Campanelli: Sentinel Read Free Page A

lighter, a souvenir from another lifetime. Campanelli commanded the window to drop a few inches. The air and the smell of tobacco invigorated him, but only momentarily. Underneath his professional façade, he was exhausted and he knew that it showed.
                  The car turned left onto State Street and pulled a “U” turn in front of the District One building and parked. The two detectives got out and headed inside. Once on the second floor, they took a right turn out of the bank of elevators and knocked on their Chief’s office door. Frank opened it when he heard Vanek’s voice and stepped in.
                  “Frank, Marcus,” Dmitri Vanek greeted. They returned the sentiment with low spoken ‘good mornings’. The Chief did not need to invite them to sit, for they knew from many such meetings that it was simply expected. “Frank, you look awful.”
                  “Oh? I’m not fooling anyone, huh?” he replied lightly from his slouched position. He went through the motion of straightening up, but the change of posture did nothing for him.
                  Vanek smirked. “I want you to know that from the two CAPS-Link recordings I’ve received from two other officers, Marcus’s being one of them, that last night’s shooting incident appears unavoidable. I’ll have to ask you to forward yours, Frank.”
                  Frank brought the listing of his implant’s files into view and found the recording. Retitling it, he saved the file and linked his implant with Vanek’s. Once done, he transmitted the copy to the man sitting on the other side of the desk.
                  “Thank you,” Vanek said and nodded. “This is just a formality, Frank. Like I said, you’re in the clear.”
                  Campanelli did not so much as nod. He simply held Dmitri Vanek’s gaze as he rubbed his stubbly chin.
                  “I take it you’re feeling guilty?” Dmitri ventured. Receiving a blink in response, he forged on. “I can’t tell you how to feel. Just know that I understand it. No cop I ever met goes out there intending to put a bullet into an innocent man, but remember Campanelli, Sam Whethers was not an innocent person. He was unarmed, yes, but a criminal nonetheless.”
                  “What about Antony?” Campanelli inquired with a croak in his voice.
                  “Once I get these implant recordings of Jimmy Antony’s intent to kill to the DA, we’ll just get the bail revoked and take him back into custody.”
                  Frank nodded as the Chief of Detectives passed his eyes over the two men. There was much fatigue in the face of Campanelli while it appeared that Williams, a much younger man and genetically improved by the military, was unaffected by the long hours.
                  “Chief,” Frank spoke up with a little more fire in his manner, “where is Sarah Whethers this morning?”
                  “Oh,” replied Vanek as his pupils danced over the text his implant projected onto his lenses, “the daughter. Well, if you two wish to pay a visit or whatever, she was processed into juvenile hall this morning. She’ll be processed into the foster care program. But, I urge you both to not get involved,” the Chief sat back into his big chair and it creaked loudly over his sigh. “What is not commonly known is that the detention center is being hit with various forms of influenza. They’ve had a lot of deaths over the past few months.”
                  Frank and Marcus looked to each other in alarm. Both detectives were very aware of the rising number of cases of influenza in the general public and the low availability of Perpetuamivir, the world’s most successful and complete influenza vaccine. They also understood that the last people in line for the inoculations would be prisoners. What they