“The negotiator is nearly here,” Wiles told Oscar, his tone seemed troubled. “And so is the captain.”
That last sentence explained to Oscar why the young man’s expression was that of tension, apprehension. Whenever the captain became involved, which Oscar figured he eventually giving severity of the current situation, things often got ugly with egos clashing like that of the mythological Greek Gods. Even if the captain was that of a small town force, he or she didn’t get there by playing nice. He or she got there by being the biggest and baddest asshole to play the political game. Oscar knew it all too well. His own captain and himself occasional butted heads, because Oscar did the work while the captain took the credit, seemingly only concerned with keep his station and his power. It was the reason why Oscar would never be made captain, because politics were for politicians and real police work were for men like him, men that knew that only way to get killers off the streets was to put your head down and truck through the mud and guts. It was true that politics also had mud and guts, but Oscar didn’t trudge the filth to get ahead in life, but to make life a little safer. And to smash the head of some whacko who likes to hack up his fellow human beings.
“The captain?” Oscar sighed. “That can’t be good.”
“He likes to be present when real shit hits the fan, and this may be the biggest pile of shit to come our way…possibly ever,” Wiles explained. “Shit like this never come our way, it stay in the cities and ignores our sleepy little town. We hide in plain sight. And it works. I’ve never even had to fire my weapon, to be honest.”
“Well,” Oscar groaned, “I hope you still hit the shooting range now and then, because you might have no choice but to fire your weapon in the very near future. Just remember…only try to kill the bad guys. Remember that…and you will fine.”
“Can do. But I’m still not sure who the bad guys are.”
Oscar shook his head at the comment. But looking at the officer, he couldn’t help but to be surprised at the quick turnaround. The police officer with not even half a decade worth of experience, zero experience in hostage situations, one who admittedly loved his uneventful suburb, was appearing primed and ready to raid the house at Oscar’s side.
He patted the man’s shoulder, causing rain water to splash from his uniform. “You’re a good man. I’m sorry that our big town mess came to your peaceful burgh. I’m hoping to end it without any more blood.”
“I believe you,” Wiles stated. “But none of that will matter once Captain Phenton gets here. And the negotiator.”
“I am just a guest, Wiles,” Oscar clarified. “You have been in charge this whole time. You hear me?”
“Yes, sir,” the officer agreed. “Thank you.”
“ETA on Captain Phenton and the negotiator…Mr…?”
“Dr. Duley,” Detective Wiles said, filling in Oscar’s verbal blank. “Not too long. We have five to ten minutes on the captain.”
“Doctor?”
“PhD,” Wiles informed the detective. “In all things criminal and hostage…I would assume. Can’t be sure.”
“I don’t know him,” Oscar admitted. “I’m not sure how that is possible,” Oscar mumbled, before verbally running down a mental checklist with the young officer. “Phone still not working? Damn. Got the snipers into place? Good. Parameter secure. Great. I wish that I knew what Ashe was doing in there. I wish there was some way to speak to him.”
“You could call his phone,” Wiles suggested. “Does he have his cell phone on him?”
Oscar looked over at the officer. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just ask me that. We have a good thing going on here. Don’t mess it up.”
The young officer coughed and cleared his throat but didn’t reply.
“Damn it!” Oscar cried out, wanting to punch something hard, hard but soft enough to break underneath his intense anger. “Fuck! I hate not knowing what is going on there.”
“What is the protocol when communication fails?” Wiles asked.