Career Broken by D I Jolly
After three days of sitting in what felt like an award winningly uncomfortable chair, Frank finally got to see his wife open her eyes, and smile her nervous smile, which he loved so much. Then he had to watch it faulter, and fade as he told her that their baby hadn’t survived.
Three days of almost no sleep as he went through list after list of the criminals he’d put away. All the while wondering who among them was stupid enough to take revenge on him by going after his family, and whether or not the plan was simply to inflict pain, or if they wanted to kidnap his pregnant wife, and underestimating how hard that would be. Whoever it was, and wherever they were now, Frank knew in his heart that they were suffering at least a few broken bones, and that gave him a sense of comfort. When he looked up from his note pad to watch her breath, he felt desperate, and sad, but also incredibly proud.
When the doctors rushed in to restart her heart after he told her the news, and eventually put her back to sleep, giving her body more time to recover, it was suggested that he go home, get some rest, and also take some time. Frank kissed her on the cheek, whispered that he loved her, and drove himself to work.
The room fell silent when senior detective Frank Oslo walked in, and before he could get to his desk the chief of police stepped out in front of him, put a hand on his shoulder and told him to go home. To rest, to take a break, to recharge. Which felt like the final straw. The permission he needed, which couldn’t come from a doctor he didn’t know, but could come from someone he respected.
At home Frank poured himself a large glass of the first strong liquor he could wrap his hands around, downed it, threw the glass across the room so it shattered against the far wall and screamed until his ears rang. Then he took a shower and went to bed, content that of everyone he’d ever arrested, there really weren’t that many people dumb enough to do what someone had done.
At 11:47 the next day Frank parked his car across the street from ‘Smiling Johns Bar’, a place that every cop knew about, and none went into. At 12:19 Frank walked through the door and smiled at Dirty Danny Dirt who didn’t smile back at him. Frank took a seat at the bar, reached over the counter and grabbed a bottle of something that looked strong and a glass, poured himself a large measure and then stared straight into Dirty Danny Dirt’s eyes as he downed it.
“You know why I’m here?”
“No officer, I do not.”
Frank smiled again and poured himself another measure.
“But you do know who I am?”
“And that why I have no clue why you’re here.”
Frank downed his drink again and this time let himself feel it burn its way down before saying.
“Someone went after my family last week, they rammed my wife’s car, the attacked her when she got out, they killed my unborn baby. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about any of that, would you?”
They stared at each other for a moment then Dirty Danny Dirt said with a shrug.
“Nope, not the faintest clue.”
Which made Frank chuckle a bit before saying.
“See, when you say it like that, you know, I just find it very hard to believe you.”
“I don’t see how that’s my problem.”
Frank reached into his coat, pulled out his gun, and placed it on the bar next to his glass. Which made Danny Dirt smile.
“And what’s that for officer? You going to kill me for not knowing anything about a crime?”
Frank’s face suddenly turned a little pale and his eyes unfocused. He saw his wife rushed through the hospital doors. He saw the doctors and nurses clambering to stop the bleeding, to keep her alive long enough to try and put her back together.
“No, no I’m not going to kill you.’ Frank then pulled a scalpel out of one pocket and a set of brass knuckles out of another, ‘But I will take your eyes, and cut out your tongue. I’ll blow out your ear drums and shatter your nose, I’ll crack your spine in a dozen places, but I won’t kill you. You won’t be able to see, speak, hear, taste, smell or move, but you’ll be alive, a dirty mind trapped in a useless rotting body wishing for death, unable to tell anyone.”
Franks eyes refocused and he poured himself another drink, then looked over to Dirty Danny Dirt and smiled.
“So what do you say you tell me what you know, or try a little harder to convince me that you actually don’t know anything.”
Danny looked at the gun for a long moment until he heard Frank say,
“Oh, please follow that thought through, I’d love you to try.”
“I… I really don’t know anything.”
Frank stared at him for a long second then picked up his gun and shot Danny in the foot. He then slipped on the brass knuckles and walked behind the bar, grabbed a handful of napkins, stamped on Danny’s bleeding foot causing him to scream even louder and stuffed the napkins into his open mouth. Frank continued to hold him like that as he slammed his fist into Danny’s side, again, and again, and again.
His eyes seemed to burn red with fury but when he spoke it was the same calm tone he’d had when he walked in.
“You sure? You didn’t happen to hear anything about someone planning on doing something really stupid? Nothing at all.”
Danny spluttered and spat to get the napkins out of his mouth and half yelled,
“You’re a cop!”
Which got another smile from Frank.
“I’m currently taking a few personal days.”
As he spoke, he leaned more weight onto the bullet whole and gave another quick but violent jab to Danny’s side.
Danny cried out again and Frank reached for more napkins.
“No wait, wait wait wait, please, yes, I heard something, please, I’ll tell you.”
Frank simply stared at Danny and waited.
“A few years ago, you put Roman Napier’s daughter Rose away for drugs and sex trafficking. A couple weeks ago she came off worse in a prison riot and was in hospital for a while. Word around was Mr Napier felt like it was your fault for putting her there in the first place.”
Frank let out a breath as a few puzzle pieces fell into place in his mind, then he smiled at Danny.
“Can you imagine how much easier today would have gone if you had just started with that?”
Frank rose and grabbed that handful of napkins which made Danny begin to panic.
“No, wait, what are you doing? I don’t know anything else.”
Frank looked down at him and said with unchanged calm.
“See, now this time I believe you, and you know everyone else is going to believe me when I tell them that you gave me this information, so you better hope it’s true because it would be a shame to throw your life away on a lie.”
Frank’s face suddenly turned furious and savage and he brought the brass knuckles down against the side of Danny’s face with a crack of breaking bones, sending his eyes into the back of his head and his head to the ground.
He then dropped the napkins, and when through Danny’s pockets until he found the bar keys and made sure to lock everything up before he went back to his car to go find the Napier Estate.
To be continued…