SHADOWS SCENE
| AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a SCENE (not a complete story) from an as-yet unwritten novel, a sort of spinoff of my D Is For Damien series, more closely related to Minot. I have posted this rough scene before on another site and asked for readers' feedback. I thought I would do it again here.
I cannot vouch for this writing's authenticity; it's written more for the character development than anything else. Should you read this snippet, please also comment if you like! :) This scene takes place in a novel tentatively entitled Shadows. Max Kristeva is a detective with the Minot police department. His partner, Det. Chance Devetko--as well as two others, Det. Erica Tulie and Lt. Kincaid--have been shot and are now hospitalized, but Devetko is by far the worst off of the three. Kristeva has just gone to the hospital to pay him a visit... (Oh, and if you're wondering about Brooks and Devetko...yes, they are. Check out "Random Scene 3" for more on those two.) 
KRISTEVA WALKED DOWN the hall and stopped at the door to the room on the right where Devetko was staying. Before his hand had even touched the handle he saw Devetko wasn't alone. He paused before opening the door and stepping in, shutting it softly behind him. Brooks barely looked up as he entered. His back was to the detective. He didn't say anything. Kristeva moved to the other side of the bed and looked down at his partner. Devetko was still unconscious, a mask attached to a tube taped to his face. The respirator and heart monitor kept up a steady noise beside him. "Does that thing have to be on?" Kristeva glanced at Brooks, seeing the blank expression on his face. He was holding Devetko's hand in his own and still didn't look up. His voice came out as flat as his look. Kristeva looked at the machine pumping off to the side. "It's a respirator," he murmured. "He needs it on right now." Brooks shut his eyes. "I know. It's just so noisy." He opened his eyes again and looked down at Devetko. "He hasn't woken up yet." "He will." The room fell silent a moment before Brooks spoke again. "He called me the day before it happened," he said, his voice so soft Kristeva almost had to strain to hear him. "I was in a meeting. I didn't take the call. He didn't leave a message. If I'd just said hold on a minute and gone to take the call..." "You're not going to start blaming this on yourself," Kristeva said. "He and the others were going whether you had anything to say or not." Brooks shut his eyes again and took a breath. "I keep thinking maybe that was the last time I'd've been able to talk to him." Kristeva bit the inside of his mouth. "I'm the one who's supposed to think negative, Brooks. You're not thinking like yourself. He'll be fine." "I haven't been feeling like myself since this happened." "Nobody can blame you." Kristeva turned to the window a moment, looking out the blinds down at the city below. He imagined the heart monitor's and respirator's noises combining to form some kind of code, and if he listened to it long enough maybe he could find what he was looking for. Like whoever had done this, and why. Devetko, Kincaid, and Tulie had simply been walking down the street. Why would anybody have wanted to shoot them? And how could the person have known they were cops? Kincaid had said he'd heard somebody call out "Detective" before the first shot passed through Devetko and slammed into his shoulder... He moved away from the window, crossing the room around the foot of the bed and reaching out for the door handle. There was no way he could sort any of this out standing here. "Max." He paused again, barely looking over his shoulder. Brooks hadn't moved. "You'll find the guy who did this." It wasn't a question. Kristeva drew his hand back. "You know we will." He saw Brooks squeeze Devetko's hand harder. "I heard Chance was the only one who saw who did it. Tulie and the lieutenant didn't get to turn around in time. You don't have any suspects." The detective bit the inside of his mouth again. The slow steady pounding had started up behind his eyes, and he put up a hand to shield them from the light. "He's my partner. I'll find who did this." He hesitated, adding in a lower voice, "Someone who shoots three cops gets life. When we find him he won't be doing this again." For a moment Brooks didn't reply, and Kristeva was about to open the door when he finally spoke, again in that soft voice that made the detective lean back to catch what he said. "You find him, you make sure I don't meet him. I don't know what I'd want to do to him." Kristeva waited a second before nodding slightly. "I'll make sure he gets everything lawfully coming to him. You'll never have to see him short of prison." Brooks bowed his head a little and squeezed Devetko's hand. Kristeva opened the door and left the room. END |
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