False Pretenses - Kathy Herman [60]
“A bunch of teenagers—blacks and whites—spouting racial slurs and threats. It’s getting ugly. Apparently a fistfight broke out earlier, and someone broke it up. Details are sketchy. I’m pretty sure alcohol’s a factor. A few of them seem eager to go at it again, so I’ve called all units to assist. Six deputies are here, and the others are en route, including some of Chief Norman’s officers. I thought you’d want to know, especially since one media van has arrived—and others are bound to follow.”
“How many teens are involved?”
“I counted twenty-nine. Only ten are black.”
“I’m heading your way.”
“We’ve got it under control, Sheriff. I just wanted to give you a heads up.”
“I was just leaving the station to go home,” Jude said. “The park’s on the way.”
Jude spotted a sea of flashing colored lights and turned into the parking lot near the concession patio at Roux River Park. He pulled up behind Deputy Chief Aimee Rivette’s squad car and got out.
Stone Castille waved and hurried to meet him. “I think the worst is over, Sheriff.”
“Fill me in on what happened.”
“We’re still trying to put it together, but it appears that two groups of teens, one African-American and the other Caucasian, got into an altercation that escalated into expletives and racial slurs and then a fistfight. According to one of the black teens, at least four white males overpowered him and started dragging him away, threatening to hang him. The white kids claim they were just clowning around.”
Jude glanced over at the detainees. “Wanna bet the black kid didn’t think they were clowning around?”
“You got that right. He was pretty shaken.”
“What were they doing out here this time of night?”
“All of them flunked the breathalyzer.”
“Well, if they violated the no-tolerance policy regarding alcohol consumption in the park, each of them is going to get slapped with a five-hundred-dollar fine on top of disorderly conduct, public intoxication, minor in possession, battery—and possibly a hate crime. This is going to be a serious wake-up call for these kids—especially if they’ve never been in trouble before.”
“Judge Dufour sure won’t make it easy for them,” Gil said. “He’s one tough—”
Something flashed, and then a loud popping noise echoed in the darkness. And then another. And another. A black detainee let out an agonizing cry and grabbed the back of his thigh. For a split second, it seemed as though the earth stood still, and then people starting scrambling in all directions.
Jude drew his gun, his heart nearly pounding out of his chest, and hunkered down behind a trash barrel.
Stone dropped down behind him. “All three shots came from the tennis courts on the north side of the park.”
“Yeah, I saw the flash. Help me get that kid out of the open—over there, behind that bougainvillea bush. Let’s go.”
Jude rose to his feet and scurried, stooped over, to where the wounded teen lay on the ground.
“We’re going to get you out of the line of fire, son.” Jude holstered his gun and took the boy’s wrist as Stone grabbed his ankles. “Ready?”
Stone nodded.
The two of them lifted the boy about a foot off the ground. They carried him ever so gently and set him on the ground behind the bush, then slowly rolled him over on his stomach.
Jude spoke into his shoulder mike, “We have shots fired at Roux River Park. One civilian down. Three gunshots from the north end of the park. Type of firearm unknown. No suspect description or vehicle at this time. All available units roll to the park Code 3 to assist with containment and evacuation. Use south entrance unless given specific perimeter position. Request any help the police department can spare. Have paramedics roll to the south end of the park. Tell them not to enter until requested. Repeat: Paramedics are not to enter until requested.”
Jude held up a tiny LED flashlight and looked carefully at the boy’s wound and glanced up as several deputies attempted to herd the drunk teenagers behind the concession building. He saw Gil Marcel and whistled, motioning for him to come.
In the next instant, Gil knelt next to