Excerpt: Drake

Drake by Fred Tingler

Ken

The report cascaded around the Oval Office like confetti over a parade. Before the last piece of jettisoned paperwork wafted to the floor, the expensive leather chair was slammed hard against a book case as its red-faced occupant abruptly stood.
The chief executive slammed his fist on the John F. Kennedy desk, stomped around the room and trod to the window. Staring out at the patio, he chewed his lip hard. He crossed his arms and said, "This is tough. This is tough." He waved a finger and said, "But I was elected to make the tough decisions. Wasn't I?" He stomped over to the phone, "Karen, have'm warm up the chopper. I'll need Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, and Aide. Inform the Vice President I'll be gone most of the day. Tell DHLS he's going with me too."
More calmly, he paced the room and muttered, "Tough decisions, tough decisions."

Scene

Heavy boots scuffed and clicked across the dusty cement floor. The man's path encircled the larger of the two chalk outlines. He stopped and stared at the smaller. He asked, "Has everything been stored?"
"Yes," the young woman replied. "Sealed for freshness."
The man's soft, but booming voice echoed in the empty chamber, "Let's not forget this was a human being." He squinted down at her, "It's to easy to think of our victims as merely evidence."
"Sorry sir," she said. "You're just always the first with a joke, and I ..."
"Never at a scene," he snapped. "Never at a scene. It's all business until the area is sanitized."
"Yes sir."
He scanned the entire room and said, "All right. Let's et it cleaned up."
"Yes sir." The young woman marched outside to a black, panel van. The side door opened at her approach. She thumbed over her shoulder and said, "Let's roll gentlemen. Cleanup on aisle two." She slapped her hand over her mouth and looked over her shoulder.
Five men and a woman poured out of the van. Each black, jump-suit clad individual carried a different sized canvass bag. One man wheeled a large shop vac out of the van's rear.