****
Bella threw the driver’s door open and hopped out of her car with enthusiasm. She couldn’t wait to put handcuffs on the crooked senator.
Sergeant Carver climbed out of his unmarked vehicle and walked over to Bella. “You ready for this?”
“Real ready,” Bella quipped.
The tactical team that was lent to them by the watch commander began to pull up. Once they were out of their cars, Bella pulled them in for a huddle. They were divided into three teams: the entry team, security, and the search team. Two uniformed officers were to post up out front. Bella was going in with the entry team. She wanted to see the look on the senator’s face when he realized that life as he knew it was over.
One of the larger tactical officers went to his car and pulled out a battering ram and a Chicago bar out of the truck. They didn’t have a no-knock warrant, but they wanted to have tools on the ready in case the senator refused to open the door.
Just as they approached the property, three additional cars pulled up. Bella’s lieutenant, her commander, and the superintendent climbed out of each. Bella turned to her sergeant with narrowed eyes and pursed lips.
“What? I had to tell my supervisor. I guess he told his,” the sergeant defended with a shrug.
Bella turned back to the house, ignoring the presence of the bosses. Since they hardly ever participated in the execution of a warrant, Bella was sure that they were only there, hoping for a photo op.
The entry team hurried up the long driveway. Bella followed close behind. Once they were near the massive double doors, the team fell to the side. Bella walked up and knocked hard on the door.
Less than a minute later, a small African American woman opened the door. “May I help you?”
“We’re here for Senator Craven,” Bella announced as she walked past the woman.
“The senator is in the shower!” the woman shouted. “What is this all about?”
One of the entry team members grabbed the woman by the arm and pulled her aside.
“Who else is in the house?” he asked her.
She stumbled as he dragged her into another room. Bella walked across the foyer.
“Search everything!” she yelled over her shoulder.
Bella found a staircase and climbed them to the top. Just as she turned down the hall, the senator burst through one of the doors wearing only a robe.
“What the hell is going out here?” he bellowed.
“Senator Craven, you’re under arrest for pandering, human trafficking, and conspiracy to commit murder.”
The senator turned as white as a sheet. There was no disguising the fear in his eyes. He knew that his time had come. “What?” the senator gasped, stumbling against the wall. “What are you talking about?”
“Michael Anderson, Senator.”
“What about Michael? He’s part of my security!” barked the senator.
“He gave you up,” Bella revealed with a satisfied grin.
At the sound of that, Senator Craven clutched his heart and dropped to his knees. Bella pulled out her cuffs. She walked over and stepped behind him, pulling his arms behind his body. Bella read him his Miranda rights as she secured the cuffs around his wrists.
The feel of the cold metal must have snapped the senator out of his state of shock. “What are you doing? I am a United States senator! You can’t do this to me!”
Bella pulled the senator to his feet and dragged him down the hall. Once they were downstairs, she handed him off to one of the security officers. The officer placed the senator on the sofa with his housekeeper and his weeping wife. Bella was curious to know if the senator’s wife knew the sadistic shit that her husband was involved in. She would be sure to question the woman later.
Bella joined the others. They searched the senator’s large house from top to bottom. Three hours later, they were placing evidence in plastic, department-issued bags. Bella had found more than she’d ever expected. Apparently, the senator was quite paranoid and he certainly didn’t trust his co-conspirators. He recorded all of their conversations. There must have been more than a hundred audio recordings and some video. It was definitely going to take a while to sift through all of it.
Bella went to take one of the evidence bags to the car, but when she walked past the room where the senator had been placed, he wasn’t there. Bella walked into the room. His wife had buried herself in the corner of the sofa, and the housekeeper was sitting next to her with folded arms and pursed lips.
“When can I go?” she asked, impatiently. “I don’t live here.”
