Part 11 (1/2)
True to her word, Rainey took all precautions. Four blocks away from the target house, she stood at the back of the Charger gearing up. Her Sarkar IV, bulletproof vest came with removable attachments. She rarely wore the extra protection, but considering the amount of firepower that was going into this situation, she feared being shot in the crossfire more than she feared Chauncey. She added the upper arm and throat pieces, along with the collar. She even put on her helmet, which she never wore. Mackie helped her get the collar to stay on right. He wore his normal vest, but he made Junior wear the collar on his, and borrowed a helmet for him from the fugitive apprehension team.
In order to make this work, Rainey had to take custody of Chauncey. The police could go in first, if he broke a law, but could not enter the house without a warrant. He had not violated his bond, yet. Rainey needed to get him to come out the door voluntarily. The plan was for Junior and Mackie to go around back with two guys from the fugitive team, while Rainey knocked on the front door. She would have four officers with her. The police presence could convince Chauncey to surrender peacefully, or send him over the edge into the ”going out in a blaze of glory” mentality. Rainey hoped everything went easy. She sure didn't want to shoot the guy.
Junior's cell rang. He answered it, listened for a few seconds, and then said, ”All right, we're comin' in.” He hung up and looked at Rainey. ”Chauncey's getting' antsy. He don't want to wait. Says the boys can bring him the money later. Bobo says he's messed up on somethin'. There's three people in the house. Bobo says don't f.u.c.k up and shoot him, he's wearin' a NC State hoodie.”
”Okay, I guess we better go. He'll be in the wind if we don't.” Rainey pointed at Junior. ”Let the other guys know Bobo's a good guy and what he's wearing.”
When they were alone, Mackie got Rainey's attention. ”You don't have to do this. Let me go in the front.”
Rainey had not told Mackie about the copycat, yet. She wanted him focused on the task at hand.
”No, he'll probably run out the back. I doubt he'll come at me with four cops on my hip. Let's just try and talk him out of there.”
”It's your call, but if he flinches...”
Rainey nodded. ”Chill out, big guy. I've been face to face with worse than Chauncey Barber.”
”Don't get c.o.c.ky,” Mackie warned.
”You're the second person to tell me that in the last hour.”
Mackie stared down at her. ”Then, I guess you better heed the warning.”
Three minutes later, Rainey stood at the end of the walkway leading up to the little white house. The place belonged to Chauncey's grandmother, who was at Bingo for the moment. On either side of Rainey, two officers with rifles, trained on the front of the house, kept pace with her as she walked up to the porch. She stopped on the top step, watching for signs of movement. Her pistol was drawn and secured with both hands. She listened for a moment before moving closer to the door. She could hear male voices coming from the front room on her right. She moved to the left of the door and waited for the four officers to take positions.
”Chauncey!” Rainey yelled. ”Chauncey come on out. It's Rainey Bell... I got to take you in ... Back on out this door with your hands in the air... You hear me Chauncey?”
There was movement behind the door. A scared voice said, ”Hey man, don't shoot my a.s.s. I'm comin' out. I ain't Chauncey, but I don't want to get my a.s.s shot. You feelin' me?”
”Yeah, I feel ya',” Rainey yelled back. ”Open that door nice and slow. Back out with your hands clasped behind your head. You flinch and four of Raleigh's finest are going to light you up. You got it?”
”Okay man, here I come.”
One of the cops grabbed the storm door and held it open. The wooden door creaked open slowly, revealing Bobo in his red hoodie. He backed out and went to his knees on the porch, hands quickly placed on the back of his head. The wooden door slammed shut again.
Bobo looked up at Rainey. ”Man, he's nuts. Y'all better call some more cops. He ain't coming out of there.”
One of the cops patted Bobo down and then told him to get across the street. Rainey looked at the four men holding rifles on the front of the house. Each man nodded it was time to make a move.
”Chauncey, don't make me have to shoot you,” she tried one more time. ”Come on out and we'll go straighten this out at the courthouse. You could be back on the street by suppertime.”
”f.u.c.k you! You come in that door, b.i.t.c.h, and I'm going to blow you up,” Chauncey shouted from behind the door.
”Is that a threat, Chauncey? You packin'? You know that's a violation of your bail. Now the cops can come on in. Are you sure that's what you want?”
Rainey moved as she talked. She slid down by the door handle, with the wall protecting her back. She signaled the cop to her right, who in turn said into his headset, ”Go, go, go.”
They heard the back door splinter, as Mackie and the others gained access rather rapidly. Rainey turned the handle on the door and the four cops entered one behind the other. By the time Rainey made it into the house, Chauncey was face down in the floor. He had been too drugged up to take the safety off his gun.
Rainey was standing in the hallway, holstering her weapon, when Junior said, ”Where's the third guy?”
She heard the distinct click-click of a revolver being c.o.c.ked behind her. She looked up at the top of the small staircase to see a young boy, probably thirteen or fourteen, with the barrel of a gun pointed squarely at her.
”Chauncey, who's this young man with the weapon aimed at me?” Rainey said, as calmly as she could muster.
”That's my sister's boy. Don't shoot him.”
”I'm more worried about him shooting me at the moment, and you know these guys are going to blow him away after that, right?”
”Darnell, put that gun down fool,” Chauncey said. The cuffs seemed to have cleared his mind some.
Darnell was trembling, the gun barrel wavering in the air. He looked like a child with a toy, but the voice that spoke was not childlike. ”I'm going to pop this b.i.t.c.h. I'll make my bones and be out in seven years.”
One of the cops peeked around the corner at Darnell and Rainey. He tried to reason with the kid. ”Son, that 'b.i.t.c.h' is a former FBI agent. You don't know the world of hurt that's going to come down if I let you shoot her, so I'm not going to let you do that. You'll be dead before you can pull the trigger. Now drop the weapon and no harm done.”
”s.h.i.+t, I'll be famous if I pop a FBI b.i.t.c.h and if you shoot me I'll be a legend.”
”Then dead it is,” the cop said.
Rainey saw the grin creep across Darnell's face. She saw his finger twitch and knew she was about to be shot. It all happened so fast. In one move the cop stepped in front of Rainey, as she dove for the floor. He fired his weapon at the boy. The bullet from his gun crashed into Darnell's leg milliseconds before the bullet from his revolver smashed into Rainey's right shoulder. The force of the bullet rolled her. She lay there taking stock of her condition. Her shoulder hurt like h.e.l.l, but when she looked she could clearly see the end of the bullet sticking out of the ballistic material on the shoulder pad she had added.
”Thank G.o.d for small miracles,” she said under her breath.
Darnell was in a pile at the top of the stairs. He dropped his gun and was now screaming like the kid he was. The cop stood over him.
”Shut up. You'll live a long and happy life in prison. Maybe your uncle there will teach you the ropes when you get to the big house.”
Mackie was suddenly standing over Rainey. ”You all right?”
”Yeah, the shoulder pad caught it. Gonna bruise like h.e.l.l. What the f.u.c.k? I thought one of those guys was supposed to clear the upstairs.”
”That young one was supposed to, but I think he got excited,” Mackie said, nodding toward the young cop being chewed out by an older one.
Rainey could hear the sirens coming. ”s.h.i.+t. Katie.”
Mackie looked confused. ”What about Katie?”
”You know this. .h.i.t the scanner. The news trucks will be here in a minute. I have to call her, before she sees this.”
Mackie helped her to her feet. She walked out onto the porch and dialed home. Katie picked up on the first ring.
Rainey spoke quickly, ”It's over. Everything's all right.”
”Then, why do I here sirens in the background?” Katie asked.
”Cause the guy's nephew decided to shoot at me and one of the cops shot him.” No sense in lying, she would see the news.
Katie's voice was strained with worry. ”Are you okay? Did he hit you?”