“Don’t say anymore. It’s not like I’m in denial, Lizzie. Yes, she could have jumped, or fallen in, or been thrown in. The possibilities are terrifying. Personally, I’m choosing to believe that Shaw is alive somewhere and gotten into a mess she can’t get out of. And I won’t stop searching, no matter how ‘not fine’ I am. No matter how tired I am.”
Camden sighed heavily again and his shoulders sagged under the weight of his worry. He threw his still full coffee cup into the trash can and looked at Lizzie with a pained expression. Grief etched his face. “She’s my friend. She’s strong. If something was wrong I’ll hate myself for not seeing it. She seemed so upbeat earlier this evening. What if I got it wrong? What if I wasn’t paying enough attention? What if I could have done something to prevent this?”
Lizzie stared back into his eyes and saw the guilt and fear mixed with an enormous sadness. “If Shaw was hurting and didn’t show it then there was nothing you could have done. And right now you are doing the right thing by not giving up on her. In the meantime, let’s go do something to find out the answers to these questions. What does O’Connell want us to do?”
“He wants us to pair up and start hitting the streets. Go talk to people. The streets usually know when something has gone down and we can possibly drum up some leads.”
Lizzie grabbed the car keys off of Camden’s belt before he can stop her. “Let’s go. But I’m driving. You need to rest a little even if it’s just sitting in the passenger seat.”
They climbed into the car and Lizzie hadn’t made it a mile from the command center before Camden’s snoring caused her to look over. He was out. It had been a horrible night and a few minutes of sleep was exactly what he needed.
Lizzie may be a rookie and new to the world of policing but she had to start somewhere and she thought she knew exactly where to go. She headed towards the bunker.
Chapter Ninety-Two
Sarah Landon was brutally awakened from her sweet slumber at 5 am. The horrible shrill of her cell phone jangled her to consciousness. She grimaced at the phone and swore for umpteenth time to figure out how to fix that damn ringer. Her friend Dinah had set the ringtone to some old-timey telephone jangle as a joke months ago. Sarah had meant to change it back but hadn’t gotten around to it. She made a quick vow to change that shit sooner rather than later and then promptly forgot all about her promise once she realized who was calling.
“Hello?”
“Landon! Get here now!” The demand was punctuated by a vicious click. Her boss…the big boss…the boss who had hired her was demanding her presence. There was no mistaking his gravelly booming voice. Something big must be brewing if he was commanding an audience at this time of the morning.
Sarah knew better than to take the extra time but she popped a pod in the Keurig anyway. During the ten seconds it took to brew, Sarah ran a brush a through her hair and another across her teeth. She grabbed her cup and as she fast walked her way to the closet her toe caught the edge of the edge of the dresser. Hot coffee spilled onto her arm and her toe screamed in pain. If this was any sign as to how today was going to go she was in big trouble!
Sarah made it to the office in record time. There really wasn’t much traffic at this time of morning and the five-minute drive was an easy one. She entered the office at a brisk walk run and had barely made it to her meager cubicle before Mr. Jasper bellowed her name. “LANDON!”
“Coming boss!”
Jasper is a booming big-bellied man and he consistently yells Sarah’s name like he’s calling his dog. He’s not really a mean man, just an impatient one. Sarah grabbed a pen and notebook and made a beeline for his office.
“Shut the door.”
Sarah shut the door and moved to take the seat opposite Jaspers desk.
“Stop! You wont be here long enough to your hiney comfortable. Listen up. I need you to team up with Bernstein on a story.” Sarah’s smile disappeared without any effort.
Jasper looked at her quizzically. “Something wrong with that?”
“No sir…”
“Then why do you look like I just kicked your puppy?”
“Sorry,” Sarah cringes as she attempts to rearrange her face into a mask of happiness.
“That’s more like it. Get to the police station. Kevin is already there. A police sergeant is missing.”
“A sergeant is missing? What happened? Has she been kidnapped?”
Jasper curses under his breath as he pulls a cigar from the ash tray on his desk and lights it. “Are you still here?”
“Nope! On my way!” I make an about face to go and as the door shuts behind me I hear him mumble something that sounds an awful lot like “welcome to the shit show.”
Chapter Ninety-Three
Sarah made it to the police department in record time. She wound her small commuter car through the sea of police cars and rival news agency vans. She found a parking space in the red zone along the far fence and headed up to the front of the station to see if she could locate Kevin.
Sarah quickly spied him at the front of the crowd, holding court with other reporters. He was easy to spot. Tall, heads above everyone else, and sporting his usual bright colored tie and perfect suntanned expression. He was smiling big but as she get closer she could see a worn look beneath it all. She thought she even noticed the beginnings of some bags under his eyes.
Kevin spotted Sarah pushing through the crowd and waved her over. “What are you doing here kid? Jasper send you over to babysit?”
Sarah winced, “Why? Do you need a babysitter?”
Kevin winked creepily, “Of course not but I’m glad you’re here.”
Sarah cringed a little inside. He had been trying to get her to go out with him since the day she arrived at the newspaper. He wasn’t exactly bad looking. His sense of humor mitigated his awkwardness but Sarah didn’t come here to date and fishing off the company pier was never a good idea
“I’m not sure why Jasper wanted me here, but here I am.” Sarah glanced around at the crowded plaza. “What’s going on?”
Kevin shushed her, “Ssssh. The PIO is coming out to give us a statement.”
Sarah turned her attention to the glass front doors of the PD and admired Public Information Officer Leary as he exited. He made quite a dashing figure even at this hour of the morning. Handsome with dark coffee skin, green eyes, and almost as tall as Kevin. Sarah watched as Leary’s gaze met Kevin’s. Leary gave Kevin an unadulterated glare of disgust. Geez, what the hell is between these two? Kevin try to date him too?
Leary’s gaze turned to Sarah and his face softened. He smiled a little and Kevin gave a low whistle. “We have an admirer, I see!”
“Shut up. He’s just smiling.”
“Yeah I know what that smile means.”
“Jealous much?”
“Maybe.” Kevin stated matter-of-factly.
“Shut up,” Sarah warns as Leary shushed the crowd.
“As promised, I’m here to give you the hourly update. Nothing has changed and no further leads are being discovered. However, we have called in mutual aid and all of our officers have been called in to take up the search. Parks police has been scouring the parks and docks. Neighboring jurisdictions have been put on alert. Furthermore, nationwide Blue Alert has been issued and the press release has been emailed to each of you for immediate broadcast and printing. Now, I will answer a few questions.”
A hand went up next to Sarah. “Karen Waters from Channel Seven News. It is our understanding that it took you quite a while to locate the missing sergeants vehicle. Don’t your officers cars have a tracking system?”
“Yes. As per our newest city policy, all police vehicles have been fitted with a locating device in the event we need to track our cars locations. That being said, the policy only went into effect three months ago and the fitting of the vehicles takes time and money. Sergeant Shaw’s car was one of the last several cars waiting to be fitted.”
A second hand raised. “John Franco, Chann
el Four. If the locater wasn’t working then how did you know she was missing in the first place? How long was she out of contact before you discovered something was wrong?”
“Dispatch tried to raise the sergeant for a call for service and received no response. We are still unsure on the timeline of events.”
Sarah raised her hand and the handsome PIO looked her way. He smiled at her for the second time that morning. “Yes. The young lady in the blue jacket.”
Sarah didn’t dare look up at Kevin who whispered, “Well, look at YOU go, new girl.”
Sarah ignored the smirk in Kevin’s voice and asked, “Sarah Landon, Roland Confidential. Are you worried that she may have been ambushed by someone and if so are you concerned more of your officers may be in danger?”
“That’s an excellent question. We believe this is an isolated incident but we are taking all precautions. We have brought in all the officers available and they will be riding two man units until further notice. We have established a tip line and are following up on any and all information that will help us find Sergeant Shaw.”
Leary turned back to the crowd. “We are asking that anyone with information please call our tip line and even if it’s something small. Any information, no matter how seemingly insignificant, could be the key to finding our officer. Remember, ‘see something say something.’ You can remain anonymous.”
“Is there a reward?” Sarah called out.
Leary beamed his thousand-kilowatt smile in her direction once more, “At this time we have set up a 10,000 dollar reward for any information that results in the location of our missing officer.” He punctuated his pitch by turning to go. “Thank you for your concern and help during this dark time. This will conclude our briefing but I will be back in an hour with an update.”
As the Leary walked back into the building, Kevin turned to her. “That was good. Way to get your foot in there.”
“Why didn’t YOU ask those questions?”
“Well geez kid, you jumped right in. How was anyone supposed to get a word in edgewise?”
Sarah laughed despite herself.
“Come on, let’s get a cup of coffee. Zeke brought a thermos and at this hour I’m sure you could use a cup. I know I could.
Chapter Ninety-Four
“LT Carson you have a visitor in the lobby.”
Carson heard the page go out over the station intercom. He really didn’t have time for any of these reporters nonsense but he’s close enough to the front desk that he decided to check in.
Carson entered the records clerk department and tapped the counter to get the clerks attention away from her knitting, “You paged, Rosemary?”
Rosemary didn’t even look up from her pearl-one, knit-two, “I don’t know who he is. He wouldn’t leave his name but he says he needs to speak with you and only you. He’s sitting out there in the lobby.” Rosemary nodded her head in the direction the service window.
Carson walked to the window and seeing Johnson in the lobby he felt his fury begin to gather. “Did you tell him I’m not available?”
“Yeah but he is insisting. He says he’ll sit here all night if you don’t go out there. Not that I care. He can sit there till kingdom come if he wants. Just thought you should know.”
“Thank you, Rosemary, I’ll handle this.” Carson exited the records departments and stepped out into the hallway that connected the lobby to the inner sanctum. He took a brief second to calm his breathing before opening the lobby door. “Mr. Johnson?”
Johnson bolted from his seat and walked quickly to the door Carson holds for him.
Through clenched teeth and a forced smile, Carson continued his charade, “I’ve been told you want to see me?”
“You bet I do!”
“Please, come on inside.”
Chapter Ninety-Five
Sarah watched as the strange man entered the lobby and talked to the receptionist. She could see him through the glass doors as he took a seat on one of the hard plastic chairs. He was clearly waiting for someone.
It wasn’t long before a police officer opened an interior door and let him in. That’s not fair! That guy is going to get info before her! Kevin had teased her earlier about being tenacious. Oh Kevin you have no idea!
Sarah tapped Kevin on the shoulder to get his attention. “Hey, I need to use the ladies room. I’ll be right back.” He nodded at her dismissively before turning back to his conversation with Zeke.
Sarah made her way into the lobby. She’d never been in here before. In fact she had never actually been inside ANY part of the police department. Sarah felt a little intimidated. She approached the front counter and spied an elderly woman sitting at a desk behind a computer. Is she actually knitting?
Sarah rapped lightly on the safety glass that separated the lobby from the reception area. “Excuse me?”
The lady set down her knitting needles and approached the glass. “How can I help you sweetheart?
“Um, I don’t know if this is ok, but I really need to use the ladies room.”
“Sure thing. I’ll buzz you through. Just through that door and down the hallway to your left.”
The door the strange man walked through buzzed and Sarah heard a click signifying it had been unlocked. That seemed a little too easy.
Sarah entered the hallway and made her way down the hallway towards the restroom. Almost immediately she heard loud voices coming from the end of the hallway. Passing the bathroom door she quietly snuck closer to the voices. The hallway made a sharp right and she approached the L-turn as quietly as she could.
Sarah peaked around the corner. The cop who opened the door was engaged in a hushed but clearly intense argument with the strange man. Sarah flinched when the cop grabbed the man and pushed him roughly up against the wall. She took a quick look behind her and saw no one else around. She took out her cell phone and started recording.
Chapter Ninety-Six
Carson lead Johnson to the very end of the hallway and once out of sight of any prying eyes he angrily pushed his face into Johnsons. “What the fuck are you doing here?” Carson spits his words in undisguised fury. “I told you I didn’t need any info from you.”
“I know what you said little brother, chill.”
“I’m not your brother.”
Johnson smiled mischievously, “Of course you are. Just cuz our daddy played around and your mama and my mama don’t like each other doesn’t mean we aint brothers.”
“What do you want Greg? A hug? You want me to walk down memory lane with you?”
“Well see, I heard what happened to that lady cop. You did that didn’t you?”
Carson grabbed Johnson by the collar and slammed him up against the wall. “What makes you think I would do anything to hurt a cop?”
“You want me to kill that bitch who stole from you. Is it really a far stretch that you’d get rid of a cop? We might only be half-brothers but blood is blood and we share it in spades.”
“Shut up! You do realize you’re in a police station don’t you?”
“So what. You’re a lieutenant.” Johnson waves his arms around the empty hallway, “And no one’s even in here!”
“I’ll ask you again, what do you want?”
“Money. I need money.”
“You want to blackmail me? You know I have so much hanging over your head that I could bury you under the jail, right?”
“Yeah and I could sing like a canary.”
“No one would believe you.”
“Wouldn’t stop me from singing. And that suspicion would follow you everywhere forever after.”
Carson pasted his famous grin on his face. “Ok, ok.” He patted his brother on the shoulder and straightend his collar. “Maybe a few dollars ARE in order. I don’t have any cash on me but I’ll call you and set up a time to swing by.”
“I’m not stupid. You’re not going to just brush me off with promises and not deliver. You have twenty four hours.”
Chapter Ninety-Seven
Sarah watched the confrontation conclude and as both men walked her way she scurried across the hallway and ducked into the bathroom. She ran into the closest stall and leaned her back up against the door. Holy shit, what did she just see?
Chapter Ninety-Eight
Carson lead Greg back towards the lobby and as he passed the ladies room, he noticed the door swinging slowly closed. He let his brother out and checked back in with Rosemary to see if she had left her post for a quick bathroom break. She was still knitting away and doesn’t even notice his return.
Carson returned to the women’s restroom and knocked on the door. “Hello?” No one answered and he made a quick look around before going in. He made his way down the row of stalls and found each one is empty. Someone had come in here, he was sure of it.
Carson exited the bathroom and strode angrily back into the police department interior. There was still a away to find out who was in there and he knows exactly how.
Chapter Ninety-Nine
Once the two men passed the bathroom door and Sarah heard police department door close with a loud click, she made a break for it. She fast walked down the hallway and then pushed through the doors out into the lobby.
A quick glance at the security window provided her a view of Carson as he stared at the oblivious knitting clerk. Before Carson could see her, Sarah exited the main doors and made her way back to Kevin and Zeke. Shit that was close.
Chapter One Hundred
Carson made his way to the office that held the closed circuit television monitors. During the day the office is manned by retired police officers. They keep an eye on the city and even on the interior of the police department itself. No one mans it this time of night.
Roland P D Omnibus Page 22