CHAPTER 75: Burning The Candle At Both Ends

 

John Action staggered out of the Discotheque Pan Europa at 5am in the morning, putting on his shades to lessen the burn on the early morning sun on his eyes.  He'd completely lost track of time and it wasn't until the staff asked him to physically leave the premises that he realised he'd been there all night; dancing, drinking and flirting with the groovy chicks.  He went there...alone...without Katherine.  He was in two minds about her:  She'd teased him recently and that had got his back up.  She just didn't seem to take his experiences seriously and could display a coolness and haughtiness that comes from someone born with a silver spoon in their mouth.  That wasn't Action; a man hewn from the roughness of the ghetto and the jungles of South East Asia.

Action headed over to a nearby café that he knew.  They served breakfast and, more importantly, a decent cup of coffee.  This was going to be his fuel for the morning:  He had a full shift at the Precinct today and was existing on caffeine, sugar and adrenaline to compensate for the lack of sleep.

 

About halfway through his breakfast Danish and espresso, he was joined by a familiar face at his table.

"Hey, Action, this is a bit early for you" said the newcomer, a dapperly dressed man in his late 30s who was sporting the fashionable mod-Indian look enjoyed by men at least a decade younger than himself.

"Deano" said Action, smiling.  He'd known Dean Lunn for nearly a year now, since he joined the Sim City PD.  He kept his nose clean...for the most part...but was a good source for information and the low down.  "I might say the same thing about you"

"Got to get to the farmers' markets early, before the good stock gets sold out" replied Dean.

"Keeping your nose clean, Deano?"

Dean looked shocked and offended. "You know me, Action, I run with no gang and run a clean ship."

"It's too early for business anyway" said Action, pouring another cup of espresso into his and Dean's cups.

"I can sure smell the bacon at this table" came a harsh voice from behind the two men.  It was a woman's voice and she was not happy to see Action sitting there.

"Hey, Ashley, stay cool baby...Action's one of the good guys!" said Dean.

"There ain't no good guys on the Force" she said, practically spitting the words out.

"Who's your friend, Deano?" asked Action, trying to maintain his cool.

"Ashley's my particular friend, if you get my drift" said Dean.  "How about we all act civil?"

"My brother was busted by you guys on a trumped up charge!" said Ashley.  "They planted drugs on him...everyone knew it was a fix but you pigs know all the crooked judges and so they sent him down.  He's on appeal but no thanks to you lot!"

Action took a deep breath, trying to keep his cool.  "Hows about you give me some names of those cops you think are crooked?"

"So you can warn them?  No thanks!  Dean...I should be more careful about the company you keep!" she said, standing up and storming off.  Dean went to make an apology but Action held up his hand.

"No need, bro" he said.

OASIS SPRINGS, 11:46am

Action was on patrol in the smart end of Oasis Springs...the pleasant valley, charcoal burning everywhere.  There were some reports of fights breaking out, which was unlike that part of town, and Action was dispatched to check things out.  For a weekday in a residential area, the place looked busy with people hanging around on every corner.  Nothing illegal was obviously happening...according to Action's trained eye...but he noticed there was a strange vibe about the place.

"Hey, you! You're a cop, aren't you?" said an angry looking young man.

"What's it to you?" replied Action, cooly.

"I recognise you...you investigated that break in at my friend's house: The one where you noticed the chess pieces were in the wrong places"

"Oh yes, I remember you now...you're a friend of Travis Scott"

"Yeah, look man....see that lady over there?" the young man was pointing to an attractive, raven haired woman in mod gear.

"I sure do" said Action, with some approval.

"She's weird, man, like in up to no good.  She tried to hypnotise me!" said the man.

"How do you know that?"

"She was looking into my eyes really intensely.  She kept repeating the same things over and over like 'you're in my power' and then I felt a slap on my face but she didn't move her hands, man!  It's like I was slapped by a ghost!"

"Look, buddy, if you're high and tripping out don't waste my time" said Action, rolling his eyes in disbelief.

"I don't do drugs, Officer...she's weird, like crazy weird....look, those guys over there witnessed her doing it!" the man was pointing at a couple of other guys dressed as hippies who were standing nearby.

Action walked over to the two hippies and asked them what was going on.

"I ain't seen nothing, that guy's making it all up!" said the white hippy.  

"I saw her talking to this guy...but I didn't see any hypnotism or slapping or anything like that" said the black hippy who was wearing a far out Victorian military jacket.

"They're lying!" said the angry man.

"Hey! We were just chatting and didn't have anything to do with you or her!" said the white hippy, getting angry himself.  "Officer, get this crazy cat out of here!"

"I'm going to have to caution you for disturbing the peace" said Action to the angry young man.  "Now there's one person I haven't spoken to yet....YOU stay here!" he said to the man.

Action walked over to the young woman who seemed to be at the centre of this disturbance.  "Excuse me Miss?"

"McGregor.  No problem, officer" said the young woman.  She had an easy going charm about her, a delicate, lilting voice and she locked eyes on Action.  

"Do you know that man over there?" said Action, pointing to the complainant.  "He claims you were trying to hypnotise him"

"I have no idea who he is, I just asked him for the time and he freaked out" she said, calmly but with her eyes never breaking contact with Action's.

He asked her a few more questions, about who she was, what she was doing here and her alleged connection to the angry man but although she calmly answered them, Action thought the intensity of her gaze was off kilter...he couldn't put a finger on it, but something wasn't normal about it.  In the end he concluded that her intense stare was probably interpreted as being hypnosis by this uptight young man who, despite his protestations, had probably taken some uppers and as a consequence was hypertense.

Action thanked her for her time and told the angry man that he couldn't charge her with any offence as it was just her words against his with no witnesses.  The man skulked off but the woman was nowhere to be seen.

Action finished his patrol and headed back to the precinct house.  He went upstairs to the recreation room for his scheduled break, poured himself a coffee and sat down to think about a few issues on his mind.  That last patrol was crazy...he never felt in any danger but he got a glimpse of the kind of crazies he had to deal with:  Drugs, cults, weird new-age beliefs...it was all there.  He'd seen plenty of madness growing up and in the Marines but here it was, in quiet suburban Sim City as well.  He wanted a rock, something he could be sure of to anchor himself and then he thought about Katherine.  He'd been avoiding her recently; wondering if there was more to life than just hooking up with one woman who he shared little in common in terms of background.

"Hey, Action...ain't you got a home to go to?" said the Duty Sergeant.

"What?  My shift over already?" he said, checking his watch.  He went to the station pay phone to make a call; his hand hovering over the receiver for a few seconds as he thought about whether he should make that call or not.  Then he picked it up, put in the coins and dialled the number.

"Hi Katherine, it's Action.  Yes I know I haven't called in days....No, I haven't forgotten you.  Hey, are you free tonight?  Yeah, I know it's a bit much expecting you to be free on such short notice but, hey, you know I'm spontaneous....but you are free?  Great, see you at 8...my place"

Action put the phone back on the hook and smiled.  He was actually looking forward to seeing her.

...and there she was, already waiting for him...a vision in red and white.

"I must be a fool to be here" she said.

"I'm a bigger fool for not appreciating you more" he replied, happy to see her.

"You've got that right" she said, smiling.

They went inside his house where Action couldn't contain the urge to embrace her.  "Sometimes I don't know if I'm more messed up than the crazies I deal with on the streets"

"You're too harsh on yourself" she replied, stroking his face.  "I know you deal with things I can't imagine"

The two of them settled in for an intimate evening together; Action glad for the peace Katherine brought.  However, outside there was a lurker spying on his house:  Leann McGregor.  She made a mental note of where Detective John Action lived, how big was his house, what time he got home from work and what company he kept.  She also wondered how much of what he was told by that young idiot did he believe? 

Leann had much to consider:  How much did Detective Action put in his police report about that incident?  How many of his colleagues did he speak to about it afterwards and has he told his female visitor anything of it?  Perhaps that idiot, Yamaguchi, will have to be dealt with....many things to consider....