Dave Zeltserman - Small crimes

We had taken enough time. I wanted to get to the crystal meth lab while we still could. From where the dumpsters were located I had a pretty good idea where it was. I went across the room and checked a door there and found it unlocked also. It was so damn careless of them. I swung the door open, and sure enough the lab was right there in plain sight. Two kids were working in it. My guess was they were both probably chemistry majors in college. They looked annoyed when I walked in, and then both went wide-eyed when Eric trailed behind with his camera. Tina squeezed past Eric. She had more color in her face now.

'Who are you guys?' one of the kids muttered.

'We're with WVRT news,' Tina announced as she held out her microphone in their direction. She moved towards them so Eric could take video of her sticking her microphone inches from their faces. Are you manufacturing crystal meth here?'

'Yeah,' one of the kids answered. He looked shell-shocked. I guess it hadn't quite dawned on him what was happening until it was too late. When it did hit him, I could see the color bleed out of his face. H^e turned his back to the camera, trying to shield himself from view. His friend was already covering his face with his shirt.

'Are you working for Manny Vassey Jr.?' Tina asked.

'Leave me alone,' he begged.

'Can you please answer my question?'

He didn't move or say a word.

I looked out the door and could see one of the guys talking frantically on the phone. I grabbed Tina by the arm. 'Let's get out of here,' I said. 'I'd like to ask them more questions,’

‘We better get out now.'

She was going to argue with me, but I swung her towards the door and something about the look on my face told her she'd better listen. Eric followed, muttering to himself how unbelievable the whole thing was.

The slob had picked himself off the floor and was standing off to the side, glowering at us as we passed by. I should've paid him more attention. All of a sudden I heard Eric yell out. I turned and saw the slob trying to wrestle the camera away from him. I moved fast, got behind the slob, and pushed my foot hard into the back of his knee, and at the same time dug my forearm into his throat and twisted my body. His face turned purple and he let go of the camera so he could claw frantically at my arm. I let go of him and he tumbled to the floor, gasping for air.

All three of us got out of there then, with me trailing behind to make sure none of the jokers we^1 were leaving tried any more tricks. By the time we got outside both Tina and Eric were giggling, more from nerves than anything else.

I got behind the wheel this time and told Eric I'd drive. He didn't seem to mind. He was still shaking from the adrenalin rush of the last few minutes.

'That was, what can I say, fucking unbelievable,' he said, his body still shaking. 'It sure beats shooting video of foliage or a moose wandering around downtown Burlington. Damn, I felt like a real newsman in there.'

'I thought I was going to puke,' Tina volunteered.

'So, chief,' Eric asked, 'where next?'

I checked the clock on the dashboard. Kelley's would be just opening, but I wanted to wait until after their lunch crowd. I also didn't want to hang around Bradley any more than I had to. I had a feeling that Junior and his goons would be looking for us.

'Why don't we head back to your station? We can drop off the video, grab some lunch, and then head out again.'

I could see he was disappointed. He was still caught up in the rush of the moment, but he saw the sense in what I was saying and didn't argue. The ride back to Burlington seemed shorter. I guess we were all caught up in our own thoughts. I kept playing back in my mind Tina announcing the station call letters when we busted in on the crystal meth lab. It made me a little sick thinking about it. Even though the call letters were in big bold print on the camera, most likely none of them had the presence of mind to notice it. I couldn't see any good coming from giving Junior that information. The more I thought about it, the sicker I felt. All I could hope for was that he was in the middle of eating something like a sausage sub when he heard the news, and that it made him choke on it.

When we got back to the station Eileen was waiting for us. She looked tense when she asked Eric how things went. He smiled and put a hand on my shoulder.

"This guy was unbelievable,' he said. 'You should've seen him in action. God damn, it was something.'

'His information panned out?' she asked, her eyebrows rising in both relief and surprise.

'Oh yeah, I'd say so. Let me show you what I got.'

I took a seat while the three of them crowded around a video monitor. A few other people in the office joined them. When they were done, Eileen walked over to me. 'So far so good,' she said.

I shrugged. 'Have you heard from anyone about this?’

‘No. Will I?'

'I don't know. Your reporter yelled out your station's call letters while we were there. I wish she hadn't done that.'

'You think Vassey will come here guns a-blazin'?' she asked, her lips curving into another thin smile. I didn't bother saying anything.

'I heard things got rough in there,' she said.

'Not really.'

'Not really? I understand you almost choked a man to death.'

I made a face while I shook my head. I think your people got a little too excited. All I did was disable one of Vassey's boys while he was trying to wrestle the video camera away from your cameraman. He was fine when I left him.'

'I'm thinking we have enough for tonight's story.'

She was smiling, staring at me with her pale, almost translucent blue eyes, but she flinched as I stared back. Her smile weakened as she looked away.

"The story's only half done,' I said.

'I think we have enough.'

'We did the hard part. The rest is easy.'

She didn't say anything.

'I know this is Vermont. I know you're comfortable doing mostly stories about leaves changing color, but you are a news station, right?'

She met my stare again, smiling just enough to show her canines. 'That's right. I remember eight years ago doing dozens of stories about a dirty cop who tried to stab a district attorney to death.'

'Then why not finish this story?'

Indecision weakened her. 'We should get the police involved,' she said.

'We won't have a story if we do that.'

'I don't want to put my people in danger.'

'You won't. There'll be plenty of bystanders where we're going next. Nothing's going to happen there. I promise you that. We'll be in and out in five minutes.'

Eric and Tina had wandered over. Eric, grinning widely, asked, 'Are we ready to rock and roll?'

Eileen halfheartedly nodded. Thin lines of worry creased her brow. She turned towards the two of them. 'Be careful, okay?' she asked.

'Don't worry about us,' Eric said, laughing. 'We got a killer here to protect us.'

When we left, I suggested we use one of their cars instead of the van, and Eric volunteered his Honda. First thing we did was drive a couple of blocks to a sandwich shop and have lunch with the station picking up the bill. Then we headed back towards Bradley. _

I was a little worried about running into Junior. I had no idea what he'd do if he saw us. The only thing I knew for sure was I wouldn't put anything past him. I felt some relief knowing he'd be looking for either my Mustang or the van. I also knew he'd never expect us to head to Kelley's. Still, my nerves were on edge. I tried to keep it to myself. I joked around and tried to appear at ease. The last thing I needed were for the two kids with me to start panicking.

It was forty minutes past one by the time we pulled into the parking lot at Kelley's. A skinhead type with tattoos all along his neck and the side of his face covered the front door. He did kind of a double-take when he saw us, not quite believing what he was seeing.