Blood Read Free

options.  He hated to get the commissioner involved and then find out the suspect was cooling his heels in some office.  But if the guy had really vanished and he didn’t inform his superior…   Visions of what Williams would say to him helped make up his mind.  “I want a full report from everybody on my desk when I get there.  I will call Commissioner Williams myself.  We will be there within an hour.  Any questions?”
                  “Yes, sir.  I mean no, sir.  I mean . . . We’ll be ready for you, sir.”
                  As Underwood hung up the phone and started to press the buttons to summon the police commissioner, his thoughts were racing as fast as his finger.  How does a suspect vanish from a building filled with cops? 
     
                  Savannah is always a beautiful city, with flowers blooming year round.  Spring brings daffodils and roses.  During the summer oleanders abound.  Cold weather brought camellias to brighten the houses.  But nothing took the place of February.  February was a riot of color, especially on Victory Drive.  The azaleas covered the median strip between the east and west traffic with only the occasional intersection preventing a veritable wall of pastels.  For an ex-New Yorker like Underwood, winter in Savannah seemed to start in the second week of December and last only through January.  The first of February brought winter to its knees and spring seemed to burst from the ground with a cavalcade of reds, whites and pinks that took over the city.  Even after living there for fifteen years, he still felt an aura of magic in the air when he drove down Victory Drive during azalea time.  Living in Thunderbolt just behind Savannah State College, Underwood savored the scenic ride to the office each day.
     
                  Lieutenant Benjamin Morris looked nervous as he faced the group of men.  As the Officer in Charge at the time of the disappearance, it was ultimately his gonads that were on the line.  If Internal Affairs could prove that somebody had been sloppy, the other officers could expect a reprimand, but his would be the ultimate responsibility.  Three years of hard work could be down the drain.  At least ten hours each week for six months had gone into studying for his promotion and he didn’t know how long it would take to regain his bars.  He knew that Captain Jim Underwood would be on his side, but making Commissioner Williams and the clowns from Internal Affairs understand would be tough. 
                  “Now, Lieutenant Morris, explain to Captain Underwood and myself how a prisoner can just vanish out of a cell in the middle of a police station?”  Police Commissioner John Williams was not happy about being called in the middle of the night, and he made that clear with every word.  “Start from the beginning.”
                  All eyes shifted from Williams to Morris like a crowd at a tennis match.  Beads of sweat covered his neck and underarms, but he managed to keep his voice matter-of-fact.  “Commissioner, the suspect, James Patrick, a white male, age forty-seven according to his driver’s license, was brought in at 11:03 by Sergeant Johnson and Officer Beckman, who were patrolling on Whitaker.”  Lieutenant Morris read from the arrest report.  “Beckman spotted a light in the Chatham County Blood Bank, so they slipped into the back alley, where they found the back door ajar.  Unit Twelve, with Carson and Jennings, supplied backup.  Johnson and Beckman entered the blood bank at 10:34 and found the suspect in the center’s cafeteria cutting open bags of blood and smearing the blood all over his body.  The suspect was naked at the time.  He apparently had been using the microwave to thaw the frozen blood.  He offered no resistance to the arresting officers.  The officers state that while he was being cuffed, he was muttering things like ‘It