Chapters from the life of John Vero

[Vero]

Development of the background story of John Vero. If youd like to give me feedback do so here.



Chapter 1 - A New Direction



Officer John Vero of Liberty Police Inc. was starting to wonder if he had gotten in over his head.

He had scaled the fire escape on the old brick building easily enough. He had used the proper techniques to bypass any security system that may still have been operational. He silently entered through a window of an unoccupied room. All very simple and all by the book. Now, as he stood peering down the hallway of the nearly empty third floor, his adrenaline started pumping. The moment of truth was soon at hand. In thirty seconds the whole thing would be over.

For three and a half weeks Vero had been investigating and tracking the movements of Andre Lankey a key member of the Liberty Rogues in the California system. Now Vero finally had the evidence he needed to put Lankey on a prison station for a long time. Lankey was the prime suspect in a high profile kidnapping case; a case that Vero was tasked with closing.

Ever since being promoted in the LPI to an investigator, Vero had worked relentlessly on each case assignment until the criminals were brought to justice. Whether part of a group investigation team or working solo his success rates on cases were so high that his name had gotten around as a reliable closer. He was sure that it was because of his success rates that he was on his current assignment.

The son of a politically well connected businessman here on planet Los Angles had been kidnapped and was being held for ransom. This wasnt even his precinct, but someone had pulled some strings to get Vero on the case. He wasnt sure who, but that didnt matter right now, all that mattered was getting this little boy back to his parents and catching the criminals who had kidnapped him.

Many Investigations Officers in the LPI did not take part in hostage rescue attempts, but Vero had a difficult time delegating work to others when he thought it was critical. Of course he felt all his work was critical, but in this kind of situation he was most certainly correct.

He had been through the standard stealth entry and target elimination training courses, but he hadnt had much real life practice.

Two fellow LPI officers were working their way in and up through the lower floors of the building.
Using high powered infra-red imaging and directional sound receivers, on loan from LSF, the surveillance team was able to identify the approximate location of the hostage and the number of his captors.

From what Vero had observed during four days of staking out this hideout; Lankeys partner would be out for another thirty five minutes; leaving only Lankey in the building with the hostage. Lankeys partner would be picked up by the team that was tailing him as soon as they had word that the boy was safe.

On the second floor of the building across the street was the local LPI Captain with the surveillance team and their array of equipment.
Vero was in constant communication with the surveillance team via earpiece receiver and microphone.

Two snipers were stationed atop buildings across the street. Five more officers were ready in a transport parked at street level waiting for any sign that things had gone bad.