Academy Murders: Urgency

Her sneakers didn’t quite fit so she felt some abrasiveness. She bunked with three other young women. One was a Navy officer. The other three were fresh out of college.

“That was incredible how you took down that killer,” Natasha Burke said. She was petite with blue eyes and blonde hair. A slight lisp slurred her words but not to the point of being misunderstood. Her celebrity status had landed her in the position of going over the Parton and Lansing cases. Kim knew she had to keep as low a profile as possible, however, she still fielded questions and comments.

“I did it,” Kim started, “with the help of my fellow authorities.”

“You didn’t really do it,” Naomi Dunbar said with acid. Kim chuckled lightly.

“What are you? 22? 23? You have no idea what it’s like on the streets. The smell of gasoline spilling from a tank that a perp is going to ignite…you don’t know the reality of seeing your best friend’s face be scorched by flames…so if you’re going to come at me, do so. Just remember the lives that wear the badge.”

She walked past Kim and found the vending machine.

“She’s just envious. She won’t make it as an agent.”

Kim shook her head. “No, she’ll probably graduate near or at the top of our class.”

“I think you will,” Puj Sharma said.

“I know I will,” Kim said and then a silence like observing Taps fell over the room. Then, Naomi reentered and found her bunk. She looked through her phone in the silence.

That next morning, the cadets journeyed to the rope course.

“Good, morning cadets! You will engage with and pass this obstacle. Though it is not a graduation requirement, we are looking to weed out the weakest in future challenges. Is that understood?”

“Aye, Ma’am!”

The “Ma’am” was a forty-five-year-old FBI agent who had been in the field for twenty-three years. She had brownish hair and critically white skin. Her name was Courtney Tulane. She had risen to chief agent in her post in Maryland and returned to the Academy to train the next crop of cadets.

With all her strength, Kim found her way up the rope and scaled down with grace and ease. Naomi shot a glance at her. It was like a dagger attempting to break through Kim’s heavy armor.

Naomi struggled up the rope. She started and struggled some more and finally dropped.

“You failed,” Dunbar said. It was a flat voice, lifeless and certain.

“Next!”

Naomi begrudgingly sat beside Kim. She nudged Kim. She smiled and chuckled a bit.

“Something funny, Jergensen?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Let’s try to keep it quiet. What do you say?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Naomi smirked. Her smugness was like a haze over the entire field. Once the other cadets had completed the course, Kim just kept moving.

“Jergensen!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Come here!”

The only one who giggled a bit was Naomi. The others looked on with a sense of wonder and curiosity.

“I want you to take Naomi as your youngling. Keep her in line and get her strong both physically and academically. You’re going to be with her the entire time until we see one of you drop out or pass into my beloved Bureau.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Kim shouted. She shot a glance at Naomi. It was not spiteful or even hateful. She just viewed her as another example of what she had to do to get by in her life. With the way the rest of the cadets hit the showers to change into their sweats, there seemed to be an urgency brewing in Naomi.

“You don’t need to look after me. I’m not a goddamn baby!”

“If she wants me to ensure that you graduate, I’m doing everything in my power to make sure that happens,” she said.