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"Special operations unit."
"Trained killer. Should I be scared?"
"No, you have the guns, remember." Felicia laughed. "What turned you? What made you decide to go back to school?"
"One day I had finally seen enough. Did enough. Too much."
"Sounds like you got a story."
"You don’t want to hear about that."
"Yes I do, Felicia. I love a good story."
"Well, I’m not sure I want to tell you."
"What? You think it will scare me. I don’t scare easy."
"No kiddin’." Felicia took a playful swing at me. "You could probably tell me stories that make mine sound like a church social."
"Maybe."
"I’ll try and stick to the highlights, so stop me if I bore you."
"I’m sure I won’t need to."
"Alrighty then. I’ve told this story so many times, one more time ain’t goin’ hurt. Officer Morgan and I, Morgan, that was my partner, we responded to a domestic disturbance call. When we got there, Officer Morgan knocked on the door and identified himself. They opened up on us right then." She giggled. "I mean, the suspects began firing at us through the door."
"All right now." I kept thinking Felicia was much too pretty to be a cop. "Try to keep it real for me."
"Anyway." Felicia cut her eyes at me.
"Why’d they just start blastin’ like that?"
"Drug deal, in progress." She had pretty eyes, very expressive eyes. "I was goin’ to call for back up, but Morgan kicked in the door and went in. By the time I got in there, one of them was tryin’ to gather up the drugs from the table. He fired at me. I returned fire and hit him with two shots in his chest. I looked for Morgan; he was runnin’ up the stairs. He yelled, ‘They’re goin’ out the back!’ I ran down the hallway. I could see the back door was open. Then I saw someone run out, but they were gone by the time I got there. I started back up the hall, when one of them came runnin’ out. I shot him, kicked his gun away, and kept moving up the hallway. I yelled for Morgan, but he didn’t answer. Shots were still bein’ fired. I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. When I cleared the hallway, I saw one on the steps. He shot at me, and I ducked back in the hallway. I shot back blindly. I hit him in the back before he got out the door. There was still shooting upstairs. I moved toward the stairs. I looked up and saw Morgan chasing one down the stairs. I fired at him, he went down, and I took cover to reload.
"After awhile, Morgan came and sat next to me. It was over. I killed four people that day, Nick. Morgan killed three more. We just sat there looking at each other. Both of us knew we’d had enough. There was an investigation and it was ruled a clean shoot. But it was ugly. Very ugly, what I had to go through before they cleared me. Two days later I quit. Morgan quit about a month after that."
The waitress returned with our meals. We ate, talked, and laughed at this and that. I liked her laugh. I was starting to like her. Picture that, me liking somebody who wasn’t married.
"You know what, Nick? You don’t look like the type that used to run with Vicious Black."
"I don’t?"
"No, you don’t.’ Felicia smiled at me.
"Just what does that type look like?"
"I don’t know, I just know you don’t look like it."
"I guess that makes us even. I think your way to pretty to be a cop."
Felicia smiled, but looked away this time. "I actually met him once a couple of years ago."
"Who; Black?"
Felicia simply nodded her head.
"Really, where was that?"