27: The Big Day

The day dawned bright on the sun dappled street on which Frank and Linda Jennings lived with their two youngest children. Their house was noticeable on the street mainly because of the large number of cars parked both on and off the driveway. It was a good thing the family was thought of so fondly, otherwise they’d have had problems with the neighbors as a result.

It seems their son had more than a few women who trailed after him. The neighbors were never sure of their relationships with the Jennings family, although they had their own theories about it. However, the women were all quite friendly and outgoing, and the neighbors had welcomed them as extended members of the Jennings’ residence.

The Jennings’ son, Alex, had sent his two girlfriends home relatively early the night before, relatively being the operative word since it was their Prom night. They left before 2 a.m. at least. When they asked him about his plans for the following day he’d had to beg off, complaining about his throat hurting and his needing to rest. They offered to come over and help him relax. As an alternative he suggested they visit Kimberly, their artist friend, to check up on her painting, and maybe buy some additional jewelry from her, since Alex had liked the pieces they’d already gotten from her. However they were still insistent on spending time with him. Finally he’d had to be firm with them, saying he had something happening which he couldn’t tell them about, but which they couldn’t be present for. He was sorry to have to keep them in the dark, but there was no other alternative. He promised they’d find out about it as soon as it was all over. Needless to say, that assurance didn’t ease their apprehension much, but they respected him enough to follow his advice. They didn’t question him about it and they made plans to visit Kimberly like he suggested, as well as spending the day helping the girls still working on the loft, which was where most of the other girls of the household were heading that day.

The master and mistress of the house, Frank and Linda Jennings, took off late the previous night, not wanting to be anywhere near when whatever was going to happen occurred. They knew they’d have to bear witness to the results, but the anticipation of it was more than either one could stand.

Starting at 7:00 a.m. various people came out one by one and drove off. Two people situated in a dark SUV parked nearby kept close watch over the people leaving. They were concerned that if everyone were to leave at once, it would make their job impossible to carry out, but it had never come to that. They could clearly see each individual as they climbed into their cars, so they were sure the person they were interested in wasn’t one of the ones leaving the house.

They were amazed at the number of people living in such a small house. They figured they must be packed into the house like sardines, which was saying something, since they lived in small apartments typical of the section of Chicago they lived in. Still, while it was odd, there was nothing to make them skittish about the situation. They’d been told there were a lot of people living there.

After the early morning rush of people leaving for unknown destinations, quiet descended on the house again. The observers wondered why the house was so busy this early on a Saturday, but they didn’t question their luck in having eliminated so many potential witnesses. Around 9:00 a neighbor come out of her house on the other side of the street, dressed in running clothes. She looked fit, and the occupants of the car watched her as she started to run, her muscles rippling and her tight buns flexing. However, she stopped and started fussing with her shoelaces behind the car, which panicked the two men in the car. They were straining their necks trying to make out what she was up to when she stood again and set off, once again running away from them, which afforded them a nice view of her posterior. Man, these rich white housewives with nothing better to do than run around in expensive running outfits, earphones in her ears and one of those obnoxious fanny packs around her waist which accentuated the movements of her buns.

Once she disappeared, things settled down once again and there weren’t any more movements on the streets aside from the occasional call of random birds in the trees welcoming the morning sunlight and a slight breeze shaking the leaves in the trees. It didn’t take long for the woman they’d watched before to come trotting back. She looked almost as good coming as she had leaving, and they both watched her until the driver noticed the front door of the subject’s house opening. That focused both of their attention on their job again. They watched as a young man they could clearly identify as their subject, a skinny white kid by the name of Alex, start off on his own jog around the neighborhood. However, instead of coming out to run on the street like the woman had, this kid started off across his yard, running across the neighbors’ yards. Being young and energetic, he was easily able to vault the neighbor’s low fence as he set off. Figuring this would likely be their best opportunity, the driver put the car in gear and slowly pulled away from the curb, never noticing the woman runner from next door was trailing the car on the far side, staying safely in the car’s blind spot.

They also didn’t notice the various people and objects carefully hidden along the street and set back in the woods behind the houses. The previous day some of the women who lived in the house had wandered the street, looking for good places to unobtrusively place mobile recording devices. These were all activated now and were currently filming the occupants of the truck as it trailed the young man they were following. They also didn’t observe the women wearing camouflage suits lying in the grass. There weren’t many of them, and they’d been lying there for most of the night, but they were dedicated to their tasks, so they had been waiting patiently and hadn’t moved enough to alert those they were quietly observing.

The source of the car’s occupants’ interest was very nervous about this enterprise. He and his friends had gone over it numerous times, and it had seemed incredibly risky each time, but there was really no way of making it any safer. He hoped his nervousness didn’t show in his face, but he focused on what was important: keeping those he cared for safely out of the potential lines of fire. If the car he knew was following him was coming after him, he knew it would be well away from everyone else.

There really wasn’t anyone remaining in the house at the moment aside from Natalie and Anh. Natalie was in charge of the medical supplies, and Anh was quietly keeping her apprised of what was happening, since neither one was willing to risk being seen glancing out the windows at what was unfolding outside. The current focus of their lives was even then putting himself in the line of danger for this crazy little scheme of his. It was true they had taken precautions, but all it would take would be a single lucky gunshot and all those precautions would be for naught. And it wasn’t just himself that he was putting in danger, it was each of their lives, the lives of each of his followers, whatever level of abilities they may or may not have. He was also risking all those he might otherwise reach and impact, as well as all of their children after them. This single solitary folly was potentially threatening the future of a whole new ethnic group, and that thought terrified them almost as much as the risk of losing someone they loved.

Shani was providing them with a running commentary, since she could see everything. She had the benefit of both her camouflage clothing and her dark skin, lying hidden amongst the shrubbery down the street. She was recording the events, either for the police or for them to use at his memorial, only time would determine which use was more fitting. Gail, who was currently running soundlessly beside the car, now crouched down just enough so she could just peer into the front. So far she couldn’t see anything incriminating, but she was watching carefully. She knew enough to know they would have something ready to use at a moment’s notice.

Although she’d already tendered her resignation to the St. Louis police force, she’d asked them to hold it for a short time in order to assure everyone it didn’t look like a political move to cover their own asses. At least that was how she’d explained it to her superiors. Besides, she’d said she had matters out of town which would keep her from making any scenes in St. Louis until the paperwork had gone through. That satisfied them. However, if they knew she was about to be involved in a police action, by an officer officially ‘on leave pending termination processing’ in another state, they’d likely have a cow. To know she was using their own equipment to do so could potentially embarrass them tremendously. Luckily she hadn’t bothered to mention that to them.

The ‘official’ police presence was on standby. They’d been notified the house was being watched but they were warned away from visiting the site. Since the police couldn’t assign someone to indefinitely babysit someone on suspicion of a possible attack, they weren’t the primaries in this action. When Gail had set out on her run she’d called them, then when she’d run to the end of the block she’d called Michelle and sent her the photo she’d taken with her phone of the license plate of the car. Gail had told her to send a couple of police cars, but the cars were warned to remain quiet and to stay away from the scene, remaining nearby and ready to respond when they received word they were needed, or when they happened to hear gunfire. Luckily they’d be able to respond quickly, but unfortunately ‘quickly’ wouldn’t be soon enough to save Alex’s life if something went wrong with their carefully wrought plans.

Those plans were unfolding now. Alex was jogging across his neighbor’s yards, something anyone who knew him would be amazed at, since he’d never been much of a runner before. However he was young and seemingly in good health, so he could cover some distance if he needed to. All he needed was to draw the single SUV watching him a little further. He crossed three yards, nearing the halfway point on the block, when he turned off, heading into a clearing cutting through the woods behind the houses. The two men watching him, not familiar with the neighborhood, had no idea where it might lead and were afraid they might lose their only opportunity, especially since he presented such a promising target at the moment.

Gail observed the window on the far side of the dark colored SUV lowering and knew she had to take action. She ran around to the other side of the vehicle and arrived just in time to see a large caliber pistol appearing out of the window.

‘Down! Now!‘ she yelled mentally as she brought her own gun to bear, shouting out loudly, “Police. Drop your weapon!”

She could see the driver glance back at her, but the passenger was already committed and before the words were half out of her mouth she could see the explosion of the gunpowder inside the chamber flare out before the sound ever reached her, as he fired off a shot. Panicking, fearing she may be too late, she fired blindly into the passenger side of the car. She heard a cry and the gun fell from the shooter’s hand, but the driver, recognizing they were in trouble, stomped on the gas and the car jerked and lurched forward. They were accelerating away while Gail stood rooted behind them, locked in a shooter’s stance. As they started to gain a little distance, her gun sounded and they suddenly found their car not responding properly as it started to tremble and veer to the side. It was immediately clear their left side tire had been shot out. Another couple of pistol cracks sounded, but the occupants of the vehicle were too busy to focus on where the shots went.

Alex had been jogging easily but nervously, almost near the edge of the woods when he heard the warning from Gail. He tried to drop immediately, but he was just starting to move when he heard two far off pops. He concentrated on falling, hoping he could will himself to fall faster, but it did little to hurry up what seemed like a lengthy process. Before he was even halfway to the ground he felt something slam into his back, twisting him around. A second slug tore into his side as he tried calling out, his weakened throat barely giving voice to his alarmed cry.

The two shooters were still trying to get away, driving erratically on three working tires, as the driver had the gas pedal floored. The car was responding poorly, but they were still making headway. However the driver saw a vehicle enter the intersection ahead of him, blue lights flashing. Since this was only a narrow suburban street, the police car essentially blocked the whole intersection so they didn’t have much choice. There wasn’t much chance of being able to drive across the nearby lawns crowded with trees and bushes with a blown tire. As he braked hard, hurtling his wounded partner hard against the dashboard, he heard sirens from both before and behind him. Glancing back he saw the runner they’d seen before brandishing a gun, and another police car racing up from the street behind them. Knowing they had no alternative, he extracted his own gun.

Taking a deep breath he shouted out “I’m coming out,” tossing his gun out the window. “I’ve got my hands up.” Holding one hand out the window, he opened the car door with the other, then stuck both hands out the window and nudged the door open with his knee. He cautiously exited the vehicle as officers climbed out of the police car ahead of them and advanced on him, guns drawn and ready. He could tell these were green officers, not used to gunfire on public streets, which made them even more dangerous, as they’d be likely to fire at the slightest provocation.

“There’s one more in the car,” he yelled out. “He’s wounded and I think he’s unarmed, but I’m not sure. Don’t shoot,” he added, hoping he could convince them he wasn’t a threat at the moment.

His words were prophetic, as his partner still in the car had extracted a secondary pistol. However, as he observed the police converging on him from different directions he saw he had no chance of getting away, and even if he could, being a single black man on the run in a homogeneous white neighborhood, he knew he wouldn’t be likely to get very far. He too tossed his gun out the car window. However he couldn’t put his hands outside the car, since one was trying to hold the blood inside his chest. He kicked the door open and stumbled out, one hand held high as he tried to get away from the car so the cops could see he wasn’t armed.

“Freeze! Get on your knees,” the nearest one, a younger officer, shouted as the two from the corner ran up to surround them. The shooter dropped to his knees, still clutching his side. As the other police ran forward to aid their partners, Gail lowered her gun and glanced into the woods, dreading the worst. They’d taken every precaution they could, but they’d both known the risks.

Looking into the overgrown underbrush she could see movements. She could see a figure she knew was Rebecca, an experienced trauma nurse who they’d carefully positioned there just for this likelihood, leaning over and clutching a crumpled figure on the ground. Gail imagined the worst, and since she was in open communication with the others her fear spread, as she broadcast the depressing scene she saw to her friends.

“ALEX!” yelled out a slight figure who had been hidden a yard further away and sprang out of her hiding spot. A young thin girl ran frantically, yelling all the way. Everyone nearby could hear her crying as she ran. All her supplies she’d been using to record the events taking place lying abandoned behind her.

It was only then the two people who were now being handcuffed realized how badly they’d been set up. The police had been waiting for them, clearly having been alerted ahead of time. It looked like a task force of some kind had been assembled. There were people all over, some wearing police uniforms, others wearing camouflaged old military uniforms. The driver swore, assuming just as Alex and Gail had planned that he had been set up by Rakeem, who had arranged this hit in the first place. He assumed Rakeem must have worked out a deal with the police ahead of time and had traded that knowledge for a lesser sentence, but in order to make a bigger case they hadn’t had him call to warn them off, instead they’d waited until they’d committed felonious assault, if not outright capital murder. He realized both of them faced serious charges, but he was already planning how he’d reach out to the scumbag gambler wherever they managed to hide him. And from what he’d heard, the little sucker wouldn’t be likely to protect himself very well since he had trouble moving around and spent most of his time drooling over himself. He decided he’d risk a second murder charge to ensure Rakeem met a justified bloody end himself.