Full Blue
by
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The area was extremely quiet, the time being 3:00 A.M. in the morning. In the distance, a police car passed by, but it didn't seem to intrude on the silence. Mitchell got out of his car and walked a few blocks. Before leaving the Porsche behind, even for a few minutes, he left his police-parking permit on the windshield to remind anyone who had any ideas that it belonged to a police officer. After walking a few blocks, a woman, Noric, turned the corner and hurried down the center of the street towards him. Mitchell, stopped for a second, and tried to get a good look at the woman. She stopped walking and remained about 200 feet in front of him. They stayed silent for seconds before Mitchell pulled out his pistol. He wondered why he hadn't pulled it out the second they approached each other, but it was out now, and that's all that mattered. "Good evening, detective. No need for the pistol," Noric said in Polish. Mitchell found the voice to be strange. He didn't know who was this mysterious cross-dresser, this drag queen from nowhere. He answered back in Polish to the best of his ability. Working some years in Greenpoint had definitely helped. "Who are you?" Noric reached over to his wig and pulled it off. "That's right, detective. It's me." Now Mitchell recognized his face. It matched all the FBI photos and those of NCIC. "Sh--!..." A rush of adrenaline shot through his body as he tried to figure out what to do. "Don't move. Stay right there..." His Polish faded back to English. He looked back at his car. He thought about going to the car to radio for help, but he realized that Noric was not going to go along peacefully. "Of course...detective...where did you think I was going to go?" The voice was just like back in Margaret's den. "Put your hands up! I said put your hands up!" Mitchell waved his gun like a baton giving directions to an orchestra. Noric complied and put his hands up. "That's right, just keep them there. Make a stupid move...and kiss your dupa good-bye." Mitchell handcuffed him and nudged him to walk towards his car. "That way." They walked towards the car. Mitchell inspected the area – the rooftops, the building windows, the parked cars, the alleys – to make sure no accomplices were hiding in the wings. "Thought you could go on like this forever. Try terrorizing your way out of a Federal jail cell." "I'm like Houdini. Maybe better. So you can count on that thought. Violent..." "Who do you think you are?" Noric stopped, looked at Mitchell, and smiled. A digital clock on his wrist was quickly counting down to zero. "I'm the Bomber of Seville," Noric whispered. "What did you say?" Mitchell asked. A loud explosion propelled Mitchell and Noric to the ground as large chunks of building debris fell on them and around them. Three buildings on the block were ablaze, and large, billowing clouds of smoke distorted any assessment of the damage. Residents of neighboring buildings staggered out of their apartments –some screaming and others in complete confusion. Mitchell regained his composure, bleeding from a cut on his forehead, and looked around the area for Noric. Large planks of wood burned in the street, providing some illumination for Mitchell, but not enough to see through the smoke. He realized that Noric was definitely gone.
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About the Book
MITCHELL LEÓN, a socially compassionate NYPD detective, who resides on New York's Lower East Side, is drawn into an unwanted high-profile homicide and corrupt election involving MARGARET PRINCE of the 12th Congressional District that explodes into international mayhem. While participating with his nephew VICTOR ROMERO in a community protest to eradicate drugs and corner dealers, he hears shots being fired from a rooftop, goes to investigate, and is arrested instead by police. After proving to the arresting officers, and the Internal Affairs Bureau investigators, that cases in immigrant, drug-infested neighborhoods are not taken seriously by detectives, he, along with partner FRED CHANZA, is put on a murder case of a popular magazine writer named MAX MUIR by the police commissioner and the Chief of Detectives DENNIS SANTINI of the Special Investigations Division at One Police Plaza. In the meantime, Victor, along with his childhood friend, JIM HOFFMAN, take their own approach towards the community and towards a racist, blockbusting real estate developer named RUDOLPH ARCHER, a.k.a., ARCHIE BUNKER. Channeling their anger in the wrong direction, away from Mitchell’s by-the-law perspectives, Victor and Jim resort to kidnapping Archie for a scare as their first line of business. Upon releasing him and thinking they have succeeded, the two realize that Rudolph has some plans of his own. Feeling victorious, Victor continues with his plans of raising money to buy one of the buildings on his block before it’s snatched up by what the city calls "the gentrifiers" but what he considers to be "the invaders." He meets with an assorted group of friends to initiate the raising of funds by taking a radical approach towards what is happening to them and the neighborhood. Little do they know that Rudolph has some big and deadly plans for them of his own. The truth behind Mitchell’s case is soon revealed to him after visiting the crime scene in Max's office over at Surreal Society Magazine. He is made part of an inextricable web involving Max's former wife, ex-centerfold, soft-core film and calendar star, TORI TOWNSEND, and her ex-husband, SAL MORO, and his connections to a multilingual international terrorist, FRANCO NORIC, "the Bomber of Seville." A multi-jurisdictional task force convenes to discuss the case involving Tori, Sal and Franco...with FBI Special Agent EDWARD RILEY and Secret Service Agent RICHARD HOPPER. Mitchell, because of his background in film and linguistics, is told to go undercover as a production member in Sal's film and video company...which produces erotic, European television commercials...and gather evidence against all parties involved with Max's death, and Sal's involvement in counterfeit money and video tapes. On the set, he befriends an actress, MADELINE BELLA, who unbeknownst to him is hiding a big secret. Victor feels like he is chasing his tail after finding it difficult to win over his uncle to see things his way, and after making little progress raising money. Victor uses that to make another attempt to bond with his uncle and Mitchell reciprocates as the two attempt to help each another out. Mitchell, like Victor, finds himself having to become a shark in a world that nurtures the crafty rather than the law-abiding. Things reaching critical mass when Victor, like Mitchell, discovers that he is the prey instead of the predator when Rudolph hires someone to blow his head off. Mitchell begins to put the pieces together of the imploded puzzle that has consumed him since taking on the case and before his eyes it all unfolds to reveal the suspects: Ruthless City Councilwoman MARGARET PRINCE, mystery woman MADELINE BELLA, Machiavellian media magnate SAL MORO, masochistic international terrorist FRANCO NORIC, and host of cops, U.S. Secret Service and FBI agents. Can Mitchell and Victor find the truth in the Byzantine world that they are caught in, or will this truth precipitate their deaths? That "truth" can only be found in the final chapter of Full Blue. FIN
About the Author
Ivan Diaz is a freelance writer who was born and raised on the Lower East Side of New York City and is a graduate of Brooklyn College. He is the author of the book On the Nature of the Puerto Rican Universe (Domino Press), and has written for Hispanic Link Weekly Report/Hispanic Link News Service, which is distributed by the L.A. Times. He is also part of a film/video production company called Cíne Huracán (