OCT 2021 Blues Vol 37 No. 10.1

Last call of the day.
I only had ten minutes left on
my shift. I worked nights and as
long as I was at home before
the sun came up, I was good for
a peace full 7 hours sleep. Unless
of course some salesperson
was unfortunately enough
to knock on my door and wake
me up…but that’s another war
story unto itself.
At 555am, I received a call to
see a complaint at the 7-11 on
Bender Avenue about a person
being held captive. Great just
want I wanted at t-minus 9
minutes until OD.
“Unit 30D62 show me enroute.”
I was really only a few blocks
away and with any luck at all I
can clear this INFO ONLY and OD
and get home before the sun
really starts shining.
“Unit 30D62 show me out. Reportee’s
name?”
“An unidentified female sir.
They hung up before giving a
name.”
“10-4”
I went inside and before I
could even ask the clerk if
someone called 911, a young
girl stuck her head out from
around the last row of food,
and motioned me over. As I
approached her, I could see
that she was wearing what
appeared to be an extra-large
men’s shirt that was really
dirty and had what appeared
to be splatters of dried blood
all across the front. She looked
terrified and was trembling
uncontrollably.
I walked her over to a few
tables and chairs at the back
of the store, git her a bottle
of water and tried to calm her
down.
“What’s your name ma’am?”
“Susan….Susan Walker”
“Ok Ms. Walker, are you hurt?
Is this your blood on this shirt?
Tell me what’s going on.”
She blurted out “…They’ve
been holding me and my boyfriend
hostage for days, maybe
weeks. They beat us and tied us
to a wire frame or something.”
“How long ago did this happen….how
did get here?
She said, “It’s happening
now…right now. I broke out a
window in the bathroom and
ran as fast as I could until I
saw this store and called 911…
we need to hurry before they
realize I’m gone and they’ll kill
Bobby.”
“Bobby is your boyfriend?”
“Yes.”
“How did you and Bobby end
up at this house? I assume it’s a
house, huh?”
Yes, it’s an old, abandoned
house…all broken down and
boarded up…but you can crawl
through the broken window at
the back…they grabbed us at
pool hall on 28th street, threw
us into an old van or something
and took us to that old house
and tied us up…to like an old
bed or something….and then
they beat us.”
By now she is crying uncontrollably
and I decided to
move her to my car and call an
ambulance to check her out. I
also called dispatch and told
her to have an on-duty dayshift
detective call me ASAP.
The FD medics arrived within
a few minutes and while they
were checking her out, Detective
Williams called and I said,
“Dude you need to meet me at
the 7-11 on Bender…I’m really
not sure what I’ve got going,
but I’m damn sure I need you
here.”
One of the paramedics
walked over and said she was
ok, but that I needed to see
something. I walked over and
stepped into the ambulance
and the paramedic lifted up the
back of her shirt and it was
clear that she had been hit or
struck with something…maybe
a whip or leather strap…dozens
and dozens of bloody marks
and tracks all over her back…
this girl obviously had been
beaten or tortured just like she
said. They advised she really
need to go to the hospital, but
it wasn’t a life-or-death thing.
I knew we needed her help to
find this house, so I asked her
if she was up to staying and I’d
take her to the hospital myself.
She agreed and I cut the paramedics
loose.
Detective Williams pulled up
as the ambo was pulling out
and I had the complainant sit
in my car while I ran the deal
down to Williams.
“Man, at first I thought this
was just a domestic gone bad,
but she’s got bloody marks all
over her back and she’s obviously
terrified of whatever or
whoever did this. So, we agreed
to drive her in his unmarked
car through the nearby neighborhoods
to try and find this
abandoned house. Problem
was, this was a shitbox neighborhood
and every other house
was abandoned or boarded up.
Junkies, pushers, pimps, you
name it, were all squatting in
these old shacks and it could
anyone of hundreds scattered
over a 12-block area.
“Susan, how long did it take
you to run to the 7-11? Do you
remember how many blocks
you covered or what direction
or turns you took?
Before she could answer, I
spotted an old beat-up black
Ford Econoline Van parked at
the end of a long driveway of a
boarded-up house.
“Williams, stop, back up….
Susan is that the van? Is that the
house you were in?”
“Yes…oh my God yes…please
don’t let them see me”…and
she dove onto the floorboard
of his Crown Vic and stayed
there until we drove around the
block.
“Dude, we’re gonna need
some backup, is this is for
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