Richard Stephenson - Collapse

“My injury has a lot to do with it.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“I would not.”

“Fair enough, thought I would ask.”

“I mean no offense by it, it’s just that the story that goes along with it is hard for me to talk about.”

“I understand. It’s a shame things happened to you that would cause you to just give up on life.”

“Nah, then you wouldn’t have me for a boss.” Max smiled and winked at Elizabeth.

Elizabeth returned the smile. “And your sparkling personality.”

Max and Elizabeth sat on the couch and continued to stare at each other. Elizabeth’s gorgeous green eyes filled with passion and life as she looked into the eyes of her boss. Max returned her gaze with a steely, unflinching confidence that only served to arouse Elizabeth’s passion. They both knew what was coming next. Neither one of them doubted it. The only unresolved issue was who would make the first move.

The man and woman sitting on the couch were ripped out of their hypnotic stare by their radios. Three short beeps indicated that an emergency message was to follow.

“All radio units, respond to the Super Mart on 3rd Street. Shots have been fired. Chief Harris, acknowledge.”

“Acknowledge. Chief Harris and Sergeant Reed, enroute. ETA three minutes.”

“10-4, Chief. I’ve notified County; they’re 15 minutes out.”

The chief of police and the operations sergeant bolted out the door and were on the road in fifteen seconds flat. The siren and the flashing lights cleared a path straight the Super Mart on 3rd Street. They made it to the parking lot of the gas station in two and a half minutes. It was pouring down rain, and the sky was dark and ominous.

Max stepped out of the vehicle and headed for the entrance to the gas station, where he addressed the deputy in charge.

“Thank God you’re here, Chief. Things got really ugly and they might get worse.” Deputy Brandon McGee was visibly shaken, but was keeping it together.

“Start from the beginning, Brandon. What happened?”

“Well, things were running along just fine. People were patient, waiting in line; they handed over their voucher, got their ten gallons and left. Then, there started to be some snags in the order of things.”

“Like what?”

“Well, small stuff really. ‘I forgot my voucher’ or ‘my neighbor gave me his voucher’ … stuff like that.”

“Damn right my neighbor gave me his! He ain’t goin’ nowhere! Why can’t I use his?” A scruffy looking, overweight man in overalls was yelling from ten feet away.

“Hey, you! Come over here!” Chief Harris pointed at the man and motioned for him to come over.

The man looked shocked at first, then walked over to the two police officers.

“Yeah?”

“First of all, I was having a private conversation with my deputy; I don’t appreciate you interrupting.”

“Well, I just don’t unders…”

“Do you know how to read?”

“Huh? What’d you say to me?”

“Let me repeat that for you. Do you know how to read?”

“Of course I can read!”

“Read this.”

Max took a gas voucher out of his front shirt pocket and handed it to Overalls Man.

“You want me to read this?”

“I want you to read that, yes.”

The man read very slowly. “The bearer of this voucher is entitled to ten gallons of gasoline at any of the four locations listed on the back of this card. Limit one voucher per household. One use only. Voucher is not redeemable for cash and must be used in person. Voucher is not transferable.”

“Good! That answer your question?”

Overalls Man had a look of frustration as he walked away, defeated.

Max turned back to his deputy. “You like that, Brandon?”

Deputy McGee was smiling and shaking his head. “Man, wish I would have thought of that; you made that look so easy.”

“Continue, Deputy, I need to know what is going on before County gets here and tries to take over.”

“Oh, yeah. Anyway, these two guys show up in pickups, and skip ahead of everyone. They got their beds full of gas cans. Knew it was going to be trouble. They said they were volunteering to fill up their gas cans and help us redeem vouchers towards the end of the line. I told them thanks, but no thanks, go back and wait in line. They start getting really pissy, sayin’ they ain’t got time to wait and they needed to get on the road quick. So, I says, ‘Wait, thought you were going to stay and help pass out gas. Why you gotta leave all the sudden?’ They realized I had just called them on their bullshit so one of ‘em pulls out a pistol and waves it in the air. People start screaming and the two guys try to cut in line and fill up their tanks. By that time all five of us surrounded them and had drawn down on them. Before we could do anything, they jumped in their trucks and drove off. I figured keeping the gas station secure was more important so I let them drive off. Got their plates before they left and called out a BOLO.”

“Nice work, Brandon. But that doesn’t explain why I’m here.”

“Yeah, there’s more. A few minutes later they came screaming past and fired three shots at the gas station. Said they were coming back with friends. Man was in the gas station getting some candy and one of the shots clipped his left calf muscle. He’s fine, just gonna need a few stitches.”

Max turned to Elizabeth. “Call the other stations and tell them to look sharp, they may have trouble on the way. In fact, Elizabeth, take the SUV and head back to the city garage and take charge there. I’m gonna stay here and wait for County.”

“I’m on it, Boss.” Elizabeth was already jogging towards the SUV before Max finished his instructions. She turned on the lights and sirens and raced off towards the city garage.

Max turned back to Deputy McGee. “Brandon, I want you to set up barricades at the intersection. I want Elm turned into a one-way street all the way down to the next traffic light. Only one way into this gas station, the driveway on the north side of the station is closed. They come in, fill up, and leave out on the same street and drive away. The store is closed, gas only. No one enters the main building for any reason. No one loiters and only the driver is allowed to get out of the car to hand over his voucher and pump gas.”

“Yes sir, Chief.” Deputy McGee quickly shuffled off to communicate the instructions to his team.

“Son of a bitch.” Max could see four cars from the County Sheriff’s Office turning down the street. He knew that once they got there, they would assume that they would be taking over things like they had always done. Max only hoped that the county sheriff himself wasn’t in one of those cars because he was not going to relinquish authority to anyone else. The four cars pulled into the gas station and fanned out.

“Chief Harris, what’s the situation?” The tall deputy sheriff was scanning the parking lot. Max found it comical that the sun was nowhere to be seen but this guy was wearing sunglasses. Guess the shades made him feel in charge.

“Well, this is what I need from you fine gentlemen. I need for one of you to stay here with me and the others to each head to one of these four locations; we are currently at location number two.” He dug into his front pocket and produced four vouchers, handing them to each of the men.

“The hell is this?” Deputy Sunglasses read the front of the card and looked at his partner. “Is this a joke? You really giving out free gas? No wonder we’re here. This craziness is ending now. OK, listen up…”

Max quickly interrupted. “That’s right, listen up. I don’t have time to explain the details. You’re staying with me.” Max pointed to Deputy Sunglasses. Max then pointed from right to left. “…look at the back of your cards. One, three, four. Get moving, we don’t have time to waste. The officers at those locations will fill you in once you get there.”