Human Frailty, a Detective Mike Bridger novel Read Free Page A

competing with the
wail of the siren. The outside world lit up by the red and blue
flashing lights reflecting off the parked cars as the police patrol
car accelerated down the quiet suburban street.
    "Did you see that lot up in the bar
earlier? It looks like it ’ s going to be a messy night", Steve Kirkland
said, looking over at his partner. "I saw half of the lawyers from
Jones Wilson in there as well".
    Gillian Holler smiled a little as she
manipulated the steering wheel slightly to avoid a skateboarder,
skating on the roadside, almost invisible in the darkness. Her
young partner was a bit of a fitness freak and she didn't know if
he indulged or not, but if he thought that was going to be messy he
would be horrified with what used to go on in the old police
station bar when she first started in the job.
    "Mike Bridger was promoted to Detective
Sergeant", she said, "Do you know him?"
    "Yeah I know him, I worked with him
after I graduated from the police college", Steve said, holding on
the door handle a bit tighter as Gillian swung the car into yet
another fast turn, "It was before he became a Detective. His
promotion surprises me; he was a bit of a loose unit back when I
worked with him. You know I once saw him drink four pints of beer
out of his police helmet. ” Steve paused looking out the window at the
passing darkness “I guess it will be a messy night for
them".
    You have no idea, Gillian thought.
    A small red car pulled tentatively out of a
side street up ahead, stopping in the middle of the road. Gillian
jumped on the brakes, dropping her speed sharply and sounding the
air horn.
    "Bloody god damned Sunday drivers, all the
lights and sirens in the world and he still pulls out in front of
us".
    Steve watched the shocked and pale elderly
face of the driver flash by as the patrol car swerved around him
and accelerated once more. The adrenalin in his system was just
managing to overcome his fear of when someone else was driving the
car. It was not that he did not trust Gillian driving, it is just
he much preferred to be in control of the one ton speeding lump of
metal that would seriously hurt him if it came off the road. He was
not a very good passenger at the best of times.
    To take his mind off what he thought would
be certain death he picked up the radios microphone and asked for
an update to the emergency call. The tinny sounding voice of the
dispatcher came through the car speaker. He had to turn up the
volume to compete with the sound of the engine and constant wailing
of the siren.
    " The
informant reports that the house has gone quiet now, the last
sounds heard were a child crying. No one has entered or left from
the address. Occupants are unknown but informant states it is a
young family, mum dad and one child. We have no previous record for
this address. The informant also said the man of the house is a big
guy, so be careful ."
    "Sounds like it ’ s all over", Steve said.
"Just another form filling exercise I expect. What do you bet that
the woman swears blind nothing happened while standing there with a
bloody nose"?
    Gillian did not reply she just kept her foot
hard on the accelerator, eyes scanning ahead for any potential
hazards.
    Steve had only been in the job for a few
years, but other people's arguments and problems made him jaded. He
hated domestic disputes He hated with a passion having to report on
an incident when one party had called police to solve what only
amounted to an argument. On the other hand, he had also been to
many disputes that had resulted in assault; some of them serious,
so he knew that reporting each occurrence helped police build a
picture of any escalating problems, which should in turn help them
put in place some positive intervention. Well that was the theory
the bosses always spouted at training days but it did not help him
with the paperwork.
    As they neared the address, Gillian switched
off the siren and slowed the patrol car to a more sedate speed.
Turning into the