Frank Georgalis – Writer

Attempted Robbery: Part IV

Officer Down

By Frank Elias Georgalis

McKay turned and looked at his partner Newsome, who was standing by the bar, watching Linda making coffee, didn’t respond.

“Patrick!” repeated McKay.

Patrick Newsome still remained silent.

“Hey, you,” yelled the officer.

Newsome turned around abruptly and looked at McKay with a curious eye and said nothing.

Staring at Newsome with a frown, McKay asked angrily, “Karas wants to speak with Pam in private, do you think it will be okay?”

Patrick Newsome shrugged his shoulders and screwed up his face, as if he didn’t care one way or another.

“You are a lot of help, Patrick,” mumbled McKay, turning to Nick, “go ahead, have it your way,” said McKay in a loud and a stern voice.

Gesturing for Pam to follow him, Nick walked a few paces closer to Linda on the other side of the bar, and stood there, facing the waitress, debating the matter within himself for a few seconds and said in a loud whisper but loud enough for Linda to hear.

“Pam, you know who RDR is; just don’t give a hint to the officers of whatever you’re thinking. Let them find him and let them arrest him”.

Pam nodded in assent.

“You have a good idea who RDR is, don’t you?”

Pam nodded negatively with a vigorous shake of her head.

“Good. Don’t say anything. Keep it to yourself,” said Nick, pretending that Pam’s shaking of the head, was a positive one, knowing the waitress was monitoring the situation.

“I know that you know where the money is hidden,” whispered Nick, even though words were spoken softly for Pam’s ears only, but they were intended for Linda hear a few of them.

Pam’s face was overtaken with ecstasy and not having caught on to Nick’s game, she was about to protest when he imparted a wink and pointed at Linda with his index finger discreetly.

 

 

Hearing some of Nick’s words ‘know-money-hidden’, the waitress, with a thoughtless impulse, turned her head in his direction. They exchanged a brief glance; there was nothing but worry and anxiety in her eyes that could not have been mistaken. Then she realized she had revealed her ability to hear something of what was said, turned her head away abruptly and continued with her task; however, although she felt nervous and confused by her own speculations, she continued to listen inconspicuously.

Nick seemed pleased by Linda’s look that exhibited a great deal of awareness and more interest than ordinary, he was convinced that she was somehow connected to the subject. He was especially glad that she heard what was intended for her to hear.

“Be careful Pam, RDR is a smart and a tough bird, but he will be grabbed by tomorrow night. He will be sent to prison and then you can take the money and run like hell.”

“How did you guess all that,” she asked after having caught on to Nick’s game.

“Shh! Behave! Lets go back to the policemen.”

Walking  towards the officer in charge, who was still standing in the same place, seeming alert and contemplating his next move.

“Red, who is going to pay for Pam’s door knob?” asked Nick, turning and heading for the front door with Pan following behind him.

“You are Karas. Good thing you stopped with the door knob otherwise now you would have to pay for shooting my balls off,” returned the officer humorously.

“You would have gotten from me the same thing you lost,” replied Nick, with a hearty laugh and went to work, pretending to show her the doorknob.

“I don’t know how to fix this,” said Nick, throwing his eyes towards Linda and when he couldn’t see her, he frowned for a moment, particularly when he noticed that the telephone was missing from its place and the wire was leading into the kitchen.

“Linda is on the phone,” whispered Nick.

“She is probably calling her brother to pick her up. She is getting off in three minutes,” said Pam, “you are suspicious of everybody.”

“I told you that my mother used to say, to watch out for the unexpected,” whispered Nick, “I will pretend that I am leaving in a few minutes. Take your gun from my pocket while I am amusing myself with the fixing of the door. Put it under your apron. When everybody is gone, be on the extreme alert. Anyone who comes in here that you or Linda knows, may very well be the man, RDR; don’t let him close to you, no matter what he says. If he insists on advancing towards you, with a friendly or otherwise manner, shoot to kill! Empty the gun on him! Then run out. I will not be too far from here.”

“My God! Nick, kill him?” cried the widow.

“No, hug him and kiss him: of course, kill him. If you were a good shot, I would say, cripple him. If you’ll try to just cripple him. I bet you dollar to donuts you’ll miss altogether. Don’t panic now, I told you, I’ll be around. What I just told you is plan B. Plan A is that I will be in here with you. Lets get back to the policemen!” whispered Nick.

“Gentlemen, if I am free to leave, I’d like to leave now,” said Nick, on his way to them.

“Come first and have your coffee. We have to go soon, too,” said McKay, “Linda, bring the coffee now, please.”

“It’s four o’clock. The day will break in an hour and I must go get some sleep,” said Linda as she delivered a pot of coffee and four cups and set them on the table.

“Do you drive?” asked Nick.

“No, I only live less than a mile from here; sometimes I walk and sometimes my brother picks me up. I just called the house and there was no answer. He is probably spending the night with his girlfriend,” responded Linda.

Pam poked Nick’s rib discreetly with her elbow, indicating to him that she was right when she told him that Linda was calling her brother to pick her up.

Nick thought different; he heard her talking to somebody a lot longer than simply leaving a short massage, but he chose to say nothing to Pam.

“Do you live east or west from here?” asked Nick again.

“I live east. Why are you asking me?”

“I am going west, I thought I would walk with you,” replied Nick.

As soon as the coffee was consumed the two police officers bid everyone goodnight and left by the side door.

Pam seemed to breathe more freely when the officers were gone, but Nick’s relief was far greater, besides the constraint arising from being around the police, he felt helpless and at a disadvantage in not being able to aid the widow. He also felt some sorrow in his breast for that lady, whom he didn’t know long, but, from talking to her for the past several hours, imagined how hard she had to fight her way through the world and continued to struggle, as if there weren’t enough space on this earth for an insignificant woman, not to get to the top, but to simply prevent herself from getting squashed at the bottom. He wished he had the tools and the talents to mellow the bitterness of the disappointment she seemed to suffer.

It was curious and interesting about Nick to be standing there, with very little money in his pocket, not well dressed and not many prospects in his life or even the will to live, he felt more sorry for the lady, than for himself.

Nick bid the two women goodbye and headed for the side door. He was not encumbered with much luggage, having only his bag with minimal of survival gear dangling from his back, but a head loaded with trouble and unfinished business. He hurried out the door on his self-imposed mission and when he came outside, he stood and looked around him to gather his thoughts and find his bearings in the dark end of the night. He made a left turn and after a few paces he came to the top of a knoll where the main road was passing. Hurrying along the road for a few more steps, Nick abruptly turned and hid behind the bushes while waiting for Linda to come out. He stood in that position for about five minutes when he suddenly heard the side door open. Linda appeared, walking up the hill and heading for the same road rather hurriedly. Reaching the road, she crossed it and began to walk west, the opposite from what she had told Nick. She moved in solid and hasty steps, eagerly looking about her as though in quest of some expected object and taking no heed of Nick who watched her closely.

Eventually the road became and deserted and dark with trees and other free grown tall bushes on either side, rose heavy and dull from the dense mass of other vegetation that looked down sternly upon the black top road. A mist hung over the road, blurring the bright light, that was shooting from a service station less than a half a mile ahead, only a glimmer shone feebly upon Linda’s path. Nick slunk along in the deepest shadows he could find, staying a good distance behind her, adjusting his pace to hers, stopping when she stopped and moving again when she moved, but creeping stealthily on, never allowing himself, to gain upon her footsteps.

Linda finally reached the well-lit service station, stopped less than a hundred feet from its center and waited impatiently, taking a few restless steps back and forth, as she was closely watched by Nick, who had advanced and hid within hearing distance of her.

Suddenly, two car head lights appeared coming down the road and stopped abruptly

close to Linda, who hurried and stood by the driver’s side.

“Hurry! She is all alone. The Greek is gone. There is no one upstairs. The hotel rooms are empty. She was lying when she said that she had six people in the rooms. Hurry! Please. The front door is broken; you are not going to get in. Here is the key to the side door,” said the girl.

“I have the key,” said the driver, whom Nick couldn’t recognize. He then motioned to Linda to step back, so he could move, “Will you be OK?”

“I’ll be alright. I’ll walk home. Be careful!” replied Linda tapping the car gently.

Linda backed off and the car squealed its tires and sped towards Pam’s place. Linda started to walk back in the direction she had come from.

The car arrived at Pam’s place, turned to the right, stopped a few yards from the road and hid in the bushes, then the car door opened and Bob, the policeman who had gone to see Pam earlier, stepped out in full police uniform. He stood there across the street from Pam’s place and looked hastily around. When he saw nothing moving, he ran across and planted himself against the wall, as there seemed no better place of concealment, waited and looked around intently foe a long time. He was at the very point of emerging from his hiding place and regaining the foot path leading to the side door, when he heard the sound of footsteps, and, directly afterwards, the sound of whispering voices.

He drew himself straight upright against the wall, and scarcely breathing, listened attentively again. The footsteps stopped, the voices went silent and Bob waited.

In the meantime down the road from him, Linda was being followed closely by Nick, who burst out of the bushes, grabbed Linda by the arm and said, “don’t stop, girl, you have some things to explain.”

Linda startled by Nick’s unexpected influx, shrieked, but Nick slapped his hand over her mouth, “Behave,” he said, “I am not here to harm you, I am here to save you,” removing his hand from her mouth.

“Save me from what?” cried Linda.

Linda was now being confronted by Nick; Bob down the road, was still standing firmly and solid against the wall and Pam, inside her place, was sitting in a booth holding, with both hands a cup of coffee and her eyes fixed upon the front door.

Suddenly she heard the side door open, she turned her face and body in the direction where the sound came from and saw Bob enter. He stooped over and urged her with hand motions to sit and be silent, by placing his index finger on his lips.

Pam disregarded Bob’s signals, stood up and watched him crawl behind the bar.

“Pam, are you alone?” whispered Bob. He listened for a response and when he didn’t get it, remained quiet and hidden for a few seconds, he then raised his head and saw Pam standing next to the booth aiming a pistol at him.

The pistol kicked up in her hands, as Bob fell down behind the bar and the many shots she fired caused the liquor shelves to fall on top of him. The building rang with a tremendous sound like an angry thunder. She then ran to examine the disaster she created and on her way there, saw McKay and Newsome, the two policemen, standing by the door with wide grins on their faces.

McKay turned and looked at his partner Newsome, who was standing by the bar, watching Linda making coffee, didn’t respond.

“Patrick!” repeated McKay.

Patrick Newsome still remained silent.

“Hey, you,” yelled the officer.

Newsome turned around abruptly and looked at McKay with a curious eye and said nothing.

Staring at Newsome with a frown, McKay asked angrily, “Karas wants to speak with Pam in private, do you think it will be okay?”

Patrick Newsome shrugged his shoulders and screwed up his face, as if he didn’t care one way or another.

“You are a lot of help, Patrick,” mumbled McKay, turning to Nick, “go ahead, have it your way,” said McKay in a loud and a stern voice.

Gesturing for Pam to follow him, Nick walked a few paces closer to Linda on the other side of the bar, and stood there, facing the waitress, debating the matter within himself for a few seconds and said in a loud whisper but loud enough for Linda to hear.

“Pam, you know who RDR is; just don’t give a hint to the officers of whatever you’re thinking. Let them find him and let them arrest him”.

Pam nodded in assent.

“You have a good idea who RDR is, don’t you?”

Pam nodded negatively with a vigorous shake of her head.

“Good. Don’t say anything. Keep it to yourself,” said Nick, pretending that Pam’s shaking of the head, was a positive one, knowing the waitress was monitoring the situation.

“I know that you know where the money is hidden,” whispered Nick, even though words were spoken softly for Pam’s ears only, but they were intended for Linda hear a few of them.

Pam’s face was overtaken with ecstasy and not having caught on to Nick’s game, she was about to protest when he imparted a wink and pointed at Linda with his index finger discreetly.

Hearing some of Nick’s words ‘know-money-hidden’, the waitress, with a thoughtless impulse, turned her head in his direction. They exchanged a brief glance; there was nothing but worry and anxiety in her eyes that could not have been mistaken. Then she realized she had revealed her ability to hear something of what was said, turned her head away abruptly and continued with her task; however, although she felt nervous and confused by her own speculations, she continued to listen inconspicuously.

Nick seemed pleased by Linda’s look that exhibited a great deal of awareness and more interest than ordinary, he was convinced that she was somehow connected to the subject. He was especially glad that she heard what was intended for her to hear.

“Be careful Pam, RDR is a smart and a tough bird, but he will be grabbed by tomorrow night. He will be sent to prison and then you can take the money and run like hell.”

“How did you guess all that,” she asked after having caught on to Nick’s game.

“Shh! Behave! Lets go back to the policemen.”

Walking  towards the officer in charge, who was still standing in the same place, seeming alert and contemplating his next move.

“Red, who is going to pay for Pam’s door knob?” asked Nick, turning and heading for the front door with Pan following behind him.

“You are Karas. Good thing you stopped with the door knob otherwise now you would have to pay for shooting my balls off,” returned the officer humorously.

“You would have gotten from me the same thing you lost,” replied Nick, with a hearty laugh and went to work, pretending to show her the doorknob.

“I don’t know how to fix this,” said Nick, throwing his eyes towards Linda and when he couldn’t see her, he frowned for a moment, particularly when he noticed that the telephone was missing from its place and the wire was leading into the kitchen.

“Linda is on the phone,” whispered Nick.

“She is probably calling her brother to pick her up. She is getting off in three minutes,” said Pam, “you are suspicious of everybody.”

“I told you that my mother used to say, to watch out for the unexpected,” whispered Nick, “I will pretend that I am leaving in a few minutes. Take your gun from my pocket while I am amusing myself with the fixing of the door. Put it under your apron. When everybody is gone, be on the extreme alert. Anyone who comes in here that you or Linda knows, may very well be the man, RDR; don’t let him close to you, no matter what he says. If he insists on advancing towards you, with a friendly or otherwise manner, shoot to kill! Empty the gun on him! Then run out. I will not be too far from here.”

“My God! Nick, kill him?” cried the widow.

“No, hug him and kiss him: of course, kill him. If you were a good shot, I would say, cripple him. If you’ll try to just cripple him. I bet you dollar to donuts you’ll miss altogether. Don’t panic now, I told you, I’ll be around. What I just told you is plan B. Plan A is that I will be in here with you. Lets get back to the policemen!” whispered Nick.

“Gentlemen, if I am free to leave, I’d like to leave now,” said Nick, on his way to them.

“Come first and have your coffee. We have to go soon, too,” said McKay, “Linda, bring the coffee now, please.”

“It’s four o’clock. The day will break in an hour and I must go get some sleep,” said Linda as she delivered a pot of coffee and four cups and set them on the table.

“Do you drive?” asked Nick.

“No, I only live less than a mile from here; sometimes I walk and sometimes my brother picks me up. I just called the house and there was no answer. He is probably spending the night with his girlfriend,” responded Linda.

Pam poked Nick’s rib discreetly with her elbow, indicating to him that she was right when she told him that Linda was calling her brother to pick her up.

Nick thought different; he heard her talking to somebody a lot longer than simply leaving a short massage, but he chose to say nothing to Pam.

“Do you live east or west from here?” asked Nick again.

“I live east. Why are you asking me?”

“I am going west, I thought I would walk with you,” replied Nick.

As soon as the coffee was consumed the two police officers bid everyone goodnight and left by the side door.

Pam seemed to breath more freely when the officers were gone, but Nick’s relief was far greater, besides the constraint arising from being around the police, he felt helpless and at a disadvantage in not being able to aid the widow. He also felt some sorrow in his breast for that lady, whom he didn’t know long, but, from talking to her for the past several hours, imagined how hard she had to fight her way through the world and continued to struggle, as if there weren’t enough space on this earth for an insignificant woman, not to get to the top, but to simply prevent herself from getting squashed at the bottom. He wished he had the tools and the talents to mellow the bitterness of the disappointment she seemed to suffer.

It was curious and interesting about Nick to be standing there, with very little money in his pocket, not well dressed and not many prospects in his life or even the will to live, he felt more sorry for the lady, than for himself.

Nick bid the two women goodbye and headed for the side door. He was not encumbered with much luggage, having only his bag with minimal of survival gear dangling from his back, but a head loaded with trouble and unfinished business. He hurried out the door on his self-imposed mission and when he came outside, he stood and looked around him to gather his thoughts and find his bearings in the dark end of the night. He made a left turn and after a few paces he came to the top of a knoll where the main road was passing. Hurrying along the road for a few more steps, Nick abruptly turned and hid behind the bushes while waiting for Linda to come out. He stood in that position for about five minutes when he suddenly heard the side door open. Linda appeared, walking up the hill and heading for the same road rather hurriedly. Reaching the road, she crossed it and began to walk west, the opposite from what she had told Nick. She moved in solid and hasty steps, eagerly looking about her as though in quest of some expected object and taking no heed of Nick who watched her closely. The road, deserted and dark with trees and other free grown tall bushes on either side, rose heavy and dull from the dense mass of other vegetation that looked down sternly upon the black top road. A mist hung over the road, blurring the bright light, that was shooting from a service station less than a half a mile ahead, only a glimmer shone feebly upon Linda’s path. Nick slunk along in the deepest shadows he could find, staying a good distance behind her, adjusting his pace to hers, stopping when she stopped and moving again when she moved, but creeping stealthily on, never allowing himself, to gain upon her footsteps.

Linda finally reached the well-lit service station, stopped less than a hundred feet from its center and waited impatiently, taking a few restless steps back and forth, as she was closely watched by Nick, who had advanced and hid within hearing distance of her.

Suddenly, two car head lights appeared coming down the road and stopped abruptly

close to Linda, who hurried and stood by the driver’s side.

“Hurry! She is all alone. The Greek is gone. There is no one upstairs. The hotel rooms are empty. She was lying when she said that she had six people in the rooms. Hurry! Please. The front door is broken; you are not going to get in. Here is the key to the side door,” said the girl.

“I have the key,” said the driver, whom Nick couldn’t recognize. He then motioned to Linda to step back, so he could move, “Will you be OK?”

“I’ll be alright. I’ll walk home. Be careful!” replied Linda tapping the car gently.

Linda backed off and the car squealed its tires and sped towards Pam’s place. Linda started to walk back in the direction she had come from.

The car arrived at Pam’s place, turned to the right, stopped a few yards from the road and hid in the bushes, then the car door opened and Bob, the policeman who had gone to see Pam earlier, stepped out in full police uniform. He stood there across the street from Pam’s place and looked hastily around. When he saw nothing moving, he ran across and planted himself against the wall, as there seemed no better place of concealment, waited and looked around intently foe a long time. He was at the very point of emerging from his hiding place and regaining the foot path leading to the side door, when he heard the sound of footsteps, and, directly afterwards, the sound of whispering voices.

He drew himself straight upright against the wall, and scarcely breathing, listened attentively again. The footsteps stopped, the voices went silent and Bob waited.

In the meantime down the road from him, Linda was being followed closely by Nick, who burst out of the bushes, grabbed Linda by the arm and said, “don’t stop, girl, you have some things to explain.”

Linda startled by Nick’s unexpected influx, shrieked, but Nick slapped his hand over her mouth, “Behave,” he said, “I am not here to harm you, I am here to save you,” removing his hand from her mouth.

“Save me from what?” cried Linda.

Linda was now being confronted by Nick; Bob down the road, was still standing firmly and solid against the wall and Pam, inside her place, was sitting in a booth holding, with both hands a cup of coffee and her eyes fixed upon the front door.

Suddenly she heard the side door open, she turned her face and body in the direction where the sound came from and saw Bob enter. He stooped over and urged her with hand motions to sit and be silent, by placing his index finger on his lips.

Pam disregarded Bob’s signals, stood up and watched him crawl behind the bar.

“Pam, are you alone?” whispered Bob. He listened for a response and when he didn’t get it, remained quiet and hidden for a few seconds, he then raised his head and saw Pam standing next to the booth aiming a pistol at him.

The pistol kicked up in her hands, as Bob fell down behind the bar and the many shots she fired caused the liquor shelves to fall on top of him. The building rang with a tremendous sound like an angry thunder. She then ran to examine the disaster she created and on her way there, saw McKay and Newsome, the two policemen, standing by the door with wide grins on their faces.