The Stranger

Reeger pulls a bottle from his coat pocket, unscrews the cap and takes a sip, then returns it to his pocket.

"This is the section Minal told me about and he wasn't exaggerating. Just look at this place. He wants to hear from you, said something about disclosure and courtesy".

"Need-to-know, Geicz. I share information on a need-to-know basis. Don't worry, I'll smooth things over with Minal", said Reeger.

"He called this spot 'crack central'. He said there's more crime here in a five-block radius than in the whole city. He also said we should stay in the car", Geicz said.

"Good advice but not my style. Slow down. That woman over there, what's she looking for? She's in a panic", Reeger said.

"Probably another bag of crack". Reeger rolled down the window and called to the woman. She was shuffling down the sidewalk looking behind trash cans, calling someone. It wasn't until she approached their vehicle that Reeger realized that she wasn't an old woman. Her life on the streets had taken a toll on her looks. She may have been no more than thirty. Her face was scarred, one eye was blackened. She was a mess and she was high as a kite. Her jaw wobbled back and forth and her good eye shone like glass under the street lights.

"I changed my mind. I want her back", she said, then repeated herself.

"Want who back, Miss"? Reeger asked.

"Lucy. I changed my mind". Geicz grumbled, but Reeger continued the questions. "Who's Lucy? You changed your mind about what"?

"My child. I'll give the money back".

"Slow down, Miss. I can help you if you tell me about it".

"He said he would bring her back. It was only $20. It should have been more, you know. I've gotten more. Lucy? Lucy! she shouted.

"Who did you give her to? What did he look like"? Reeger asked.

"The white man. He had a long coat and a baseball cap. I could have got more. Lucy! Lucy"!

"We'll do what we can. Let's go Geicz".

Reeger gave Geicz a knowing look. This woman had sold her daughter for $20 worth of crack cocaine. It was sad. Reeger felt nauseous. It was true all over the world. The depths people sank to obtain the drug were incomprehensible. It could have been any number of street thugs or perverts, but Reeger had a hunch that Geicz confirmed. "It's the Stranger. I feel it in my bones. She said a white man. It's him".

"It's pretty thin evidence but I agree. Cruise up and down these blocks, go slow. I'll take the right side, you take the left. I wish we had a flashlight". The Stranger could be anywhere, in an abandoned building, an alleyway, a vehicle...anywhere. They cruised the drug-infested neighborhood for forty-five minutes, Reeger occasionally sipping from his bottle. Then Reeger said, "stop".

"What is it"? Geicz asked.

"That light in that abandoned store front. Looks like a fire. I saw a shadow block it for a second".

"Probably some bum keeping warm or smoking dope", Geicz replied.

"I'm going to check it out. Pull over, shut your lights off". Reeger eased out of the car, drew his Sig Sauer .380 and told Geicz to keep it running. The store front was now about a hundred meters away. Slowly he made his way down the rubble strewn sidewalk. As he approached the store front, he inched closer to the corner of the wall. Slowly, quietly, he leaned his head forward to look inside. The flames illuminated a man in a long overcoat and a baseball cap. Reeger stepped forward, his shoes grinding on broken glass. The Stranger turned, his overcoat opened in front of the amber glow of the flames and lit a grisly scene. His white, naked, bloodied flesh and protruding hard-on seemed iridescent. On the ground was the mutilated corpse of the young girl Lucy. Reeger swung his arms around and in doing so, slid his right foot catching on debris. The Stranger turned and bolted to the rear of the darkened store. Reeger unloaded eight rounds as fast as his finger could pull the trigger. The muzzle flash lit up the storefront in bursts of white hot lightening. The Stranger visible in a strobe light effect of the muzzle blasts escaped through a rear door. Reeger ejected the spent clip, installed another and took pursuit. Hearing the shots, Geicz came running, pistol drawn. He couldn't believe his eyes at the sight of the flames and the little girl's savaged body.

"Reeger! Reeger"! he shouted. Staring down at the broken body of Lucy, Geicz said, "Oh my God"! Reeger entered through the rear door. Geicz drew down on him, not being able to see so clearly in the dark store.

"It's me, don't shoot"! Reeger announced.

"Did you get him"?!

"No, he got away. I fell outside in the alley and dropped my gun. By the time I got up, he had vaulted a six-foot fence like a gymnast and was gone. I heard a car start and speed away. The son of a bitch got away! I don't know if I hit him or not. Didn't look like it the way he cleared that fence", Reeger said breathing heavily.