Moonrise CH17 – Son of a Glitch


“Officer Patterson, I need you to take the Miles Jensen file with you and the tapes from the CCTV before they’re delivered to the precinct.”

Massey’s words hammered in Betty’s head as she drove her cruiser after the black FBI Ford. She didn’t want to seem suspicious, more like an escort to her superior officers, so she kept a respectful distance, sirens off. Once they hit the main lane, Betty was going to swerve her vehicle and take a shortcut, avoiding the slow and cumbersome traffic, fast forwarding before the feds and arriving first at the precinct. That way she was going to receive the evidence on instructions by the head detective and the file would be out of FBI’s reach.

On a red light, a procession of bikers rounded Betty’s cruiser, their Harleys booming, and revving. They made a wall to Bettys left and right, and when the light hit green, they funneled in front of her, a pack of chrome, black and steel beasts glimmering in the sun. For a moment Betty was cut off from the black Ford. “Really nice timing boys,” Betty mumbled to herself. She only saw its taillights as the car was turning right following her intended shortcut. Betty swore under her breath and put the car in gear.

When she arrived at the parking lot, the same FBI Ford had already parked. She pulled on her spot and from the glove compartment took out her blue latex gloves, neatly folded them and hid them in her pocket. Then she took to a sprint.

Officer Betty Patterson pushed through the glass doors of West Police Precinct. Everyone was busy frowning and muttering about the gruesome deaths at Madison Park. Hardly any of the other officers paid her any mind, a happening she was thankful for right now. Betty quickly climbed the steps to the second floor where Massey’s glass windowed office was located.

The FBI agents were already here, more of them than she had anticipated. Betty didn’t know why she expected different; it was evident they would have sent numbers beforehand. She had to come up with a plan B. As she paced through the precinct she saw they had already started collecting the data and evidence from the Miles Jensen case. Betty saw some of their agents refilling their cups of coffee while supervising the “raid.” She too disliked the idea of giving the case over to the feds as much as everybody else and Massey had seemed jumpy when he had sent her to secure the case file and the tapes. Betty stopped dead in her tracks, her adrenaline subsiding. She had snapped to the task, but she was about to steal sensitive and vital information concerning the case and on top of that sneak it under the feds’ noses. If anyone were to find out what she was about to do, Betty’s days on the force would be over. But, her head detective had told her it was important to do so, and Betty believed him. She had never had any reason to doubt him, so she carried on with her mission trusting Massey’s instinct.

When she neared his office, she cursed under her breath again. The shades pulled up she could see that there were already FBI agents inside of it. Betty put a shoulder to one of the supporting columns and peeked. A short woman was looking through Massey’s computer; a task Betty deemed odd. Another one was filling boxes with manila folders all bearing the sigil of the precinct. The FBI had wanted just the data on the crime from the morning, which was scarce at the moment so why were they going through the head detective’s personal things? Suddenly Massey’s worrying tone from earlier frightened Betty as well.

Betty scanned the room. She needed a distraction to get close to the boxes sitting on Massey’s desk. She trusted her colleagues, but in her mind, there wasn’t anyone who was going to help her lie to a bunch of FBI agents and steal the file or the tapes they were so keen on having. Sure no one was all too happy for losing the case to the feds, but at the same time, no one wanted to lose their jobs, so they cooperated at their best. Betty was also sure that the reason lay somewhere within the truth that some of the men and women on the force were scared. What had happened in the morning was frightening and beyond anything anyone had seen before this moment, and yet the city seemed to swarm with such people as of late – Supers they called themselves.

Everyone was cautious, and the few that had actually raised their voices or their guns against a person with such abilities wore a grim face every day and oft-muttered to themselves or whoever was keen to listen that the city was doomed, and these people were its downfall. To Betty, it seemed like the force was struggling to stand up to the supers. Most of her colleagues supported Doctor, or Major Globe’s campaign fervently since his statement – ala rebellion through justice – had aired. That was yet another reason why they were letting the FBI take the job away from them so they wouldn’t need to deal with it, and so they would help advance the running-for-mayor, doctor. They trusted him, but Betty had seen how his men had stormed the crime scene with their guns raised towards the crowd. They made her nervous.

Betty shook out of her reverie. The tapes she could only hope were still with Rey, a much easier person to persuade to give over evidence. For the file, she saw no other opportunity other than to cross the room and ask for it, feign that it was her instruction to make sure all documentation was present. Then she could sneak the file out or take photos on her phone and then shred the folder, a violation too great, but right now Betty couldn’t think of another way to fulfill Massey’s task. He specifically warned her not to allow the evidence into the hands of the feds. Just as she was about to step out of her hiding spot and do that, Officer Wallas, carrying three transparent bags with three separate tapes in them collided with her. Her heart sank when she was the tapes.

“Betty, I didn’t see you there,” he mumbled.

“I’m sorry Felix, I….” Betty paused looking at Felix’s freckled face confusingly smile and then frown at her. “Are you taking these to the agents over there?”

Felix nodded.

“These are the CCTV footage from the pizza place across from the park. The feds requested all items concerning the case, so these go there too.”

Betty had to think quick. She pulled him aside and dropped her voice to a whisper.

“I need you to distract these agents while I go into Detective Massey’s office.”

Felix looked over at the agents and then back at Betty.

“What’s going on Betty?”

Next: Stealth

About Mark Gardner


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