Storm yawned as he stared ahead watching the traffic in front of him moving painfully slow like it does pretty much every morning.
Traffic was always like this near downtown, especially when the office buildings were let out for lunch. It was a total traffic jam every single time without fail no matter what street you took.
Honestly, Storm should be used to this by now. It is Monday after all. A new work week has started and summer is nearing its end which means school will be starting soon which also means traffic will worsen.
This was one of the reasons why Storm preferred to work in the afternoon or night. Sure he could do next to nothing when his shift is over, but traffic would be mild or nonexcited when he was coming to work or going home.
While waiting, Storm reflected on what happened three weeks ago.
Comet had come to Storm with a favor. Spark, a young teenager, was being targeted by a group that used her hacking talent to help them steal a priceless vehicle. When it was done she didn’t get her share and they threatened to sell her, her mother, and her younger sister to a group that’s known for human trafficking.
The raid was successful, but none of the members of the group were arrested. Comet worries that they will turn on Spark when everything clams down. They did make a pretty obvious what why they were there.
Storm, Star, and Buck agreed to come with Comet to the warehouse camp to see what they could do. On arrival, there was a clear drug deal going in progress. What made it even better was that four of the members were there.
Comet made a call to HTR patrol for backup, when they all agreed that this was justified.
HTR arrived and the rest was history. The four guys were taken in, the buyers were scared off, the car and drugs were confiscated and the warehouse camp was safer than it was three weeks ago. Everyone wins. Mostly.
Finally, getting off the highway Storm is now in the homestretch of getting to the office. He had to get through five lights and two stop signs going north.
At the third stop light, Storm heard multiple load pops from his right. At first, Storm glanced around looking for the source, but no one was in the area. Then he heard it again this time there was screaming.
Storm started to look around for where it was coming from. On his right, he saw a person wearing a hoodie and pants walking into a building holding what looked to be an assault rifle.
Knowing what was about to happen the second he saw it. Storm got out of his car and rushed to the building. While running Storm called the office for backup with this being an active shooter downtown.
Inside Storm walked past many people who seemed to be frozen in place. Storm showed his badge and gestured for them to leave. Most of them did while others were still in shock and Storm had to shake them before they ran for the exit.
Following the gunshots Storm couldn’t help but look at the bodies on the ground, he must have passed at least four. Storm had his gun out ready to shoot when he had the opportunity. As Storm neared a corner he could see the black hoodie from a reflection from a window. He was banging on an office door.
Storm knew he had the element of surprise on his side which every cop wants in this type of situation. Storm would feel much better if he had backup or something besides his off-duty weapon. A person with an AR versus a person with a 9mm wasn't a favorable match-up. The small hallway didn’t help either, the bullets from the AR could rip right through the walls if Storm ducked for cover behind it.
However, he couldn’t let this sluther continue. This guy just walked into a building people go into almost daily to do their job and he just comes in and decides to kill them for what reason?
Storm took a deep breath before coming out of hiding and announcing himself. “POLICE HANDS IN THE AIR!” Storm yelled.
The shooter stopped banging on the door. He slowly turned around to face Storm. His hood was not up and had a mask on covering his mouth only revealing his eyes.
“Give it up,” Storm said. “Officers are moving in right now. Don’t do anything stupid.”
The shooter didn’t say anything most likely weighing his options. He didn’t think he’d be interrupted 10 minutes into his killing spree by an off-duty cop on his way to work.
Storm was about to repeat himself when the shooter started to raise his weapon and fired. Storm fired his weapon before the AR was halfway up.
Two shoots to the neck and he was down. Keeping his guard up Storm didn't approach instead he waited for backup to arrive.
After identifying himself responding officers cleared the building for any other shooter.
While outside, Comet and Star arrived, both of them wearing ballistic vests.
“Nice of you guys to show up,” Storm said when he spotted them. “What took so long?”
“We were at a parking garage across the district,” Comet explained. “There was a call about a guy with a rifle picking people off on the street. It happened the same time this one came over the radio.”
“What?” Storm nearly yelled. “How many over there?”
“At the moment 10 victims were shot. We don’t know how many are dead.” Star answered. “We believed that he used a hunting rifle. When HTR got there, the shooter was long gone. Buck, Clover, and Phantom are helping with the search.”
“Two separate shootings happened at the same time and 20 possible victims in total,” Storm said to himself. “No way this was a coincidence. This was planned out.”
“That’s what we need to find out,” Comet said watching the corners enter the building. “Looks like we have our next case.”
"So," Star said tapping on the whiteboard covered in photos of the two crime scenes. "It's clear that our shooters had intended targets. If this were a mass shooter they would have killed more."
"The big question is what are the connections?" Clover asked. "Twenty bodies in 15 minutes is very troubling. This was planned out based on the time they started.”
"Ballistics said that all victims from both shootings were killed by a single shot to the head or heart," Comet added. "So, that could mean they are experts, or at least know what they are doing."
"The thing is that we don't know if there are more targets," Phantom reminded. "The attacks happened at the same time. Which could mean they are working together."
"The only bright side is that Storm killed one of them," Buck said. "So, that's one less person we need to track. The only problem is what the other one is going to do when he finds out his friend is dead.”
Star tapped the whiteboard again. "Whoever they are, he or she slipped past responding officers. How the hell did he do that while having a rifle?"
"The shooter was from a distance, we don't have a suspect for that one," Clover explained. “The building he was at also had multiple exits from the alley to the main street. As for the rifle it depends. Some of them can be broken down easily. It can be hidden in a shopping bag, backpack, or maybe even your jacket.”
"So, we don't have Jack," Buck said.
Comet sighed. "Based on what Storm said, the first shooter was moving pretty fast. There were way more workers on that floor at both locations.”
"They had a kill list," Phantom suggested. "The count could have been higher for both of them."
"We're not gonna get anywhere just sitting here," Clover said before tapping on her keyboard. "I'll stay here and look through both company's recent actions as well as their employees."
"Work drama smart," Star commented. "I'll head to the hospital. See if any of the workers got anything to say."
"Me and Phantom are gonna check with the anti-terrorists unit and see if any group is involved," Buck announced. “Maybe this was retaliation for something that happened overseas.”
"I'll head to the hospital with Star," Comet said. "Interacting with people by yourself isn't your strong suit."
"I wasn't at first, but now I'm improving ask Strom," Star looked around the room for his partner. "Wait, where is Storm?"
"He's at the mayor's office with Night," Clover answered. "The two shooters this morning freaked out the city."
"Since when does the mayor care about city safety?" Comet asked. “He hasn’t for the past three years.”
"When he found out that other candidates in the election want to put safety over profit," Buck said in an annoyed voice. "Three years too late for that."
The mayor’s office is easily one of the oldest buildings in the city besides the handful of historic buildings around the city. Besides the capital, the western bridges that run through Districts 1,2, and 3 and the Topwood are the few original landmarks of the city when it was being built.
Located right in the middle of District 3, The building itself is surrounded by a fence with a gate at the front entrance and the parking lot. The guards, some of them being police officers were standing guard near the front. The security measures were added after the events of the District riots years ago.
Storm worked as a guard here when he was on probation during his first few months in the department. It was mandatory since the previous mayor wanted to have a closer relationship with the first responders of the city.
Security has been high since the events that happened this morning. Tension has been high throughout the city. HTR officers were seen almost on every street on their way to the mayor's office. Two killers being loose that killed 20 people without warning should put the city on edge.
Storm wasn’t looking forward to this meeting. It wasn’t because of the sniper or the multiple dead workers. It’s because Storm and Night will have to explain all of this to a brick wall also known as Mayor Sky.
"Can one of you tell me what the hell is going on?" Mayor Sky asked with clear frustration in his voice. “The press wants an answer now.”
"We're working on it," Night replied. "As of right now, both incidents happened at the same time at their location. One used a rifle, and the other that Officer Storm responded to used a heavily modified AR-15. He died on his way to the hospital. The other got away.”
"I’d feel better if you caught both of them,” Mayor Sky scoffed. “Now we have a killer running loose in the city. He could go on another killing spree for all we know.”
Storm sighed mentally. He rather be with Star and the others than be here talking with the Mayor. With them, they could get somewhere.
The only reason why Storm is here is because he’s second in command of the task force. So, that means that he’ll have to attend meetings like this with and without Night when the situation or time calls for it. It was one of the reasons why he didn’t want to be the leader of the task force. Because 9 times out of 10 Mayor Sky will host the meeting.
Mayor Sky hasn’t been a great mayor of the city in the 4 years he's been in office. During that time he focused most of the city budget on the upper districts and downtown to bring tourists to the city. However, when he did this lower district's needs were ignored, and in his defense, he blamed the first responders, businesses in the area, and pretty much everyone and everything but himself.
During that time Mayor Shy improved the roads and the rails in and around downtown making transportation easier and improved utilities as well. It would be great if those same things happened in the lower districts.
“I understand your frustration,” Night continued. “The task force is working on leads as we speak. All bus and rail stations are on high alert as well as the airport and other units patrolling the city.”
Mayor Sky sighed. He looked at the clock on the wall. “Fine, I’m going to get ready for the press conference with the news stations. I want updates by the hour and keep me in the loop on the progress on tracking this psycho.”
“We dropped the ball on making him our mayor,” Storm said as he pulled out of the parking garage. “All he cares about is how good he looks for the cameras and his public image. He pretty much kicked us out of the office to have that press conference.”
“There weren’t too many options in the polls,” Night reminded. “It was either him or that guy from Vancouver.”
“At least he gives a crap about the city and would put safety over profit. Sky cut our budget along with others in half and blamed us for the crime spike.”
Night took out her phone. “Yeah, well, I hope the team found something because it didn't sound like we had a lot to go on when we left.”
“Speaking of that, why the heck did Sky ask me to be there? He knows you are the leader of the task force right?”
“If I had to guess it was because you and the governor were having those talks for the past few weeks,” Night guessed.
Storm remembered that week. When the task force was being formed Governor Drip would make multiple visits to Storm’s old precinct to hammer out the details. Mayor Sky would be there because he was just “passing through.” During that time Storm knew what kind of person Mayor Sky was.
Soon they arrived at the station and everyone was there in the office.
“Perfect timing,” Star greeted. “We got alot of info.”
Storm sat at his desk and stared at the evidence board. "Alright catch me up. What do we know?”
"I found out that both companies that were attacked are part of a program that assisted with giving jobs to army veterans that were discharged," Clover begins. "It's been successful, they've been in the newspapers for a while now giving jobs and medical help to other veterans."
"The Anti terrorists unit didn't have anything on either shooting. No group is claiming this," Phantom informed. "So, that's a bright side more or less."
"What about the shooter I dropped?" Storm asked. "Did anything pop up on him?"
"We did and that's where it gets interesting." Star opened his notepad. "The shooter you killed is Breeze Meadow, a war vet who was denied employment at both businesses because he had a dishonorable discharge for drug possession. Dude had more white power than those guys we busted three weeks ago.”
"Isn't that a felony?" Phantom asked.
"It might as well be," Buck said. "With that discharge on his record, he can't own or possibly a gun, vote, or get any kind of loans from the bank. Let alone a decent job."
"At least Eight of the victims that are in the hospital were in his unit. One of them recognized him. They were in the same unit overseas. The whole unit testified against him,” Comet explained. “From what he told me he wasn’t a good guy. As for the AR, there was a reason why he was such a good shoot on that floor. He was in a combat unit that saw alot of action before he got kicked out.”
"We have a MO for my shooter," Storm pointed to a blank paper with SHOOTER #2 above it in black marker. "What about the sniper? Did any information come up on the canvas?"
Comet sighed. "No witnesses saw anyone enter the building across the street or stalking around the property. Forget about getting a proper ID."
"One is dead and the other is missing, " Star commented. "What now?"
"Let’s keep working with the military angle," Clover asked. "We still don't have proof the two attacks are connected. Both businesses use this program to hire all their employees. Maybe they tried to apply and were denied."
Night finally spoke up. "It's worth a shot. The security group looked to be the main target. As for everyone else search for any possible connection with the victims and our dead suspect."
Before everyone could embark on their work. Dusk, the front desk sergeant came upstairs. He had an annoyed look on his face that was petty much his default emotion.
“Dusk?” Night said. “What’s going on?”
“You guys need to see something,” Dusk said turning on the TV in the corner. “It’s the Mayor’s press conference.”
“Is it bad?” Storm asked.
“Yeah. It is."
For the past two hours, everyone worked on the case as quickly as possible, trying to find a lead of any kind, since the cat was out of the bag. Mayor Sky’s press conference this morning caused more harm than good. He revealed the information from the meeting with Night and Storm.
After the press conference was over Night went straight to her office and shut the door, a few minutes later everyone could hear muffled shouting. Most likely at someone in the Mayor's office because of the press conference.
Star found out about a storage unit locker that belonged to Breeze Meadow. Taking no chances Storm, Clover, and Phantom tagged along since HTR was pretty much taking over full patrol duties for the downtown area. Comet and Buck stayed behind to find out more about the attackers and check if there were any more targets.”
“How long has she been yelling?” Buck asked.
Comet glanced at her watch. “About a solid 30 minutes. I don’t think she even took a breath yet.”
“Well, I hope whoever she’s yelling at is the right person. Even if the door is closed I could make out a few of those words.” Buck continued to look through records till he found something. "You said that guy was in a combat unit in the army right?"
"Yeah, why?" Comet asked.
"There was another discharge from his unit in the same year. One was him, the other was Dapper Haze. Similar charge, same platoon.”
"Both charged?"
"Yep, with the same thing too. The notes from the case said that the whole unit was in on it, but instead, Meadow and Daze were the only ones singled out. Both of them had other disciplinary actions as well those were minor.” Buck explained. "This could be the guy with the rifle from the shooting we responded to. It’s a stretch, but back in the unit, he was skilled with multiple long-range rifles. The only one in the platoon.”
“It fits. I’ll look more into Daze since he’s our only suspect. I’ll call Clover and let her know.”
The storage unit was one of the more shady ones on the edge of the city. While it was still in their jurisdiction it was far enough to be considered in Woodway rather than the city. If it wasn’t Star, Storm would have never found the place.
The building itself looked to be very worn out. Anyone else would think it was just a foreclosed building with a black fence. It was a pretty good spot for hiding or other activity.
The manager on duty was very standoffish when they arrived. Hardly replying and only responding to Clover. When they showed him the search warrant along with why they were there, he completely changed his tone. Suddenly he was very helpful and asked what else they were here for. He constantly repeated the question on the way to the unit.
Walking to the locker Storm noticed that the building wasn’t very well kept. Leaks here and there, multiple lights out, and extension cords were inside almost all the lockers. Storm knew nothing about building code or about owning a storage unit building, but he was pretty sure none of this was allowed.
"572 this is it," Clover announced. "Open it."
"So, you guys are only going to check the one locker number 572?" The manager asked.
"Ask us that one more time and will toss this whole place starting with your building records," Storm warned. “Now open it.”
The manager replied by unlocking the door and stepping away.
Star opened the door to reveal a 5X15 room with a desk littered with papers along with a medium-sized bulletin board beside it and a few boxes were scattered throughout the room.
Phantom, Storm, and Clover begin searching the unit while Star questioned the manager.
"Ammo here," Buck called out. "Alot of it too."
"I knew nothing about that." The manager blurted out.
"Right," Star replied. "How long has this unit been owned by Haze?"
"About two months. I caught him and another guy here a few times."
"Have you seen him with anyone else?" Star asked. “Besides the other guy?”
"No, he mainly kept to himself. He hardly said a word to me when he was doing the paperwork."
"This unit belonged to our guy," Buck said as he took out multiple boxes of ammo. "Most of them belong to assault rifles and bolt action rifles.
“Found some stuff that can be used to modify guns and to make homemade bombs,” Phantom said closing a box. “I’m going to call ATF and Bomb squad. I don’t think this guy is done.”
"I second that," Clover chimed in. "I got multiple pictures of the areas where both shootings happened along with a schedule of some kind. I think it’s the train.”
"I got the cherry on top,” Storm pulled out a KRISS Vector from a box. “We have to find this guy now.”
Phantom whistled seeing the weapon. "Can't get those in these parts."
"We're gonna need all the information you have on Haze. Does that paperwork have his address?" Star asked.
The manager hesitated. "I'm pretty sure the warrant doesn't include my records."
"I'm pretty sure it's illegal for people to live in storage units,” Star pointed down the hall to the multiple wires leading into storage lockers. “
“I’ll get it for you right away.” He said.
Storm drove the unmarked police car into a gas station parking lot. Just ahead of them is the entrance to an apartment complex that has 14 buildings each of them having 12 apartments in each. That means out of 168 apartments one of them belonged to Dapper Haze.
After returning to the office and explaining what they discovered about Dapper Haze, what they found in the storage locker, and the CCTV video from earlier that showed him loading many boxes in the back of a moving van. Everyone agreed that he was far from being done and had another target in mind.
The paperwork from the moving company records shows the same address for the residence when Haze was in the army. The front office confirmed that he does live there and a neighbor said that they had seen him arrive not too long ago.
Normally, Storm would use one of Star’s plans of action which included blitzing the location with overwhelming manpower and of course the element of surprise, but that won’t be ideal with a person like this and the location as well.
Star pointed to a building near the back. “That’s the apartment complex. Haze lives in building J, apartment 806 on the third floor facing the highway. This is a plus since wouldn’t see us coming.”
“Is everyone in position?” Storm asked.
“More or less,” Star answered. “Buck and Phantom parked diagonally from the building, Comet is parked behind him just under a window that’s connected to his kitchen and Clover is on one of the rooftops. She doesn’t have a clear shot, but she can see him.”
“What about HTR’s ETA?”
“About 15 minutes. Without lights and sirens. We don’t want to spook him.”
“Guess it’s our turn to go in.” Storm turned on the car and drove out of the lot. “I’d feel better if HTR was here. Just in case crap hits the fan.”
Storm followed behind a car into the complex after the gate was opened. Storm parked in a spot across from the building. A large tree provided shade and cover.
“And now we wait,” Storm said when he parked. “Come out and make this easy for us.”
Star looked at the top floor with binoculars he got for the equipment room. “I hope Haze is the only one left in this. There was alot of ammo and guns in that storage locker.”
“Which is why we need him alive,” Storm reminded. “If there are others then we can just get the information out of him. If there was no one else then he can get the death penalty for all I care.”
“So, we're just watching him till HTR gets here?” Star asked.
“Yup, this guy killed 10 people with a hunting rifle and his on the third floor. I’m not taking any chances. Besides he had quite an arsenal in that locker.”
“Yeah, I guess you're right. Maybe he’s getting his last rights in.”
“Last rights?” Storm asked.
“The last prayers before you die. He killed 10 people. Even if we take him alive, he’s getting the death penalty.”
Storm snapped his fingers. “That’s right. I forgot we brought that back. You think the courts are going to make an example of him?”
“Maybe, people are still pretty mad about the outcome of The Longwood Bucher case from years ago.”
Storm gagged. “Don’t. Just don’t.”
For 10 minutes everyone waited for Haze to make a move. Everyone had their weapons ready. Worse case, if Haze came out shooting, Clover would pick him off in a second, plus he needed to take out 5 officers with assault weapons across the parking lot.
After waiting a few more minutes, Haze exited his apartment and got inside the moving van.
Star lowered the binoculars when Haze got in the van. “Now what? HTR still isn’t here.”
Storm didn’t reply. There’s no telling what Haze has in the van from weapons to explosives based on what they found at the storage unit, HTR could handle this situation better. However, this area has alot of strip malls and shopping centers. Haze might try one last attack before HTR gets to him or they could be too late. Storm and his team were the only officers there.
Storm got on his radio. “Everyone get ready. Haze is in the van. We can not let him leave if he does surround him. We’ll be upfront, Comet you’ll get him from the back, Phantom, Buck if he goes past either of us force stop him. Hard. Clover, if he gets out and you have a shot take it.”
Everyone agreed and waited.
Eventually, Haze started the van and started to drive. Storm quickly put the car in gear and raced in front of the van blocking the road. Comet came up behind and did the same thing.
Haze realized what was happening immediately. He reversed back, clipping the rear bumper of Comet’s car before driving towards the exit. That was short-lived when Buck T-boned him with the unmarked pick-up truck on the passenger side.
That didn't stop Haze. He shifted the van into drive and sped towards the exit of the complex. Storm followed closely behind him.
When Haze got on the road he was going 55, maybe 60. Storm stayed on Haze's tail but stayed a safe distance from him. The homemade explosives from the locker were still in Storm's mind.
The lights and sirens assisted with getting everyone out of the way for the most part. There were a few times when Storm had to squeeze by cars or speed through intersections to keep the van in sight.
Eight minutes into the chase, Haze drove into a grocery store parking lot, nearly hitting 3 people when he entered the lot. Storm slowed his pace, but he kept him in sight.
Haze soon stopped in the corner of the lot, and jumped out of the van with an AR in hand. He started shooting the second he saw Storm approaching in the car.
Storm turned using the line of parked cars as cover from the bullets.
“You good?” Storm asked.
“I’ll live,” Star replied before grabbing the AR-15. “Let’s get this guy before he adds to his body count.”
Storm nodded and took the Remington. A shotgun against an AR in a large open area is less than ideal, but he needed more power than his sidearm. Storm got lucky ones with an AR missing him, he doesn’t want to push his luck a second time in less than a day.
The unmarked vehicles Buck and Comet drove in along with HTR vehicles arrived in the lot. HTR took charge of the situation, surrounding the van with their armored vehicles and clearing the area in case things took a turn for the worst.
“Right on time,” Storm said when Buck and Comet arrived by his side. "Where's Clover?"
"She with Phantom," Comet said pointing her gun at the van. "We heard the gunshots you guys ok?”
“Bad guys can't aim,” Star replied. “When he saw you guys he got right back in the van. What do you think he's doing in there?”
“Probably weighing his options,” Buck guessed. “Less than 20 minutes ago he was going somewhere. We ambushed him at his apartment complex, took us on a short car chase and now he’s surrounded by at least a dozen officers who are pointing their guns at him in the corner of a grocery store parking lot in a moving van.”
After about 2 minutes the side door of the van slid open without warning. Haze then proceeded to fire outside blindly. By instinct Storm and a few others took over behind the car when the shots came. Star, Buck, Comet, and other officers stood their ground and returned fire.
After 15 seconds of gunfire, it was silent. Storm got out of cover to see the moving van filled with bullets and a single limp body inside, his arm hanging outside the door. “I think we got em.”
“Fast work again Storm,” Night complimented. “Your team found our guy in less than a day again. Chief likes what he’s seeing.”
“I’m just glad we found this guy when we did,” Storm lifted a paper. “Did you read the inventory report from the van we shot up?”
“I did. A heavily modified AR-15, 5 box magazines, 3 pipe bombs, the armored vest he was wearing along with 2 homemade explosive devices that somehow didn’t get him by almost 35 rounds.”
“Yeah, Buck and Phantom went back to the apartment complex. In his apartment, was a note saying how the army recruiters lied to him and his former army brothers betrayed him after his discharge. He was going to the recruiting center for his next attack. I don’t know if Meadow’s death played a part or not.”
Night shook her head. “Either way I don’t think he was planning on being alive at the end of the day.”
“Agreed,” Strom said getting up from the chair. “Well, we're all about to take off. Need anything?”
“A quiet night.”
Storm chuckled. “Good luck with that request.”