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CHAPTER ELEVEN
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FALCO
“I want you two to keep an eye on Hicks,” Captain Paulson told Shawna and me, having cornered us at the far side of the room. “She has had a bit of a history with treating perps rough, but until now, no one has actually filed a formal complaint. She’s a damn good cop. I don’t want this to get out of hand.”
“Got it Captain,” Shawna said. I nodded, too.
“Falco, you’re sure all this went down the way you said it did?” Paulson asked.
“It’s all in the report, Captain,” I replied, wondering if my nose was growing longer. “Really, Captain, I read the perp’s rap sheet. Who is going to take the word of a two-bit thief and a pathological liar over a decorated cop?”
Paulson looked at my eyes as if trying to run down some mental polygraph on me. Finally, he looked away, “Yeah, right,” he said. “Just keep your eyes and ears open.”
Paulson left. I looked at Hicks. She was talking to Rybolt and McNeil. Shawna stood next to me, leaning over, allowing her right breast to press against my left bicep. I could smell her fragrance, which may have smelled really good had she not applied it with a garden hose.
“You know she’s my girl, right?” she said. “I’d do anything for her.”
I nodded, “I know.”
“So, tell me, do I need to be worried about this?” she asked.
I shook my head, “No, of course not.”
“Good,” she replied.
“Can I have a word alone with Falco?” I heard a familiar voice say.
It was my mentor, Nico Mayson.
“Sure, Nico,” Shawna said. “I need to get movin’ anyway. You take care, Falco, and tell Hicks to call me.”
I nodded at Shawna as Nico slapped my shoulder, “Quite an eventful first day, I hear,” he said. “Congratulations on the collar. I heard all about it and the captain sent me your report. Damn good work, Falco.”
“Thanks,” I said. “Personally, I attribute it to good mentorship.”
“I also heard from one of the boys that Hicks was getting pretty affectionate with you last night at the Yakety Sax. That true?”
“Everyone was just blowing off steam, Nico.”
“That same guy told me he saw you two heading up the elevator together. Hicks lives there, right? Did you two blow off a little more than steam upstairs?”
“No, Nico,” I said. “It didn’t happen. We were feeling no pain, that’s for sure. We got close, really close, but it didn’t happen.”
That of course, was all true. I simply left out the part that I didn’t have a condom and she dropped kicked me for it, leaving him to believe that we may have actually used some real judgment and allowed cooler heads to prevail.
“You can share anything with me, right Falco?” Nico said. “I’m on your side. You know that, right?”
“Sure, Nico, I do know that.”
“Anything you want to tell me? Anything missing from the report, maybe?”
“No, Nico,” I said, lying once again to someone who I shouldn’t be lying to, ever.
He shook his head, “You know, Falco, Hicks is a good cop, actually a great cop. She could ride with me anytime.”
“Me too,” I agreed.
“I know how you are, Falco, and I know your style. I also know Hicks’s style. You two could make a great team. Just remember something. This partnership is not just about her showing you the ropes. It’s a two-way street. She could learn a great deal from you, too.”
“Like what?”
“Like every reaction to a tense situation does not have to involve brute force. Good cops use their brains as well as their muscle. And also, that every minor infraction does not need to be covered up. She needs to know we are all human, and we all make mistakes, even cops.”
I let out a breath, realizing I had already failed in that department. In my zeal as the new guy trying to be accepted I went along with Hicks to cover up the warning shot and enabled her embellishment on the use of force with the perp, things I’d never done before.
“I’ll remember that,” I said.
“If you two are going to be a team, it also means you need to keep out of her pants, too,” Nico added. “We both know she is not your boom, anyway.”
I looked at him quizzically, “How would you know that?”
“I know shit,” he jibed. “Tell me, Falco. I know damn well you didn’t follow her up the elevator last night to see the stunning view from her balcony. When whatever happened between you two fizzled, did you drive home with a burning desire that you just had to have her? Did you stay awake all night wondering if you should get dressed and run back and knock on her door?”
“No. I didn’t,” I admitted
In fact, Nico was correct. I actually spent more time in bed worrying about a homeless woman who never even spoke with me. I’d never even gotten a clear view of her face.
He smiled and slapped me on the back, “See there, Falco. No boom. Trust me on this. Hicks is a good cop. Keep your dick in your pants while you’re around her. You can’t have too many people like her on your side. Keep her close . . . just not too close. Feel me?”
I nodded.
“Have a good day,” Falco. “Be extra careful out there. Call me if you need me.”
Hicks approached me as Nico left.
“Are we ready to hit the road, Falco?” she asked. She didn’t have a smile on her face, nor did she look particularly uncomfortable speaking to me. I tried to mirror her demeanor.
“I’m ready,” I replied.
“Good, because there is a school assembly at Brentwood High this morning,” she said. “They found a handgun in a student’s locker a couple of weeks ago and the parents are all up in arms wondering what they intend to do to tighten security. The captain wants our cruiser outside, nice and visible, just in case the conversation becomes heated.”
“Sounds like a scintillating first assignment,” I said. “Do we have time to get a McMuffin and coffee on the way.”
She looked at her watch, “Sure. I could use one, too. I’m buying, and I’m driving.”
Forty minutes later, Hicks parked the cruiser in the far corner of the high school parking lot. The squad car was easily visible to the students and parents through the gym’s windows, but far enough away to not be too intimidating. It also served a nice secondary purpose of being too far away for anyone to make out that Hicks and I inside were munching on egg McMuffins and sipping piping hot coffee.
We watched the cars stream into the lot. The parents and students seemed to be filing into the gym in an orderly fashion. Hicks and I initially kept our conversation to McMuffins, guns in schools and the potential of an investigation ordered by the Chief of Police. She was very curious as to what the captain had been talking about with Shawna and me. I assured her that the captain was just encouraging us to support her and keep an eye out for her. Satisfied, she finally turned the conversation to the elephant in the room, or the squad car, in this case.