Commander

by Mel Todd

  "Yep. Welcome to the wonderful world of crack heroin. One of the most dangerous drugs on the street but you don't often find this being moved in large amounts. Usually people are going to make it in smaller batches and for the big dealers, moving the cocaine in brick form is easier."

  Laredo held it up for both McKenna and JD to take big whiffs and her nose burned but she tried to memorize the smell, the reaction, everything about it.

  "Coffee please," JD muttered and she handed over the cup. He stuck his nose in and inhaled deeply. "Wow, now that I have in my brain as to what it is, I realize I've smelled it before I just always assumed it was something else. Anything else for that matter." He took another deep breath, then handed it back to McKenna who copied his movements. "But you say we aren't going to find large shipments of this?"

  "Nah. Usually dealers are buying the cocaine, making crack in smaller amounts, cutting it with various substances, then reselling it. The ones bringing it in aren't going to go to any extra work." Laredo's voice was calm as he put it away and Guinness marked off that he'd returned the package to the box. He pulled out another small bag with a bunch of tablets and frowned.

  "Guinness, do we have another box with pure MDMA in it? Liquid form?"

  The other cop took a minute go through the forms. "Yeah. Have one on the list slated for destruction."

  "Cool, flag that for me. Want to get them to experience both. We’ll need to rupture those unless they are in bottles?"

  "Doesn't say," Guinness replied.

  "Figured. Here this is what MDMA, Ecstasy, or X can be sold as. Again, this is mostly teens, college people, and not used much in this area. Others might vary."

  "What is most used here?" McKenna was curious. Usually unless there was a driving incident or another reason to get her involved, drugs didn't pop up that often.

  "Pot, cocaine, heroin. A decent amount of Ketamine. But mostly it is the first three. If we could stop the major suppliers that would remove a ton of it off the streets."

  She looked at the bag, noting the gloves. "Is there a reason for the gloves? Besides evidence?"

  Laredo shrugged. "New stuff coming out, never can tell what something is coated with. Always assume it could go through your skin."

  Her brows shot up, and she made a mental note to start always wearing latex gloves when frisking people. While she carried them in the squad car in case of blood at a scene, it had never occurred to her to use them to prevent drug ingestion.

  After they had memorized the scents Laredo put it away in the box and then got out another one. "Ah yes, heroin. I can't remember how pure this is and the evidence sheet doesn't say, but either way in theory this should be enough for you to get an idea of how it smells."

  For McKenna, she knew what it was the instant he opened the bag. In the evidence locker there were so many overlapping smells she'd never be able to find a specific one as heroin; smells exuded from multiple places in the locker. Even the floors and walls had mixed scents from the drugs. JD however kept focused, learning them. They continued going through boxes and making sure they could ID them. Then he started blind sniff tests.

  "It worries me how much fun I'm having," Laredo commented as he grabbed another bag and opened it up for McKenna and JD to smell.

  "Cocaine," she said instantly, but JD frowned.

  "What's wrong?" asked Guinness who'd recorded and watched everything as they went, acting as both a foil and another witness that they weren't taking any of the evidence.

  JD's brown wrinkled. "There is something else there." His eyes opened, and he grabbed the coffee, which at this point was lukewarm at best and the scent had lost its clearing impact. He inhaled, wrinkled his nose then looked at Laredo. "Okay let me sniff that again. And doesn't that just sound all kinds of wrong."

  The other three gave soft laughs, but McKenna watched curious, as he inhaled the air above the small case. It looked like an old-fashioned cigarette case, with cut off straws stuffed in with the bag of white powder.

  "There is another substance there. Sweetish? I've recognized the baking soda other stuff was cut with, but this has something else." He said it as a statement but finally shrugged. "But I don't know what it is."

  Guinness hummed a bit as he walked over to the computer pulling up the case record. "Says here this was pulled off a drug dealer whose customers started dying, which was how they caught him." He paused and McKenna turned to look at him, resisting the urge to reach out and shake him. "Well, I think I know what you are catching. And this makes you damn scary, Davidson. My super-secret roast rub is not going to be safe from you. He was cutting it with rat poison."

  "Ha! Cyanide. That must be the slightly sweet aspect." JD grinned and McKenna took another sniff but shook her head.

  "I can get the heroin, and that there are other things mixed, but for me the heroin overpowers it."

  JD looked at her. "How did you find that crack pipe then?" Referring to her test with the judges.

  "It was a separate scent from the perfume. It didn't blend so I could seek it out." She shrugged. "And it didn't fit anything else, and I knew with that combination of smells, it had to be hiding something, so I sorted the scents."

  "Well, I'm impressed. Granted we still need to be careful with this stuff, but I'll take either of you on my team any day of the week. Guinness, anything else we haven't shown them?"

  "Got some GHB and prescription drugs," Guinness offered pulling up the box numbers.

  The prescription drugs were much more of a challenge. Every manufacturer used different fillers and many of them were opioid compounds but everyone had its own unique flavor or balance. After an hour McKenna threw up her hands.

  "The other stuff is obvious, clear to my nose, as it overpowers everything else as a distinct scent. This prescription stuff. I can smell it is there but not exactly other than vague 'drug' smells." She looked at JD. "You getting anymore?"

  He sighed rubbing his temples and she could see his fingers twitching with the need to play with something, but his fidget spinners were metal and had been dumped with his weapon.

  "A bit, I can tell you almost what manufacturer it is based on their scent array, but you're right, compared to the other drugs it doesn't jump out at you the same."

  Laredo shrugged. "Oh well. I hoped you were a magic bullet but looks like you're just a damn good tool." He grinned to prove the teasing. "Guess the rest of us will still need to do our jobs and not just rest on your laurels."

  "Oh, the horror." JD deadpanned and Guinness laughed.

  "Yes, awful isn't it. Make us have to work. Come up. Let's get this stuff all cleaned up. I'm starving."

  McKenna and JD nodded in agreement. They picked up everything and headed out, grabbing stuff from their locker.

  "Wanna meet at the pizza place down the street? I want to talk about where we would like to go tomorrow." Laredo asked as they grabbed their stuff from the locker section.

  "Sure. Give us fifteen. I need to hit the bathroom real quick. Wash my face and hands to get the smell off my skin." McKenna said. The two men agreed, taking off down the hall.

  JD had a spinner in his hand, and she watched him spin it even as they walked a bit more slowly to the locker rooms.

  "Do I want to know what you're thinking? It looks like I was correct about your ability to pull more smells out?" She kept her voice light and casual, but she pinged him as she walked.

  ~You okay?~

  "Yeah looks like my nose is pretty good. But I think we'll need to practice more before I'll become secure in that ability."

  ~Yeah, just wondering how this is possible, and what else has changed. If we are even human anymore.~

  McKenna stumbled to a halt.

  ~Oh crap, I never told you. You know when Jessi changed, and we freaked out? ~

  He nodded as they started walking again. Staring into each other's eyes in the middle of the hall would be a bit strange, even for them.

  ~Yeah, you told me. And we realized we needed to
do play date and spend more time as our animals.~

  ~Yeah, but not what Wefor said. The statement that we aren't human anymore.~

  This time he stumbled to a halt, and she paused.

  "So, what are we?" His voice seemed loud in the quiet hall and she closed her eyes, replying silently.

  ~Kaylid.~

  Chapter 24 - Coffee Drug Hubs

  Viral shifter star McKenna Largo has a new job, and her ever faithful partner is following her to it. Is there romance in the stars for JD and McKenna? Personally, I think she could do so much better than him, but there is something about muscles that appeal. But can a cat and a bear have a romance? Much less a stable love life? Can two incompatible animal species make it work as humans? I’ll keep my fingers crossed that she finds true love. ~ Local Gossip column

  By Wednesday, McKenna felt like her brain might explode, and thought she might start crawling the walls. While she'd never been claustrophobic, the time in that room with no sun or fresh air made it so she craved the outdoors. Most evenings she and Charley ate on the deck. He had as much need to be outside as she did. They both had scars from that time underground.

  "You two ready for some field work?" Guinness asked Thursday morning.

  "Yes!" she almost shouted, springing to her feet, sending the chair slamming backwards.

  "Don't get too excited Largo. Most of our stuff is pretty boring." He smirked at her, and she didn't care.

  "Don't care, it’s outside." Her voice shook a bit, and he frowned then the humor disappeared.

  "Yep. Got it. Come on. Laredo will meet us there and we'll show you something that's got us puzzled to no end."

  She and JD followed him out dressed in business casual though JD still worked the kilt angle with Waris every day. At the rate he pestered the man, McKenna suspected Waris would either give in or shoot him. The odds were pretty much fifty-fifty right now.

  As they drove, Guinness filled them in. "We've seen a big uptick on drugs being sold on one of the campuses and we can't really figure out why. It started about a month ago. Worse, we can't figure out who is doing the dealing. We're pretty damn sure it's going on at this coffee shop on campus, but nothing jumps out. Shutting this down is high on our list and maybe a chance to figure out who is supplying them."

  "You can't figure out who is dealing?" McKenna tilted her head.

  "Nope. The traffic seems to be constant but no one is looking suspicious or anything else. It's infuriating. Not to mention the laws are written in such a way that we really need to catch them in the act to be able to do anything. And I want the dealer." His voice hardened at this remark.

  ~Huh. Wonder who he lost to drug dealers.~

  Her thought sent to JD as she looked out at the scenery, a part of town they never patrolled in.

  ~Don't know. But then I haven't gotten into the social network here yet. People are more suspicious. I'll need more time to win them over.~

  ~Social animal.~

  ~Cat.~

  She choked back a laugh at that and refocused on the area they were driving into. Lots of trendy shops, sidewalks, bike lanes, and she could see a rambling campus a bit away, easy biking distance, decent walking distance, but not crazy.

  Guinness pulled into a parking lot and nodded at a shop across the street. A simple black and white sign displayed 'Bleak Brew' and seemed to have a steady stream of people in and out.

  "There are a few regulars but nothing that makes sense. Of the people we've busted for carrying, they all were at the coffee shop but we can't figure out anything else. The counter staff is too busy to be dealing and we've talked to the shop owner and nothing."

  He pointed to a park a block or so away. "Go in, scope it out; neither of you look like cops. Well, JD doesn't. He looks like a steroid abuser. How did you get a waiver to get in?"

  JD shot him a smile. "I'm just that awesome."

  Guinness rolled his eyes. "Out. I'll meet you in the park. Regular black coffee please. No fru-fru shit."

  "Ah, so you want a triple mocha, half caff, vanilla steamer?" McKenna said as she took the ten he handed her.

  "No. Black, large. Simple man." He grunted as heaved himself out of the car. "Damn this getting old shit sucks. See you in a bit. Go casual, stroll, pretend to be dating or something."

  McKenna and JD snorted at the same time.

  To appear casual, they strolled. Talking about inane things, stuff in the windows, though she did see some things she might like for the house. It still came off as barren.

  "Hey, want a coffee?"

  "Sure," his reply as easy as if that hadn't been the point completely. They walked in and she inhaled, not an uncommon reaction. That first inhale, coffee filled her senses, rich and mouth-watering. She kept letting the air in the store wash through her as she moved through the people, seeing what she could find. Mostly she got coffee, vanilla, cinnamon, chocolate, but as she waited in line, she pushed those scents down and a bit of pot from the person in front of her, too much perfume from someone else, and a desperate need of a shower from another. JD had headed over to the other side, giving her an excuse to cross the room. When she got to the counter she ordered drinks. She didn't really want anything, and three drinks might have been odd. McKenna ordered the plain coffee and JD's large mocha.

  Weaving through the tables, they crossed a strong odor trail of cocaine and pot, like a current through the air. Tilting her head, she tried to follow it back, but it disappeared in a cluster of three to four tables.

  "Here you go." She set the coffees down. "I want to go check out those items," she nodded at something on the other side of the shop that would take her past those tables. "I'll be back in a minute."

  JD just nodded picking up his drink, watching everyone while seeming bored.

  She moved slowly squeezing through chairs and trying to not look too focused. But not being able to close her eyes and really concentrate on it frustrated her.

  ~So many conflicting scents and I never realized they moved on air currents. I keep getting something then losing it. ~ She told him as she tried to track the scent.

  ~Interesting. We'll need to practice in more crowded environments.~

  Two college kids sat looking over a text book, arguing about something, another couple at one table had their hands entwined as they talked, their attention only on each other. These she dismissed. The only smells she got were coffee, sex, and normal smells. She kept moving trying to not close her eyes as she sorted scents. There were so many, and she really need to ignore ninety-nine percent of them.

  The drift of drugs, cocaine specifically, caught her attention and she turned her head, following the scent. Her eyes landed on a professor grading papers. Late twenties, maybe early thirties. He screamed college professor with his T-shirt covered with a blazer and khaki’s. A pile of what she assumed were reports on the table, neatly stapled and arranged. She shifted her direction to pass by him and the scent got stronger. More than what would be used personally, but it didn’t center on him, instead it was the messenger bag under the table that emitted the trail.

  Biting her lip, she finished her path, fingered some objects on the wall, then worked back to JD, passing by the man from the other side and the source didn’t change. She sat down trying to not frown or imply something was wrong.

  "Hey, see anything you like?" JD’s voice didn’t give away any of the under currents.

  "Yeah, I think so. But can we sit for a minute? I want to think a bit more and maybe get it later."

  He arched a brow but focused on his coffee even as he panned around the room. She watched the professor trying to not be obvious. He wrote on the papers, put names on them and then put them in the pile. It took a minute or two, and she almost gave up but an older teen sat down and started to talk to the professor. The kid handed the guy what looked like a report, in one of those flimsy folders you used to turn in reports without stapling. The Professor flipped through it, nodded, and dug through the stack of similar binders next to him,
and handed the kid one. A flash of smiles and the kid got up. The professor dropped the folder into his briefcase and went back to work.

  "Let’s take a walk. I want to think if I really want that or not." She picked up the coffee which had cooled a bit and she and JD walked out headed to the park at a slow pace.

  "So, you like the place?"

  "Yeah. I think it has potential. And the product seems good."

  "I caught some but didn’t want to wander too much. My bulk doesn’t slip through the tables as well."

  "We’ve been over this, you want to lose weight, lose weight."

  "Not happening. Besides," his voice dropped to a teasing level, " think how sad a two-hundred-pound bear would be."

  Laughter burst out of her and they kept up the light conversation until they met up with Laredo and Guinness sitting in the park. They had some sandwiches and McKenna handed the coffee to Guinness.

  "It’s cold," he groused, but he drank it anyhow.

  "Please tell me some of that is for us. After smelling all those scents, my stomach is sure I should be getting something to eat." JD teased but McKenna had to admit she wouldn’t mind food either.

  "Of course. We were warned by Holich that both of you have become human garbage disposals."

  "I resemble that remark," JD agreed as he reached for one of the sub sandwiches.

  "Find anything?" Laredo asked even as he kept his eyes open for other people coming close. "We can’t figure out who is doing it. Most of the people we’d normally peg don’t stay there long enough to deal."

  "Think I found your dealer and if I’m right about how he’s doing it, it’s ingenious."

  Laredo and Guinness exchanged looks.

  "You walked in, were there for ten minutes, and figured it out?" Laredo’s voice had a mix between admiration and a whine that made her arch a brow.

  "What? I can’t decide if I hate you or love you. Spill." Laredo said, no shame in his voice as he took a bite of the sandwich.

  "The professor."

  "What?" Guinness protested. "He’s there most afternoons grading papers. We’ve watched. Kids turn in reports and get homework back." He looked at her, eyes narrowed.