Excerpts

Chapter 16

     Ellie walked in to the squad room at Manhattan South’s Homicide Squad on East Twenty-first Street the next morning and found a frenzy of activity going on all over the office. A SWAT team was gathering their gear as one of their commanders talked with Detective McCaffrey. Ellie had to admit to being a little disappointed. She had often daydreamed about what her first day would be like as a detective assigned to the Manhattan South Homicide Squad, the rush of getting her own desk and assignments, the sense of mission she would feel in helping the victims of high-profile crimes. However the field op they were preparing appeared to preclude any pride in personal advancement, at least for now.
     “Danson.” McCaffrey said, motioning for her to come over.
     “What’s up?”
     “Want you to meet the commander of this outfit, Captain Lou Serra.”
     “Pleased to meet you Ellie,” Capt. Serra said with an outstretched hand, “glad to have you aboard. Heard some fine things about you from Mike here.”
     “Thank you Captain.”
     “Pardon me for askin’ but ah, you’re John Danson’s kid right?”
     “Yes.” Ellie said.
     “Well won’t you look it that,” Serra said as though he were remembering something, “Johnnie Danson’s kid all grown up. He was a great cop, and a good man. If you need anything, you let me know all right?”
     “I will.” Ellie said with a nod and watched him head back to his office. Then she turned to McCaffrey.
     “So what’s up?”
     “We may have a lead.” McCaffrey said to her.
     “On the Banner or the Ackerman murder?” Ellie asked.
     “On both. Let’s go.”

     Ellie watched as they loaded up shotguns and automatic weapons while ribbing each other and then piled into the black SWAT van that sat outside. Boys and their toys, she thought, suppressing an urge to snort. She and McCaffrey got into a black and white just in front of it. As a patrol man in the driver’s seat made a turn onto Sixth Avenue, Ellie watched from the back, on the passenger side. McCaffrey turned around to hand her a tablet PC and a thumb drive. Ellie took it from him, slipped it into the PC’s USB slot and watched as the mug shot of a thin, lanky, balding man in his forties appeared on the display.
     “That’s Joe Petrovsky, a convicted sex offender who just got out on parole six months ago.”
     “Five to ten on rape and sodomy charges. How the hell did he get paroled?”
     “Well, prisons are overcrowded, so pressure is high on wardens to release prisoners.”
     “Even violent sex offenders?”
     “Unfortunately yes.” McCaffrey said with a shake of his head. “I caught a tip from one of our CIs that he’s been casing schools, parks, that sort of thing.”
     “How does that connect him to the Banner murder?”
     “Petrovsky was seen in the area the night of Ashley’s murder, and he’s got no alibi as far as we know for Ackerman’s. My CI says he’s got a room at a boarding house up in Alphabet City, works at one of the few meat-packing plants left in the area.”

     As they arrived at the boarding house, they were surprised to find Petrovsky walking in with a bag of groceries. When he saw them, he dropped the bag and took off. Ellie and McCaffrey were out of the car before the Black and White came to a stop along the curb. McCaffrey took the right side of the building while Ellie went left. She raced down a narrow alley, jumping over trash cans Petrovsky had knocked down on his way to the other side. She ran until she reached a corner and slowed, looking around for a shadow, a footprint, anything that might indicate where he was headed.
     “Petrovsky!” She called out, keeping her weapon raised. “We just want to talk! Don’t make this worse than it has to be.”
      She thought she heard footsteps around the corner and pressed herself against the side of the building, not sure if it was Petrovsky or McCaffrey. As she peeked around the corner for an instant to see who it was, a two-by-four hit her from behind, and she went sprawling to the ground.
     “Damn, you’d make a great lay,” Petrovsky said as he stood over her, “too bad I’m in a bit of a hurry.”
     He walked over and reached for her gun on the ground, when Ellie took his legs out from under him with a leg sweep. They struggled for the upper hand as her gun lay just out of reach. Finally Ellie drove a knee into his spine, then slammed his head against the pavement again and again as hard as she could until McCaffrey’s voice sounded out from behind. 
     “Get up ya mutt, with your hands up. Nice and slow.”
     Petrovsky went still as Ellie picked her weapon up and got to her feet. She frisked Petrovsky for weapons and brought him up against the wall, putting his hands behind his back.
     “You all right?”
     “I’m fine.” She said as she led Petrovsky out toward the street, but her back felt like hell.