Frank Zafiro - Some Degree of Murder

I slipped my Glock from my shoulder holster. Fawn’s face flashed in my mind and when I pushed it away, it was replaced with Serena’s.

I ducked beneath the window even though it had some boards over the top of it and approached the front door. I held my Glock at the low ready position, pointed at the ground about ten yards in front of me.

The front door stood open about an inch. The sound of heavy metal poured through the crack and the male voice was even louder. I heard the word “slut” fly out at me.

“I want to fuck you like an animal!”

With my left hand, I eased the door open. I kept my gun trained on the interior of the room as it became exposed to me. The small reception area was empty except for some trash and a small pile of smashed dry-wall. The smell of human waste hung in the air.

I felt my heart pounding in my temples as I shuffled through the room and several beyond until I reached a small hallway. The narrow passage was darker than the reception area, but the smells were stronger and the music was louder.

I took a deep breath through my mouth and took slow steps down the hallway.

The music abruptly stopped with a crash.

I dropped into a squat and peered down the hallway into the large room beyond. A moment later, Rowdy appeared from a small office inside the large room. A large, barrel-chested man had him by the hair and once they were free of the office, he pushed Rowdy forward toward the back of the room. He looked like Sammy the Bull.

Virgil Kelley.

Rowdy didn’t move for several moments and neither did I. I could hear Virgil’s breathing and watched as he fingered his pistol. It was a Glock, same as mine.

“C’mon, you fuck, wake up,” I heard him mutter.

Rowdy stirred.

“Up on your fucking knees,” Virgil told him.

Rowdy rose to his knees, wavering.

Virgil thrust his gun into his face. He held something else in his other hand.

“Remember her?” he said in a gravelly tone.

I crept down the hallway, staying almost completely in a squatted position.

“Remember her?” Virgil asked him again.

He is going to smoke him, I realized. Right here, right now.

I reached the end of the hallway and button-hooked around the threshold. Looking around, I could see no cover and no concealment.

“Nope,” Rowdy said. Even in that one word, I could hear that he wasn’t right. Whether it was drunk or high, he was messed up.

“You killed her.” Virgil pushed the muzzle of the gun into Rowdy’s face for emphasis.

“Oh, her,” Rowdy mumbled.

That was it? Oh, her? In that moment, I wished a thousand deaths for Rowdy. Violent, painful ones.

“That was my daughter,” Virgil growled. He slipped something into his pocket and jammed the gun into Rowdy’s face, toppling him to the ground. Virgil’s shoulders tensed and he leaned forward almost imperceptibly.

“Drop the gun!” I shouted.

Virgil stiffened.

“Drop that fucking gun!”

Virgil turned his head and looked toward me over his shoulder. His face was bruised and a bandage covered his cheek. The muzzle of his gun never left Rowdy. Even from across the room, I could see the cold glint in his eye.

“Or what?” Virgil said.

CONFRONTATION

VIRGIL

The heavy voice repeated his demand, “Drop that fucking gun!”

I glanced over my shoulder and saw Detective John Tower staring down the barrel of his Glock. His hands were steady but his eyes wide with the question of a man’s fate hanging in the balance.

“Or what?” I said.

His eyes slanted and turned hard. Tower had made his decision to shoot when the time came. “Or I’ll drop you right here.”

The trigger of my gun tickled my finger and for a moment I thought about slamming it home, drilling my vengeance into Rowdy and taking my chances with the cop. The odds of surviving were bad. I swallowed hard and ground my teeth.

“I know he killed your daughter, Virgil.”

I tilted my head slightly at the sound of my name and looked between him and Rowdy. Andie must have told him about me. I wonder how he forced it out of her.

“Don’t do it,” he said with a lowered voice, trying to calm me just as he was instructed in Cop Negotiation 101.

TOWER

I watched Virgil’s eyes. His head was tilted slightly as they flitted back and forth between Rowdy and me. I could read the hard intelligence in those eyes, as the gears turned behind them and he put things into place.

“I know you came here to kill him,” I said, keeping my voice low and calm. “But I’ve got him dead to rights for Fawn.”

Virgil’s eyes stopped moving and bore into me. “You’ve got proof positive?”

“Yeah.”

“Proof he killed Fawn?”

“Yeah. And another girl. And when I pull his DNA, it’ll be a slam dunk.”

VIRGIL

My mouth was dry and the trigger pressed back against my finger, begging to do its work.

“Nothing is a slam dunk,” I said.

Tower shuffled his feet as he kept his gun on me. He stopped when he realized he couldn’t get an advantage in this stand-off.

“I’ll make sure he goes away,” he said. “For life.”

“My way is better.”

TOWER

I wanted to scream at him that he was wrong but my words stuck in my throat. Virgil’s eyes were locked onto mine and they did not waver.

“Your way is not an option,” I said, forcing conviction into my voice. “Put the gun down.”

“No.”

“Do it,” I repeated.

Virgil tipped his head toward Rowdy. “No. He dies.”

“He dies, you die,” I said, staring into his eyes.

VIRGIL

I wasn’t afraid of death, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to cash my chips in if I didn’t have to.

“Listen,” I started, but Tower cut me off.

“Lower your gun. I’ve got back-up on the way.”

“I’ll lower the gun if you’ll look in the other room.”

Tower smirked at me, a flicker of humor in them. “Right, I look in the room and you shoot Rowdy. Or me. I’m not a rookie, Virgil.”

“I know you’re not. Look in the other room. You’ll find Rowdy’s latest plaything.”

TOWER

His words cut into me like ice needles.

I glanced at the door frame to my right. Virgil had dragged Rowdy out of that room.

I met Virgil’s flat gaze and nodded my head. “Fine. Lower your gun and I’ll look in the room. But you make even one little move-“

Virgil lowered his gun, pointing at his own feet. I saw the tension in his arms relax slightly. “Just check the room.”

I kept my own gun trained on Virgil’s barrel chest and stepped forward slowly. The fifteen feet between us became ten and then I had the angle to look into the room. I could see the foot of a small twin bed and the bare flesh of a hip.

I breathed deeply and glanced back at Virgil. His gun remained pointed down and his face was impassive.

VIRGIL

For some reason Tower stopped moving toward the room and looked at me. He swallowed hard and his eyes lost their focus on me for a moment. The focus returned immediately and I saw his jaw muscles flexing.

He saw something, but not all. I nodded my head to the room, encouraging him to take that final step and truly see Rowdy for what he was.

TOWER

Virgil’s nod was almost kind. I glanced down at his gun and wondered if he could bring it up faster than I could react.

I wondered if he would.

I swallowed again and shuffled slowly to my right.

Toward the doorway.