# 129: Bridge Out

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Harvey LOVED this kind of thing. It was exactly what he was made for. He loved to evict people from their homes. No one else on the force did. Harvey didn’t understand that.

Harvey was a cop. He was escorting a couple of snakes...er..that is ‘officers of the court’ to the biggest eviction of Harvey’s career not just a home...not just an apartment building...NO! He would be present at the eviction of a whole neighbor hood. It was an ‘imminent domain thing’.

Harvey was so happy he could barely NOT giggle. Keeping his car on the road was a chore. He followed the limo as it made it’s way thru the fog.

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Donald Prancing and Samuel Carse were officers of the court. Some days they liked their job better than other days, today was a particularly GOOD day. They loved to evict people. The court had decided that the needs of the many took priority over the needs of the few. It had decided that the Fifth amendment didn’t apply in this case.

‘nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation’

Didn’t really mean what it said. Eminent Domain took precedence. It had been decided at the highest levels that the state would be better served if a rag-tag group of misfits were not allowed to retain ownership of a certain ‘Flint Island’. Just Compensation was also a quaint notion. The people in question would either take what little they were offered or get nothing.

“Sir,” the driver told them, “there’s something in the road ahead.” She slowed as they approached the sawhorses blocking the roadway.

Bridge Out

“That doesn’t look like standard D.O.T. equipment” Samuel said, not that he would know.

“sigh No it doesn’t” Donald said his evil grin belying his words. “I’d hoped that it wouldn’t come to this.”

“Yeah, me too” Samuel said smiling “They’re going to do it the hard way. “

“ Ah...just the man” he said as Harvey appeared beside his window. When the Limo had stopped Harvey had got out of his patrol car and walked up beside the limo.

“Is there a problem?” Harvey asked when Samuel rolled down the window.

“The natives appear to be restless” Samuel replied. “ They seem to be resisting.”

Harvey’s eyes lit up when he heard the word ‘resist’. His hand unconsciously rested on his side arm’s holster. He loved it when evicted tenants resisted. That meant he got to break heads. He loved to do that.

“Do you want me to move the sawhorse sir?” the driver asked with a bit of apprehension. The limo wasn’t really designed to be smashing into wooden barricades.

“Yes, please do that,” Donald said.

“I hate it when it goes sideways like this. Can’t those people realize that they can’t win? Why do they keep fighting?” Samuel said grinning. He would ham it up for all it was worth. He spoke to Donald and Harvey while the driver got out into the dark fog and pushed the homemade sign to one side. The damn fog was so thick you couldn’t see ten feet.

“Yeah I hate it too” Harvey grinned. “it’s a shame people can’t understand due process. Sometimes they even resist.”

Harvey loved that word...and what it led to.

“Oh, I dunno” Donald said sarcastically as the three big husky men watched the small black female limo driver struggle with the heavy wooden barricades. “Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that it’s their home? That they’ve owned it free and clear for decades? Maybe they don’t like the idea of being evicted?”

“That might have something to do with it.” Samuel said wondering if Donald was serious. Was His long time acquaintance getting soft?

“FIDO,” he told the driver when she returned to the limo

The driver looked back in confusion, “Sir?”

“Fuck. It. Drive. On.” he repeated.

“I’m not sure that would be a good Idea” the driver told him “Something is not right. I think those barricades were there for a reason. I have a bad feeling about this.”

“See here! “ Donald sneered “We are paying you good money to do a job.”

Donald didn’t mention that moving heavy wooden barricades in the rain and fog was NOT that job.

“Will you do your job or not?” Samuel asked. Good help was so hard to find these days he thought.

The driver was still reluctant. She sensed danger. She was an old hand at driving and something was just WRONG here.

“By you leave sir” Harvey said. He saw a chance to make a big tip.” I’ll drive the limo if Missy here is afraid to.”

“Yes..that would be much appreciated” Samuel said “you will be well compensated”

JACKPOT Harvey thought as he shouldered past the limo driver.

“Wait by my patrol car.” he said “ Make sure nothing happens to it. This shouldn’t take too long.”

Harvey had never driven a limo before...but how hard could it be?

Harder than Harvey expected. The limo had a HUGE engine with a great deal more horsepower than his patrol car did. Harvey mashed the gas... too hard.

They proceeded forward into the dense fog just a tiny bit too fast. When Harvey saw the end of the pavement he couldn’t stop in time. He DID slam on the brakes. The front wheels rolled over the edge of the drop off and the limo dropped onto its frame and slid forward. Wet steel on wet concrete. Unfortunately, the limo had slid too far forward and had tipped forward too much. The weight transfer had lifted the rear wheels off the pavement and the locked tires had nothing to grab onto.

Donald Prancing and Samuel Carse were lawyers, quick of mind and decisive. They each evaluated the crisis correctly and took immediate action. Donal Prancing was rather slim and in relative good shape. He managed to jump free of the car as it plummeted to the river far below.

Luckily he hit the water.

Unluckily the water was only a foot deep at that point.

He slammed into the sand and gravel of the river bottom, broke every bone in his body and ruptured the majority of his organs. The limo hit on its side right beside him, rolled over, and squashed him flat.

He was the lucky one.

He died quickly if not painlessly. Samuel Carse and Harvey the policeman were trapped inside the car. When Harvey attempted to open his door he found that it was jammed. At first he tried to break the door window glass with his fist. He only succeeded in bruising his hand. Then he panicked...he pulled his sidearm and shot. Didn’t work. The window was bullet proof. The bullet bounced back and hit him in the throat. He slowly strangled in his own blood and bled out.

The last thing Harvey heard before he died...was Samuel Carse screaming. Samuel was trapped in the backseat jammed in place by twisted metal. His face was slightly underwater. If he strained his neck he could barely hold his smashed nose out of the water far enough to get a few bloody bubbles of air. He was a stubborn and determined man. It took him a long time to finally die from exhaustion and inhaling his own blood.

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Meanwhile the driver of the limo had her own set of problems.

“Put your hands behind your head” she heard a voice say. “Step away from the car.”

She did that. She knew that tone of voice. It was that of someone ate up with his own authority. Likely eager to hurt someone. She was a ghetto mom and well familiar with such a situation. She did as she was told

“What were you doing?” A highway patrol man, with a draw gun, emerged from the fog.

“I’m just waiting.” She said. Experience had taught her hard lessons in dealing with cops. Talking too much was counter indicated. Best to only answer direct questions and not volunteer any information. It was safer that way.

“Likely story” the patrolman said “ turn around and put your hand behind your back.”

She did that too.

The patrolman handcuffed her...then almost drug her to his car that was now parked behind Harvey’s car. He forced her into the backseat..then entered the patrol car and sat in the driver’s seat.

He called dispatch on his radio.

“I’ve found the missing patrol car” he said “and I’ve apprehended the thief.”

“Copy that” dispatch confirmed. “I’ll send a wrecker to bring it in”

“10-4’ the Patrol Man acknowledged. Then he drove away...taking her to jail.

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The Next Episode is
# 130: Jail…
The Previous Episode was
#128: Slither down the river…
the First episode was
#1 : Prologue
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I'm

@everittdmickey
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I write
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