Break-In Ch. 01

"Or maybe switch over to Chemistry. And you won't hear me complaining about that!" said Your Iron Crowbar, holder of a Chemistry degree. Everyone laughed politely, then I said "But seriously, I get the point. Dr. Jerry Moore is a compromise choice, and he will be a compromise University President..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

10:00pm or so, Saturday, May 15th. Laura and I got back to The Cabin, followed by Todd and Teresa. Everyone was assembled in the greatroom on the backside of the house, but when Laura and I came in via the front door, Jim and Carole came up to us, and Jim was carrying a large arrangement of roses and carnations.

"This is for you, Mom." Jim said. "Me and Carole got it for you, to cheer you up."

"Awww, that is so sweet." Laura said. She took the vase, admired and smelled the flowers, then passed them to me and knelt down and gave both her children very warm hugs as she said "Thank you both."

"Come sit down in the greatroom, Mommy." Carole said, leading Laura by one hand, and Jim leading her by the other. They had her sit down on the side wall sofa, under the row of photos of all my kids.

"Here, Bowser!" Carole called out. The redoubtable Bowser appeared almost instantly; indeed, he'd been under the dining room table, upon which I set down the vase of flowers. "Up here, Bowser." Carole said. "Mommy needs cheering up." Bowser dutifully jumped up on the sofa, put his front paws on Laura's leg, and looked up at her with pure love in his canine eyes.

"Hey Bowser." Laura said as she petted Bowser on his furry white head and back of his neck. "You're a good dog." Bowser wagged his tail vigorously in agreement. Jim joined them on the sofa and gave Bowser skritchins, also.

Laura then said "I appreciate the flowers and the dog therapy, but I really don't feel that bad about it. In truth, nothing has changed for me."

A moment later Carole came up to me as I sat down in the rocking chair, and had me lean over to whisper in my ear. "Mommy's fibbing. She really does feel bad about it." I just nodded in agreement...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Todd and Teresa 'packed up' their boys and drove them next door to their home. And then I had business to take care of after Paulina shared some truth with me. I asked the dogs if they wanted to go out, and their instant appearance at the back door confirmed that they did. "Carole, come out here with me."

"Yes sir." Carole said, instinctively knowing this was a 'business' meeting. As the dogs scampered around the corner and down the hillside trail to do their business, I had Carole sit down in the metal mesh loveseat next to me.

"It was very nice of you and Jim to get your mom flowers." I said.

"It was Jim's idea." Carole said, giving her brother his credit where due. "He suggested it after I told him Mommy didn't get the Prezzz-uh-dent job and she was sad about it."

"I see." I said, seeing a lot. "And exactly how did those flowers get ordered? And paid for?"

Carole did not hesitate, and admitted: "I got on your online account at the flower shop you order Mommy flowers from, and I ordered them. They came around sun-set."

"And how do you happen to know the password to my account?" I asked.

"Uhh... I just did." Carole said. Mind you, I don't use the same password for any two websites, and I never write my passwords down. And I knew that for that flower shop website, I had to put in a second password, a four-digit pin, when paying.

Carole then said "Jim figured out the pin for the credit card. You know that gobble-dee-gook in the U-R-L on the webpage? Jim figured out the embedded code for the pin number."

Again mind you... we are talking about a seven-year-old girl and an almost-seven-year-old boy, here. Carole knew what the 'cookies' on a web page were, though she called them 'gobbledygook', and a future U.S. Army Military Intelligence Officer and future CIA Officer and seen the patterns in the codes. Yes, that was poor security on the website's part. But it also humbled me: I thought -I- was a decent codebreaker, and Jim just left me standing in the dust... Wowwwww....

"Okay, your hearts were in the right place." I said. "But you need to get my permission if and when you use my credit card to buy anything. And get that permission before you make the purchase. Am I clear on that?"

"Yes sir." Carole said.

"Okay, good." I said. "Did Mommy feel better after getting the flowers and petting Bowser?"

"Yes sir." Carole said. "But it will take a few days for her to really get over it. But Time heals all wounds!" Okay, my seven-year-old psychologist was taking after her mother for the moment.

"That's true." I said. And ever taking advantage of the 'teachable moment', I said "And it will help her a lot if you kids are on your best behaviors for the next few days, amirite?"

"Yes sirrrr." Carole said, perhaps a wee bit more grumpily...

Part 5 - Catching Up - Partnerships

8:30am, Monday, May 24th. Captain Claire Michaels and Lieutenants Mary Milton, Micah Rudistan, and Jerome Davis convened in the Captain's Conference Room near her office.

"How was your seminar last week, ma'am?" Mary asked Claire, who had spent the previous week at a symposium in Midtown called 'The New Police Mission - Engagement And Restraint'.

"Mind numbingly bad." said Claire. "But I was forewarned. Commander Troy sent me there, saying he wanted me to meet the Captains and above in Police Departments around the State, but that the material would offend my sensibilities."

Claire: "And meeting other LEOs was good. But what the instructors, who were sent by the U.S. Department of Justice, were (air quotes) 'teaching' us... came straight outta the halls of 'woke' Academia. I left the LAPD mostly because they were being forced by the political leaders to institute that verbal excrement."

"How bad was it?" Rudistan and Mary Milton asked in unison.

Claire stifled a chuckle, then said "I'll just say this and then say no more. Chief Lloyd Rogers of the Pottsville Police Force actually asked the instructors in front of everyone if any of them had been Police Officers or law enforcement at any level of Government. Not one of them had been. Not one. And they were pretty pissed when Chief Rogers asked that and exposed them."

Claire then said "Okay, enough of that. What have you got for me today?" Claire said.

Mary Milton started: "The student protests have pretty much stopped. Dr. Jerry Moore has accepted the University Presidency post, and while Drs. Carmela, Camp, and Rivera are pissed about it, they can't seem to generate much unrest. I guess George Schwartz cut off their checks. Also, it's Finals Week, and Graduation is Saturday, the 29th."

Mary: "And I'll report for both MCD and Vice that the 'Toyota Gang' has expanded to the entire northwest sector of the State. They hit convenience stores in Lexington, in Hamilton County a week ago Friday, then Hillside in Nextdoor County the next night. This past Friday they hit three convenience stores around Junction Station in our County, then on Saturday they were in Buford, in Coltrane County. Different car plates each night."

Claire said "And then they disappear for a week or two, or go somewhere else in the State or one of the States bordering us. But no real pattern on it?"

Mary said "Our financial guru, Christopher Purvis, thinks he may be seeing a pattern in all of this. I'm going to talk to him some more today, and with Jerome, Micah, and whoever they want in the room. He thinks that there are two purposes for the robberies: to raise cash, albeit relatively small amounts; and to distract Law Enforcement in the area."

"So the financial guy is the one seeing the pattern?" Claire said witheringly.

"He's following the money, ma'am." Mary said fearlessly, though deeply aware of the barely concealed criticism in Captain Michael's voice. "He's looking at some DEA data that suggests drug deals are going down on Fridays in the areas this gang hits on Saturdays. Those Saturday hits distract from the Friday drug deals, if they're known about. The Friday robberies are bigger and score more money, and may be fueling future drug operations."

Claire said "What are we doing about all that? BOLOs ('be on the lookout') for the Toyotas? Touching base with C.I.s? Someone has to know something."

Micah said "Nothing from the C.I.s. In fact, what we're getting is chatter that people smell Federal pork, meaning they think the DEA is in the area running something."

Jerome Davis said "They keep changing the license plates on the cars, so we don't have that to look for. And we can't pull over every gray Camry and silver Corolla in the northwest part of the State."

"Why not?" Claire asked.

"Ma'am?" Mary Milton asked, her voice connoting shock.

"Why can't we pull over vehicles that match the descriptions of these two vehicles?" Claire asked. "Especially in the general timeframes these crimes are taking place, and near or at convenience stores?"

"Without probable cause to pull them over?" Jerome asked, his voice as surprised as Mary's.

"The descriptions are probable cause." said Claire. "Patrol sees three or four men in black clothing in gray or silver Toyotas, notices them edging over the centerline, or a brake light isn't working right, runs the tags, pulls them over and checks IDs." She was met with silence in the room.

Mary said "Ma'am, in addition to the issues with the Public we'd get if we start pulling over cars without real probable cause, we'd have to do a pretty complex, widespread operation, even if we just target certain areas. We'd need unmarked vehicles to follow the suspect vehicle and get and run the tags, then have them call in a Police cruiser to make the actual stop if the tags come up wonky."

"There you go." Claire said. "Put that into effect, at least in this County."

Jerome Davis said "That'll require Uniformed Officers being in on it---"

"Like Hardy and Drew?" Claire asked witheringly. "Weren't they assigned to Vice for just this sort of thing?"

"Yes ma'am." said Mary. "But we'll still need more Uniformed help, and that means you need to liaison with Commander Croyle for that help."

"Or I can just go to a Precinct Captain and ask for their help." Claire said. The silence that answered that was 'deafening'.

"All right, keep gathering intel on these punks, and let me know if we get more on them." Claire said. "Okay... let's stop ignoring the 800-pound elephant in the room. I asked you for 'white papers' on what you were going to do to change up the partnerships by not last Friday but the Friday before. I still have nothing in my inbox. Why not?"

Jerome said "Uh, because we needed to talk to you about that, ma'am, and you were away all last week."

Claire said angrily and forcefully: "And that prevented you from following my orders, and sending your white papers to me by the deadline I set for them?"

Mary spoke up fearlessly: "Yes ma'am, it did. Some serious issues have come up."

"Again, what could be so frickin' big that you people can't do what I ordered you to do?" Claire snarled.

Rudistan said "For openers, ma'am, Grubby Paul and 'Ice Cube' Perry said they would grieve it to the Union if they were separated as partners. Grubby Paul was Perry's only lifeline while Perry was undercover all those years, and Perry trusts Paul, he knows Paul has his back."

"Then he better get his ass over it." Michaels said, now really visibly angry. "If he doesn't trust the others, maybe he needs to turn in his badge and find work elsewhere."

Mary said fearlessly: "And we lose one of the most valuable assets we could possibly have in Vice. And we'd lose more than just Ice Cube. Statler and Waldorf said they'd request to be transferred back to the Precincts as Uniformed Officers and partners rather than be split up."

And then Mary drove on: "Also, ma'am, I really do recommend you talk to Dr. Fredricson about 'Ice Cube' Perry before going off on him or punishing him for his years of undercover service. Dr. Fredricson is the one evaluating Ice Cube and Ranger Halston... and she is far, far more influential with Commander Troy than all of us put together." And that was putting it mildly.

Claire glared at Mary, and Mary glared right back. Finally Claire said "So what's the problem in MCD, Davis? What caused you to be blatantly insubordinate?"

Jerome Davis said "When I talked to my guys, they got upset about it. Especially the Senior Detectives, Warner and Washington. They've been partners for years; they trust each other---"

"Here we go again." said Michaels, crudely interrupting. "And don't tell me Warner and Washington are under psychiatric care."

Davis tried a new tack: "Ma'am, I can give you the white paper for MCD right now. First, TCPD regulations require everyone not named 'Chief of Police' or 'Internal Affairs' to have a formal partner. Commander Troy and Commander Muscone are technically partners. You and Commander Croyle are technically partners."

Davis: "Having said that, I've studied the arrangements of many Police Departments, big and small. We're in the middle, if not the smaller end. As you know, ma'am, the LAPD's Major Crimes unit has... or had... a Captain, three Lieutenants, and several experienced Sergeant-level Detectives, and they all investigate cases, with somewhat specific roles within. Chicago PD's various non-uniformed units match people up according to the mission and who's best for it."

Davis: "Our grandfathered-in Senior Detectives outrank Sergeants, and as such are similar to Lieutenants. Rodriguez is a Detective Sergeant, and Roark and Newman, who were partners before they came into MCD, work together well to do what they need to do to support the overall mission."

Davis: "My proposal is we send them all to a case, and they can retain their current partnerships. We adhere to the regulations, technically, and they all learn from each other's experience. And like Chicago, I can mix-and-match my Detectives based on the mission at hand."

"And when we have multiple cases?" Claire said. "And by the way... yes, I was in the LAPD, but that doesn't mean what they do is what we should be doing. The NYPD does things differently, as well, and partners are partners." Then she suddenly changed tack and said "What proposal have you not sent me, Rudistan?"

Rudistan said "Ma'am, in addition to the Grubby Paul and Ice Cube Perry situation, I need to point out that Hardy and Drew are technically still Uniformed Officers, just assigned to us in Vice for extra manpower, missions that need a Uniformed presence, and to learn to eventually become Vice Detectives. And like Lt. Milton said earlier, if we break up Statler and Waldorf, they're going back to the Precincts."

Claire said "Unless the transfer is denied."

"They'll grieve it if it's denied." said Mary. "And if that fails, they'll just quit the Force. The bottom line, ma'am, is that you can't force people to do something they really do not want to do."

Claire stood up. The others were about to stand, but she said "Remain seated." Then she lit into them: "Your proposals are not what I wanted to hear. You're saying you don't want to make any changes. However, I thought I was clear that I wanted written, or the email equivalent, papers on what you were going to do to change the partnerships, not your whining excuses of why not to make those changes. You have until shift change this afternoon to send me what I asked for, and what I want to see."

With that, she exited the Conference Room. Rudistan and Davis looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Mary got up and silently left the room.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

*BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!*

Teresa was sitting in my office when her Police iPhone rang. She answered it, listened, then said "Hold on." She looked up at me and said "Mary Milton is asking me to come to her office... so that she doesn't have to come to mine and be seen by Captain Michaels."

"That's a strangeness." I said. "Yeah, go see what she needs."

Teresa left, and was back in fifteen minutes. "Houston, we have a problem." she said. She relayed to me what Mary had told her about Claire Michaels's meeting with her Detectives.

"Let's nip this one in the bud." I said. "Go get her and bring her back here. And make sure she understands... her place..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Forewarned by Commander Croyle, Captain Claire Michaels stood before my desk at attention, her eyes looking forward and not down at me. Her face and neck were flushed red, though. Teresa was standing behind Claire's left flank.

"Both of you, sit down." I said after a moment, looking up from the paperwork I was pretending to do. Teresa sat down in the far-side hot chair, and Claire in the near-side hot chair. Once they were seated, I said, "Captain, explain to me why you are causing unrest in my Detective Corps."

"Pertaining to what, sir?" Claire asked back.

"You want to change the partnerships in MCD and Vice?" I asked. "And without saying a word to me?"

"Sir," Claire said, "I was going to fully brief you on my plan after my Lieutenants submitted the papers I instructed them to send that they did not send, and then formulate my own final plan. Sir, may I speak freely?"

"No." I said. "This is official. Speak within protocol."

Claire said "Did Lieutenant Davis go over my head and speak to you about this?"

"No." Teresa answered for me. "I told Commander Troy what's going on."

I said "And Davis has not said one word to me, so you better not accuse him or retaliate against him in any way. And that goes for Rudistan and Milton, too. And don't forget, Captain... Lt. Mary Milton gives information to both you and Commander Croyle, but technically she still answers directly to me. Okay, tell me what you want to do with the partnerships..."

Part 6 - Catching Up - Unstoppable

"I'll put my armor on,
Show you how strong I am
I'll put my armor on,
I'll show you that I am...

I'm unstoppable
I'm a Porsche with no brakes
I'm invincible
Yeah, I win every single game
I'm so powerful
I don't need batteries to play
I'm so confident
I'm unstoppable today..."

--- Sia, 'Unstoppable'

10:00am, Saturday June 5th. The techno beat music of Darude's Sandstorm blasted through the air of the Police Headquarters gymnasium as well over one hundred Police Officers, Sheriff Deputies, and a few EMTs and Firefighters waved red, white, or blue plastic ribbons. This... was the Championship of the Police Boxing Matches (Freestyle Division).

The Leadership had conspired to wear similar clothing. We were all wearing khaki pants, but our golf/polo shirts with embroidered Police badge emblems over the heart were different colors. My shirt was red, and I was the only Police Officer allowed to wear a red shirt. Fire Department persons could wear red, but their pants were either black or white.

Cindy was wearing an Irish-green shirt, and the Green Crowbar was the only person in all the Public Safety Department that could wear a green shirt, except on St. Patrick's Day. The Chief and Teresa were wearing Police-dark-blue shirts, and Tanya and Claire Michaels were styling light blue shirts. Our Sheriff and Senior Deputy Louis Bailey were wearing dark brown shirts with embroidered TCSD badges.

A roar erupted as the first finalist emerged from the locker room: defending Champion Joan Laurer, 'the Amazon Warrior'. She strode to the ring and climbed in to await her challenger. Her body armor was more like armor a motorcycle rider would wear. The contestants this year were forbidden crowbars, and had to use standard issue Police batons, if anything at all. Because of this rule change by the Chief, we'd only had 63 entries this year, and some of those were EMTs.