AfterNet 01 - Good Cop Dead Cop

concrete above him. Soon a shower of dirt and then pebbles fell from above. He looked back at the kid and noticed a shower of debris falling into the water.
    After about 15 seconds, the debris stopped falling, and he realized they had stopped. He moved back to where the field had been and felt its return.
    “MOVE BACK, LINDA, MOVE BACK!”
    “What’s the matter?”
    “Crap is falling off the ceiling, I mean the floor. I’m afraid it might fall on the kid. Move a couple of feet to the north.”
    “OK.”
    The jackhammer started again and dirt started falling, however, there was less falling down over the kid. The jackhammer stopped and Munroe told her they could continue safely.
    After about a minute, a large chunk of concrete fell into the crawlspace and light flooded the void. A head appeared a few seconds later, followed by a hand holding a flashlight. After a second, the head retreated and a few seconds after that, one of the firefighters dropped feet first into the space, then reached back to another firefighter passing him a backboard.
    “They’re coming in,” Yamaguchi said.
    “I see that. Do they know it’s a drop on the other side of the sewer pipe.”
    “I told them.”
    The firefighters had moved to Munroe’s position, and he had to hug the sides of the crawlspace to let them pass. As soon as they had gone, he fled for the hole they had opened and entered the basement of the building.
    He saw a small low-ceilinged room crammed with people, including two paramedics standing by with a stretcher. Munroe saw Yamaguchi lying on the floor near the hole and tried to talk to her, but she had thrust the terminal into the opening and was shouting. After a minute, she gave up and retracted the terminal. She was looking at the display when she saw “User connected” on the display.
    “I’m here, Linda.”
    “Alex, you’re here.”
    “That’s what I said.” Their conversation was stopped as more people entered the room, including the boy’s mother, clutching the arm of the sergeant who’d met them. A woman with a television camera entered directly behind her.
    “It’s getting crowded in here. Can we go outside?” Munroe asked.
    “Sure, whatever you want.” She led him up from the basement and out into the parking lot. Many people were milling in the two lots, mostly the tenants of the two buildings, but also several TV news crews were broadcasting reports or interviewing people. Emergency vehicles, TV lights and work lights from the fire trucks vividly illuminated the area.
    “God, what a zoo,” Yamaguchi said. Munroe said nothing; he simply tried to enjoy the relative openness after being trapped underground.
    “Aw, crap,” she said. “We missed our appointment at the church.” She took out her phone and walked away. Munroe assumed she was calling the minister to apologize. Then the door to the building banged open and the firefighters brought out the stretcher with the boy.
    The crowd in the parking lot surged forward but police officers fanned out to keep them away. The paramedics passed by Munroe, who could see that the boy’s mother was keeping pace with them, her hand on his brow while one of the paramedics adjusted an oxygen mask.
    The procession quickly passed him and the crowd reformed. Munroe rejoined his partner who was still on the phone. A minute later, the sergeant that had greeted them clapped his hand on her shoulder.
    “The boy’s going to be OK,” he told her. Yamaguchi quickly got off the phone and turned to the sergeant.
    “Sorry, didn’t see you were on the phone,” he said.
    “No, I just got off. He’s OK?” She stamped her feet to get warm. The basement had been cold and she’d been lying on the concrete. Her head felt like a snot-filled bowling ball and now the wind was picking up.
    “Yeah, he called for his mom when they got him out. That’s what I like, happy endings.” Another officer called out to the sergeant. He said, “Tell Munroe he did good,” then left.
    “Alex?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Did you hear that?”
    “I did. Happy endings.”
    Yamaguchi was fumbling for some tissues and could only find a used wadded one. She was doing the best she could when she noticed that the sergeant had gone to talk to a knot of reporters and TV people. He pointed in their direction and they were quickly surrounded. A flurry of questions attacked her.
    “Officer, is your partner here?” “What’s his name?” “Is this the same officer who was hired