Page 6 of Be With Me
Mooney braced his hand against the dashboard of the patrol car, barely controlling himself from putting his foot through the floorboard. Why he thought letting the newbie drive tonight was a good idea, he had no clue. Christ, if Cassidy slammed on the brakes one more time, Mooney might just make him pull over and remove him from the car, through the tailpipe.
Just as Cassidy made a sharp left turn that pushed Mooney into the door, the radio crackled. “Bragg to Mike six, ten-twenty-three at Sports USA. Proceed immediately,” the dispatcher’s voice came through.
A 10-23 at Sports USA? What yahoo got drunk and broke the volleyball net this time?Mooney keyed his radio. “Bragg, Mike six responding code two.” He clicked off the radio and looked at Cassidy. After a minute, Mooney prodded him. “Well, hit the lights and gas.” It still took Cassidy a moment to realize what he had to do.Good Lord,someone needed to coach this one. Obviously, he needed guidance.
When they got to Sports USA, Mooney had Cassidy park in the fire lane and got out. As Cassidy went to rush in, Rafe stopped him short. “Wait up there, gung ho. Let’s proceed with caution. While I don’t see anything, it takes something for the facility to call the MPs.” As Mooney pushed open the door, he looked around the yellow tables but didn’t see anything out of place. He led Cassidy into the open area, hearing his boots snap against the glossy floor and then saw why they were called. There was one male lying on the ground near the empty stage, apparently out cold with a woman next to him crying with blood on her shirt, and there were two groups of soldiers being held back. Two big guys on one side were standing calmly but definitely on guard. The other side had three guys that were pushing at the staff holding them back.What the hell?
Just as Mooney took a step forward, the manager came up to him. “Good you’re here. Take them all,” she said as she motioned to both groups.
“What seems to be the issue?” Mooney glanced around at the soldiers. At least they weren’t near the pool tables and had used pool cues on each other.
“Same old, same old. Group one attacked group two and fists flew.”
“Ma’am? This isn’t one of the normal places that we get called to break up a fight.” Mooney motioned to Cassidy to go check on the unconscious man on the ground. “Go see if we need an ambulance while I go talk to group one. They seem calmer than those three.”
As Mooney got close to the two calm ones, he realized that although they looked controlled, one wrong word from the other group and they were going to be quick to react.
“Good, a MP. Once the jackass on the ground comes to, arrest him for assault and battery with domestic violence,” said a tall soldier with a five o’clock shadow gracing his jawline and veins bulging on his arm. Mooney didn’t want anything to do with restraining this one, if he didn’t have to.
“Assault and battery? With domestic? He’s the one out cold.” Mooney pointed out.
“He’s lucky that’s all I did to him,” a slightly shorter one said with a heavy Southern drawl. “I should’ve hurt him more.” Bet they had to be with Third Special Forces.
Before Mooney could respond, one of the guys from group two yelled, “Bruce didn’t do anything! Carla was being a bitch and he corrected her. Those two MMA wanna-bes stuck their noses where they didn’t need to be. We was defending Bruce.” Mooney couldn’t believe this one made it through basic.
“Everyone needs to settle down. All parties will be listened to.” Christ, this could explode really quick if Mooney didn’t get a handle on the situation fast. Cassidy walked up then and stood there, obviously not wanting to get closer. Mooney asked, “What’s his condition, specialist?”
“Ummm, he’s definitely out cold, so maybe a concussion? Ummm, she’s probably got a busted nose. Cracked lip and she’s cradling her arm.” Cassidy shuffled foot to foot as he spoke. Mooney took a deep breath and made a mental note to correct Cassidy later about reporting.
“So, did you call an ambulance to take them to Womack?” Mooney was leading Cassidy to the answer, he hoped
He gave Mooney a blank look before jumping like he was startled. “Oh, you want me to call the ambulance. I can do that.” Cassidy stood there, blinking. Mooney hoped he’d get the clue but apparently not.
“Specialist, go radio for an ambulance and some back up,” Mooney instructed Cassidy.
“Back up?” Cassidy echoed. Mooney didn’t have the patience right now and the second group was getting antsy.
“Yes, back up. We’re going to take everyone to the station and let the desk sergeant figure out what happened. This is above my pay grade.”
The soldier with bulging arms growled. “You’re taking us in? Are you fucking kidding me? Talk to this one, Beatle before I snap.” He turned his back to Mooney and seemed to be taking deep breaths.
“Listen, all we did was stop the guy on the ground from beating up the woman,” Southerner said. He must be Beatle? Oh he appreciated his new nickname much more now hearing that one.
“We’re taking everyone. Even if you were helping out the woman, we’ll need a statement from both of you. Now, can everyone calm down and take a seat while we wait for transport?” Mooney knew he was wishing for the moon—no pun intended— from group two but it did look like the Third guys were rational.
“Christ, fine. Chase is going to kill us.” Beatle sat at the closest table.
“And you three?” Mooney turned to group two.
“What the fuck? You arresting us?” Moron number one asked before his buddy chimed in.
“I didn’t do nothing except throw the chair at MMA guy,” Moron number two said.
“Everyone listen!” Mooney yelled. “Under Article thirty-one of the UCMJ…” he continued listing their rights under the UCMJ and when he was done with that Mooney recited their Miranda rights. “Understand?” He prayed that would get through their skulls to shut the fuck up.
“Holy shit! He said that from memory,” moron number three said. Mooney looked over at the Special Forces guys and they looked as shocked as he felt. Thank God these morons weren’t MPs.
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