When the mall burglary call came out, Blaze was picking up a sandwich.
“Hold it for me,” he called to the kid behind the counter. He ran toward the door. “I’ll be back.”
He displayed the incident on his computer and headed toward the promenade. He monitored the radio, driving as fast as he could without using lights and sirens.
Then he heard 17XL5 go Code 6. Dolby got there quick. He was probably already at the mall.
In the distance, a speck in the sky moved closer. Good. The air unit is en route.
Confirming his thought, Air 11 advised they were a minute out.
He nudged his car faster.
Someone broadcast over the air. “Hel…hello?”
A sense of dread shot through Blaze’s body. He flipped on his lights and siren and pushed the accelerator almost to the floor.
The voice was a woman’s, and not one he recognized.
“There’s an officer badly hurt at the promenade mall. Can anyone hear me?”
“Release the mic key, lady,” he whispered.
As long as the woman pressed on the button to talk, none of the units or the RTO could communicate.
Over the air, sounds of people yelling could be heard. “Call 911!”
A rustling sound came through the speaker, then a man’s voice came on. “Officer down. Officer down. Promenade Mall outside of the Flair department store.”
Blaze breathed a sigh of relief when he heard a click indicating the man released the mic key.
The dispatcher related the information to all the units, then added, “An RA is en route.”
“Air 11’s over the Promenade. We have two people down. One is an officer, and the other appears to be a civilian. We’re going to need two RAs, and at least eight units to shut down the scene.”
“17L30, I’m Code 6.”