Chapter 48
Pineapple Bay was notoriously corrupt. The PBPD had a bad reputation for this kind of thing. Officer Howell wouldn't be the first to abuse his authority, and I'm sure he wouldn’t be the last.
Pineapple Bay was in Coconut County, so I had jurisdiction. But this wasn't my area. I didn't have the authority to investigate misconduct. But criminal conduct was another story. Extortion, bribery, assault, murder, civil rights violations, corruption—that was in my wheelhouse.
Denise got discharged from the hospital. I picked her up, took her back to her apartment, and helped her get situated. With a cracked rib, every breath hurt, but she’d make a full recovery.
I ran some errands for her, picked up some groceries from the store, and got her all set up while she recovered for a few days.
She reclined on the couch, watching TV while I stocked the pantry in the refrigerator.
"I gotta say, I could get used to this. I like being pampered. Maybe I should get shot more often."
"Don't you dare,” I warned. “You get shot again, I'll kill you."
She laughed, then immediately regretted the decision. Her face twisted with pain. "Don’t do that. You can't make me laugh.”
"Is there anything else you need?"
"Nope. I think I'm all good.” Then she added another request. “You can hang out and keep me entertained if you like,” she said with a hopeful smile.
"I think I could be persuaded to watch a movie with you. As long as you promise to behave.”
"Me? I'm a model citizen.”
I scoffed. "You’re trouble."
"No. You’re trouble. You got me into this mess.”
I gave her an incredulous look. "Me? You were the one who wanted to get into the field. I was just looking out for your best interest.”
She gave me a skeptical look. "Best interest, huh?”
"You still thinking about applying to the FBI?"
"I don't know. I'm not really thinking about anything right now other than what we’re going to watch. But I think for the moment I'm inclined to stay where I am.”
I smiled.
"Besides, and I'll deny this if you ever tell anyone, but I might miss you guys.”
Denise picked a rom-com, then proceeded to fall asleep about 30 minutes into the movie. She was still dosed up on pain meds.
I found a blanket and covered her up. She stirred a little and peeled open a sleepy eye. "Are you leaving?”
I nodded.
She took my hand. "Stay."
It was a tempting offer. "Like I said, you’re trouble."
"You like trouble.”
Denise was the right kind of trouble. "Get some rest," I said and kissed her forehead. "I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I left and headed back to the Avventura. The sheriff had a policy against inter-office romance, and we’d been keeping it professional. But it sure was tempting to say the hell with policy.
I probably shouldn’t have, but I took the bike up to Pineapple Bay one night and decided to do a little surveillance on Officer Matt Howell.
I figured whatever evidence I gathered, I could turn it over to the sheriff, and he could hand it over to the state investigators. Perhaps create a joint task force.
There was no doubt in my mind the Pineapple Bay Police Department's Internal Affairs Division was burying these types of allegations.
Not every cop in Pineapple Bay was dirty, but there were enough to make things difficult.
It wasn't just limited to harassing women at traffic stops.
It extended to drug trafficking and extortion.
I wasn't concerned with bringing down the whole system. Right now, my focus was on a single dirty cop.