A Dozen Deadly Roses (6 page)

Jade shook her head.  “Last I heard they were taking him for some x-rays.  His parents are with him.  I think he’s going to be okay, thanks to you.”

Mac waved his hand in the air.  “I did what anybody else would have done - except maybe that tight-assed lieutenant.  How in the hell did Callie Lasko get promoted to lieutenant with that attitude?”

“Oh, you heard her.”

“How could I not?  That witch must have a block of ice in her chest instead of a heart.  She would have let that little boy drown, all because it’s against the rules to try and save him.”  Mac sat up and dangled his bare legs over the side of the bed.  “That’s what I mean when I gripe that officers are afraid to do their jobs.”

Jade nodded and sighed.  “I know what you mean and you are right.  But, I’m going to have to make a negative entry on your daily evaluation.”

Mac started to speak but Jade held up her hand.

“Any other violations of department policies or procedures will also be documented.  I’m sorry, but I have to.”

“What is it with you women?  You sound just like her.”

Jade didn’t react to his frustration, because she was frustrated with the situation as well.

“Mac, I’m just trying to do my job.  I have no choice.  Lasko’s never liked me and technically she’s right.  I have to report any violation of department rules or policy.  If I don’t, I’m subject to a complaint.  And you can bet Lasko will be right there ready to draw up the paperwork.”

“What a crock this is.”  His scowl was as dark as the storm clouds outside.  “Now I know why the department can’t find anybody to hire.  The LAPD is run by morons.”

Jade shook her head.  “They may be morons, but they’re just trying to show the public the police are not afraid to discipline their own.  You’re just getting a taste of how public perception and the media have changed the Department.”

Just then a nurse came in with some painkillers and paperwork for Mac to take back to the station.

“How’s the little boy?” he asked.

The nurse smiled. “He’s very lucky.  He’s banged up just like you.  He’ll be bruised and sore, but in a few days he’ll be out playing as if nothing ever happened.  God bless you, Officer.”  The nurse shook Mac’s hand while Jade held back tears of feeling inadequate.

While Mac put on a spare set of doctor’s scrubs, Jade called the station to be sure they’d found another female officer to interview the rape victim.  When Mac and Jade left the hospital, the news media surged forward, all wanting a statement.

Mac kept his answers to their questions short and to the point.  Many of the reporters were calling him a hero.  He tried to play it off, but Jade could see the pride in his face.

If Mac was a hero, what did that make her?

# # #

Callie Lasko marched up to the captain’s secretary.

“Is he in?  I want to brief him on the water rescue incident.”

The clerk excused herself and tapped on the closed door of the captain’s office.  She poked her head in the office, and after a few seconds motioned Callie in.

Douglas Kincaid turned away from the computer he worked on and motioned Lasko to sit down in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

“Are Donovan and Stryker all right?” he asked.

“Yes, but-”

“How about the little boy?”

“Yes, yes, he’s fine, but-”

“Good.  That’s the kind of news the chief likes to hear.”

Callie held up her hands.  “Well, not so fast.  There were all kinds of problems with the rescue.  Policies were broken, tactics were poor, and I really think we need to discipline Donovan.  As the senior officer at the scene, she let the whole thing turn to crap.”

“No,” said the captain, his eyes drilling into hers.

Callie couldn’t believe what she’d heard.

“What?”

“I said no.”

Callie opened her mouth then, closed it.  This didn’t make sense.  “Why not?”

Kincaid leaned back in his leather chair and clasped his hands behind his head.  “Because, lieutenant, this is a win-win situation.  Our officers are heroes, they’re getting a lot of positive media attention, and their actions are one more step to help me make Commander.”

“And you don’t care about Donovan’s poor leadership skills or the fact her partner almost died?”

“I care about the fact a nine year-old boy is alive because of the actions of Mac Stryker and Jade Donovan.  I care about the fact the Chief has already scheduled a press conference and told me what a fine job my people are doing.”

He unclasped his hands and placed them flat on his desk.  “I don’t care that Mac went into the channel after the child.  I don’t care he went in alone.  I care about the outcome.  And the outcome was outstanding.  Any other questions?”  His remark wasn’t an inquiry; it was a challenge.

“No.”

“Good.  So when you write this thing up, it will have the positive attitude of the result, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And I’m sure you’ll write the commendation for both Stryker
and
Donovan, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And you’ll even send it downtown, and we’ll see if we can’t get them the Medal of Valor, right?”

Callie sighed in disapproval.  “Right.”

“Good.  Tell them to see me when they get back from the hospital.”

# # #

After he and Jade returned to the station, Mac winced in pain while getting out of the black and white.  They made their way to the Watch Commander’s office.  Lieutenant Lasko, barely looking up from her paperwork, advised them the Captain wanted to see them.

“
You
go see what he wants,” Jade told him.

“The captain said he wanted to see
both
of you.”  Lasko’s tone was venomous.  “In fact, Donovan, you go ahead.  I want to talk to Stryker for a minute.  He’ll catch up to you.”

Jade looked to Mac for an explanation, but he had no clue what Callie had in mind.  In reply, he just shrugged.  Wordlessly, Jade turned and headed toward the captain’s office.

“Close the door,” Callie directed.

Mac hesitated, then did as he was told.  It would be stupid not to do as she ordered.  In spite of his dislike for her, he knew the hierarchy of the department and, as his supervisor, she held all the cards.

Callie motioned to a chair in front of her desk.  “Sit down and relax.  I don’t bite,” she said with a weird grin.

“Thank you, I’m fine standing.”

The lieutenant frowned.  “What’s the matter, Mac?  We go back a long way and have a lot of memories together.”

Mac glanced at the closed door and the curious glances of co-workers as they walked past the glass door.  “Lieutenant, with respect, our working together is ancient history.  No one other than you and I has any interest in those war stories.”  He felt, rather than saw, the cooling in her demeanor.

“
I
have an interest in them.  I have an interest in
you
.  Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way.  I’d like to meet you for a drink some night after work.”  She leaned forward across the desk.  “The department would find nothing wrong with me mentoring you – in fact, with your past, they’d probably encourage it.”  Callie pulled a folder down from a tray on her desk and opened it.  Searching a grid on the document inside, she found what she was looking for.  “I see you’ll be off in a few days.  Why don’t we meet on the last day you work?  There’s a new little bar called Frank’s over on Tujunga.  We could have a few shots, share a few laughs and who knows what might happen?” She looked at him with expectant eyes.

“Lieutenant, you’re damn lucky it’s me you’re talking to.  Since I’m a recovering alcoholic, not only would the department have a problem with your ‘mentoring’ suggestion, if I started drinking again, I could sue you, sue the department, and sue the city.  You’d probably get canned.  But I won’t do that.  I know what it’s like to lose this job.  I’m going to do you a favor and give you a warning – this time.  If you ever pressure me again to meet you off-duty, I’ll come after you, and I guarantee you, it won’t be pretty.”

The color drained from Callie’s face.  With her crimson lips, frizzy hair, and pale skin, she resembled a clown.  Mac was certain he’d made his point.

“I’m going to go find Jade and meet with the captain.  As far as I’m concerned, this conversation is over and forgotten.  Don’t give me a reason to remember it, okay?”

Callie nodded as if in a trance.  Pleased with finally putting Callie in her place, he went to find Jade.

Reporting to the captain, Mac gave him the paperwork from the hospital.  Captain Kincaid reviewed the doctor’s notes.  “Stryker, if I’m reading this right, the doctor hasn’t placed you off-duty.”

“That’s correct, sir,” Mac replied.

The commanding officer gave Mac a searching look. “I can see several bruises developing on your face and your arms.  What you experienced is the equivalent of a pretty good traffic collision.  Don’t you think you need to take some time off to recuperate?”

“No, sir.  I’ll be fine.  I may be a little stiff and sore, but I can still do my job, and I promise I won’t violate department policy again.”

The captain scoffed and shook his head.  “Don’t even think about that.  Lasko was making some noise about putting a Comment Card in your personnel file.  I told her to forget it.  You made the department and the Chief of Police look good today.  No one will hassle you for putting common sense over policy.  You know, Stryker, it’s been a long time since we’ve had your kind working patrol.  These young kids today get a hangnail and have to go off ‘injured on duty’ for six months.  You’re a fine role model.”

Mac shifted his feet and looked at the floor.  Jade, next to him, wished the ground would open and swallow her.  There was nothing her boss could praise about her performance.  Jade was sure the captain wasn’t surprised at her lack of action.  She wanted to get out of there.  She didn’t want to face the captain.  He hadn’t looked her in the eye once.  What if he sent Mac away and wanted to discuss what she’d seen last week?

Then there was the fact she’d done nothing to save the child.  Her self-doubts about her abilities as a police officer amplified with every word of praise heaped on Mac.

The captain finally turned his attention to her.  Neither of them held eye contact very long.

“Donovan, you did a great job of directing the air unit to your location.  It’s been one hell of a day, hasn’t it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I want you and your partner to go home and get some rest.  Be back here at your regular start of watch tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir.  Thank you, sir.”

Mac and Jade turned to leave.

“And Stryker.  Good job.  Both of you.”

Jade breathed a sigh of relief as they left the office.  If the captain were going to say anything, it would have been then.  He obviously wanted to pretend the incident Jade saw last week never happened.  But could he be sending the boxes of dead roses to intimidate her to keep silent?  Jade couldn’t believe a captain of police would use such tactics.  She knew all too well that people backed into a corner could resort to desperate measures, but would he risk his job and possible jail time?  It seemed impossible, but Jade wasn’t ruling anything out.

After turning in their equipment, they climbed the stairs to the locker rooms.

“Mac, are you okay to drive home?” Jade asked.  “Do you want me to give you a lift?”  While she worried her partner might be too beat up to drive himself home, she also considered the drive might give her the perfect opening to tell him about Donnie.

“No thanks.  I’ll be fine.”

Jade wasn’t sure if she was disappointed or relieved.  “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.  Take care,” she said, stepping into the ladies locker room.  The fact was she wasn’t ready to tell him he was Donnie’s father - in spite of her pledge to God.  She just hoped God would understand.

Doing a quick walk-through, she found the sour-smelling room empty.  Jade was glad.  She took off her duty belt and uniform.  Her pants and shirt were still wet from being in the rain.  Jade folded them to take to the cleaners.  She put on her jeans and over-sized charcoal-colored sweater.  It felt good to be in dry clothes.  Sitting on the bench in front of her locker, she held her head in her hands.

“Oh what a day,” she sighed.

This was the part of being a cop they didn’t show on television, the part where you relived your day and second-guessed your actions.  If her position with Mac had been reversed, would she have jumped into the churning water to save the child?  She’d like to think so, but then why didn’t she jump in with Mac?  Don’t be silly she told herself.  Having three people in the water is foolish, and who would report what was happening on the radio so emergency personnel could respond to the proper location?  She also had a four-year-old son who needed a mother.  But now he also had a father - a father who appeared to have turned his life around.  A caring, capable man who would want to take care of his son.  She’d done the right thing, but just the same, she felt she should have done more.

Slapping her thighs as she got up she said, “You did your best.  That’s all you can do and no one got seriously hurt, and everyone lived.  Now it’s time to go home.”

Reaching to the top shelf of her locker, she brought out her lightweight Glock nine-millimeter semi-auto.   She slid the gun in the holster at her waist.  Under her sweater, the Glock was smaller and lighter than her Beretta, which is why Jade liked to wear it off-duty.  She’d never worn a gun in her own home until she received the first of the flower boxes.

Jade gathered her gear, left the station and jogged to her car hoping to not get too wet.  On the drive to her father’s house, Jade thought about Mac and the impact his return could have on her life.

Jade had intentionally kept Mac Stryker out of her world.  She’d made a conscious decision to raise Donnie herself, without any help or interference from Mac.  However, now that Mac had returned to the police department and was literally by her side ten hours a day, things had changed.  He seemed to have changed.  It appeared he was no longer a drunk.  But Jade’s father had promised her a dozen times he’d quit drinking only to disappoint her again and again.  Mac was probably no different.