Chapter 10
TEN
HARMONY
“Did you hear about what’s going down at Precinct Four?”
Harmony paused in the line at breakfast, hearing the conversation going on at the table by the door. She had a few pieces of bacon in the grip of her tongs.
“What’s going on now?” Rock’s rumbling voice was easy to identify anywhere.
Halo laughed at his question. “It’s that guy, you know the shirtless one?”
Startled, the bacon dropped onto her plate.
“Hey,” Vega nudged her with his shoulder. “You’re holding up the line.”
Harmony nodded and moved onto the next tray, startling when Vega snatched the tongs from her hand.
She picked up the serving spoon and scooped up two over medium eggs and put them on her plate on the empty space between her bacon and her potatoes. She moved on then and instead of pretending she wasn’t listening in, she moved to the table where Rock and Halo were sitting.
“Yeah, yeah. St. Cyr. He’s in trouble.”
Harmony’s plate rattled on the table and heads turned in her direction.
“Sorry,” she mumbled under her breath.
Halo frowned at her, confused.
But Rock? He looked right at her. “No worries, Harmony. We’re all family here.”
She blew out a breath and saw Vega walking past her, his forehead creased with a frown. She’d taken a seat at a table where there wasn’t a seat for him.
She felt bad about it, but she needed to hear what was going on.
She hadn’t seen Crois in a few days. His shifts were long. Not as long as her own, but long enough that it made talking on a regular basis a pain in the backside.
“Thanks, Rock.”
He gestured at Halo. “What were you saying?”
Halo picked up a piece of bread and started to butter it. “Well, from what I hear, he arrested a drunk driver a few days ago and the arrest record… disappeared.”
Harmony had to grip her fork tightly, so it didn’t drop out of her hand. “Dis-disappeared?”
She felt her mouth go dry. Crois wouldn’t have done something like misplace an arrest report? Was there even a way to do that?
Didn’t Pilar fill out the paperwork?
Her mind was reeling.
Halo looked at her and nodded. “The woman he arrested?”
Harmony’s hand tightened around her fork. The woman had been arrested by both partners, not just Crois.
“Apparently, she’s the family of someone high up at CCPD.”
She felt her jaw tightening. “So, someone made the report disappear, is what you’re saying.”
Halo shrugged. “I don’t know. All I heard is that she walked out of jail without even having to see a judge for an arraignment.”
Lieutenant Braun stopped by the table with his plate in hand. “Halo?”
Javier Suarez, called Halo at the firehouse, looked up at Braun. “Yeah, Lieutenant?”
“Careful what gossip you share, hmm?”
Halo frowned at him. “First Responders are a crazy kind of family. We’re going to hear about what’s going on, right?”
Braun nodded. “Sure. Just be careful what you say. We don’t want to hurt people’s reputations.”
Halo shook his head. “It’s what everyone is saying. And we all know Crois. He’s not a bad guy.” He turned and grinned at the table. “He’s making some of us look bad with that beefcake photo on social media.”
Harmony felt her cheeks heat up with the reminder.
“We don’t know what’s going on with that case,” Braun continued, “just be careful, okay?”
As he finished speaking the door to the kitchen and common room opened up and a couple appeared, looking around with a measure of excitement in their eyes. “Uh, hi.” The man looked around the room and lifted a hand in a wave. “Sorry to bother, but…”
The woman beside him picked up the thread of the conversation. “We heard that you offer tours of the firehouse?”
Braun set his plate down on the table and walked over to the couple. “Absolutely, as long as we’re here in the house. Did you want someone to show you around now?”
“No…” the woman shook her head. “We… we were coming in to see about scheduling something for our son’s Cub Scout Pack.”
Braun nodded. “Absolutely. Let me take you to the office and you can schedule something with Leona Carissa. She’s the Fire Chief’s secretary. She handles all things scheduling and she’ll give you all the information you need.”
Harmony smiled as the couple followed Braun into the administrative offices of the fire house.
When she looked back at Halo she saw his hesitation.
Rock gave him a knowing look and nodded his head.
Harmony was still feeling a little… off.
She picked up her plate, moved into the hallway, and continued on to the apparatus floor.
She set her plate down on the table and pulled out her phone.
She dialed Crois’ phone and it rang through to his answering system.
That didn’t bother her. She knew he was on shift.
At the beep, she left a message for him. “Hey, it’s Harmony.” She smiled, wondering if she should have called herself ‘Harm.’ “Just wanted to check in and see how you’re doing.”
She hesitated there, trying to decide if she should say more.
Then decided against it.
“Okay. I’m… I’m on shift so-”
The klaxon system came on. “Ambo Nineteen. Truck-”
“Looks like I have to go. Bye.”
She dropped her phone into her pocket, left her plate where it was and headed across the floor to their ambulance.
Vega came running across the floor a half a moment later. When he climbed into the cab and into the shotgun seat, he put a paper towel wrapped sandwich onto the console between them.
“Brought you a breakfast sandwich.”
“Thanks.” She couldn’t spare him another glance as she put the ambulance into drive and pulled out a heartbeat in front of the ladder truck and onto the road. Both vehicles had their emergency lights and sirens on.
CROIS
When Crois returned to the Precinct building near the end of his shift, the first person he crossed path with was Detective Jerzek.
Many of the men and women assigned to Precinct Four called him Jerk-Zek behind his back.
He was the highest in seniority at Precinct Four, but he was also the lowest on the rung of professionalism.
No one seemed to understand how the man had made it so many years on the force when he seemed to ooze with slime.
“Well, if it isn’t the pin up boy.”
Crois spent most of the day rushing around town and sweating, but one comment from the asshole and he wanted to take a long, hot shower.
“You need something, Jerzek?”
The older man lifted a brow at the question. “That’s Detective Jerzek.”
“Sure.” Crois kept his lips together, looking at him.
Jerzek narrowed his eyes at Crois, his shoulders tightening and rising slowly like an incoming tide.
“Hey, Crois!”
He looked up and saw his sergeant lean over the balcony from their half of the upstairs.
“Come on up.”
He nodded and started toward the stairs.
He heard Jerzek laughing behind him as he went.
“Playboy.”
Crois kept his hands loose and at his sides, but his molars were grinding together. “Asshole.”
At the top of the steps, Kate greeted him with a smile. “Thanks for coming back in.”
He nodded, more than a little worried about what his sergeant had to say to him. “You said you wanted to talk to me.”
Me, his voice repeated in his head, not Pilar.
Just half of their team.
Kate directed him into her office, and he paused just inside the door.
“Do you want me to close the door?”
She seemed to consider it for a moment before answering. “Where is Pilar?”
He gestured at the door. “I dropped her off at Cole so she could get her blood test for the marriage license.”
Kate smiled. “Okay. So she’s going to end the shift there?”
He nodded. “She’s already signed out.”
Kate sat back in her chair. “It’s going to be nice having her in the family legally.”
Crois could understand how happy Kate was.
Pilar was going to marry Roan, Kate’s stepbrother.
But that was a kind of misnomer. People who knew the three thought that they were blood siblings.
Detective Walker Ashely worked across the way from them.
Kate was the sergeant in charge of the ‘street’ cops.
And last, but definitely not least was Roan Ashley who was a trauma surgeon in the Emergency Room at Cole Medical Center.
It would only have been better if one of them worked for the Center City Fire Department.
The Ashleys and their sister Kate already considered Pilar family.
And Crois? Well, he was kind of the red-headed stepchild. Kate sometimes extended the family vibe to him, but not always.
“Now,” she smiled, but the gesture was a little tight, “I can talk to you about… the current situation.”
He let out a sigh. “Yeah. I had a feeling that was why you wanted to talk.”
Kate shifted on her seat and looked… uncomfortable. “I know that some gossip has been going around and I wanted to talk to you about the real situation.”
Crois sat up in his chair and crossed one leg over the other. A moment later he dropped that leg back down to the floor. “Thanks. That call that night was… difficult.”
Kate nodded. “I’ve seen the body cam videos from the call.”
He nodded as well. He knew that what he’d done was fine. “The driver was difficult, but she was worse with Pilar than she was with me.”
Kate’s smile was tight. “Some women have a real issue when they deal with other women in positions of power.”
“I was happy to be the buffer in the situation.”
Kate nodded. “I could see that. You’re a good man, Crois. You’re also a damn good officer.”
“Thanks…” He said the word, but he wasn’t exactly sure how to take her compliment. He’d been called in for a reason.
“What I’m about to tell you,”She lowered her voice, “doesn’t go beyond this office.”
His heart sank at her words. “Okay.”
“When they identified our Jane Doe, her name was Veronica Catalano.”
Catalano.
Just hearing that name made his stomach turn.
“So, when she said something about her uncle…”
Kate nodded. “She meant Captain Christian Catalano.”
Fuck.
He shook his head.
Fuck me sideways.
“Yeah. Apparently, the Captain went down to the jail and took her out of holding. Word is that he went to the District Attorney and they worked out a deal for her to enter a diversion program and once it’s completed, it would be kept off of her record.”
Crois nodded.
“Pretty sure even a public defender could have asked for that deal.”
Kate nodded her head in agreement. “That’s true.”
He sighed and sat back heavily against his chair. “And the diversion program is on the record?”
Kate looked away from him. “Not quite.”
“Fuck.”
Kate nodded. “Basically.” She sat up and leaned on the edge of her desk. “She isn’t escaping responsibility. Her insurance is paying for the damage to the other car and any medical expenses for the… for the other driver.”
Crois felt like there was a boot print in the center of his chest, right on his sternum.
“So that’s why I’ve been getting some strange looks from the other LEOs?”
Kate’s mouth was barely a thin line. “That might be a reason.”
“I’m in trouble for doing my job.”
She remained silent and he swore he could feel waves of angry energy coming from her smaller form. Kate wasn’t someone who suffered fools.
She had a way of taking people to task for their mistakes but making it all a learning experience. She took training seriously. She took her leadership role seriously.
She was a damn good sergeant and Crois felt like this wasn’t her fault.
She was the one having to break the news to him, so he didn’t want to get angry at her.
He was just… angry.
Putting his hands on the arms of the chair, he looked across the desk. “So… can I leave?”
Kate hesitated and then nodded her head. “You can go and sign out.”
Crois stood with Kate getting up at almost the same moment. “Is this going to be a problem for me with the CCPD?”
Kate hesitated for a moment before she spoke. “I’m going to do what I can to smooth this all over for you. I just want you to understand that you did not do a damn thing wrong. I’ve written a report about the incident that is in your file and Pilar’s. You both did everything right.”
He heard her words and appreciated them, but he couldn’t help but feel that her assurances were well meaning, but he wasn’t sure whether it would make a difference overall.
Kate was a sergeant, but this woman… Veronica, he rolled his eyes, was related to Captain Catalano.
He was connected to the local government honchos and even if he preached transparency, he usually meant ‘other people’s’ transparency.
Crois was starting to realize that just being good at his job wasn’t good enough.
If the Captain had a bone to pick with him, his neck might be on the line.
He’d just have to wait and see.
“Okay, boss.” He gave Kate a smile because he could see how stressed she was. It wasn’t her fault that the captain’s niece drove drunk and erratic. “Can I go?”
Kate nodded and gestured to the door.
She walked him out into the bullpen and gave him a hearty clap on his back. “You take care of yourself, okay? Get something good to eat tonight and relax. If you need something, you’ve got my number.”
Crois stood there for a moment looking at her, wondering how much of a mess his career was going to be. “You know,” he managed a half a smile, “I’m just focused on getting Pilar to the wedding and hitched to her husband. The rest we can figure out later.”
Kate gave him a genuine smile. “You’re a good man, Crois. I know Pilar sees you as a good friend and a partner. That kind of relationship is the kind that will never end. You both… Well, it’s my pleasure and honor to work with both of you.”
Crois couldn’t say anything after that.
He nodded and walked away.
He bypassed the locker room and went straight to his car.
He needed to go and do something to get his mind off of the craptastic situation he was in.
Crois got behind the wheel of his car and sat there for a moment. He knew better than most what happened when someone drove when they were upset or angry. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be just a statistic.
He didn’t want to hurt someone.
The unsuspecting people out on the road weren’t at fault for his frustrations or the shit that might be falling on his head.
He sat there, turned on his radio, and listened to a couple of songs while he breathed in and out to relax. When he could feel his hands holding the wheel and the shakes in his arm muscles subsiding, he lowered his chin to his chest and let out a long, relaxing breath.
“Okay.” He lifted his head and looked out of the windshield. The parking lot was void of moving cars, so he put the car in drive and started toward the exit.
He could only think of one place to go, and one person to see.
So he headed that way, wondering if she might be at the firehouse.
If not, he might just wait around.
The idea of going back to his apartment and sitting there alone held no interest for him.