ONE A.M. JESSICA held Bando by the leash as they made their final trip around the block. Recently, Lamont had been taking doggy duty, but he and Maddy were still not home from their trip to the park, and Bando could not wait. Jessica didn’t mind. These Bando walks were a good time to collect her thoughts. About Maddy. About Lamont. About everything.
The power to the neighborhood was out again—third time this week—so even the video screens were black. That was fine with Jessica. She’d heard enough of Gismonde’s evening homilies for a lifetime. And she had no problem navigating the neighborhood in the dark. It had been her home for almost twenty years, since before Maddy was born. She knew every building, every shop, every vehicle.
So when she got close to her apartment steps, she realized instantly that the van on the corner had not been there on her last circuit. She pulled on Bando’s leash, tugging him closer. She backed up and started to head down a side street, just in case.
She never made it.
The back of the van suddenly burst open. Ominous blue light illuminated the interior, silhouetting the helmeted figures moving in her direction. In an instant, they had her. She felt the leash being ripped from her hands as one of the police bent her right arm up behind her back.
“Bando!” Jessica shouted.
Another officer leaned in, the cold jaw plate of his helmet pressing against Jessica’s ear.
“Shut your mouth,” he commanded. “Do not resist.”
Jessica heard Bando growling. When she looked down, she saw him circling the booted feet of the officers, nipping at their thick leather heels.
“Bando! Stop!” Jessica shouted. A thick glove covered her mouth. She struggled to break free, but each man outweighed her by at least a hundred pounds. It was like wrestling with bags of cement. She heard a thick thud and a whimper as a boot connected with Bando’s rib cage. He cowered and ran off a few yards. As he circled back, she saw a gunshot explode the pavement just behind his rump.
“No!” shouted Jessica, her voice muffled by the glove. She was almost in the back of the van now, propelled forward, her feet barely touching the ground. There were two officers waiting to pull her in. Then she was on the floor. A gag was wrapped around her mouth. She heard loud laughs from the two men still outside the van.
Then two more shots.