It was gettin' to be that time. Eddie and I had just polished off one case, with "medals of honor", I call them. A bullet is made of metal and if ya get "pinned", fightin' off the bad guys, well, you do the math. Anyway, we were pretty bushed and decided to end the day right there. There was some thinkin' to do and we'd be in better shape the next day. "You about ready to call it a night?" I says. He just nodded his head, stifling a yawn and holdin' his arm, probably smartin' from them stitches and alcohol. He chuckled, "boy, it was somethin' - I think the needle from the stitches hurt a lot worse than the grazin' I took. the novocaine didn't really take, so every time the needle went in and out, I just kept squeezin' that table I was on. How you doin'?" "I'm a bit stiff. I think I need a massage." Eddie grinned, cracked his knuckles by stretchin' his arms out, "thought you'd never ask." "But, back home, huh? It's a lot more comfy back there, if ya take my meanin' ". Eddie pounded his hand with his fist and pointed at me, winkin', "right you are, boss-man". Mm, I loved it when he cracked his knuckles, pounded his fist. I love everything this guy does. Everything.
The next day, we get up, all set to see what we can do about this hit-man thing. Eddie still thought it'd be good to go down to the police station. "I dunno, it's just that I don't wanna leave any stone unturned, ya know?" I agreed, and thought it was good initiative on his part, so I says, "sure, let's go down there this morning."
Holy mackerel, it was a good thing we did. Get ready for somethin' here, it ain't a pretty story. We walk into the station, don't see anyone around, no cops, no nothin'. So we just walk through the place. Then we hear some voices, kinda muffled, "they should be around here somewhere", I says. Then we notice the door to the emergency center, where they take all them 911 calls. It was riddled with bullets. Eddie and I look at each other like, "what the heck is this". I draw out my piece and we walk in slowly, noticin' the switchboard was all shot up. "Holy crap! Who's the son of a bitch that done this?!?" Eddie said we ought to follow those voices, and so we go up and down the hallways, not seein' nobody. Then the voices get louder, like guys are moanin' or somethin'. We hit upon the locker room. I says, "hold up, lemme check this out" and push the door open. Man, I was scared to death. I come outta there and tell Eddie, "it ain't pretty in there, boy". Eddie was like, "lemme check this out" and we both go in and see every cop on the day shift, moanin', cryin' and stuff. The screamin' got louder as we went in. It was a sight that broke my heart and nearly sent my stomach flyin' outta my mouth. All the cops were handcuffed together, makin' like a chain all across the locker room, with them plastic cuffs that are so hard to undo. They were all cuffed to the legs on the benches. Blood was leakin' everywhere. Eddie lets out a gasp and puts his hand to his mouth. He looks at me and I says, "come on, step out for a sec". As we turned around, the cops started screamin' louder, but I says, "be back in a minute, we're gonna help you guys." I needed to see about Eddie, first, though. We stepped outside and Eddie took his hand from his mouth and was sayin', "oh my God", over and over again. He was shaken, I was shaken. He was cryin', "we gotta get them guys outta there, man, ya gotta lemme back in there!" I grabbed him and held him while he got the tears out. I took his face in my hands and said, "now, listen to me, ya gotta pull yourself together or else you ain't gonna be no good to them. We gotta do right by these guys", I gave him another bear hug, "we gotta do this" Eddie quickly put himself together and we went back in. "Hey, lemme get those wire cutters from the trunk". "Good idea", I said and sent him out there. He comes back with them in a minute and starts to undo the cops. When they ran out of room to stretch them across, some of them were strung up with the cuffs goin' over the water pipes, their feet not quite touchin' the ground. Those guys were shot in both arms. They were screaming 'cuz the muscles were bein' pulled with the bullets in them. Some of them had their feet cuffed and pulled around the bench legs. Their feet were shot. As Eddie unties everyone, they're all rubbin' their wrists, tendin' to their wounds, thankin' him between sobs. The guys at the water pipes grabbed their arms as they were free, the guys under the benches grabbed their feet. All their guns were missin', and if that ain't enough, Eddie saw some sharp things comin' outta their necks. "Darts, boss-man"
Aw, holy mother, what a mess this was. I then called 911 and reported the incident and they need plenty of ambulances. I tried to get what I could out of this, find out what went on. As some of the guys started tellin' me about this, I got the picture that a gang of guys wearin' ski masks went in, one of them whips out an AK-47 and starts firin'. As the cops started takin' cover, another gang member took out some sort of cross bow and started shooting the darts. As the cops fell, their guns were taken. Not all of them got this, just enough. "we got enough for all of you", referrin' to the darts. "You don't want this, then give up your guns, put up your hands". The entire day shift just stood there with their hands up. They were all corralled into the locker room, stretched out and cuffed. Guys were hung from the pipes. Some of them started gruntin' 'cuz the muscles were stretched, so all of them were shot once, either in the arms or legs, dependin' on what was bein' stretched.
The ambulances showed up and we led the paramedics to the scene, where all the cops were treated for everything. Eddie and I just looked upon all of this, side by side, my arm around him, poor kid was still shakin'. A smile came across my face. I was glad I listened to him, if not for wantin' to check parole files, who would've come in and seen to the cops. I was proud of him. "Ya did good, kid", I said as I tried to comfort him. "Ya did real good".