yes, Emily?’
‘Scales of Justice.’
‘Oh.’