Tracer Bullet 1.5

Tracer Bullet 1.5

A Story by Miles W.
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An extended version of the original Tracer Bullet. Basically everything that happens that leads up to the point of the original story as well as an epilogue.

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Prologue:

 

James Dinkleberg slowly walked back home in a daze.  He had been up all night, drinking, dancing, and what’s more, gambling.  He couldn’t help himself.  No matter what his therapist suggested, he just couldn’t find a stress reliever better than gambling and drinking.  He knew that it was destroying his finances, but he didn’t care.  He needed to find a way to cope with his most recent layoff at his job.  He got to the door, and made an extra effort not to wake his beautiful wife Jessica.  He deeply cared about her, but in these hard times, it seemed that they had grown apart.  She was trying to get a job at one of the many different factories that seemed to be popping up like weeds across the riverfront.  But as of today, no opportunity had been opened yet.  James had been using the last of his emergency savings to try and win big and help get him and his wife out of this terrible life they were in.  So far nothing worked.  He had one last bit of money enough to get him through one more night.  But as he looked for the jar of money to put in his wallet for tomorrow, he found it empty, with a note inside.  It read,
“You are two-thousand dollars in debt with my boss.  Meet me behind the casino tomorrow night and I will tell you my terms.”

 

Chapter 1
Tracer Bullet

 

Case file 2038 August 28th, 1929.  Hinatchi gang bank robbery attempt on Broad Street.  Battle Report.

To the chief of police (or whatever rookie’s desk this will probably end up on), I begin my report by bringing to your attention that this robbery took place under your watch.  It was a beautiful day as I was just walking down the street, minding my own business tailing somebody that might have helped me get the evidence I need to wrap up Hinatchi and put him behind bars for life, but then the bank alarm went off, and as I looked back, I saw one of your beat cops right next to it.  But when the culprits dashed out of the bank, your so called “New York’s finest” jumped into a nearby alley and tried to avoid any form of contact with the enemy.  I took matters into my own hands by shooting the tires of their getaway car followed quickly by shooting each member of the gang in the shoulder, and disarming them in a timely fashion.  Unfortunately, there was an extra member that gave me the slip, and snuck up behind me and hit me hard on the head.  I would have likely been dead as a doornail unless your spooked cop finally manned up and put a gun barrel on the back of his skull.  Some of your men showed up and finally got them under wraps, but I learned a few days later, they were released with no charge or other problems with the law whatsoever.  It would seem that somebody high up in the police department is paying you off, so effective immediately, I am taking a personal holiday from the force until I manage to get Big Bad Hinatchi behind bars.

Tracer Bullet
Private Eye

 

 

Chapter 2

Ms. Zuckerberg

 

James was in the right place and at the right time.  He was at the exact location behind the casino that was listed in the letter.  But there was nobody there.  It was late, and his wife was probably beginning to worry.  He turned to leave, and then bumped into someone.  As he staggered back and quickly apologized, he got a better look at his point of embarrassment.   It was a woman, slightly smaller than him, and about as thin as a twig.  Not like she hadn’t eaten, her face looked well fed, but that her body was built to absorb everything and not let it show.  She was a red head, curled, and wore a lot of makeup.  She looked up at him and asked,
“You Dinkleberg?”  He didn’t know what to say.  He just slowly nodded his head, trying to not think about how awkward this was.  “Look Dinkleberg, I’ll just get straight to the point.  You’re two grand in the hole with my boss, and as far as I can tell, you can’t pay him.  He doesn’t know about this yet because he has a million files to go through every day, and sometimes it takes a while for things like this to turn up.  Heck, he’s still going through files from last January.  But never mind all that.  The point is, if he finds out about this, he will likely target you if you don’t pay.”
“I don’t see how killing me would make me pay.  If anything, he’ll lose money.” He turned to leave when she said,
“Nah, either the insurance will just pay off the debt, or he’ll make a legal claim and all the money from your Will will go to him rather than your wife.  Besides, it’s not you he would target, it would be your wife.”  James stopped in his tracks.  Kill his wife?  How could they get away with that?  His mind was a blur.  He didn’t know how he could raise enough money in time before his wife’s life would be in danger.
“Look Dinkleberg, I’m not here to turn you in to my boss, I’m going to help you.  But this is a two way deal.”
“Anything to help my wife.  Just name it lady.”
“My name’s Jodie.  Jodie Zuckerberg.  Okay here’s the deal.  I keep the report of the gambling debt off of my boss’ table, and you give me what I want.”  She said this with a wink, and James knew immediately what she wanted.  He didn’t know what to do.  On the one hand, there was ignore this woman and leave the love of his life in harm’s way of an angry mob boss, or commit adultery as a means of protecting his true love.  He turned to her and slowly nodded his head, a sense of shame creeping into his heart.  She grabbed him by the wrist, and led him over to an exquisite hotel room above the casino floor.  As he walked into the room, she threw her coat on the ground and motioned him to start undressing. (The rest of this chapter is censored/unwritten for the sake of whatever sanity people reading this have left and because I don’t like writing the kind of imagery expressed in this next scene).

 

Chapter 3

Legal Trouble

 

“Blast that stupid detective!  Who does he think he is?  Some righteous messenger from God or something?!”  The chief of police stormed into his office, with a file in his hand.  As he shut the door and drew the blinds, he turned to the man sitting in a corner.
“O’Hara, relax.  Just because this Tracer guy went AWOL on you doesn’t mean I can’t get the drop on him.”
“You don’t understand Frank.  While under my jurisdiction, I could keep Tracer from getting in too deep in your business.  Now that he’s gone and started his own private eye business, I can’t keep him from not following anonymous tips from street rats that tell him about your heists!”
“True, but you forget, I own the police.  Now he’s not a part of the force, and that means me and my boys can finish him off.”
“I don’t know Frank, this new mayor worries me.  He’s determined to try and rid this city of what makes it run.  I mean, if you own the city, what happens when you fall?  Everything would collapse.  Finances, protection, shipments, and so on.  Other gangs would see your fall as a chance to gain territory of their own and take up the position of power that you once held.  And then the mayor would put all those guys away and then what would happen to this beautiful city?  It would go to ruins, that’s what!  We’re in the middle of an economic crisis, and you and your money is the only thing keeping us afloat!”
“Relax O’Hara, relax.  Just because you think this Tracer guy would go down as a martyr doesn’t mean anything to me.  I’ll just have one of my boys have a bottle of beer, have him crash into this Tracer guy, and boom.  Nothing more than a drunk bum driving a car causing an accident.  Then I just buy my guy out of prison, and business can go as normal.  Trust me.  It’ll work fine.”

 

 

Chapter 4
Too Close

 

Case File 2039 September 7th, 1929.  Hinatchi gang assassination attempt.  Battle report.

 

I was making my way to pier 28, following a lead that the Hinatchi gang was bringing in a shipment of black gold that was stolen from a government convoy out on Lake Erie and was going to be sold to the highest bidder on the black market.  As I turned down Ontario St., a car came hurtling towards me, with a man behind the wheel.  I managed to jump out of the way in time, and the car ran right into a wall leading to a textile factory.  I rushed to the car and opened the door to see if the driver was all right, but as I pull him out, I smell alcohol on his breath.  At first I assumed drunk driving, but then I realized that the way he was driving was too well planned, too calculated.  I was about to leave him for the authorities when a shot grazed my shoulder and hit the side of the car.  I immediately jumped into the factory and made sure that my piece was loaded and ready for bear.  I broke the side mirror of the car and used it to try and get an angle on my enemies.  I saw one enemy, but as I looked for other assailants, the mirror got shot and blasted out of my hand.  I confirmed one enemy though.  Tall, male, and had a machine gun, loaded and ready for bear.  But the shot that destroyed my mirror was too well placed, and only required one shot, so I assumed there had to be a sniper somewhere on the roof.  Not a very good one, considering he missed me when I was sitting still, but he had the potential to be a threat.  I thought about stepping outside and shooting them out of their nest, but then I realized that the street lights gave me no cover at all.  I looked out on the street, and saw four street lights, all of them lit (I only had an instant before another shot was taken at me).  I blasted the two that were in my range from my little corner, then dashed across to the other side trying to avoid fire (I swear, these guys couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn) and blasted the other two lights causing total darkness across the street.  I then quickly made my escape down the street and was about to head to the pier when I realized that if I escaped this trap, there would likely be another trap waiting for me down at the pier.  I raced up to the top of the building where my assailants were, and when I finally got to the roof, they were still looking for me down in the warehouse.  I knocked out the one with the tommy gun, and then put the barrel of my gun to the back of the snipers skull.  I asked him who he worked for, and when he refused to talk, I proceeded to shoot him in the leg and smash his face against a chimney.  I then asked him again, and he said that Frank Hinatchi was out to get me.  He told me that he wanted to make my death look like an accident so that the police didn’t have to… do something.  The reason I say this is because a shot rang out in the night and buried a slug in the back of his skull.  I jumped behind one of the chimneys and re-loaded my gun.  But as I looked around the corner of my perch, I saw nearly ten guys with pistols, tommy guns, and sniper rifles all aimed at me.  I saw no way for victory, and decided to make my escape.  I pulled out one of my many grenades and tossed it to the roof across the street.  I knew that it wouldn’t detonate in time to kill all of them, but it would give me enough time to get back inside the building.  I rushed into the house, and found a window that led to the next building over.  I did this for a few blocks making sure that the enemy didn’t see me on the streets.  I finally got far enough away that I felt like I could get back on the streets  and make my way back to the office.  I have decided to make a personal case file following this case.  Case 2040.  Any other case following will likely have to do with something not dealing with Frank Hinatchi.  I am going into hiding now, and I plan to make sure that the mayor knows about my situation.  He knows I’m a good guy, and that I want to end Frank’s rule of this city.  This report will go to him through my personal mailing address, to ensure that there will be no slip-ups.

Tracer Bullet
Private Eye

 

 

Chapter 5
Concerns

 

Jessica got the eggs off the griddle just before they burned, and put them on a hot plate.  She immediately rushed over to the breakfast table and set the plate down, and then sat herself down.
“James, why don’t you put down that newspaper and just have a conversation with your wife?  We won’t see each other until I’m done with work today anyways.”
“Honey, I don’t think you’re going to work today.” said James.  He handed her the morning paper and she saw the headline,
“GANG ATTACK ON LOCAL TEXTILE FACTORY BELIEVED TO BE CAUSED BY RIVAL COMPANY.  COMPANY LAYING OFF WORKERS AS FOLLOWS:”  It was listed in alphabetical order, so she immediately looked in the D’s, and was horrified to find her name written down as one of the many laid off.  She couldn’t believe it.  After months of searching for a job to help her husband get out of his sense of needing to get them out of this life they were stuck in, she finally got a job where they could get enough pay to leave this horrible part of town and move somewhere where they could start a new life together.  She sat down, absolutely dumbstruck by what happened.
“No…” was all she could say.  She was so upset she didn’t even touch her food.  Her husband kissed her goodbye, left, and she still hadn’t moved from her spot.  When she snapped out of her daze, she decided she needed to get some laundry done.  She filled the bucket with water, got the washing iron, and grabbed one of her husband’s suits.  She was going through the pockets when she found something in the left coat pocket.  It was a hair ribbon.  It wasn’t one of hers, or anybody else in the apartment building.  As she continued to search the jacket, she found a business card hidden in the chest pocket, for some woman named Jodie Zuckerberg.  She had never heard of this woman before.  Even if she had, she didn’t know why her husband had one of her hair ribbons much less a business card.  She didn’t want to think that her husband was cheating on her, but it was the only thing that made sense.  She didn’t want to give her husband more stress, so she decided to try and slowly bring it up at dinner that night.  However, when James walked into the house, the phone rang and he immediately answered it before his wife could reach it.  After a few minutes, he came to the dinner table, and told her that the office called him in for some late night work, and that he would get a raise.  He had a bite to eat, and then ran out the door.  After he left, Jessica called the operator and asked for the number of the most recent call.  When the operator gave the information to her, the number matched the one on the business card.  While her husband was not very open about his job at home, she knew that he didn’t work at a casino.  She decided that rather than get her hands dirty, she would find somebody else to do it for her.  She picked up the paper, and saw a personal ad that was perfect.

 

Chapter 6

Case 2041

 

Case File 2041 September 10th, 1929.  Cheating Wife case.  Initial assessment.

 

I was sitting in my office watching the Cleveland baseball team get beat again when a dame walked into my office wearing not much other than an old coat that clearly came from a government distribution because of the depression and some cheap high heels that she clearly wore about twenty years ago.  Brunette, as usual.  She came in asking me if she could help me with the fact that she thinks her husband is cheating on her.  I was initially going to refuse her case, but I let her speak because one, she was a lady and I didn’t want to be rude, and two, what she mentioned later intrigued me.  She said her husband, James Dinkleberg, was going off to meet this woman Jodie Zuckerberg on just about every Tuesday night and not coming back until the next morning.  When she gave me the business card, I recognized the pattern immediately.  It was one of Frank Hinatchi’s custom made business cards he used in his casinos.  I saw this as a chance to get inside the workings of Frank Hinatchi’s buildings, while also trying to figure out the truth in this case.  I told her that I would take her case for no charge for the first two weeks.  She thanked me profusely, and then left.  I decided that the best course of action was to go in disguise and get the layout of the casino that was on the business card.  Afterwards, I would trail Mr. Dinkleberg and then sneak into the casino and try to get some files on Frank that could put him away forever.

 

 

Chapter 7
Decisions

 

James woke up from a great night.  He had gotten a promotion at his job, he had the day off, and he was going to get his first paycheck on Friday, and things seemed to be looking up.  He got out of bed and lost all his joy was lost when he saw what day it was.  It was another Tuesday.  He had to go to the casino hotel in order to protect his wife.  Protect his wife.  At this point it didn’t even feel like he was doing that anymore.  He just felt like he was just cheating on his wife.  Plain and simple.  He couldn’t take it anymore.  He felt like he and his wife had gotten something going in their relationship, and were looking at finally getting out of the life they were stuck with now.  But as long as Jodie held the gambling over his head, he could never be free.  And while his job was a good-paying one, it couldn’t be enough for him to get out of debt before the next payment on their apartment was due.  He couldn’t think of what to do next, other than keep doing what he was doing.  He quickly threw that idea out the window when his wife woke up and kissed him good morning.  He got up and grabbed the morning newspaper.  The headline said that the chief of police had been arrested for fraud and that there was a new police chief taking over.  James thought it mighty strange that Jodie Zuckerberg was in the background when they showed a picture of Frank Hinatchi refusing to comment about the development.  Then he immediately realized that Jodie must work for Hinatchi.  He then hatched a plan that would likely work.

 

Chapter 8
Anger

 

Frank was furious.  Just this morning, he lost his most powerful piece of the police force because some dumpy two-bit private eye found some dirt on him, and now he finds out that he’s two grand in the hole for some ammo he got a few weeks ago.  He was in a FOUL mood.  His secretary Jodie Zuckerberg walked in looking a bit flustered, and told him that a guy named James Dinkleberg was here to see him.  He had never heard of this Dinkleberg guy before, but he decided to hear him out.  He told Jodie to bring him in, and in he walked.
“Frank Hintachi, am I right?”
“Yeah, that’s me.  Whaddya want?”  Dinkleberg proceeded to tell him about the gambling debt from a few months ago, how Jodie kept it secret from him, and how he wished to stop doing what he was doing.
“So, what’s in it for me?” Asked Frank.
“I can become one of your personal assistants.  Just long enough to pay off my gambling debt sir.”  Frank was astounded.  He wasn’t here to pay him, but rather find a cop-out.
“Jodie!  Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?!  Never mind, you’re fired!”  And before she could protest, Frank whipped out his pistol, and let a shot ring out.  The bullet hit her square in the eyes.  Dinkleberg was dumbstruck.  He didn’t know what to do, so he tried to run.  Frank was still mad, so he shot Dinkleberg in the leg.  As Dinkleberg groaned in pain, Frank grabbed him by the shirt, dragged his face to the barrel of his gun, and told him (censored) and proceeded to shot him in the head.  As soon as Dinkleberg’s body hit the floor, there was a flash over in the back corner of the office.

 

 

Chapter 9
Final Report

 

Case File 2041, September 14th, 1929.  Mr. and Mrs.  Dinkleberg and Ms. Zuckerberg in the Hinatchi gang mix-up.  Final report.

Mrs. Dinkleberg,

I must painfully regret to inform you that your husband was indeed cheating on you, but it was the only way that he could keep you safe from the wrath of the mob bosses of Frank Hinatchi.  As was previously anticipated, he was heavily in gambling debt with one of Frank’s casinos.  Ms. Zuckerberg was someone who could keep him distracted from attacking you in order to make you pay.  She was one of Frank’s secretaries, and was able to keep the file of the gambling debt off his table if Mr. Dinkleberg gave her “what she wanted”.  In truth Mrs. Dinkleberg, I had been on the trail of Frank for quite some time even before you came to me with your case.  I realized that I could use this case as a way of finding evidence to convict Frank of a crime that could incriminate him for life.  As I trailed your husband to the building of Frank’s headquarters, I was able to sneak in and follow them closely.  Apparently your husband was going to end his affair with Ms. Zuckerberg in exchange for him being a personal member of Frank’s gang.  Unfortunately, Mr. Hinatchi  was in a bad mood, and proceeded to shot your husband in the head.  I had a camera with me this whole time, and managed to get the evidence I needed before getting spotted by the big man himself.  There was a few minutes of gunfire, but then the police came and picked up the big guy and all his cronies, and I gave them the evidence they needed.  Sadly, your husband was dead even before I was able to take the picture.  I am truly sorry for your loss, and all I can give you for comfort is this: He chose to face his fears rather than spend another day cheating on the woman he loved.

Tracer Bullet

Private Eye.

 

Epilogue:
Personal File

 

Personal File 4.  October 12th, 1931.  Mrs. Johansen/Dinkleberg and my new promotion.

 

A few years have passed since James’ death by the hands of Frank Hinatchi.  Today, Jessica’s new husband took her to James’ grave so that she could tell him that she was moving on with her life.  If the present version of me told the me from 1929 that in two years, Frank Hinatchi would get the hot seat, you would get to know one of your clients personally and develop a beautiful friendship with her, and, to top it all off, get promoted to police commissioner of the city, I would have likely laughed it off as some prank.  But it’s not a prank.  After James’ death, Jessica didn’t know what to do.  The city did all it could to help her, but they couldn’t give her back the man she loved.  I decided to take matters into my own hands, but an unexpected result happened.  I realized when I was comforting her, she was also helping me.  Helping me with the fact that I had been chasing a dream of doing something for so long, that now that it was complete, I didn’t know what to do with my life.  She helped me realize that even though I have put away one mob boss, I still have to make sure that the city is safe from those like him in the future.  She met an amazing guy that I can support, and they are going to move away from this city full of memories.  I know that it’s not usually a good idea for somebody to do something like this in these hard economic times, but I got the mayor to help them with some finances to get them started.  As for me, I just need to focus on keeping this city safe, but not losing myself in it.  I will continue to protect this city I call home until the day I retire, or the day that a criminal blasts me in the head.

James “Tracer Bullet” Gordon
Police Commissioner

© 2013 Miles W.


Author's Note

Miles W.
PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! BE CRITICAL! PLEASE!

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Reviews

Bro,
Ok, I actually did enjoy it, the way I enjoy most stuff on this site, critically and speculative. James Dinkelberg (like dinkelberg from fairly odd parents lol). so this gambling laid off broke guy goes to meet someone cuz he owes them money and instead its Jodie Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg, like mark zuckerberg. Berg. lol this is fine if u did that on purpose but if not id substitute the names, so jessica hires Tracer to find out if james is cheating on her, then all of a sudden james gets a promotion at his job even though a few paragraphs ago he was laid off. This literally just needs to be longer to fit in what its trying to tell, like jodie gets shot in the face and its such a fleeting description. This story is really a skeleton of a plot which is a start! it just feels weird that the hintanchi assasination gang is shooting at Tracer cuz their hardly in conflict, no ones in conflict really, then frank blows up and shoots jodie. But the ending lol, Tracer does a Bat-man line about protecting his city. That being said, thanks for entering in the contest your probably going to win because your the only one who entered. Cheers mate

Posted 6 Years Ago


Miles W.

6 Years Ago

Thanks for the review. This is something I wrote back in High School and I was still learning the c.. read more
JackValor86

6 Years Ago

lol like i said you probably won the contest tthough i think your still the only one to have submitt.. read more
JackValor86

6 Years Ago

and you apologized for the sex scene! lol don't apologize just imply it without describing it if you.. read more
The bulliteen would be given to the IA and another draft would be in the hands of the commissioner, third would be his pranctiant officer. That is the first problem, second is your paragraphs are too large. Break them into time, place, details. What you were doing? What happened? Your conclusions? What you found there?

Posted 8 Years Ago



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Added on October 31, 2013
Last Updated on October 31, 2013

Author

Miles W.
Miles W.

Columbus, OH



About
I am a recent graduate with a degree in Film Production. My dream is to become a film director, creating my own stories. I love writing stories and fan fiction. Please check it out, share and revie.. more..

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Introduction Introduction

A Chapter by Miles W.