One Bullet

By Mike Poppe

(Addressing the reading group at my local library) I've just finished my 13th novel. As you might guess from the title, it's a mystery. Let me ask the group a question. What's worse than a serial killer? What? A female serial killer? Thank you Miss Reese.. For a second, I was afraid a man was going to give that answer. I could just see myself being summoned to appear on The View and defend my book against charges of sexism. What's that? Who said two female serial killers? Was that you Mrs. Marmaduke? Well, you know what? You're absolutely right. We have two women serial killers to deal with in this novel. You haven't been sneaking a peek at my manuscripts have you? Oh no Ma'am, I'm not accusing you. I was just kidding. Anyway, in my story, bodies of criminals keep popping up all around St. Louis. Because they are hardened criminals, nobody really cares too much, except the Mayor, who wants to be elected again. Should an innocent person be murdered accidently, it will become a huge election issue. The job of finding and stopping the killer, or killers, falls to veteran Homicide detective Conn Ross and his new partner, Kate Cafferty. Conn is a hard nosed cop with little patience for inexperienced detectives, especially if they are women. He has even less tolerance for political interferrence and for having to deal with stupid questions by the media. Kate comes to homicide with only two years experience as a detective, none of it in homicide. The sparks fly between the two detectives from the onset, and it looks like it's just a matter of time until the sparks become a raging fire. One Bullet is filled with lots of action and suspense, as it builds and rushes to a powerful ending.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mike Poppe
• Release date: Aug 7, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310403415

Mike Poppe

I was born in Rector, Arkansas, a small farming based town in Northeast Arkansas. Later, my parents moved to St. Louis in search of better economic opportunity. At age 16, disallusioned and bored with the “One Size Fits All” educational system, I dropped out in the 10th grade.Just as soon as I turned 17, I joined the Marine Corps. The education the Corps provided, wasn't always polite and pleasant, but it most certainly was not boring. My four year enlistment included one year in South Vietnam. 7 November, 1965 to 6 November, 1966. At the end of my enlistment, having attained the rank of Sgt E-5, I returned to civilian life.After nine months as an Industrial Engineering Clerk, I took advantage of an opportunity to move into transportation. For the next 34 years, I was a dispatcher and driver supervisor in the Trucking Industry.In 2011, the rise in popularity of E-books caught my attention. A life long avid reader, I'd always believed I could write a book, but didn't know how to go about getting it published. The birth of E-Books changed all that. In the fall of 2011, fulfilling a life long dream, I published my first book, The Sparrows Whisper.Today, my wife, Mary Katherine, and I, live in a small rural town in Southwestern Illinois. With the encouragement of family and friends, I've published a total of 13 novels. The split between my books has been divided pretty evenly between Mysteries and Westerns. Work on number 14, is under way.For all those that have taken the time to read my books, I appreciate your interest very much.

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Dedicated to the memory of Barney Fife, America's Lawman.

Table of Contents

start

Dedication

01 Decision

02 Memorial Day

03 Kate

04 Candace

05 Little Bit

06 Lauren Fitzgerald

07 Shots Fire

08 Uproar

09 Payment Overdue

10 The Storm

11 Duffy And The Preacher

12 Aftermath Of A Kiss

13 Lies

14 Struggling To Survive

15 Savannah

16 Suspects and Theories

17 The Gossett Twins

18 Headaches

19 Kate's Story

20 Security Risk

21 Final Ring Of The Bell

22 The Making Of An Author

23 Back Stabbing

24 Sara Wants To Play

25 Surprise

26 Reactions

27 Preparing To Kill

28 Frustrations

29 Meeting With Costello

30 Three Of A Kind

31 Eileen

32 Night Time Decisions

33 Discovery

34 Competition

35 Celebration

36 Coffee

37 Patrick Revisited

38 Three Rotten Apples

39 Players

40 Shock

41 Proposition

42 Out Of The Box

43 Sisters

44 Turmoil

45 The Interview

46 Moving On

47 Murphy's Law

48 Ceremony

49 Pick Up The Pieces

50 Changes

About The Author

01. Decision

Ignoring her friend's advice to wait and leave the party with a group, Pam Rogers, a pretty first year St. Louis University student, decided to leave just after midnight. It was just a five block walk to her dorm. This was a route she had walked many times during the day, having never felt threatened in any way. Raised with three older brothers who cut her no slack for being a girl, Pam had great confidence in her ability to take care of herself.

Of course Pam was familiar with the stories about a few girls who got into trouble walking alone at night, but she guessed them to be irresponsible airheads, raised in over protective homes. She judged it to be no surprise that they stumbled into trouble once they found themselves making their own decisions for the first time.

Within sight of her dorm, Pam dropped whatever safety concerns she might have had and reached for her cell phone. Typing a text to one of her high school girlfriends, she passed within inches of a man hidden in the shadows.

Sitting in the dark behind the trash cans, Angel Francis watched as Pam drew close. What he saw, he liked. The girl's blond hair was in a pony tail. Even in the dim light, he could see she was wearing a short skirt that did a fine job of showing off her well shaped legs as she walked.

On this block, the street light on this side of the street, had been out for two weeks. By the time the girl reached the trash cans, she was walking in almost complete darkness. Observing that she was totally focused on texting, Angel had to force himself not to chuckle. So many of these college girls seemed to be convinced they were immune from the dangers that waited for them in areas and places they considered to be safe. By the time they realized their mistake, often it was too late.

From ages fourteen to twenty five, Angel's rap sheet had grown steadily, as it filled with arrests involving petty theft, underage drinking, and drug use. At age twenty five, he graduated to crimes of violence. After serving two seperate one year terms for armed robbery, his crime career took a drastic turn for the worse. Twice he was arrested for rape and murder.

The first time, the D.A. found the police to have insufficient evidence, and Angel was released. The second time, he was convicted, but his lawyer got it overturned on a technicality. Since being released from prison the last time, Angel managed to stay out of trouble for seven months. Then one night, his patience finally ran out. Since then, he had attacked and murdered two girls near colleges in two different parts of the city. The girl now walking in his direction would soon be number three.

As the girl passed his hiding spot, Angel stood, intending to rush and drag her into the alley. Before he could move, a hand covered his mouth as he felt a knife blade slide in along his spine. No longer able to support his weight, he started to fall. His attacker supported him just enough to ease him to the ground without making noise, then slipped away in the dark.

Pam Rogers went to bed that night never knowing she had been just a step away from a horrific fate.

02 Memorial Day

Tim Cooper's lips broke into a slight grin as he started across the Mississippi river in his Ford Focus. Normally, at this time of the morning, the Poplar Street bridge was half ordeal, half obstacle course, depending on your destination and number of lane changes needed. This being Memorial Day, the bridge was almost empty. Later, as people started returning home, it would again become a nightmare, but for now, it was a pleasant river crossing into St. Louis.

Having been in the Homicide division for only two months, this was Tim's first time working on a holiday as a detective. Normally bustling with constant activity and noise, the squad room was as quiet as a library when he opened the door. He walked over and dropped a bag containing a coffee and a breakfast sandwich onto the only occupied desk in the room.

Detective Connor Ross looked up and said, Thanks, what do I owe you?

Anxious to gain favor with this highly respected detective, Cooper shook his head. Aw, nothing. You can get it tomorrow.

The veteran detective reached into his pocket and handed four dollar bills to his younger counterpart.

No thanks. In this business, you never know what's going to happen. I might catch a slug before the shift is over. I'm not going to my grave owing you anything.

The two detectives sat in silence as they worked on their fast food breakfast. In the two months Cooper had been in the squad, Detective Ross hadn't spoken more than a half dozen words to him in passing. Because of that, and because of Connor Ross's reputation as a top notch detective, the youngster was still a bit intimidated in his presence.

Working on his second cup of coffee, Tim Cooper nervously cleared his throat before speaking.

Detective Ross, being the new guy, I expected to get stuck with the holiday duty. If you don't mind my asking, how come you're working today?

Ross stared at him so long without saying a word, that the new detective dropped his head and started fiddling with notes on his desk. Then he looked up again as he heard Ross's voice.

Oliver had the duty, but his father died in Vietnam. His family was having a ceremony to honor him today. I wouldn't have been doing anything but watching baseball in my apartment, so I took his place. Don't make a big deal out of it. Besides that, Barney Fife never took a holiday off. With that said, he got up and walked into the men's room.

The two detectives spent the next hour answering an occasional phone call and doing research on a pending investigation. Then Connor Ross answered a call, asked a few short questions, jotted down the responses, then dropped the phone back on the receiver. He said, Let's go. We've got a dead body out by St. Louis University.

A uniformed officer by the name of Daley was waiting when they arrived. The body was laying in the alley, and the EMTs were working on a girl, whom Ross assumed was a S.L.U. Student.

Pointing his thumb in the direction of the girl, Daley said, Girl's name is Linda Trost. She called the body in. By the time I got here, she was heaving her guts out and about to pass out. I'm guessing you recognize the victim?

Ross replied, Angel Francis. The world is a better place now that he's dead. Still, I guess we get paid to find out who killed him. Is someone from the Medical Examiners office on the way?

Daley nodded and replied, Should be here any minute. You need me to hang around?

Yeah, Ross answered. Call your desk and tell them you'll be here until the M.E. is finished.

Pointing to the body, he asked, Have you found anything that's not obvious?

When Daley said that he hadn't, Ross nodded in the direction of the sick girl and spoke to Tim Cooper. Get over there and get a statement from the girl. She's not going to want to talk much, so you'll have to lean on her a little.

The expression on the young detective's face reflected his reluctance to be hard nosed to a girl who had just discovered a dead body. One look into the more experienced detective's eyes, confirmed his suspicion that whether Cooper liked it or not, Connor Ross expected a full statement.

After getting the girl's statement, and a preliminary time of death from the Medical Examiners assistant, detectives Ross and Cooper returned to the squad room to complete their paperwork and finish out their shift.

03 Kate

When Connor Ross woke up Tuesday morning, his sixth sense was sounding an alarm. He had nothing specific to pin it on, but he had a feeling that today was not going to go well. His instincts had paid off too many times over the years to ignore the feeling. Still, all he could do was wait and see what happened.

Crawling out of bed, he turned on the coffee maker, the stove burner, and the television, in that order. As was his routine, Connor fried sausage and eggs while he listened to the morning news. If there had been any significant killings during the night, he would at least be somewhat prepared in case it got dumped in his lap. After finishing off a sausage and egg sandwich, along with two cups of coffee, Connor lay his suit across the bed, then headed for the shower.

Arriving at the squad room, he dropped his keys on the desk, and took a long sip of coffee. Before he could sit in his chair, he heard the familiar sound of Lieutenant Costello rapping the window of his office with his knuckles. When Connor turned his head, he saw Costello pointing to him, and clearly motioning that he was wanted in the Lieutenant's office.

Grabbing his coffee, Connor stepped in Costello's office, and asked, What's up?

Close the door behind you, and then sit down, Costello said.

Once Connor Ross was seated in front of the desk, the Lieutenant said, Chambers back surgery didn't go well. He's going to turn in his papers for retirement. You're going to get a new partner.

Losing Chambers as a partner was no big deal for Ross. As partners, they had merely tolerated each other. All of a sudden, Ross's mental alarm put him on point.

Wait a minute. You're not fixing to make me wet nurse that kid in there are you? Damn it, I've done my share of baby sitting for this department. Let somebody else take their turn.

Costello grinned and shook his head.

Calm down Ross. I'm not about to put that kid with you. You think I want him to grow into a carbon copy of you? Just what we need, another hard headed, short tempered bastard that can't get along with anybody. No thanks. You're getting an experienced partner. Then he punched the telephone button and said, Send in Cafferty.

Thirty seconds later, the door opened, and Lieutenant Costello said, Connor Ross, meet your new partner, Kate Cafferty.

At any other time, in any other place, Connor would have been pleased as hell to see Kate Cafferty. She was a redhead with pale emerald eyes that met a man straight on. Neither of those attributes could hide the fact that this woman had a body that demanded the attention of any healthy male. Cafferty stepped forward and extended her hand. I'm glad to meet you Detective Ross. You've quite a reputation for getting things done, and I'm looking forward to working with you.

Maintaining his silence, Connor quickly shook her hand, then turned his angry eyes on his Lieutenant. Jabbing his thumb in the direction of his new partner, he said, You said I was getting an experienced detective. Where has she worked before coming here?

Detective Cafferty has been working Robbery for a little over a year. She put together a pretty impressive record over there.

Robbery? Connor's voice thundered in response. That don't mean a damned thing. As far as homicide is concerned she's a stinking rookie. Hell, give her to someone else, and give me the kid. At least he has already figured out that his head is up his ass most of the time. It will be six months before she figures that much out.

Costello shook his head and directed his response to Kate Cafferty. There you go. I warned you. Detective Ross puts a new meaning on the words blunt and uncouth. You think you are up to working with him?

Kate smiled. It'll be a piece of cake.

The Lieutenant smiled and said, In that case, by the power vested in me by the Chief of Police, I now pronounce you partners. Your new team designation will be Beauty and the Beast. Pretty sure I won't have to explain who is who. Now, both of you, get the hell out of here and go to work."

When she accompanied Ross to his desk, Kate Cafferty saw the 5x8 framed picture on his desk of Don Knotts dressed in his Barney Fife costume. She grinned and asked, Really, was he a relative or something?

Careful Cafferty, he answered. Nothing will get you in my personal doghouse quicker than showing disrespect for America's greatest lawman.

Barney Fife? she asked with a giggle.

Just remember this Detective Cafferty. I can't always be out there to save your ass, even though it appears to be an ass worth saving. One day you will find yourself alone in a dark alley, facing a dangerous killer. When you do, just ask yourself – What would Barney do?

Got it, Kate replied as she rolled her eyes. Now, what else do I need to know? Do you have a searchlight I can use to call Batman too?

He said, I can see you're going to be trouble. How about this? Close your mouth and open your ears. The desk opposite mine belonged to Chambers. Get a box out of the supply room and fill it with all his personal shit. Maybe somebody will drop it off. If not, his wife can come get it when she has the time. After that, get the case logs for the past couple of weeks and familiarize yourself with our recent cases while we have the time. We don't have a beginner course around here Cafferty. In homicide, it's sink or swim. Go ahead and get started. I'll be back in a half hour. My number is on my scratch pad. Call me if something breaks.

That afternoon, Lieutenant Costello's knuckles hit his window again as he summoned Ross and Cafferty to his office. There were two empty chairs by his desk. One was directly in front of his desk, the other was on the side. Pointing to the chair on the side, Costello said, Ross, sit there.

Ross sat down and smiled inwardly. By directing him to take the chair on the side, that put Kate Cafferty directly in front of the Lieutenant, where he got a really good view of her legs. Connor told himself that apparently he had been underrating the Lieutenant's brains for years.

The Lieutenant said, Ross, the computer kicked out a possible pattern on that body you and Cooper responded to yesterday. It's the third killing in the past two weeks where the deceased has been a violent criminal who beat the system in one way or another. You already know the story on Angel Francis. Mouse Turner took a thirty two caliber bullet to the back of the head outside of Tony's Shady Grove tavern in North St. Louis a week ago. He beat an attempted murder charge when the witness disappeared. Two weeks ago, the cops in Wellston found Dino Johnson in a pool of blood after someone slashed his throat. Dino killed an old woman who wouldn't give up her money. He was out on bail. The only common link is that they all used the system, but that hardly makes them special. This city is full of crooks that use the system. These killings may, or may not be connected, but we need to find out. We have all the info on the first two. I want you to take Cafferty over to Wellston and see what they can tell you about Johnson's murder. Then we'll try to see if there is anything to tie these together. Any questions?

When neither detective said anything, Costello said, All right. Get going.

When they reached their car, Kate Cafferty automatically started for the passenger side. Ross called out, Hold it. You're driving.

Surprised, she said, All right, and walked around to the drivers side. Once they were buckled up, she said, Normally, I have to fight with male partners to get to drive. They seem to feel that it's beneath them to be driven by a woman.

Staring straight ahead, he replied, Cafferty, I don't care about your past troubles with men. It's just this simple. Since I'm going to have to provide the thinking, you might as well do the work.

After a three second pause, she said, Got it.

He said, Now, I'd like to get back here before quitting time, so how about we get moving?

Offering no reply, she slipped the transmission into reverse, and soon they were exiting the parking lot, as she efficiently moved them into the flow of traffic.

The trip to the Wellston Police Department proved to be pretty much a waste of time. What little information they had on the Johnson killing proved to be insignificant. Understandably, the general attitude among the cops there, was that a piece of garbage had been taken off the streets, and nobody saw much sense in looking a gift horse in the mouth.

On the way back, Kate decided to make an attempt to discuss the issue of their partnership.

Look, I get it. You're not a big fan of women cops. That's fine. I'm not here pushing an agenda or to burn my bra. I'm just after the same thing as any other detective. All I ask is that you give me a chance. Believe it or not, I'm better than your present expectations. I'm probably better than some of your male partners.

Staring straight ahead, he replied, If you're not better than my last partner, you can pull this car over, get out and start walking right now. Get this straight. I'm against bad cops. Their sex and race is immaterial to me. My problem is the last two women I've had as partners, contributed to my getting shot, and damn near being killed. So, excuse me, if I take a wait and see attitude before I throw you a welcome aboard celebration.

Three traffic lights later, Cafferty asked, Mind if I ask what happened when you got shot?

The first time, my partner saw the shooter coming up behind me, and panicked. She could have yelled, hit the horn, anything. Instead, she sat and watched him put two bullets into me. The second time, my partner had the shooter in her sights, but couldn't pull the trigger. Unfortunately, the shooter didn't have the same problem. The ER doctors told my wife not to expect me to last twenty four hours. Obviously, they didn't know how stubborn I am.

That must have been really hard on your wife, Kate said.

Yeah, I suppose so, he replied. As soon as I got back on my feet, she gave me a choice between being a cop or being married. Last I heard, she was living out around San Francisco.

That's too bad. Any kids?

No. No kids. She was always afraid that if we had kids, she would have to raise them alone if I got zapped.

While walking from the parking lot back to the office, Cafferty grabbed Ross by the arm. Wait just a minute. Before we get inside, I just wanted to thank you for telling me about your other female partners. In your shoes, I'd probably feel the same. For what it's worth to you, I have been involved in a shooting, and I did not freeze.

Cafferty, You're a cop. Don't expect me to get all teary eyed, just because you did what you're supposed to do.

When he opened the main door for her, Kate said, Wait. I just thought of something. Did you ever consider the possibility that your partners didn't freeze? Maybe they were just sick of your attitude and took advantage of the chance to get rid of you.

Taken back by her unexpected verbal counter punch, Conn found himself without a quick response. Kate whacked him on the shoulder and said, Come on Ross. We've got work to do. Don't expect me to break down and bawl just because your past partners couldn't stand you.

Conn Ross stared as she walked quickly toward the elevator. Then he grinned and followed.

04 Candace

For two hours, a light blue Toyota Corolla had been sitting across the street from a tavern known as The Last Call. Before that, it had been parked in the tavern parking lot for an hour.

The driver of the Toyota lit another cigarette and checked her watch. Ten minutes before midnight. This was her third night in the last month to watch this nightspot. Jack Price was known to stop in this bar a couple of times a week. Thus far, she had zigged when he zagged. She decided to give him till midnight, then call it quits for the night.

When she lowered her window to toss out her cigarette butt, she saw Price step out of the shadows, look in both directions, then walk in the tavern. Price wasn't hard to spot. He stood about five feet six inches tall, and weighed close to two hundred and fifty pounds.

She waited ten minutes, then stepped out of the car, locked the doors, and crossed the street. After checking her appearance in the reflection of the glass door, she