January Gets Her Gunn

Chapter 2-2

Imogene nodded, “Positive.”

“Excellent. Imogene, you’re a good witness.” Farrell smiled at the clerk. Then she turned to Thad. “Gunn, why don’t you take him out to the car and I’ll take care of the business I came in for?”

Damn, she’s giving me orders, now. I won’t argue with her in front of witnesses, but just wait until we are in the car alone.

He propelled the handcuffed suspect out the door, put him in the car and was standing by the driver’s door when Farrell came out of the store carrying a couple of packs of cigarettes in her left hand, and a burning cigarette in her right. She wore a slight smile.

Farrell stopped at the car door. “You plan on booking him?”

“Yeah, if it’s all right with your majesty.”

“Whatever you say Senior Patrol Officer Gunn. Whatever you say.” Farrell got into the car and started writing on the log sheet. When Thad got in, she picked up the microphone. “KTR Two Eight Three, Peter Six Ten-Eight, Ten-Eighteen with one male Ten Fifteen. Two-Eight-Three, could you give me time of call at the Night Owl Mart?”

“Ten Four Peter Six, time of call Oh One Five One.”

“Ten Four, Two Eight Three and thanks.”

“We try to please, ma’am, KTR Two Eight Three, Oh Two Oh Three.” Farrell chuckled to herself as she hung up the microphone.

She’s pleased with herself. Right now she needs to go through one of a mall’s garbage boxes looking for evidence. We’d see how enthused she’d be then about being a cop.

At the jail, Farrell went about the booking without instruction. She hesitated at the offense line, glancing at Gunn quickly.

“Make it City Ordinance Six-One-Seven, Shoplifting.” Farrell nodded and wrote. When they were through, Farrell smiled at the jailer and thanked him. She’s trying to get my goat. I know that and it makes me angrier because she’s succeeding. What’s happening here?

She followed him back out to the car.

“All right, I thought I told you to observe and only do what another officer told you.” Thad turned the car into the street from the jail parking lot.

“There wasn’t time to turn and say, Patrol Officer Gunn, there’s a shoplifter running over me, what should I do? So I took what I was trained to do—proper police action. If I hadn’t, I’d have his dusty foot prints up the front of my brand new uniform.”

“What about you questioning the clerk? I didn’t tell you to do that.”

“No, you were too damned busy being macho and preening yourself in front of her. Somebody had to do the work and you had me tell Voukovich to buzz off.” Farrell took out another cigarette and lit it.

“I thought you didn’t smoke.”

“I didn’t, not for three years, but four hours stuck with you is enough to break anyone’s good intentions. I’ll probably become a drunk before the week is out.” Farrell looked out the window for a moment. He could see her shoulders rise and fall with her deep breaths.

Then she turned back. “No, I won’t become a drunk, and I’ll stick it out until my probation is over. Maybe by then, I’ll go deaf so I can’t hear your braying, you sadistic egotistical jackass. Oh yes, and you’re wasting your time with your phony evil-eye. Garnet has it right. You’re pure humbug, Gunn.”

What could he say? What could he do? God, no rookie ever dared talk to me like that. She’s female and knows I won’t hit her, but I’ll find something to jerk her up short. She’s too saucy—sassy—for her own good.

* * * *

8 July 1982: 0630:

January glanced around as she stepped out of the Police Station, heading for her car. My God, the sun’s up and another day’s started, even after a night like that. Should I be elated at having survived my first shift or dejected thinking how many more are yet to come?

“They said everybody meets at the Chuck Wagon…Let’s see, that’s on Centennial and eighth.” She spoke aloud, the sound of her own voice helping re-establish her sense of reality.

When January entered the twenty-four hour restaurant, she found Ray Goldman and three other officers, whose names she could not recall, already there. They sat toward the rear where they’d pulled two tables together.

“C’mon Farrell. Saved you a seat.”

She sank gratefully onto the chair Ray pulled out for her.

“Whew, I don’t know if I’m upside down or inside out. That was some first shift.”

“Yeah, I was just telling Phil, Dan, and Andre about the burglary.” Ray re-introduced Phil Hunt, a lanky blond, Dan Voukovich, husky, swarthy, and dour-faced, and Andre Banks, a burly black officer with a ready grin.

“You won’t have all the names and faces together yet. Hunt works Sleepyville, out on the Mesa, Voukovich patrols area three and Banks has four.”

Phil grinned. “Hear you caught the doers on-scene. You must be Irish having that kind of luck.”

“Yeah, I’m Irish, but I also have Gunn for a training officer. That levels out a whole lot of good stuff.” The other officers laughed.

The waitress sauntered over, plopped a coffee pot on each table. Her name tag said Maye. She looked January over before she smiled. Something in her bright hazel eyes and freckle-faced smile seemed to say I think you’ll do.

“So you’re the new rookie. I hear Gunn’s your training officer. If that’s right, you have my sympathy, honey.”

After January nodded, Maye went on. “I dated him a few times, a couple years ago. When he’s not in uniform, he’s almost human, but as soon as he puts on that blue suit, he changes one-hundred and eighty degrees. He’s a good dancer, can be a lot of fun, but I couldn’t see a lifetime with those spooky eyes.” She shuddered. “Imagine seeing them first thing every morning. Good God!”

Maye winked as she turned away. “You hang in there and don’t let him get to you.”

“He took Jan to the Roost, her first night,” Phil offered. “Right after they busted a burglary at Carlings.”

“That bas…” Maye flushed. “Sorry, but that takes the cake. What was he thinking of?”

“Harassment, plain and simple. He told me he was going to do everything he could to convince me not to be a cop.” January’s outrage flared anew as she repeated his statement. In this day and age! Who does he think he is?

“Honey, you tough it out. If it gets too bad, you can cry on my shoulder anytime. I liked Thad, but I never liked the way he treats rookies. We argued about that. He’ll hardly speak to me anymore, but that’s okay. Got me a good man and a pretty baby girl now. I don’t need Thad Gunn and neither do you.” Maye patted January’s shoulder before she moved on to serve her other customers.

“Maye’s all right. She helped me deal with Gunn’s bull. You can talk to her. She’s a real good listener.” Phil picked up his cup, blew across it, bending the rising steam. “Did any of the girls at The Roost grope your crotch?”

“No, they didn’t touch me, but the way they looked me over was enough. And some of their remarks…”

Phil set the cup down after a sip. “Every one of them groped me. I’m just a ranch kid—did a hitch in the Army, but nothing like that ever happened to me before. Willie and I hadn’t been married a year. It made me sick enough to puke, and I wouldn’t touch Willie, not even a peck on the cheek, until I scrubbed down with green hospital soap. I love my wife and I didn’t want any of that filth near her.”

Phil took another sip of coffee while January lit a cigarette. His gaze turned hazy with recollection. “I made Gunn take me back to the Roost the next night—to the front door. When I walked in, a couple of girls started toward me. I said, ‘Any w***e who touches me will get her damned arm broke, and if any of you meet me on the street, you cross over to the other side. The next time I come in here it’ll be for the express purpose of putting you all in jail.’ Then I turned and walked out. I heard later that Garnet almost refused to let Gunn bring in another rookie.”

“Garnet’s all right. See her somewhere else, you’d think she was a real lady,” Andre said. “But some of those girls are tough customers.”

“Too bad she didn’t stop Gunn sooner, but she has now, as of last night.” The bitterness in Jan’s voice almost shocked her as she heard its echo. I’ll tell him someday, after I’ve made the grade, just what I think of him, the sadistic bastard.

Within a few minutes all the shift had arrived except for Gunn and Sergeant Wilson. Included in their easy banter, January felt part of a big, good-humored family, something she’d missed more than she realized.

“You must be the new rookie.”

At the sound of another feminine voice, January looked up to see a tall, beautiful blonde in crisp white standing beside their table. Smiling warmly, the woman offered her hand. “I’m Wilma Hunt, commonly known as Willie.”

January stood to accept the handshake. “Jan Farrell.”

“I know. I work the ER. When Goldman brought that burglar in, he told me all about you.” Willie’s grip was firm, her smile warm and genuine. January knew at once she and Willie were going to be friends.

Over the years, she’d met other wives of men she’d worked with. There’d always been a hint of jealousy, a trace of resentment or envy. Willie exhibited none of that. I’m no threat and she knows it. She’s confident in her husband and his love. That would be wonderful…No, I don’t need that, don’t need a man to make me whole. I’m not my mother.

January sat again while Willie slid into the bench seat beside Phil. They exchanged a look, the kind needing no words to say volumes about the bond between them. Before Willie could turn up her coffee cup, Maye appeared, flipped it over and filled it, then took their orders. The rest all said the usual, but January ordered French toast and a big glass of grapefruit juice. Maybe the citric acid will wash last night’s bad taste out of my mouth.

After she greeted each of the other officers by name, Willie turned back to January. “So you’re Gunn’s latest victim. When Phil was training with him, I was ready to kill that sorry sucker more than once. Has your hand itched for the pistol yet?”

January had to chuckle. “You know him, then.”

“You could say that.” Willie’s tone held a load of meaning. “Let me give you an example. I’d only been working at the hospital about six weeks when he came in with a guy who’d been cut up in a brawl. I guess Gunn was going to put the guy in jail after we patched him up. Anyway, I went over to see if this cop needed anything. After he said he didn’t, I made a comment about the night being hot. He gave me one of those fish-eyed looks and said, ‘When I’m on duty, I don’t waste time on trivial conversation.’ I wanted to smack him up alongside the head! Of course that isn’t exactly professional conduct…so I didn’t, but damn, I wanted to!”

Ray broke in. “He took Jan to The Roost last night, her first night, right after they busted that burglary at Carlings’.”

Willie’s mouth shaped a shocked, silent O. “He didn’t!”

“He did. I—it wasn’t as if I hadn’t seen prostitutes before or dealt with lesbians, but damn it, I needed a real break, some coffee and a chance to wind down a little, but he springs that on me.”

“Typical Gunn. Oh, he’s clever, probably a genius, but he’s sure diabolical. Those eyes—makes you wonder what’s going on in that brain behind them.” Willie’s full lips pulled down in a grim bow. “I’d kill the sorry sucker the first week, if I was in your shoes.”

“I thought maybe it was just me. Is he always a sarcastic, supercilious ess-oh-bee?”

“Yeah, he makes a profession of it.” Dan’s words sounded almost as bitter as January felt. All the officers agreed.

After a moment, Andre spoke, his tone serious. “Gotta give the devil his due, though. He’s one heck of a cop. Has a sixth sense about burglaries, what to do and when to do it. Always comes out unscathed, smelling like the proverbial rose, too. Back in Louisiana, folks’d say he had the hoodoo.”

Willie shook her head. “Hard man to understand.” She reached over and patted Phil’s knee under the edge of the table. “But you learned a lot from him, didn’t you, Hon?”

Phil nodded. “Yeah, if you can survive, Jan, you’ll have more experience and know-how stored away than a lot of ten year veterans, but he won’t cut you any slack.”

“I was wondering whether to take it all personally or not. I mean, is he a woman hater? He seems adamant about making me quit.”

“No.” They all spoke together, then Phil continued.

“No, he dates different women, off and on, nothing serious but he’s definitely not gay, anyway. But he’s not a womanizer, either.” He paused, as if searching for words. “He’s rough on all the rookies, almost like a compulsion about toughening them up, making them bullet-proof, but I don’t know why he’d single you out.”

“He dates just about every eligible lady in town. Never misses the Marine Corp birthday ball, either,” Willie added. “We usually go too, and he’s always there in dress blues, looking like a recruiting poster. Never twice with the same lady, though. He took Maye once, and last year it was that lawyer, what’s her name?”

“Karen Calloway?”

“Right. She and Dr. Sanford just got married.”

January’s attention wandered for a moment. She pictured the tall, lithe man in dress blues, dancing like he walked, effortlessly and with total control. The image sent a slight shiver fluttering through her, one she could not explain. Oh yeah, he’s a former Marine. Well, that’s part of the attitude, I guess. Maybe he had problems with women Marines, something real serious. Yeah, that’s probably it.

When the group broke up to head home, she felt a twinge of regret. Now she’d have to face that bleak apartment, solitude, and the tangle of impressions, images, and events buzzing in her mind like a swarm of disturbed bees.

She slept badly, bothered by the daylight seeping in around the drawn drapes, the heat of the boxy little room, and a mare’s nest of dreams in which the six prostitutes burglarized a jewelry store, the foul-mouthed burglar served her coffee and Thad Gunn hovered at every turn, grinning at her with his pale eyes wide.

Finally, at eight P.M., she got up, showered, and ate a quick meal. For an instant, she contemplated not going to work, maybe calling in sick or simply packing up and leaving town. But she couldn’t.

I’m not a damn quitter. I can stick it out. It’s not as long as boot camp. I can deal with it. I’ve got to. I’m not alone, anyway. Maye and Willie can be the kind of friends I haven’t had in years, and some of the other officers are already rooting for me. The little pep talk made her feel better.

Before she put on her uniform, she went through her whole Tai Chi routine. That made her feel better too—calm, centered and able to cope with whatever the night might hold. She did enjoy putting on the dark blue uniform, buckling the black basket-weave gun belt around her waist, and brushing a hint of dust from the bronze Riverton Police Department badge. Wasn’t this what she’d wanted for a long time?

Still, Gunn continued to haunt her, awake as well as asleep. What would he do for an encore? He surely hadn’t exhausted his bag of tricks this quickly.

I can’t second-guess him—yet. But I did get one on him last night, and if I pay attention, I’ll find more c****s in his armor, enough to let him know I’m not lacking in defenses.

January didn’t want to make Gunn really angry, but she’d never been one to let people run over her rough-shod. She wasn’t about to start now.