Damn!

I got shot. The friggin’ hole burns like hell. They had to cut me open to remove the lead. Said it clipped the…some nerve in my shoulder. Hell, if I knew anatomy I’d be a doctor, right?

They made me stay for a couple of days. Now I’ve got a wing in a sling and Cas is clucking all around me. I love her but right now I’m ready to claw out of my skin. I couldn’t help it. I snapped on her.

At first she looked like she was going cry but all the sudden her eyes glittered like dark sapphires, her jaw clenched, she flexed her fist open and closed a few times. Lord, I thought she was gonna spit fire!

Listen to me Justice Bernard. I’m not going to stand here and let you snipe at me. You’ve been shot and are under orders to take it easy. So sit down and shut up before I knock you clean into next week. I didn’t sit up and worry about you just to bring you home and have you act like a jerk!

She looked so cute all hoppin’ mad I just couldn’t help but grin at her. Earned myself a smack in the chest. At least she was sweet enough to make it my uninjured arm.

I’m supposed to be out of commission for a day or two longer, but hell with it, I’m going in tomorrow. Of course Cas doesn’t know I plan on it. She’s creative. She’d find a way to keep me pinned in here.

The pain is started to get worse. I better pop a pill before Cas sees me hurting. She won’t let up until I’m tucked all safe in bed—huh. Tucked in bed. She’d have to be there to take care of me. In bed. “Cas? Honey, I need one of the pills the doctor sent me home with. Can you help?”

Hey, I was only shot I’m not dead!

Every days a challenge

Some days this really gets to me. It feels like I’m trying to drain the ocean with a teaspoon. Every time we turn around there’s a new dealer to deal with. We busted a guy last night, small time dealer, but if we could get him to turn we could work our way up the food chain.

Sometimes we have to make deals with the devil. I hate it, I really do, but if we can get a small bit player turn informer on their supplier, then that supplier turn on their guy, up until we hit a lieutenant, that would be well worth it. If the lieutenant were to flip, we could take down the king pin. And anything it takes to get Rivera down, I can live with.

It just sticks in my craw to offer these deals. I hate the idea of a pusher getting reduced or even commuted sentences because they turned over the next guy. It helps I guess. I mean we get the low down on the pusher and we can keep a leash on these guys, but knowing that some asshole that poisons kids is out without doing time just aggravates me.

A guy we picked up last night was a small time fish. Strictly street level and he flipped on his supplier. We’ve got a deal arranged. Little fish is going to contact his supplier for some coke and we’ll nail the supplier the minute the transaction occurs.

It’s really hard to know if we can trust these guys. There’s no telling when the next flip is going to screw us. It gets kind of hairy out there. We don’t really get a chance to know these guys before we let them help with a set up.

To be honest with you, I don’t trust any of our CIs. They’re criminals. If they get a better deal from someone who plays on their side of the fence, one of my guys may not make it back. I guess I should look at it this way—one off the streets is one less pusher that’s going to sit on the sidewalk and pass out their drugs.

The deal goes down in an hour. Each time we do this the adrenalin starts pumping, your hands shake, your knees bounce. You’re pumped and ready to spring into action. There are times when we’ve gotten in there, ready to roll and been held back because the supplier isn’t there.
Hopefully this isn’t one of those times. Gotta suit up.

Introductions

This is my unit. I’m the man in charge. It’s my job to see that my guys make it home, in one piece at the end of the day. I’m responsible for their safety. And with this team, I have to admit, it isn’t easy. We’re all short tempered and can get hot real quick. Fortunately, there is always one of us who is able to defuse the situation. God only knows what would happen if we all four went haywire at the same time.

Oh, sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. Name’s Bernard. Justice T. Bernard. I’ve been with the DEA for about fifteen years. I wasn’t sure where my life was going but I was messing around with some of the guys when I was young and for some reason, out of the blue, I decided to become a cop.

Went through the academy and spent five years driving a squad car. The opportunity for advancement came in like providence. I ended up at Quantico then, before you could blink, I was working DEA. It took me a few years but they finally gave me my own unit eight years ago.

My team? My partner Chase Willett. Great guy but he’s got a sarcastic streak wider than the Mississippi. Then there’s Mickey Flannery and his partner Bobby del Gado. I trust these guys with my life. I better, right?

We’ve got a hell of a mess on our hands right now. Ramiro Gonzalo Sancho Rivera. Bastard’s the biggest drug lord we’ve dealt with in our region—ever. The man is vicious, ruthless, and he’s got to be taken out. The problem is coming up with anything that connects him to the import line.
He’ll make a mistake and when he does I’m going to be right there just waiting to catch him. I’ll nail his ass so far into the wall he won’t see daylight again, ever.

Then there’s Cas. My Cas. She’s the greatest thing that ever happened to me. I can’t believe I’ve gotten so lucky that Callye Ann Simone fell in love with me. We met by accident, or so it would seem. But that’s another story. I’m proposing to Callye. I can’t believe I’m going to take the plunge. Well, if she’ll have me that is.

The ring has been ordered and as soon as it’s ready then I’ll do it. I’ve got it all planned. Her favorite place to eat is a little Italian place near The Landing. The Arch is all lit up at night, the Mississippi laps gentle like on the cobblestones that line the bank.

I know she’ll say yes. At least I think I know she will. Hang on…

Damn. Maybe this is the time we’ll finally get Rivera to slip up!