Do Not Go Gentle Read Online Free PDF Page A

gesture. “Don’t pass it along, buddy. That’s the
last
thing I need.”
    They arrived at their district offices on Gibson Street a few minutes later. They grabbed a cup of coffee and headed for their desks.
    â€œI suppose we’d better finish the paperwork on ‘Einstein’?” Jamie made a face.
    â€œIndeed. It’s onerous, but the sooner started, the sooner done.”
    â€œCal, is your whole family as nose-to-the-grindstone as you?”
    Cal gave Jamie his best Boston Brahmin look down his nose. “You know me, Griffin: I work hard and I play hard.”
    Jamie shook his head and settled down to his portion of the paperwork on their latest bust. Cal had been driving their unmarked car down one of Dorchester’s main thoroughfares when Jamie noticed a young man with dark clothes and a black mask hanging around his neck. He was just standing outside a grocery store. Jamie had Cal go down a block and turn back. When they reached the store again, the young man had the mask pulled up over his face and had a gun in his right hand. Cal drove down a block, whipped a U-turn, and parked near the store.
    After notifying dispatch of their location, they approached the store and saw the young man at the checkout counter with the gun pointed at the clerk. Cal had opened the door, and Jamie had darted through it, both men drawing their guns. They yelled, “Boston Police. Get down on the floor.” The suspect turned toward them and slipped the gun in his right front pocket before lying down on the floor as instructed. With Cal still covering him, Jamie handcuffed the suspect and took the gun, a loaded semi-automatic, from his right front pocket.
    They Mirandized him on the way back to the station. Later, in the interview room, the suspect sat on the floor, and Jamie asked him if he was in the store to rob it. The suspect stated, “No.” Then Cal asked him if he entered the store to shoot the black males inside the store. The suspect looked at Cal and nodded his head up and down indicating a yes response. “Not a very bright one, is he?” Cal had asked as he and Jamie were leaving last night, having started their paperwork for the case.
    With a deep sigh, Jamie began wading through the remaining paperwork. His mind drifted back to when he had entered the store. When they’d yelled at the suspect to get down, Jamie recalled his uncle’s death. Jamie‘s father and Uncle Jimmy, both cops, and 14 year old Jamie had walked into a convenience store one evening on their way home from a Red Sox game and interrupted a robbery. Jimmy Griffin was first through the door, and he was shot and killed before he could even draw his weapon. Frank Griffin bumped Jamie aside while drawing and killed the lone robber, but nothing that could be done for his uncle. Jamie had watched his Uncle Jimmy die. This event had led Jamie to a career in law enforcement, despite the objections of his mother.
    Not for the first time, Jamie chided himself.
It wasn’t your fault boyo.
Jamie had pestered his dad and uncle to stop at the convenience store on the way home for a snack.
It was just a random act of stupidity and violence
.
    Jamie turned his focus back to his paperwork, and they were almost finished when their commander, Robert Sullivan, called to them. “Griffin, Cushing—in my office, please.”
    As they entered his office, Cal said, “We were just finishing the paperwork, honest, Sully.”
    Sully flashed his trademark wicked grin. “Ah. I’d forgotten that you still owe me paperwork from last night, Cushing. Thanks for reminding me. I called you in here because your names are next in the rotation, and we just got a report of a 10-84 at Cedar Grove Cemetery.”
    â€œCedar Grove? Hell, that’s only a few blocks from my house. Who’s on the scene?”
    â€œFrank Thompson, first responding—Suzie Boyle, patrol supervisor.”
    Jamie