Frank stopped and turned to see Erinnyes sitting at his desk, smiling. There was a bit of food on his second chin as he folded his hands on the desk and waited for Frank to salute. Frank shifted the bags under his left arm and saluted.
Erinnyes saluted back and said, “I need you to suit up right away. Someone has to cover the school crossing. The crossing guard is sick.”
“I can’t,” Frank said. “We just got all this evidence and are waiting for the bad guy to come in for an interview. Can’t the guys on the street do it?”
“I need them available to answer calls,” Erinnyes said.
“Don’t we have people around the station that are available if a call comes out?” Frank said.
“You mean, like me?” Erinnyes said. “And what happens if I start to do that? Then the Chief can handle my responsibilities? Or is he supposed to drop what he’s doing and go answer calls as well? Do I all of a sudden exist just to keep you from having to do any police work?”
Frank held up the evidence bags and said, “I guess this isn’t police work?”
“It can wait,” Erinnyes said. “Unlike the school crossing.”
Frank bit his lip and turned to get out of the office before a flood of expletives erupted from him. As he left he heard Erinnyes say, “Better get there quick, patrolman. You don’t want to be late.”
6
Frank heard a car screeching around the corner and put his hands up to keep the mother and group of kids on the sidewalk. His eyes widened as Vic’s unmarked police car came to a sudden halt at the stop sign. Vic jumped out of his car and shouted, “What the hell are you doing?”
Frank blew his whistle in Vic’s face as loud as he could to silence him and shouted, “I’m trying to cross these children without some maniac running them over!”
“We’re in the middle of a huge drug bust and you’re screwing around with this bullshit?”
One of the mothers shot a glance at Vic. Frank shook his head and said, “I don’t know this person, ma’am. I apologize for his offensive conduct, though.”
“You didn’t even tell me you were heading out here!”
Frank ripped off his hat and threw it on the ground like a baseball coach. “Just because you don’t have to play by the rules that everyone else does, doesn’t mean I don’t! I like working with you, Vic. I really do, but when push comes to shove, I’m going to be back on the street and if I don’t want to have a miserable existence, I need to keep the Staff Sergeant happy, the Chief happy, and whatever else it takes.”
“That guy Paris’s for real,” Vic said. “I called Dez Dolos. He runs the FBI drug taskforce. They think Billy is in real trouble.”
“Know what I think?” Frank said. “I think you need to move your car so I can cross these kids.”
Vic Ajax walked into the Staff Sergeant’s office without knocking. He did not salute. He put both hands on the edge of Erinnyes’s desk and said, “I need Frank to be exclusive to me until further notice. We’re working on something important.”
Erinnyes’s eyes twinkled with delight at the opportunity to deny the request. “I’m afraid that just isn’t possible right now, Detective.”
“Oh, it’s possible,” Vic said. “I wasn’t asking your permission. I was just giving you advance notice. I’m going to talk to the Old Man right now.”
Erinnyes leaned back in his chair and ran the palm of his hand over his bald head. “Do you know why a permanent Detective position was never created in this police department, Victor? It’s because there never has, and never will be, any need for a full-time investigator here. Let alone two. I told the Chief that when you insisted on taking a raw Academy recruit and thrusting her into undercover work. I told him what would happen.”
“Leave her out of this,” Vic snapped.
The Staff Sergeant reached into his desk drawer and slapped a packet of brand new traffic citations on his desk. “Do you know what that is, Victor? It’s your future. I keep them in my desk set aside specifically for you. I suppose you have nothing to fear as long as Midas is here to protect you, but always remember, that is your fate. It waits patiently.”
Vic left the office without responding and walked down the hall to the Chief’s office. The door was closed but he heard the Chief speaking. Vic knocked gently. “Come in,” the Chief said. The Old Man was sitting at his desk talking on the phone. He covered the mouthpiece and told Vic to close the door behind him. “Right. Well, I don’t want to come down there and have nothing to look at. Two-bedrooms, minimum. Nothing in tornado country, either.”
The Chief hung up the phone and Vic sat down in one of the chairs. “It’s a good time to pick up an investment property if you can swing it, boss. Looking for a vacation rental?”
“Looking for my new home! I’m heading for life on the open range, buddy. Can’t wait to get the hell out of here.”
Vic shifted nervously in his seat. “When do you think that will be?”
“Could be tomorrow, could be whenever. The Township can’t seem to make sense of the numbers I gave them for my pension. As soon as their accountant makes the corrections and they cut me a check, you will have seen the last of me.”
“Oh,” Vic said. “Any word on that promotion?”
The Chief cocked his head in confusion, then his eyes lit up. “Of course! I’m working on that too. You have my word, before I leave, you’ll be at least a promoted detective.”
Vic breathed out and said, “Great. I appreciate it, sir. I know you must have your hands full.”
“I take care of the people who take care of me,” the Chief said benevolently. “So, what can I do for you?”
“I need Frank to be exclusive to me for the time being, boss. I can’t operate not knowing where he’s going to be on any given day. We have a big job coming up, and I can’t have him running off to direct traffic every five minutes.”
The Chief pursed his lips and thought on it without speaking for a moment. “The Staff Sergeant told me Frank wasn’t that busy yet in Detectives.”
“The Staff Sergeant is wrong,” Vic said.
The Chief finally nodded and pressed the intercom button on his phone, ringing Erinnyes. “Staff Sergeant?”
“Yes, sir!” Erinnyes’s voice said over the phone. There was a bursting-with-cheeriness to his voice that made Vic’s eyes roll.
“Until the Detectives have wrapped up this case they’re working on, Officer O’Ryan is not available for other details.”
There was a pause where nothing but the sound of labored, gurgling breathing came through the speaker phone. “Excellent, sir. If they need anything from patrol, just let me know.”
The Chief hung up the phone and looked at Vic. “Problem solved?”
“Until the day you walk out the door, it is.”
“Try not to make too many enemies, Vic. I won’t be around forever.”
Frank parked his patrol car in the station lot and started peeling off his sweat-soaked uniform shirt before he even reached the door. There was a spot on his back that itched mercilessly under his bullet-proof vest that he could not reach. He ripped off the vest and pushed up against the nearest corner of the building, scratching his back against it like a cat. It felt like the wall’s stucco was ripping the skin right off but he did not care.
He limped into the locker room, favoring his knee. His tee-shirt was stuck to his body and he pulled it away from his skin and fanned himself with the fabric. The locker door opened behind him as Frank sat down on the bench and rested his leg. A pill bottle rattled in his ear and Frank turned around eagerly, frowning when he saw it was just a bottle of Tylenol.