Lizzie waited until Camden was at the copier before she walked back to the computer. Making sure no one was looking she diminished the screen Camden had been using and did a search of her own.
She typed in the name Frank Barnes. The computer hummed as it searched before it popped up a case number. Lizzie sat there staring at it. What was she doing? Was this smart? She quickly grabbed a sticky note and a pen and copied down the file number. She closed out her search and put Camden’s back on the screen.
Camden was still busy copying papers and flirting with Donna. He paid Lizzie no attention as she slipped back to the file cabinets and searched for the file number she had written down.
There it was. She lifted the file out but to her surprise there was barely anything in it. It was small and thin, not anything like she expected it to be. Only an envelope that said “sealed” and boasted a large circular stamp on it. Why was this sealed?
“Lizzie?” She jumped as Camden called out for her.
“Coming” she said loudly as she stuffed the file back into the drawer and closed it. Lizzie came out from behind the file cabinets and joined Camden and Donna at the front counter.
“Thank you for your most gracious hospitality” Camden said to Donna before grabbing her hand and kissing it.
Donna swatted him away. “You better not forget to sign out of your computer again. I’m not your maid and I don’t pick up after you.”
“Yes, ma’am!” Camden saluted Donna and said to Lizzie, “Ill be right back”
Lizzie smiled at Donna, “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure sweetie, what is it?”
“If I wanted to get a copy of a case file, how would I go about getting that?”
“You could ask the assigned detective for it if you want the criminal case.”
“Actually I want all of it. The case I’m interested in has already been adjudicated and put to bed. I just want to review the court testimony and all the documents involved. To see how everything works.”
Lizzie felt bad for lying to Donna but she had no idea how to get what she wanted without Camden getting suspicious. That’s all she needed was him nosing around and then telling Dekker on her. And she sure as hell didn’t want Dekker knowing what she was up to. Not yet anyway. If she did some of her own research she would tell him if she came up with a lead. Then Dekker couldn’t be mad at her for nosing around.
“Here, honey,” said Donna, as she held out a form. “Fill this out. The Freedom of Information Act lets you have access to those kinds of files. Just fill in the case number and Ill pull it. You can come back and pick it up tomorrow.”
“Actually would it be ok if I had it sent to me? We are so busy and I’m afraid I won’t make it back tomorrow.”
“Sure. Just write down where you want it sent and I’ll even wave the normal processing fee, because you’re new and all” Donna smiled sweetly
Lizzie filled out the form quickly and handed it to Donna just as Camden returned.
Camden and Lizzie said their goodbyes to Donna and Lizzie walked with Camden to the parking lot.
Chapter Forty-Two
Lizzie blinked in the sunlight outside the courthouse. She waved goodbye to Camden and then walked to her patrol car to wait for Dekker. She unlocked the trunk and began to search her gear bag for her cell phone. She might as well call Jack while she is waiting.
Lizzie looked up at the sound of a car racing into the parking lot. A unmarked police car swerved into the empty parking space next to her and Werner climbed out of the driver seat.
“Well, well. Who do we have here?”
Lizzie stared at him in contempt. “Officer Werner.” She acknowledged. She didn’t have much to do with this guy but she had heard he was a real windbag.
“Looking good in your uniform!”
Lizzie grimaced. “That’s not appropriate in the slightest and I don’t appreciate you ogling me.”
“What’s wrong? You don’t like being appreciated?”
“Not by you.”
“You’re in a man’s world now chickee. Get used to it.”
“Just leave me alone.”
“How’s your flunky training officer treating you? I must admit Im a little jealous that he gets to spend all day riding around with a pretty thing like you.”
“Lucky for me he isn’t that type of guy”
“Oh sweetie you have no idea what kind of man Dekker is.”
“And I suppose you do?”
“Haven’t you heard? Let me fill you in on exactly what kind of man he is. He thinks he’s the big boss of everyone. He will take credit for every good thing you do and when he messes up…well that’s one thing he won’t take credit for. He blames everyone else for his mistakes.”
“What kind of mistakes?”
“You’ll find out. But in the meantime why don’t you ask him about Barnes.”
Lizzie perked up at the mention of the name. She didn’t want to seem interested but she couldn’t help herself. Here was a clue to why Dekker was being so secretive. “Who’s Barnes?”
Werner laughed. “Barnes was an informant of mine. I was doing what I was supposed to do. I made cases and this was my big bust. Using Barnes was the key.”
“I take it something went wrong?”
“Yeah, the informant turned. He ended up shooting the dealer and then in the fray he escaped with the money and the drugs.”
“How was that Dekker’s fault?”
“It was MY case. My buy bust and when things went south it was Dekker who hung me out to dry. He was supposed to be there. He was the supervisor. Instead he was somewhere sleeping off a bender. Whatever, I don’t need someone hanging over my shoulder just to do my job. He told IA that he knew nothing about it and then he blamed me for the whole thing. Tried to wiggle out of it. He had the nerve to insinuate that it was me who shot the dealer. He said I was a hot head and he couldn’t get me in line.”
“And none of that was true?”
Werner moved in close to Lizzie. Anger washed over his face, “Listen miss goody two shoes, that man is a menace. Luckily for me my duty weapon wasn’t a match and the one used to shoot the dealer has yet to be found. I was cleared easy peasy and Dekker got what was coming to him. Demotion was too good for him if you ask me.”
“What happened to the informant…Barnes?”
“No one knows. He ran off and hasn’t been seen since.”
Werner leaned his meaty arm against the car, all but pinning Lizzie against the driver door. “Now back to our earlier conversation. What do you say we grab a drink after work?”
Lizzie looked at him in disgust. “I have a boyfriend.”
“So. Why should that stop you?”
“Officer Noble!” Lizzie turned to see Dekker walking quickly towards her.
“Lizzie get in the car now.” It was clear he was pissed. Lizzie squeezed out from under Werner’s bulky arm and opened the driver door of her car. Dekker glowered at Werner as he got into the passenger seat and slammed the door shut.
“Hey man. We were just talking,” said Werner. Werner put his hand the driver door preventing Lizzie from closing it. “Hey kid if you ever need some real training or have any questions, I’m your guy.” He winked as laughed as Lizzie jerked her door free and slammed it shut.
Dekker put his hand on the steering wheel, “What did he want?”
“Nothing really. Just blowing hot air. I shut him down pretty quickly.”
“Watch out for that guy. He’s trouble”
Lizzie was still smarting from Werner’s unwanted advances and it made her bold. “Funny, he said the same thing about you.”
“Is that so? Enlighten me, please.”
Lizzie turned in her seat to face Dekker. “He suggested I ask you about someone named Barnes.”
Color infused Dekker’s face and he took measured breaths before answering. “Barnes is nobody you need to worry about. And another thing, don’t ever ask another officer for training advice. I
’m your training officer and you do things the way I teach you, understand?”
Clearly Dekker was trying to shift the focus to her but Lizzie wasn’t about to let it go. “I lied to you. When I said I hadn’t looked at the CSI file…I had. And I saw the name Frank Barnes. Why are you hiding this from me?”
Dekker looked straight ahead at the people leaving the courthouse. “Look kid, that was Werner’s mess and I had to clean it up. Barnes could’ve cleared up a lot of information but he disappeared. Now it looks like he’s dead and I need to figure out what happened to him. You don’t need to get caught up in this. You’re a rookie and reputation matters. It’s bad enough you have to be trained by me, I’m not going to put you in any further position to get ruined before you even become relevant.”
“I’m on your side! I want to help you!”
“What do you really think you can do, rookie? You have five days on. Five. You don’t know anything at this point. This conversation is over!”
Lizzie drove Dekker back to station in silence. She could feel his anger still bubbling under the surface and she was afraid to say anything further. She refrained from mentioning anything about Barnes for the rest of the shift but Dekker was wrong, this conversation was far from over.
Chapter Forty-Three
The next day Lizzie drove to work and parked in her usual spot. She turned off the car and sat silently collecting her thoughts and her nerve. Yesterday had been tough. She hadn’t liked the way she and Dekker spent the rest of their shift in almost complete silence. Only saying what needed to be said regarding the different calls they had gone to.
Lizzie watched Camden pull into the parking lot and park his car next to hers. He waved at her through the window and then smiling, he motioned for her to roll her window down.
“What’s up beautiful? What are you doing just sitting there?”
Lizzie was reminded of Werner’s flirting the day before but for some reason she didn’t mind it so much from Camden. He didn’t mean anything by it and she could tell it was just his way of speaking. “Yesterday was kind of tough. Im trying to get up the nerve to walk in and face another day of the same.”
“Has it been that bad?”
“I made some mistakes and Dekker wasn’t too happy about it.”
“Oh is that all? Got to put that behind you girl. Everyone makes mistakes and as long as you learn from them, you will be fine.”
“But I hate making mistakes, especially in front of other people. I don’t want to let anyone down.”
Camden laughed loudly “You can’t avoid making mistakes and you WILL make them in front of others. And you WILL get teased about it for the rest of your career. You can’t let it bother you though. It’s the way we are here. You don’t get a good reputation by being perfect at everything. You get respect when you can admit your screw ups, prove you can stay in the fight no matter what and accept help from more experienced officers.”
“Like you?”
“Sure like me. Or any of the other guys on the team. We only expect you to show up for us, do your job to the best of your ability and don’t make us look bad,” he said with a wink. Camden rolled his window up and getting out of his car he walked around to Lizzies driver door and opened it. “Come on, I’ll walk you in.”
“I’m not sure I’m mentally prepared.”
“Can one really ever be fully mentally prepared for this city and all its craziness?”
“From what I’ve seen so far? Not a chance!”
“Well there you have it. Now pull up your big girl pants and lets go!”
Lizzie playfully shoved his arm. “You won’t be embarrassed being seen with a rookie?”
“Hell no! You’re the smartest of the bunch and I have a sneaking suspicion I’ll be working for you someday.”
Lizzie felt more encouraged to know that she had at least one person on her side.
Chapter Forty-Four
Briefing had been just that, brief. Dekker and Lizzie bought their usual beginning of shift cup of coffee and Lizzie sipped it carefully. She needed this.
The car radio came to life, “two Lincoln Six.”
Lizzie picked up the mic and responded, “2L6?”
“2L6, 98 at 4678 Parker Rd. Info in detail.”
“2L6 copy,” Lizzie replied and then looked questioningly at Dekker as she hung the mic back on its metal pin.
Dekker reached over to the in car computer and pulled up the details dispatch had just sent them.
Lizzie looked at Dekker and asked, “What does that mean?”
“You know your radio codes, don’t you? What does 98 mean?”
“To meet someone somewhere, but she didn’t say who or why.”
“For some reason that information isn’t meant for everyone else’s ears so let’s look at the detail and see what they are sending us to.” Dekker said. “Looks like Shaw finally got her search warrant.”
“Are we going to serve a search warrant?” Lizzie asked
“Looks like it. She might just need us to cover the rear yard or something when they go in. Let’s get over there and see what she needs.”
When they arrived at the Parker Rd address Lizzie pulled their car to the curb behind several other patrol cars. Clearly they weren’t the only ones called.
“Wait here” Dekker said as he got out of the car. Lizzie felt a little relieved. After yesterday’s issues she was looking forward to sitting in the car alone for few minutes. Let those guys kick in a door. Certainly they wouldn’t expect her to do something this advanced in her first month of training. She could stay outside and watch the cars. She wasn’t too worried she’d screw that up.
Dekker returned minutes later. “Ok kid lets go,” he said as he popped the trunk and started taking items out of it.
“What? Me too?”
“Of course you too!”
“But I have no idea what I’m doing” Lizzie said quietly as Dekker handed her a black nylon windbreaker with the word POLICE stamped on the back in huge block letters. “Put that on,” he said gruffly.
Lizzie obeyed and had just zipped it up when Dekker handed her a large heavy metal object. Lizzie almost dropped it! “What the heck is this thing?”
“It’s the key.”
“The key? It looks like a mini battering ram!” Two feet long, circular like a tree trunk but only about ten inches in diameter, it had a handle welded on to it. Lizzie almost dropped it. Lizzie hefted the key onto one shoulder. The thing probably weighed a good thirty pounds!
Dekker took his rifle from the trunk and slammed it shut. He pushed Lizzie ahead of him “Let’s go.”
Lizzie’s heart immediately jumped into overdrive and her adrenaline started to surge.
Lizzie and Dekker reached the sidewalk in front of the target house. Shaw started calling out orders. “Camden you’re on the door.”
“Got it,” replied Camden. With a wink he took the key from Lizzie and made his way to stand next to Shaw.
“Next up; Ramos, Noble, Dekker, Dorsey and Summers.” Shaw called out the order of entry. “Patterson and Jackson I need you as rear cover”
“You got it Sarge,” said Patterson. He and Jackson jogged to the fence and hopped over it into the backyard.
Lizzie followed Dekker’s example and squeezed into the developing line of officers lined up against the front yard fence. She squeezed into her assigned spot between Ramos and Dekker and she drew her gun from its holster. Dekker put his right hand on her right shoulder and said, “I’m up”
“Uh ok.”
“We do this so that the man in front knows the guy behind him is right there and ready to go.”
“Oh ok.’
“Keep your gun down at the ready and pointed inboard.”
“Inboard?”
“Pointed at the building so if shots get fired through the wall you can return fire without hitting one of us. You need to keep your gun pointed in the direction of the possible theat. Wherever you think you the threat could be
coming from that’s where you point your gun. See how Ramos’s gun is trained on what’s directly in front of him?”
Lizzie looked and saw that Ramos had his gun forward and down at the ready.
Before Lizzie could comment, Shaw commanded, “Move!”
Ramos started to walk forward and then paused. He spoke over his shoulder “You up rook?”
Lizzie tapped his right shoulder and said “I’m up” just as Dekker had done to her. Ramos continued forward and Dekker gently pushed her from behind.
Dekker continued to talk to her in a low voice as the line of officers moved toward the front door of the house. “You want to be pointing your gun to any areas not covered. Everyone in the line is responsible for covering open areas. The one thing you need to make sure you never do is to cover one of our own with your muzzle.”
“Ok,” Lizzie said breathlessly. She felt smothered, so tightly sandwiched in between these officers. She was being carried along by the tide and it was moving too fast for her to comprehend. But what choice did she have. Her thoughts raced. What if someone started shooting through the door? What if she had to shoot back? What if there was a dog on the house? Could she actually shoot a dog? What did she do when she got inside? What if she totally screwed up on front of anyone? Good lord, her heart was slamming into her chest. What if she passed out? She wanted to yell out “Wait! I’m not ready! Don’t you know I am a rookie and I don’t know what the hell I’m doing?” But there was no time for insecurity.
The line of officers reached the front door and Lizzie stood awkwardly on with one foot on the front step and one foot on the second. They couldn’t all fit on the porch. She made sure to scan her surroundings as Sgt. Shaw nodded at Ramos.
Ramos pounded loudly on the front door “Roland PD! Search warrant! Open the door!” There was no answer. Lizzie silently counted two seconds before Ramos pounded on the door again as hard as he could. “Roland PD! Search warrant! Open the door!” Still no answer.
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