Internal Affairs Ch. 04

They pulled into the drive which served both his rental house and his tiny house. Deeper into the two acre lot the storage building was located.

That building had been renovated into a Tiny studio apartment.

The House was in the condition previously described by Deputy Sykes. The roof had collapsed and the walls had crumbled. Since the house was occupied the ashes were typical. Things like the stove and refrigerator were lying there visible among the ruins of the kitchen cabinets. Dishes we covered in smoke residue but for the most part intact.

"Before you Bulldoze the remains you should set a date for the renters to come to sift through the ruins," Hillary suggested.

"You are right of course," Roger said. "The place is in ruins. It looks a lot like the pictures on TV of the houses in Gaza."

"Yeah a little," she agreed.

"I'm not going bulldoze it alright. I expect that the county turned off the water. I will have to get a plumber in again to isolate the house lines then turn the water back on."

I need to check the power to my apartment. You want to see where I live?" Roger asked.

"Sure," Hillary said.

"The place is going to be a mess," Roger said. "But just pull on down to the end of the drive.

A stand of pine trees surrounded the small barn type workshop. When Roger decided to move into it, he had it rehabilitated.

The shell repairs and up grades had cost him almost 12k but it had been worth the money. The roof structure was good for a big wind and the roofing material was a fifty year metal roof. It might need painting and resealing sometime, but it should be good for many years of service. The two window opening, one each side, had been tripled in size. Then thermal pane windows had been installed. The two garage doors had been removed first then a sliding door filled the front space the rear opening simply been enclosed.

The floor had been brick pavers for years, so nothing much had to be done to it. The tiny bathroom was all shower stall with a small toilet along the rear wall. There was two drains fitted into the floor. One drain was for the waste from the toilet and ran directly into the septic tank. All the other water was gray water and ran from the kitchen sink and shower directly into the sprinkler system which drained into the yard.

Roger explained it all to Hillary. "I see you have a full size kitchen even if it is compact."

Not really the refrigerator is an apartment size. It is about three times the size of a dorm refrigerator but still a third less space than a typical refrigerator. The sink is full sized, It is deep but not a double space hog sink. The counter beside it doubles as a two burner cook top and a small freezer underneath." Roger explained.

Roger flipped the switch and discovered he had power. He wasn't surprised since his line was independent of the house's power lines.

"And the unmade bed?" Hillary asked taking him back to the tour.

"A sofa bed, with two tables built in for storage." Roger explained. "I didn't have time to turn it into a sofa before I left for work."

"I guess if you don't have a lot of things, as you claim not to have, it would work," Hillary admitted.

"Yes now I have to spend more money on security," Roger said.

"I think that would be a wise investment," Hillary agreed. "Couple of CCTV cameras would go a long way to giving you peace of mind. Motion detectors inside a fence maybe."

"Something like that for sure. Anyway we need to get back to the office. It's past quitting time," Roger said.

"Yes it is," Hillary agreed.

They were on the drive back to the officer when Hillary said, "You know Roger, we get along well, I don't usually play nice with others," Hillary said.

"Yeah, that was the rumor around when we were both on patrol. Word was you were a bitch and stickler for the rules," Roger informed her. "No wonder you wound up in Internal Affairs."

"I suppose it was inevitable," Hillary agreed. "I do respect boundaries. I'm not sure you are the perfect partner for me. We for sure are not soul mates," she said stating the obvious.

"You mean all those rumors about sex in the office aren't true," Roger said.

"Not with you anyway," she said. "To change the subject, I saw a loft but no ladder and it appears empty."

"The ladder is stored the outside wall. The loft is supposed to be just a bed on the floor for guest. I probably will turn it into a secure storage area. I can put a bed up there if you ever need a place to crash."

"If I ever need a place to stay, I would expect you to be a gentleman and sleep in the loft and allow me to sleep in on the sofa bed," she replied.

"Fat chance," he said smiling at her.

Roger was on the scooter and headed home when he caught sight of the car in his mirrors. The car stayed on his tail most of the way home.

When he pulled into the drive the car pulled in behind him. Roger pulled the scooter off to the side, stopped, then walked back to the car.

"Something I can do for you?" he asked the very professional looking middle aged woman in the power suit.

"Can we talk, it is important?" she asked.

"Important to who," he asked.

"Whom," she said.

"Damn, some burns my house, then they send a grammar Nazi to protect me. Isn't Hillary bad enough?" he asked.

"You are lucky I'm not the assassin, or you would be dead." she said.

"Death comes to us all. It's not how long we live ,it's how well we live." Roger said.

I heard you see yourself as some kind of philosopher," the bleached blond suggested.

"Not really, I just think out loud a lot. Makes me sound like I am trying to understand the universe," Roger said.

"Then what are you doing," the blond asked.

"Just trying to stay clean," Roger said. "So who are you DOJ, US Marshal, or CIA?"

"None of the above, Acme security," she said. "I was told you might be looking for a system. I have been contracted to set up such a system."

"I am not buying it," Roger said. "I had a house fire in this morning, and you are here at 7PM. That's just way to much bullshit for anyone to swallow."

"I don't know who arranged for me to set up the system. I Just worked for Acme and I do plan to arrange a security system for you."

"And who pays for the service," Roger asked.

"The client of course and since you are not the client. Why should you worry about it." She asked.

"Because the client will have the keys to the back door," Roger said.

"Good point, can we at least go to your house to discuss it. I don't like discussing this kind of thing in the drive with the sun going down," she said.

"Sure why not," Roger said.

She drove down the drive leaving him to mount his scooter. When he arrived she was already out of the car and looking at the storage building.

"You should have left the overhead doors. It wouldn't have been so obvious that it was being used as a house." she said.

"No sense crying over spilled milk," Roger suggested.

"You should consider bullet proof glass in those doors and windows. You are highly susceptible to sniper attack," she said.

"So I need to worry about snipers, and fire bombers, great," Roger said. And the glass is coated to be reflective. Impossible to see through during the daylight hours.

"You knew you are still vulnerable at night," she said.

"Of course I do but so is the sniper. Anyway they are going to get me if they want to get me. I might want to take one or two with me though," he said.

"If that is what you want then that is what I will design for you," she said.

They had moved to the kitchen table for the conversation about security. He even had the instant brew coffee cooking. The coffee maker was a plastic mesh coffee holder which normally held enough coffee grounds for one cup. That evening it held enough for two cups. The coffee process was labor intensive, but he enjoyed looking out the window in a trance while it heated in the microwave. After three minutes in the small microwave it was coffee.

"Sorry I don't have any cream, I have some of that artificial sweetener though," Roger said.

"You don't seem like the kind of guy to use no cal sweetener," the blond said.

"I don't hun. I use it because the ants won't touch that shit," Roger said with a laugh. "If you are going to drink my coffee, you need to tell me your name."

"Sorry my name is Rose, just Rose," She said.

"Okay Rose Just, you have been sketching, so what have you got?" he asked.

"Most of the time we do a threat assessment based on who the likely attackers will be. Your threat is from Cops and Gangs, so it has to be for the more sophisticated of the two, the cops. The up side is the cops will likely be working in no more than groups of two. They know the more people who know, the greater the risk someone talking. A gang might come in a car full probably four or five," she said.

Roger listened and said, "Sounds like a good guess," he said.

"I don't think it will be pros, since your damage has already been done. It might be vengeance, but your information is worthless." Rose said.

"You seem to know a lot about me for a contractor," Roger said.

"It's my job. I read your file after the fire bombing. So shall we discuss your security plan.

"No thanks, I don't want to live in a fortress," Roger said.

"It's either that or get lost," Rose said.

"Those aren't the only options. If you want to put a CCTV with a view of the drive and the house that would be good. I would need an Internet feed, so I can see what is going on here when I'm away A couple of bring outdoor spot light with motion sensors would be good as well. I beeper would be good as well." Roger said.

"Go with one more thing I can recommend it. A pressure pad in the drive to alert you of a car if you aren't monitoring the computer," Rose suggested.

"Okay do it then," Roger said.

"It will all be up and running tomorrow when you get home for lunch," she said.

"I'll believe that when I see it," Roger said.

"So what are you doing for dinner," Rose asked.

"I'm going to open the freezer and head a frozen dinner. Why do you have a better offer?" Roger asked.

"To be honest I don't know how much better the offer is, but I will take you to dinner. Hell you can even spend the night with me," She said.

"Why would you do that?" Roger asked.

"I need to keep you alive at least until I get paid. There is also that lost puppy look in your eyes. My roommate will find that attractive, I'm sure," Rose answered. "Okay but pizza first."

Roger's response was, "Man does not live by bread alone, but pizza that's another story entirely.