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chapter twenty-five
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FALCO
When I opened the door into Captain Paulson’s office, I saw Hicks had placed a file on the captain’s desk and was just sitting down. I had no idea why I had been summoned but from the looks on their faces, the subject was serious.
“Thanks for coming, Falco,” Paulson said. “Have a seat.”
“What’s up, Captain?” I asked.
“I’m afraid I’ve received some concerning information, Falco,” he said. I saw him tapping the incident report Hicks placed on the desk. “It seems that you have falsified information on your report.”
I froze, “What are you talking about, Captain?”
I glanced at Hicks, who seemed to be avoiding eye contact with me. My heart sank. I was fucked.
“We have clear evidence that you did, in fact, fire a warning shot from your service weapon,” he said. “But that’s not the biggest problem, though. The biggest problem is that you lied about it on an official report.”
I glanced at Hicks again; still no eye contact.
“What evidence do you have?” I asked.
“The CSI team recovered the bullet you fired,” he reported, “and Officer Hicks modified her report. The modifications clearly indicate that she was in the restaurant at the time . . .”
“Captain,” Hicks interrupted.
“Not now, Hicks,” Paulson barked back. “A man’s career is on the line, here.”
“Captain, I just handed you the report,” she said. “You should read it first.”
I glanced at Hicks again. This time she did make eye contact. Did I notice a little twinkle in her eye? I was thoroughly confused about what had just happened and what was happening now. I decided I would just keep my mouth shut for a moment. Paulson was clearly surprised by Hicks’s outburst.
“I just assumed you made the modifications we discussed,” he said.
“You mean the modifications you instructed me to make,” she corrected. “I did make modifications to the report, Captain, but they are not what you’re expecting.”
“What the fuck are you talking about, Hicks?” he boomed.
“It’s all in the report, sir.”
“Why don’t you save me the trouble, Hicks,” he demanded. “What did you say?”
“I clarified what I heard and saw, but did not change the content, which was true and accurate,” she replied. “In the original report I stated that I heard what I thought to be the sound of a car backfiring. In the modified report, I clarified that I was outside standing near Falco when a vehicle backfired and that I could categorically state that, at no time, did Falco fire his weapon.”
Paulson gritted his teeth. His face was turning red with anger, “You just made a huge mistake, Hicks. You forget, we still have the recovered bullet. I don’t need your report.”
“I know that, Captain, and I am confident the ballistics report will show that the bullet found did not come from Falco’s gun. I was there. He never fired a warning shot. Falco’s report is one hundred percent accurate.”
“You’re full of shit, Hicks,” Paulson said.
“Have you actually gotten the ballistics report yet, Chief?” Hicks asked.
“Not yet, but we both know what it’s going to say?” he shot back.
“No, I don’t know anything of the kind,” Hicks said.
Paulson sighed. He was seething, “Fuck it, I’ll call him now.”
I was getting nervous. I had not heard about a recovered bullet, which I was certain would have been fired from my gun. Hicks would have known that. Was she committing career suicide? When that ballistics report is tied to my gun, my career would be shot. Hicks’s career would be over too for lying about it on her report, then amplifying the lie on her modification.
“I’m looking for Kevin Thorpe,” Paulson said. “Yeah, I’ll hold.”
Paulson looked at me as he held. I couldn’t tell what was going through his mind.
“Thorpe,” I heard him say, “Captain Paulson here. Have you gotten back the results on that bullet and service weapon I gave you?”
He paused.
“Good. Tell me the results,” I heard Paulson say.
I watched Paulson’s face as he was listening to the results. I decided then and there that I never wanted to play poker with the captain. I could not get a read on what was going through his mind.
“I see,” I heard him say. “And you’re absolutely sure about this?”
He paused for another moment, “Thank you,” he finally said and hung up.
He sat the phone down. Metaphorically, I imagined the phone receiver being slammed on its base as a guillotine coming down on my neck.
He tapped his fingers on the desk, used his right hand to rub the bridge of his nose, where his glasses normally rested, and then looked at my partner.
“You did this, Hicks,” I heard him say. “I don’t know how you did it, but you did it.”
“Did what, sir?”
“The ballistics report showed the bullet was not the same caliber as bullets from Falco’s service weapon and could not have been fired from his gun. I know you did this Hicks, I just don’t know how.”
She shrugged, “Good luck proving that, Captain. You’ve had the bullet in your possession the entire time.”
“Fuck you, Hicks,” he rasped through gritted teeth. “You two get the hell out of my office,” came his only reply. “You have work to do, I assume.”
“I think you owe Falco an apology, sir,” she said.
“No apology is necessary, sir. Let’s go, Hicks,” I urged. My entire life flashed before my eyes over the last four minutes. I wasn’t sure what had happened, but I did pick up enough to know I had gotten a stay of execution and I didn’t want to poke the bear any more than I had to.
We got into the cruiser. Hicks was driving.
“So, are you gonna tell me what the hell just happened back there?” I asked.
“Better you not know the details,” she said. “All I can assure you is, we both have that whole little incident behind us.”
“Can we make an agreement to never ever allow ourselves to be put into that position again?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said. “I want you to know I’ve voluntarily requested anger management courses. I start later this week. You were my inspiration for doing so, Falco.”
“That’s great news, Hicks,” I said. “You’re a fantastic cop.”
“And I want to be a fantastic partner,” she replied. “I don’t want to lose you. I know you’ll never turn your back on me. You’ve shown me that. I know you have my back.”
“And you mine,” I added.
“Plus, you have taught me a lesson,” she said.
“And what’d that be?”
“That you can be a good cop without coloring so far outside the lines,” she replied. “I’ve been playing fast and loose with the rules for so long, it just became a habit. I almost cost us both our careers, Falco. This time I was able to make it right. Next time . . . who knows?”
“Let’s make sure there is no next time,” I told her.
“I agree, but it may be too little too late for me,” Hicks said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means, I just embarrassed Captain Paulson,” she said. “I’ve seen how he is when you show him up. I’m pretty much fucked in the South Precinct.”
“He’ll get over it,” I told her.
“I’ve been around him for a long time,” she said. “He won’t get over it.”
“I have your, back Hicks,” I said.
“I brought this on myself,” she said. “How’d it go with your Russian homeless mute supermodel?” she asked.
“Let’s grab a cup of coffee,” he said. “I’ll tell you all about it.”
Fifteen minutes later, we had driven through the Starbucks window. Hicks ordered an iced vanilla latte and I got a drip coffee. Even though she told me I was better off not knowing exactly what went down, one thing was really bothering me.
“I have to ask, Hicks. They found my bullet. You can’t tell me there was some other random bullet in that parking lot.”
“No, I won’t tell you that,” she said, sipping her coffee. “It would insult your intelligence.”
“What did you do, Hicks?”
She shrugged again, “I picked a side.”
“So, Paulson asked you to feed me to the wolves and you picked me over him?” I asked.
“Something like that,” she said.
“That still doesn’t explain what the ballistics report revealed.”
“I took care of it, Falco,” she said. “Just don’t ask any more questions.”
“This could have very easily backfired,” I said. “You could be out on your ass right now. That was a huge risk.”
She nodded, took another sip of her coffee, looked at me and grinned, “Some people are worth it, Falco.”
“And why would I be worth it?” I asked. “You barely know me.”
“I know what I need to know, Falco,” she replied. “You have scruples and your well-grounded. You have my six when I need back up and you kick my ass when it needs kicking. I love that about you. We make a good team.”
I nodded, “We do.”
“I want to stay with you,” she said.
“You know, about that,” I told her. “I want you as my partner, Hicks, more than you could ever know, but it would be strictly business. I love Irina and I would never do anything to jeopardize that.”
“Jesus, a man who used the ‘L’ word,” she replied. “What the hell is up with that, Falco? You’ve known her for two whole minutes . . .”
“Not true. I’ve known her since she was fifteen. Even though we got separated, she has lived in my heart ever since. I never realized just how much until I saw her again. She was my first love,” I said. “Actually, she was my only real love. I can’t stop thinking about her. I want to be your partner, I just want to be clear that . . .”
“Your heart is taken,” she interrupted.
I nodded, “Forever.”
“Duly noted. She’s a lucky girl,” Hicks said. “You said you had things to tell me.”
I nodded. I told her Irina’s whole story, including everything she told me about Philo Mancini and Jimmy Gallo. Hicks listened intently and quietly. I could tell she was hearing it all and processing it with analytical efficiency. It was one of the things I admired about her.
“Jesus, Falco, what are you gonna do?” she asked.
“I called Nico Mayson,” I said.
She thought for a moment and nodded.
“You’re going to have him broker a deal with the FBI, aren’t you?” she said. “You’re going to negotiate immunity for Irina in exchange for her testimony against Mancini.”
“That was my thought,” I admitted.
“Well, there’s no one I would trust more than Nico to do it,” she said. “He has the connections, and he has the balls to stare down the FBI if the going gets tough.”
“Exactly what I thought as well.”
“There’s one thing you’ll have to consider,” Hicks said. “If Irina testifies in exchange for immunity, they’ll put her in WITSAC.”
I sighed, “Yeah, I thought of that.”
“That means they’d swoop her away from you again, this time forever,” she added. “WITSAC is a one-way street, Falco. You’d never find her again. They would change her name and never allow her to contact you.”
“Yeah, I know that,” he said.
“Are you willing to make that sacrifice?”
“I love her, Hicks,” I replied. “I’d do it because it would give her a new life with a new identity and allow her to remain in the states. I’d hate it, but yes, I’d do it . . . for her.”
Hicks put her hand on my shoulder, “You may be the most incredible man I’ve ever met.”