“Alright, Alright.” Nicola got in position. “On the count of three.”
“We’ve wasted enough time already…three,” Brooks said, launching the tear gas up the stairs.
“Where did you get tear gas?” He took off his goggles. It was obvious he needed a gas mask instead, which he didn’t have.
“I got it from a friend.”
“What are you doing just walking around with tear gas, man? Sometimes you don’t make any sense.” Nicola never would understand his best friend.
“Well, neither does going upstairs after him not knowing what type of fire power he has,” Brooks said, looking up the stairs. “He’s already tried to shoot your ass off once tonight. Isn’t that good enough?” He looked over at Nicola, who rolled his eyes.
Anxiously, they waited downstairs in position for the perp to come barreling down choking and blinded. Finally, Nicola leaned against the stairwell completely out of tactical position.
“I don’t think that he’s coming down,” Nicola said condescendingly.
“Just…wait a minute,” Brooks scoffed.
Soon after, they heard glass break and foot steps out front on the ledge of the house. Running to the front door, Nicola saw a tall, slender figure land on the ground feet first.
“Go, go, go,” Brooks yelled.
“Meet me with the car,” Nicola said, making his way out of the house.
“Three minutes,” Brooks shouted, tapping the face of his watch.
Busting through the door, Nicola screamed half-dazed, “Freeze!” He had a good shot, but he decided against taking it. There was no visible threat, and he had a thing against killing kids, regardless of how stupid they were.
Ignoring Nicola’s plea, the young man decided against trying to retrieve the gun that had fallen out of his pocket in his desperate jump and ran through a bush in the yard next door into the street. Stopping to pick up the discarded weapon, Nicola again ran after him, ready for the chase to end.
Running down another garbage-filled alley, through a small apartment complex, and back out on to Wellington, Nicola could finally feel the fatigue of the weary hunt overcoming him.
Refusing to give up, Nicola ran full speed several blocks into the busy Crump and Danny Thomas intersection past the MAPCO gas station, where several fellow officers were too busy flirting with the cashiers to notice him. Fighting fatigue, the young man looked over his own shoulder to see Nicola closing in with every step.
One pace, two paces, three paces and then a launch.
In mid-air, Nicola opened his arms, dove and landed on the perp in the middle of the street causing both of them to barely miss on coming cars.
Hitting the ground, Nicola felt his arm make contact with the cold concrete and his skin rip off in the friction. Another gash that would leave another scar from another chase, he thought immediately as he grunted in frustration. Pulling the boy up, he kicked him in the stomach. Hard. That was for shooting at him.
“Get up,” Nicola ordered, pulling the boy by his torn collar. “And don’t clown with me, or I’ll take you back to that house and finish what you started.”
Of course, Nicola was bluffing, but he liked seeing fear on their faces. It paralyzed them from making more dumb decisions.
Seeing his partner and squad car turn the corner, Nicola slapped the cuffs on the young man, took a deep breath and looked at his watch. Two minutes and fifteen seconds. Like he said before…invincible.
Downtown Memphis
Wendell’s Restaurant
Late September
9:30 p.m.
Sitting across the table from her boss, Ivy looked at the contract and smiled. Inhaling deeply, she signed her name, gracefully stroking the paper with her pen and savoring the sight of the binding agreement. Sliding the paper back across the table, she took the crystal glass of full-bodied wine.
“You won’t be sorry, Ivy,” her boss, Joseph Steinberger, said putting the contract away. “Yveson and Letehwich is the best marketing firm in the southeastern region. I believe you know that our track record speaks for itself. Your talents will be best put to use here.”
“I’m sure,” Ivy agreed.
Joseph always appreciated Ivy’s humbleness, which is why their working relationship had turned into a professional friendship.
“Since you’ve been with us, we’ve come to build an entirely new program for our African-American collegiate market,” he explained. “You’ve built long-lasting relationships with nearly twenty different organizations and have designed a five-year plan for our Clivestone project. You’re definitely a keeper.”
“My main concern is that I’ll get out of the loop leaving until graduation. I mean, most of my contacts work with me, because I’ve maintained a very close relationship with them on an ongoing basis.”
“Well, that was our concern as well, which is why we have hired an intern to work for you. She’ll be in charge of attending the meetings and reporting back to you on a bi-weekly basis.” Joseph passed Ivy the new intern’s resume.
Ivy’s mouth instantly dropped. An intern with an intern? Who would believe her?
“This is unbelievable,” Ivy gasped.
“Well, you’ve earned it, and we recognize you need to finish these last months at school before returning back to the firm. We actually pride ourselves on the fact that in the last three years, we have only recruited magna and summa cum laude scholars, and we expect the same caliber of academic excellence from you. We hope that you will use this time to seal your previous endeavors, and come out in the spring ready to begin a new life with Yveson and Letehwich.”
“Oh, I will, and for the record, I’m extremely honored.”
And honored Ivy was. It was nearly unheard of for a firm to offer so much for an undergraduate. Yveson and Letehwich had offered her a great manager’s position as soon as they had heard that four other Memphis-based firms and three Nashville-based firms were interested. However, she made her final decision according to the bottom-line. Loyalty started with self.
Wrapping the scarf around her neck, Ivy waited outside the
