Badges

sure was cute, but in spite of that, I had to keep my mind on the job.

    “Sergeant King, if I’m not doing something correct, please make sure to tell me. I won’t be offended.”

    “Baxter, one thing you will never have to worry about as long as you ride with me is not being corrected if you fuck something up. Our lives are on the line out here, and neither one of us can afford mistakes. Just listen to what I tell you and you’ll live to see the sun come up.”

    We pulled out of the station parking lot onto the streets of Prince George’s County, Maryland, and headed into the night. The streets of this county could get rough at times, and I hoped pretty boy could take care of himself. As if he was reading my mind, he turned his head to look at me and said, “Sergeant, I just want you to know that you can rely on me in a dangerous situation. I am not afraid to do this job and I know the risks.”

    “I didn’t think you were afraid of the job. Don’t worry, as I said, we’ll get you home to your girlfriend in one piece.”

    “Actually, I don’t have a girlfriend, Sergeant.”

    “You’re kidding. A good-looking young guy like you, and you don’t have a girlfriend?”

    “Nope, and I’m not looking for one either.”

    Well, that set the wheels of my mind in motion—cute as hell, and no girlfriend. Was there any way he could be gay? I wondered. Could I have gotten lucky for once and gotten a gay partner? Well, time would tell, but I wasn’t going to push the issue any further on the first night out.

    “Car Two-Two-One, see the man at the Sunoco station at 5th and Washington regarding a strong-arm robbery. Complainant’s name is Harvey Wilkins, who states he was robbed a few minutes ago in the restroom at the Sunoco by a man with a gun.”

    “Two Twenty-one, 10-4,” Baxter answered into the radio mic.

    We were only a few blocks from that location; I put the Three-Sixty lights on and sped through the area, arriving about a minute later. When we pulled into the station, we saw a middle-aged man sitting on the ground at the phone booth. He had a cut over his right eye, which was bleeding rather profusely. I got out of the cruiser and told Baxter to call for an ambulance. As I began to get the details of the robbery, I watched Baxter leave the unit and walk toward us. His uniform was neat and crisp and hung on his body like the frame on a fine oil painting. His hips moved ever so slightly from the weight of the gun belt as he walked . He truly was a very handsome man—and with no girlfriend!

    “Sir, tell me what happened and describe the assailant as best you can and in as much detail as you possibly can,” I said as Baxter started to take notes.

    “Officer, I went on break and used the restroom here at the station and as I was coming out, this big guy knocked me flat on my ass just as I opened up the door. He hit me again, on the jaw with a gun, when I tried to get up, and tore my watch off and demanded my wallet. Then he demanded the keys to the station so he could get into the till. I was about to give them to him when a customer pulled in for gas, and I guess he got scared and ran towards the back of the station and into the woods over there.”

    “Give me his description as best you can,” I requested.

    “Well, as I said, he was big. It all happened so fast that I was in total shock that this was actually happening to me! He was a white guy, not sure how tall, but he wasn’t short, had a medium build, wore a baseball cap, and I think had dark hair and brown eyes.”

    “How old was he and what was he wearing?”

    “I think he was in his late twenties, early thirties, and he was wearing jeans, a white sweatshirt that said ‘Washington Redskins’ on it. I’m not even sure what he had on his feet. Damn, my jaw hurts!”

    “Okay, Baxter, get this out on the air fast,” I said.

    As Baxter put the description of the suspect out over the air, the ambulance arrived. The medics began to staunch the flow of blood from the cut on the victim’s head and from what looked to me like a broken tooth, and then decided he needed to go to the hospital. Once the ambulance had departed the scene, we drove around the area looking for the suspect. I turned up the car air conditioner in order to alleviate some of the humidity that saturated the night air. Even though I was sweating, Baxter was dry as the sand in a desert.

    I had called into dispatch and requested K-9 units to search the