Unknown Victim by Kay Hadashi (classic books for 11 year olds .TXT) 📕

All she could guess was that Butch had either gone into the church through the open door, or had chased after someone. He would’ve yelled to her if he was in foot pursuit, but maybe she hadn’t heard him. It wasn’t protocol to enter a building without your partner, so she went to the corner of the building. Flashing her strong beam across the area, she saw nothing. No one running, no shapes, no movement at all, only the twinkle of lights on an outdoor Christmas tree near the door of the priest’s residence and fluttering snowflakes. As far as she could tell, she’d been left alone.

Gina wanted to mutter her favorite Italian curse word, but didn’t dare while on church grounds.

She knew the church well, having been a member of the small parish since birth. Father Romano had been the priest there all her life, the one who had baptized her twenty-five years before. According to the dispatcher, he’d been the one who had phoned in the break-in at the church. But where was he? Or her mentor, Butch?

Gina returned to the rear of the building where the door still hung open. She shined her light inside the dark building. Neither Butch nor the priest were anywhere to be found. She drew her sidearm. Holding that in one hand, she took a position next to the doorway.

“Sergeant! You in there?”

No one answered, but there was noise inside the church. She heard a few footsteps, followed by more noise.

“Father Romano? Is that you in there?”

Still no answer, but there was more noise, followed by more footsteps. This time, they were rushing.

Gina ducked through the doorway and raised her pistol. Aiming her flashlight in the same direction, she saw a figure running straight for her.

“Halt!” she commanded.

The figure got close, almost running straight into her. “Just me, Santoro,” Butch said as he raced by. “Where’s back up?”

“On their way!” Confused with what was going on, she called after him as he got into the squad car. “What’s going on?”

“Calling bomb squad.”

“What?”

“Found a device.”

“Where?” she asked once she was at the car. Snow was already collecting on the cold metallic surface, and flakes were gluing to the surface of the car. She listened as he made the call for the bomb squad.

“On the altar,” he told her.

“A bomb? How do you know?” she asked.

“I’m not Catholic, so I don’t know how this stuff works. Can you think of any reason for a package wrapped in newspaper and taped together with duct tape to be on an altar in a Catholic Church at this time of night?”

“None at all. How do we handle this?” she asked.

“Perp’s long gone, if he had any sense. We need to find the priest that called this in. Something about him not waiting for us bothers me. What’s his name again?”

“Father Romano.”

“Where does he live?”

“His rectory is on the other side of the parking lot.” She pointed with the beam from her flashlight. “The front door is just past that Christmas tree.”

“I’ll go there. You keep this area secure. No one, and I mean no one goes in the church until bomb squad gets here. Understand?”

“Yes, Sergeant.”

“And stay away from that door.”

When Gina took a position with their squad car between her and the open door, he nodded and ran off into the dark in the direction of the priest’s residence.

Hearing sirens in the distance, help was coming as Gina continued to scan the area for anyone that might be hiding. When she heard noise come from inside the church again, she had to make a decision. Footsteps meant it was human, and she needed to warn whomever it was to get out.

Staying a few feet back from the door, she listened again to more footsteps. It couldn’t be the perp; why would someone stick around to meddle with a bomb that might go off at any minute?

“Wait,” she whispered. “Maybe he’s still setting it up? Or a second one?”

She ran to the outside of the church. Leaning her head back against the brick wall, Gina had a decision to make. If she could interrupt the perp from arming the bomb, she could save the bomb squad some work, and maybe even save the building. But she could be too late, that the bomb was already armed. Any perpetrator of a crime as serious as bomb placement would surely be armed.

She took a few steps away from the door and got her cell phone out. She called Butch, breaking a rule he had with her.

“Where are you?”

“Searching the house. No one’s here. Why?”

“Someone’s still inside the church. I can hear footsteps,” she said, barely louder than a breath.

“Don’t go in, Santoro. Keep the exterior secure like I told you!”

“Yes, Sergeant.”

Gina took her position behind the squad car again, trying not to care who it was inside the building. But if it was the perp, and he came running out, she’d command him to stop. Her biggest decision right then was if she would leave her post and give chase of him. She looked back toward the street that was turning white with snow.

“Where’s back up?”

Gina took long, slow deep breaths to keep from hyperventilating and to settle her mind. Focusing on the back door of the church, she kept her pistol tight in her grip. Listening to anything she might be able to hear and make sense of inside the church, she heard more footsteps hurrying in her direction. When those steps got close to the door, she took one last deep breath, ready to yell.

When a man dressed in loose black clothing and a hoody ran out, she shouted for him to halt.

“Stop where you are! This is the police!”

When he kept going, she took after him, still shouting for him to stop. Somehow, her flashlight fell from her grip, clattering to the ground.

Two more police cars skidded to stops in the parking lot. Her back up had finally arrived, but she couldn’t stop to tell