Prologue

 Judge then Chief of Police Beth Malone Able was born in  Alta Vista and lived there all of her life; in the same house, graduating from the local grammar and high school, then the Jr. College, and finally the local State College.  She married, had a daughter and a son and was widowed.  Average, ordinary, conventional!

She was a hard worker and always achieved her goals.  As a high school student she fell in love with the Spanish language.  After three years of high school Spanish she was selected as the foreign exchange student to Spain.  It was the high point of her teen years. She blew her education savings on a train pass and travel through Europe before flying home to continue her studies.    

Beth completed a criminal justice certificate from her junior college and joined the local police force working her way up to homicide detective while getting her Bachelor of Science degree from the local State College.  When she was widowed she went back to law school in the evenings and eventually was appointed to the state bench after graduating with honors and serving as a night court judge. 

A slender, attractive, Celtic woman with glacier blue eyes and silver spiked hair she had nerves of steel and a fiery but contained temper. People, especially criminals tended to underestimate her and she used that tendency to reel them in.  Beth had a tendency to mow over obstacles, while maintaining a cool, professional facade.  Accustomed to being shot at and shooting and killing in the line of duty, nothing much fazed her.  Nothing except injustice! 

Beth Malone Able Book Three

Police Chief Beth Able was enjoying a ‘honeymoon’ period with the press and with her officers since she had recently taken office and busted a drug mobster trying to establish his territory in Alta Vista.  She knew it wouldn’t last so she tackled one of the biggest problems first. This morning she had an appointment with Lou Graham, the union rep because she wanted to make sure they were on the same page regarding part time cops. 

“Come in Lou,” she said offering him a chair and then she returned to sit behind her desk.

Beth was in uniform today and Lou thought it was a bloody shame, he surreptitiously noticed that she was a very attractive woman especially when dressed less professionally. Two very different women, he thought.

“Lou, I requested a bit of your time to discuss a current problem for me, and an upcoming problem for us,” she smiled at him.

He sat back in his chair waiting for the chief to cough it up.

“Let’s get it out there on the table, chief, what’s up?”

“Part time police; first, we both agree in principle that part time officers are a mistake here in Alta Vista, secondly, we’re both concerned about officer training and safety. Our problem is going to be what we do with excess, poorly trained, or unfit officers?”

“Layoffs, firing?” he asked.

“Yes, probably,” she said.

“We’ll fight it,” Lou said.

“You might give the matter some thought Lou, some of these men were recruited by our city manager who is now in jail.  Do you want the union to be identified as protecting his underlings?”

He took a deep breath, “Maybe we can work something out Beth.  Aren’t some of them still on probation?” 

“I’m going over records now and juggling figures.  What I want to purpose is a committee of veteran field officers to assist in the process.”

“Get us to do you dirty work Beth?” he asked.

“Trying to keep my men safe with reliable partners and backups,” Beth said, “Meanwhile we train the promising part timers and when they’re ready they become full time.”

Lou was thoughtful; the men didn’t like having half trained, part time, officers any more than the chief did.  “Let me get a feel for the mood of the men Beth and I’ll get back to you in a few days,” he said.

When Lou left Matt came in to work with Beth on the schedule and reassignment of personnel, “This isn’t going to make anyone in the ranks happy either Beth,” Matt said.

“No one likes change,” she said, “But this is necessary for the department and for our city.  And” she added, “The authority for the change is in my contract.”

“Matt,” she said thoughtfully, “What if we assign each officer a number instead of using names.  Then we make a list of important standards, like years of experience, training received, arrests, and so forth and we deduct points for citizen complaints, disciplinary actions, etc.”

“Interesting idea, let’s get Norm in here and see what he thinks,” Matt said.

Beth, Matt, and Norm were closeted all afternoon devising a model. Norm was excited and promised a model by morning they could test with real data to see how it worked.  They refined the system for two days until Beth was satisfied and then ran some sample tests and found Norm’s model quite effective in presenting an overall picture. It was just a ‘first glimpse’ sort of assessment, Beth thought, but it was still a good start, a very good first sort.

Later that day she received a call from Lou Graham.

“Good afternoon, Lou,” she said.

“We’re going to have an informal meeting at the union hall Monday after the last day shift for open discussion of some of the problems facing the department,” he said.

Beth was thoughtful for a moment, “Listen Lou, what’s the chance of you giving me five minutes at the beginning of the meeting then I’ll leave and let you discuss your union business?” she asked.

“Beth, that would be one hell of a departure,” he said.

“Take a vote, I’ll be there standing by,” she proposed.

“Let me think about it, I’ll get back to you,” and he disconnected.

The chief asked, Ruth, her secretary to send Cynthia in.  Cynthia was Ruth’s niece and wrote an article on the judge for her college newspaper and eventually served her internship as a press officer in the state capital.  Beth hired Cynthia for her transition team and she had proven herself invaluable with the press.

Cynthia bounced in and sat with pad and pen in hand and Beth explained she had five minutes to speak with her officers and she wanted a speech and fact sheet with supporting data ready by Friday.

Basically, the speech will be a call for support explaining the changes I’m going to have to make,” Beth explained, “Here’s a list of points I want to cover.  Get Norm to work up a fact sheet for you and make sure it’s clear and understandable.”

“Got it chief,” she smiled and went back to her desk.”

Beth called Matt in and asked him for his thoughts.

“It’s sure a break in protocol,” he said, “Do you think they’ll let you speak?” he asked.

“I hope so it’s a lot more personal than just releasing a statement to the press,” she said. 

“I’ll go with you,” he said, “You might need back up,” and he laughed.

“Yes,” she smiled, “It worries me more than taking Simmons down,” she said.

Monday after shift, Beth and Matt sat waiting for the results of the vote in the union hall. Matt paced while Beth went over her notes. She gave him a stack of fact sheets to hand out with a stack for the lobby; then she responded to her cell phone and quickly walked down the poorly lit corridor to the meeting hall.

Beth knocked and when the door was opened she walked, quickly to the speaker’s platform. The hall quieted and she said:

Beth’s Speech to her officers:

First, I’m honored that you’re allowing me to speak here tonight.

 

She paused and then added with a smile.

And I’m proud as hell to be the chief of Alta Vista’s police department.

She reversed direction on the platform.

 Yes, but what, you ask?

By now she had the mic in her hand and was pacing the platform.

I hear a ‘but’ in your voice, chief.  Yes, you hear big butt.

Beth said surveying the crowd with a wide grin.

While we have some of the finest officers in the country here in Alta Vista there are questions we have to ask ourselves.  In parts of the city our response time is the best in the state; however, there are areas of this city where we have some of the lowest response times in the state.

In the low response areas we have the highest citizen complaint rate, the highest increase in crime rate, the highest arrest rate, and may I add the lowest conviction rate.  That last fact speaks volumes about police practice and training and any veteran officer here knows that. I was in a position as judge to understand the reasons for most dismissals and cases lost by our city and it is a discouraging picture. 

There were sounds of agreement from some parts of the crowd and

low boos from other parts of the crowd. 

Up until a couple of years ago Alta Vista scored in the top ten of our state’s police forces.  Today we are number twenty seven in the state.  What factors pulled us down to the number twenty seven position in this state?  As chief of police it is my job to reverse this trend toward mediocrity in our police force. 

There were grumbles from the crowd at this point.

Yes, I don’t like it either but the figures speak for themselves and I intend to fix the problem. You won’t like all of my solutions but it’s my job to fix the problem and I will institute the changes necessary to put us back in the top ten departments in this state.  If you want the pride of being among the top ten again let’s face and overcome these problems together. To succeed we must be one blue line standing together with no broken links. Thank you for listening and goodnight.

The crowd response was mostly heated intra-force argument and the chief hoped the fact sheets that were being offered to the officers would help them understand that they were in trouble and change was necessary.  She and Matt received a few handshakes on the way out but only time would tell if her departure from protocol helped or hindered the situation.

They went to Beth’s home after the speech and she poured a Jameson’s neat for each of them.

“How do you think it went, Beth?” Matt asked.

“Hard to tell,” she said, “As management I wouldn’t expect applause while delivering unpleasant news to a union local.”

 “But it’s their problem too,” Matt said.

“Ah yes, but it’s my job,” Beth said dryly.

Matt got up to leave and kidded, “Well, don’t take yourself too seriously,” he said.

“Matt wait a minute.  I think we need to talk about something,” Beth said.

“Sure,” he dropped back into his seat.

She sat forward in her seat, “Listen, Matt, I think you’re still pissed at me for the Simmons’ arrest?”

“I am,” he said flatly.

“O.K., let’s go through it step by step from where I was sitting,” she said.

“Shoot,” he replied.

“First, I didn’t find out that Simmons was possibly a dangerous criminal until just minutes before we locked up.  I went in to tell you that I wanted to discuss it with you and to clear the office out just in case of problems,” she said.

He nodded.

“When you called to warn me on the phone I disconnected quickly and called for immediate backup all per procedure,” she said. 

“Second, I was watching them and they were keeping a good distance behind me, plus they didn’t know I was on to them so I had a tactical advantage.”

“Matt, how many times have we pulled up to a shooting situation and rolled out for cover immediately?” she asked.

“O.K. dozens of times and we both lived to tell the tale but someday we won’t,” he said.

She shook her head, “There just wasn’t time for a discussion and decision making process.  I knew I had time,” she said, “It didn’t have anything to do with luck, I had all of the facts and you didn’t, because I didn’t want to talk in the office.”

“The point is that the risk you took was unnecessary,” he said,” We could have kept driving until we had backup.”

“And played cat and mouse with them until the next day when the feds rode in to town to save us, leaving the whole damn team in danger?” she asked.

“Like Jose Juarez, Beth?”

She slumped back in her chair, “You’ve got me there, Matt.  I have to admit I was thinking about Jose’s kids being at the mercy of scum like that,” she confessed.

“I just think you should think about that before you go gung ho super cop,” he said. 

“I have been thinking about it, Matt, and you’re right I do have guilt feelings about Jose’s death and an urge to protect his family in his place,” she admitted.

“I know Beth but you just can’t make it right, Jose, as much as I liked the man knew he was in a certain amount of danger on his job.  Those boys of his are cute kids though, aren’t they?” he asked.

“Stella mentioned that you had been by a couple of times to see them, thanks, Matt.”

He grinned, “No problem, they’re good, well behaved kids,” he said, “I took them to a soccer game at the State University and I think they had fun.”

She laughed, “Stella says they want to wear the jersey’s you bought them every day to school.”

“I’ll take them again soon,” he promised.

“You’re a good man, Matt, air cleared?” she asked.

“Air’s cleared,” he responded on his way out the back door.  

Brady Lofton.

  Brady Lofton, sweating and greasy, was working on his ’67 Pontiac GTO while drinking beer with a bunch of buddies in his garage.  They knew better then to touch the engine, they knew they were only there to polish the car and listen to Lofton talk.  He closed the hood and sent someone for another case of beer then jumped up to sit on his work bench and suck down another beer.  He crushed the can and tossed it into the garbage.  

Loft always left the garage door open to leer at the young girls passing by on the way home from school.  He'd wolf whistle occasionally but it didn't penetrated the loud music he played and then he'd amuse his buddies with long tales about what he'd do to each one of the girls someday.  All the while he talked he fastidiously cleaned his hands with special mechanics cream to keep the inside of his car clean.

“Hey Loft, what we going to do about the bitch cop.”

“First, let’s see if Simmons gets out on bail.”

“What if he doesn’t?”

Shrugging he responded, “If he doesn’t get bail, our connection is established.  They know me.”

“You think we still got a gig?” Grundy asked.

Loft spit and said, “You just keep the kids running scared, I’ll take care of the rest of it.”

“Joey came in with the beer, skirted the GTO, and put the case in the fridge, “Hey, Loft, areas flooded with cops,” he said.

“Bring me a beer,” Loft ordered, “Whatcha mean about cops?” he asked.

“I saw four patrol cars between here and the store,” Joey said.

Loft grinned, “Anyone we know?”

“No, older guys, never saw any of them before.”

“You guys keep your eyes open, that doesn’t sound good.”

Loft decided to take his car out for a cruise and donned a pair of mechanics coveralls to protect the inside of the car.  He crisscrossed his area of the city and saw several cop cars but no friends.  One patrol car even followed him for a couple of blocks.  He figured if they saw anything at all they would have stopped him.  He went home feeling edgy.

The patrol cars were full of grumbling police officers complaining about their reassignments.  Finally, some of the veterans got tired of the bitching and started some training exercises.  The kids had no idea of their responsibilities.

“Look, if you’re going to be riding with me get your shit together,” the veterans told the rookies.

The chief was there when they came in from patrol, “I know you’re not happy,” she told them, “But we’re here to serve and protect and that’s damn well what we’re going to do.  My best officers are going to be training the rookies and patrolling the trouble spots in this city and getting things under control.  I need you guys to set things right.  Thanks for your cooperation.”

By the end of the week the veterans knew what they were up against.  They began complaining to the union rep and several asked about the veteran police group the chief had requested.  Many dug out the fact sheet the chief had distributed at the meeting.

Lou told them, “Leave your name at the chief’s office if you’re interested. I know she believes that some of the cops recruited by Simmons are unfit, ill-trained, and maybe even on the take.”

The idea became a topic of discussion and soon Beth had a list of veterans and Matt checked them all out for the best candidates.  They all showed up for the first meeting in civvies.

Beth sat at the table with them also in civvies, “Men, I know this is tough for you and that you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t see the problem.  Sometimes everyone has to work together ‘for the good of the whole’ and in this case that means the whole city.” She looked at John and said, “John, were we ever best friends while I was with the department?”

John chuckled, “No mam, we weren’t.”

She smiled at John and asked, “If we weren’t friends why the hell did I call on you for back up the other day?”

 John paused and decided, “Because I’m the best damn cop in Alta Vista,” a boast he often made at Kelly’s after a few beers.

“Exactly,” she said, “When I needed a cop, I didn’t call my best friend; I called the best damn cop in Alta Vista!  Anyway; let’s all try to be, the best damn cops in Alta Vista, while we take care of this chore together.  First, we’ll have Norm explain culling and sorting to you, and then Matt will expand on that and tell you what else we’re dealing with here in Alta Vista.

When Norm and Matt finished Beth announced that as part of this community effort some of the mothers from our highest crime areas have fixed up a little brunch break for us.

The ladies, headed by Stella Juarez and Anne Montejo came in with large containers and dished up a plate of some of the tastiest Mexican food the volunteers had ever eaten and then cleaned up the mess before leaving them alone again with a pot of coffee and the aroma of the food lingering in the room while they sipped their coffee.   

Beth said, “I don’t want to take up too much more of your time today but I’d like a guess from you on where you think this group of officers came in on Norm’s cull and sort runs?  You realize that we don’t know the name associated with the number in the computer but we can feed in a name or group of names in and get a position rating.  When all of your names were entered you all showed up in the top ten percentile of our police force. 

“Here, here,” they cheered themselves.

“On the other hand, with few exceptions the part time officers showed up in the lowest ten percent. That doesn’t mean that some of them aren’t trainable but I don’t know how we can accomplish that before their probationary period is up. We can lay them all off as a batch before their probation is finished, no questions asked; or we could get permission to extend their probation. And we’re probably going to lose some of them through criminal indictments when the trial of Mark Simmons takes place.  

She paused and let them all take that in and then said, “Personally, I don’t hold much with part time cops, especially trainees.  It might work with veterans who have earned their respect but that’s another subject for another day.” 

“So how do we decide?” John asked.

“Next meeting we’ll go over a list of questions or possible solutions and the twelve of you will decide – a bit like a jury. Juries can sometimes solve the thorniest problems, especially in a case like this when you’re all experts on what it takes to be a good cop and you’re all city residents with a vested interest.”

They talked and decided on their next meeting time and decided to meet at the chief’s house and have a barbecue while the men discussed the situation and defined solutions.

“I’ll leave it up to you if you want to issue a press release or not.  The press is on top of this and will be clamoring for news.”    

“What are you going to say?” one of the officers asked the chief.

“Nothing, officer, I’m just one of the group,” she answered.

Beth and Matt cleaned up the coffee remains and parted for the day.

The press was on to Beth and caught her at the back entrance to the building.  “What was the progress, chief?” they asked.

“This is a group taskforce, and I don’t have an individual comment to make,” she responded.

Since it was all they got that’s what the local affiliate aired for their ‘news bite’ that night.

John and his partner Doug talked over the meeting as they patrolled the Alta Vista Grammar and high school areas.  They stopped where they found groups loitering and asked if they had all been in school that day and directed them to the parish after school program that Father Sanchez had started if they didn’t have anything to do. It was all handled in a friendly, helpful manner without harassment issues. 

“So, John, what do you think of the new chief after the meeting?” Doug asked.

“Hell, she’s not a bad, old broad and she was a good cop. She still is if the Simmons thing is any indication, she was as cool and hard as nails don’t you think?” he asked Doug.

“Yeah, cool for a woman,” Doug said.

“What do you mean, Doug, she was as cool as we were and she had just seen her car riddled with bullets,” John answered.

“You’re changing your spots, John,” Doug said.

“Maybe,” John said, “She has a good team working with her and she’s giving our group lots of autonomy.”

“I hope you don’t regret it,” Doug said.

“Look her goals are the same as our goals.  Read that fact sheet she handed out at the meeting,” John told him, “She’s an old time cop and wants us back in the top ten, like before.”

“O.K., John, I’ll read the damn fact sheet,” Doug said, chuckling. 

Eyes always scanning, John saw a young, disheveled, girl hurrying toward them.  John pulled up to the curb and called to the girl, “Are you all right?” he asked.

Doug got out of the patrol car and saw that the girl looked like she had been roughed up and that she was crying, “What’s your name, young lady?” he asked.

“I’m O.K.,” she said.

“It’s getting dark, we’ll give you a ride home,” Doug said, “Or take you to the parish,” he said.

“No, I’m fine,” she said. 

“They couldn’t make her accept a ride because she hadn’t broken any laws and insisted she was O.K.

Doug took out his card and gave it to the girl, “If you ever need help call us,” he said, “I have a daughter your age,” he said.

Doug got in the car grumbling, “When did the kids start fearing us?” he asked.

“When they started policing this area with rookies and part-timers,” John said, “Before that we knew most of the kids in our area.  The town’s gotten bigger and the police force has gotten less effective.”

“Refereeing dog turd squabbles in Country Estates?” Doug asked.

“Humph,” John said.

The chief was there at the end of their shift and received fewer snubs and more friendly greetings. 

Doug went over to talk to Chief Able, “You know chief, the sports program at the parish is great for the boys and the athletic girls but what about the rest of the girls?” he asked.

Beth listened closely to what Doug had to say, “Your right, Officer, maybe we can get some activities for our young ladies.  Thanks for the observation, officer,” and she took out a notepad and made some notes and planned another letter to the editor and the diocese. 

After her letter appeared in the newspaper she got a surprise call from Nina Forester, a juror on the sequestered trial with the serial killer. Nina asked Ruth for some time with the judge.

The chief welcomed Ms. Forester to her office and remembered her from the night in the hotel when the serial killer was shot to death.

“Ms. Forester, so good to see you again under more pleasant circumstances, I hope?” the chief said.

Nina grinned at the judge, “I sure hope so,” she said, “I read your letter to the editor about activities for young ladies and had an idea or two,” she said.

The chief pulled over a legal tablet and said, “What did you have in mind?” she asked.

“Well, I went to beauty school right out of high school and I worked hard and made a real success out of it and now I have a high end beauty spa,” she told the judge. 

“That would be a real inspiration to some of our less advantages young ladies who are not going to be able to go on to college,” Beth said.

“First, I’m replacing all of my equipment with a brand new shop,” she said, “And I would be happy to donate my old equipment to the parish if they have a place for it and start a program for young talented girls.”

“That would be terrific, I want to introduce you to Father Sanchez and Councilman Morales,” she said, “And Stella Juarez, one of the ladies active with the church,” Beth said.

“Judge that trial was quite an awakening for me.  Before the trial I was hell bent on making my first million before I hit forty.  Now, I don’t know, somehow money’s a small return for the overwhelming amount of time and effort spent.”

“Call me Beth, Ms. Forester, I’m glad you called me, we are trying to set up activities for the young ladies and there is no reason why they can’t aspire to have their own businesses someday.  Too many are subject to the artificial glass ceiling,” Beth said.

“And please call me Nina, Beth, do you think we could utilize the equipment I have?”

“We’ll sure try and get something going at the parish, but I’m also interested in a class for the young ladies and maybe even their mother’s just getting out into the work world.  They need to know how to dress professionally, and use makeup and hair styles discretely. How to put professionally suitable wardrobes together with a minimum amount of money,” Beth said.

“I know what you mean,” Nina said, “Too many try to dress in evening wear with heavy makeup at work and have poorly placed studs and tattoos.”

“You don’t happen to speak Spanish do you?” Beth asked.

“I haven’t for years,” Nina said, “The man who ran out on my mom and us kids was Spanish speaking.”

“It doesn’t matter, I’m sure you can work up a great course on dress, manner, and behavior in the work place.”

“I can do that,” Nina said, “It’s all something I had to learn the hard way and I think with practice I could be back up to speed in Spanish in a short period of time.”

“Nina, you would be a God send to this community, you’re worth so much more than a million in what you have to offer,” Beth said. 

“Thank you, Beth, I’ve been admiring you from afar since the trial,” she said.

“We all have something to give to our community,” Beth said, “And it’s amazing how much you get in return.  What evening could you meet with us next week?” 

“How about Tuesday?” Nina asked.

They exchanged personal numbers and Beth was pleased with the meeting.  Much could come of it and she left messages with Stella, Robert, and Father Sanchez about a Tuesday meeting.  That night at shift change she mentioned some of the offers coming in to occupy the young girls in fruitful pursuits to John’s partner.

“I’m glad you took this seriously, chief,” then he told her the story of the young girl that evening.

“I think it would be useful to tell that story to the people meeting Tuesday, they need to know that in some cases our hands are tied and we need to utilize other community resources to solve our problems,” Beth said.

“Oh, I don’t know, I’m a little shy about public speaking,” Doug said.

“It’s just four or five people and they need to know how important their work is. Take John if you need his support but take half an hour from your shift and I’ll sign it off as community awareness work,” Beth said.

“O.K., I’ll do it,” he promised Beth and wrote down the location of the meeting room at the church and the time on Tuesday.

When they got into the locker room he got razed for his conversation with the chief, “Hey, Dougie, what have you and the chief got going?”

After about five minutes of loud taunting Doug exploded, “Enough guys, damn it she is our chief,” he said in a loud, harsh voice.

The ribbing subsided, they weren’t used to easy going Doug getting angry and confrontational. John gripped Doug’s shoulder in support of his anger.

 “Doug, you got a couple of minutes for a beer?” John asked. 

“Sure, I’ll give my wife a call, how about that place around the corner, they have beer,” Doug said.

          John nodded yes and started off around the corner to give Doug some privacy on the phone. 

When Doug ducked into the old-fashioned hofbrau John was already at a table with a pitcher of beer and two chilled mugs.  He looked up when the door opened and when he saw it was Doug he filled both mugs. 

They raised mugs and gulped down about half and then John refilled them and said, “Remember last week when you went to your daughter’s graduation?” John asked.

“Sure,” Doug said taking another gulp of beer.

I stopped by a few old business that were on my patrol when I was just a young cop.  Guys I used to kid around with.”

“Yeah, sounds like fun,” Doug said.

John took another swig of beer and said, “Not fun, remember the other day when you said something about the kids all being afraid to talk to us?”

“Yes,” Doug said, “I remember.”

“Just an example, Doug, but the businessmen I met acted the same way.  I don’t like it.  Do they think we’re all dirty or bullies or something?”

     “John, this city isn’t what it used to be. I think it might be worse than the chief thinks because it goes from the streets up to City Hall if Simmons is guilty of half of the charges against him.”

“When did it happen, how did I miss it,” John asked.

“You don’t have a wife and kids to worry about or you would have noticed sooner,” Doug said. 

“You’re probably right, partner, and I envy you a lot for what you have my friend,” John said.

They finished their beer and John poured the last of the pitcher into the mugs, “Do you think I should tell the chief?” John asked.

“Well, she won’t ignore what you tell her,” Doug claimed.

John rose, “Thanks, buddy, I’ll think about it,” he shook Doug’s hand and they walked out into the night. Doug heading for an evening with his wife and kids while John walked to his empty downtown condo. They found John’s body the next day.  He had been shot in the back and dragged into to an alley and covered with trash.

Doug’s wife woke him the next morning and told him a plainclothes officer was at the door.  Doug threw on some clothes and went to the door.  Matt Crenshaw was there asking him to come to the chief’s office with him. He needed a shave and hadn’t even run a comb through his hair but Matt insisted so he tucked in his shirt, grabbed a jacket and kissed his wife goodbye.

Matt wasn’t very talkative but did tell Doug to brace himself.  He was ushered into the chief’s office and Ruth gave him a cup of coffee and told him the chief would be right in.

Five minutes later the door opened and the chief came in, “Officer Townsend, please sit down,” she said quietly

The chief was in full uniform after lowering the department’s flag that morning to half-mast.   

“Officer Townsend, I regret to inform you that we lost an officer last night.  Your partner, John Randolph Scott.”

“What?  We weren’t even on duty,” Doug said, “What happened?” he asked.

“I’m afraid we don’t know much yet accept that he was shot in the back and dragged into an alley near his condo,” the chief said. 

“My God,” Doug said and held his head between his hands, elbows on his knees.

Beth walked around her desk and put her hand on Doug’s shoulder, “This is tough for us all, officer, but we think you were the last one to talk to John before the murder.”

Doug frowned, “Maybe so, we stopped for a pitcher of beer at the old hofbrau around the corner from the department.”

“Did you do that often, officer?  I mean was it a habit you two had?” she asked. 

“No, it was the first time we ever stopped for a beer.  John wanted to talk about something,” Doug said.

“Officer, do I need to remind you that you have the right to an attorney?” she asked.

“No mam, I don’t want an attorney,” Doug said. “John held me in his arms the first time I had to shoot a man and I couldn’t stop trembling.  I never would have made it without him.” Doug said. 

“Believe me, I understand, Doug.  Matt was my partner and in a way he’s like family, like a brother,” she said. 

Doug kept shaking his head in disbelief.

“Officer, what did John want to talk about?” the chief asked.

“Well, I took a day off last week to go to my daughter’s graduation,” he paused, “John said he had stopped by some old businesses that were on his patrol when he was a young cop,” Doug said.

“Yes,” Beth said.

“He said they were edgy around him, afraid to be friendly like before.  He said they acted like he was to be feared because he was dirty or a bully or something.  It bothered him and he asked me if I thought he should tell you about it.”

“And what did you say to him, Doug?” she asked.

He looked up as if trying to remember his exact words, “Something like, if he told you that you’d pay attention,” Doug said.

“Thanks, officer, I’m going to have Matt talk to you now and I want you to try and remember every single detail about that beer at the hofbrau.  It may lead us in the right direction,” she said. 

“Do you want to call your wife while I get Matt?  It will probably be a long day,” she said, “I’ll put you on three days grief leave.” The chief said.

“Thanks, chief.” 

Doug called Lindsay and told her what was going on and that he’d probably be at the station all day.  She cried when she heard about John but felt guilty because she was so relieved that it wasn’t Doug.  She was calmer when they hung up. 

Matt talked to Doug for hours, until they both were exhausted.  “Doug do you want a shower in the locker room?” Matt asked, “And then we’ll get you something to eat.”

Matt called and ordered sandwiches for Doug from a local shop and then talked to Beth. 

“What do you think, Matt?” Beth asked.

“He didn’t have anything to do with it,” Matt said.

“I agree,” she said, “Some of the officers canvassing the neighborhood found out that John stopped and waited for Chinese takeout about the same time Doug got home,” she said.

“We’re going over to John’s place now,” Beth said, “Let’s give Doug a short break.  You come with Lowe and me to check out his condo.” 

Matt took Doug and the sandwiches to a small room and told him to eat and relax for a bit that he was going to John’s condo with the chief.  “By the way,” Matt asked, “Have you ever been to John’s condo?”

“Last year for the Super Bowl with a bunch of the guys from here,” Doug said.

They went through the condo with a fine tooth comb but the only thing unusual that they found backed up Doug’s narrative to Beth and Matt.  There was a legal pad on his coffee table with a list of businesses with notes by those marked off.  The list contained more businesses in the same area.   

They checked with the building manager and took last night’s tape from John’s floor. He gave them the night manager’s telephone number and they went back to the department.  Lowe checked the pad first for any other prints and they ran the tape of John’s floor. 

There were two hoodies on his floor last night and they knocked on John’s door and then tried to get in.  After just a minute or two a man, probably the night manager, came up and the hoodies took off.  

“Probably be unable to I.D. these two guys,” Beth said.

“If anyone can Norm Higashi would be the one to put on it,” Lowe said.

Beth high signed Matt to call Norm over, “And let’s have a Doug brought down,” Beth said. 

“I’ll get him,” Matt said and was back shortly after Norm with Doug in tow. 

They played the tape for Doug and he frowned and asked to watch again, “I can’t say for sure, the picture’s not that good but check and see if there was a purple ’67 GTO in the area that night,” Doug said.

“What makes you say that?” Matt asked Doug.

“I don’t know, the tall one’s posture and the way he treats the other guy.”

“You have a license number, officer?”

Doug patted his shirt pocket, “In my uniform pocket,” he said, “John and I followed him for a few blocks and watched him for a while in his garage.  He’s over on Chavez Dr. in the burb we’re patrolling,” Doug said.  “Garage door’s always open and the music is too loud with a bunch of idlers drinking beer.”

Norm pulled off a sheet from the printer, “Brady Lofton,” he said and rattled off the license number and address.

“Let’s make up a photo lineup and show the manager and neighbors on John’s floor,” Beth said. 

“Thanks, Doug, come back in tomorrow morning and please stay at home tonight.  The department’s working this case,” Beth said.

“Don’t worry, my wife won’t let me out of her sight now,” he said.

 

Elsewhere.

         The commissioner was finishing up a tough game on the hard ball court when he saw the D.A. watching from above.  He won the last point and walked into the locker room toweling himself off and headed for the showers.

Alex was already there and under the cover of the shower noise he said, “Simmons is talking about exchanging information for a plea bargain.

“When it rains it pours,” the commissioner said.

“What are we going to do?” Alex asked.

“Don’t worry, Alex, I’ll take care of it,” and they parted ways.

That night the commissioner made a call, “Braun?” he asked.

“Yeah?” Braun said.

“Tell Artie all is forgiven if he plants a shiv in Simmons.”

“Gotcha.”

“And Braun, take care of that Lofton hoodie, he took out the cop to win his spurs and impress his higher ups.  We don’t need cowboys acting on their own, O.K.?”

“You got it, boss.” he said.

“See you soon, Braun.”

         

The next afternoon Beth got a call from the jail that Simmons had taken a shiv in the exercise yard.  She called Matt into the office and filled him in. 

          “Simmons is in the hospital, barely hanging on,” she said, “I’ve put a round the clock watch on his room,” she told Matt.

“I heard he was trying to make a deal for information,” Matt said. 

“The D.A. hasn’t said anything to me,” Beth said.

“That’s just the grapevine,” Matt said.

“Doug seemed to think the corruption here in the city goes much deeper than the city manager,” Matt said, “He thinks it’s too pervasive and networked to be one local hood.”

“Tell the truth Matt, I think so too.  It covers all levels and it seems to operate from a high position.  Maybe they were afraid that John had more than suspicion.”

Let’s leak that there was a notebook in John’s condo with names and dates.  Meanwhile put a watch on Doug’s home I don’t want him and his family in trouble because we’re leaking false information. 

Beth called her secretary into the office, “Ruth do you still talk to some of the secretaries in the court house?”

“Sure, we have lunch together every Thursday,” Ruth said.

“Do you think you could do a little gossiping for me?” Beth asked. 

Ruth sat down with a gleeful expression, “Lay it on me,” she said. 

 “You know about the officer that was shot in the back?”

“I sure do,” Ruth said.

“Well, we want the information to get out that we found a notebook in John’s condo filled with names and dates, but that’s all you know.  We don’t want you in danger,” Beth said.

“Why don’t I say that I don’t have any information but that I think the notebook is in your office safe,” Ruth said, “and keep us all out of harm’s way,” Ruth said.

“Good idea,” Matt said, “I know a guy who can set up cameras and bugs they’ll never notice.”

“He from out of town?” Beth asked.

“As a matter of fact he is,” Matt said, “From over on the coast.”

“Why don’t you have a rowdy evening with your old buddy at Kelly’s and he can come by the office the next day,” Beth said.

“He does some fishing to test out depth finders, fish detectors, and other marine gear.  He can pose as a fisherman pal of mine.”

“Matt, draw up a plan of the office and we’ll take pictures with my mobile phone so he’ll know what to bring and be able to set up fast.”

“Good plan,” no one should get hurt,” Ruth said.

Matt already had a tape measure out and was measuring the room and filling in doors, windows, furniture and marking north, south, east and west. 

Beth started photographing the room in quadrants moving clockwise from the corner nearest north.  “We better get the ceiling too,” Beth said.

Ruth gathered herself and went back to her office.  Humph, somebodies got to keep that woman safe she thought to herself. She’s just all ready to jump into the lion’s den at a moment’s notice. 

The plans went forward with lightning speed and Matt and his buddy Rob entertained the patrons at Kelly’s all evening with fish tales and took a cab home when they got too smashed to drive. Matt drove Rob’s car into work and Rob picked up Matt’s car at Kelly’s then he stopped by the department the next day to switch car keys.  He made the rounds meeting Matt’s friends including the chief.  When Rob left her office it was as elaborately covered as a Hollywood set in case any intruders showed up.  They used the ruse of the two cars and people to get all of the equipment in without raising suspicions. Next Thursday Ruth would let in slip that there was a notepad with names and dates from John’s condo in Beth’s safe. 

That day Beth learned that one, Brady Lofton, had been burned to death in his garage.  Cause unknown at this point. 

She told Matt, “Too many coincidences.”

“Yes, I agree, let’s make sure the Lofton thing was an accident.  I’ll put a bug in the arson squad’s ear,” Matt said.

Beth picked Doug up Tuesday night and they went to the meeting at the church together.  Doug noticed that it was a small group as the chief had promised.  He met Father Sanchez, Councilman Morales, and Ms. Juarez, Juan’s wife. 

“Your husband was a great guy, Mrs. Juarez,” Doug said.

“Thank you officer, and condolences on losing your partner,” Stella touched his arm in sympathy.

Nina Forester came in on the wind with every hair in place and the chief introduced her around to the group.

“Before we begin,” said Father Sanchez, “If I may, a prayer for our fallen comrade,” and he said a short pray for the soul of John Randolph Scott.

Doug explain about the young girl hurrying through the neighborhood as night fell.  “She had obviously been roughed up but claimed she was O.K.” 

“It was a difficult thing to do because I have a young daughter myself but she wouldn’t even accept a ride home.  The only thing I could do legally was give her a card,” Doug was shaking his head and he could have sworn that the chief winked at him as he finished talking.

The chief said, “Too often our hands are tied as police officers,” she looked up, “And that is why we are assembling a community group so that we can use all of our resources to keep drugs and gangs out of our city and away from our schools.”

“And what about the violence in their own homes?” Nina asked, “We’re not going to slide over that evil are we?”

Beth grinned and said, “Not now that I have a chairwoman for that committee who won’t let it slide by,” she said with all of her charm.

Councilman Morales turned toward her, “First lesson in working with Chief Able, think twice before bringing up something like that,” he flashed her a charming smile, dark eyes shining and bright with mischief.  Robert noticed out of the corner of his eye that Stella Juarez had noticed the by play.

Father Sanchez took up the conversation by telling Ms. Forrester that he was still looking for a place to house her equipment. 

“Is that the beauty school equipment?” Robert asked.

“Yes,” Nina Forrester said, eyes rolling.

“How does a ninety nine year lease in a good building sound to you?”

“Sounds like I’ll be as old as dirt when that lease runs out,” she answered, and then said, “Sorry everyone, long day, no excuse.”

“Can you tell us what you have in mind, Councilman?” Beth asked.

Robert explained how he came about the offer then he said, “Stella you know the building, could you show it to Ms. Forrester?” he asked.

The councilman turned toward Nina, “That is if you don’t mind coming down to my hood,” he said, already regretting it. 

“Yo vengo de la campana, Roberto.”

Stella smiled and stifled a giggle.

“Pardon,” Ms. Forrester, “Please excuse my clumsiness this evening?”

Beth rapped her hand like a gavel and said, “Coffee ladies and gentlemen?” she asked. 

She found Robert outside on the roof of the building, “Someone slip you a stupid pill tonight?” she asked.

He hung his head, “You know, all of the cartoons are true.  A man in love cannot think straight,” he shook his head.

Beth laughed and patted his shoulder, “Don’t worry, the ladies will figure it out and put you in your place,” she said.

The second half of the meeting ran more smoothly and several matters were settled.  Beth heard Nina and Stella making lunch plans and decided that Robert didn’t stand a chance with those two ladies, but she hoped that in the long term he would persevered.  He needed to be patient and wait for Stella to be ready. She loved truly and deeply.

Beth drove Doug home and when she got home she put on some Otis Redding love songs and had a night cap.  Wouldn’t hurt to have some loving in her own life she thought.  Her eyes turned smoky and deep lavender at the thought.  Maybe that part of her life was over. Damn, she thought.

The next morning they held the funeral service for John Randolph Scott and laid him to rest and the chief gave Doug his next assignment.  He was off the streets but monitoring the chief’s office for intruders which would probably involve an arrest in his partner’s murder. He accepted the assignment gratefully and was vigilant on his shift. 

The next morning at about two thirty am Doug heard a something at the door to the office and called the chief and Matt who was sleeping on site. Matt joined Doug right away and the door wasn’t forced, someone had a key.   Matt switched to the hall monitor and there, as big as life was the commissioner breaking into the chief’s office with some hulk of a guy. 

“Can I help you fellas?” the chief asked, gun drawn.

Taking in the situation the commissioner said, “Don’t be a fool, chief, you can make your first million in the next second or two,” he promised. 

“No thanks, John, I’ll settle for this arrest,” she told him and brought in several back up officers, smiling at Matt on the monitor. 

Braun agreed to turn states evidence and with the testimony of Simmons who had survived the shiv they had a solid case against the commissioner and a large chink in drug and gang warfare in Alta Vista. 

That night Beth toasted the department and the community commission and swore that as a community they would keep their own town for their own children. When she got home that night she made a call to Spain and talked for an hour. 

The next afternoon Beth and Nina went shopping for a new clothes for Beth.  They both decided that her wardrobe was getting a little dowdy for an active career woman.  Beth’s youthful dalliance still ran hot in her veins and her eyes grew smoky and deep lavender as she tried on the new clothes that night.   A houseguest, that’s all.  Diego was an old friend and would be her houseguest.