The Mentor, Chapter 1
Note: Fans of Elizabeth George's books might like the fact that Tommy gets to drive his beloved Bentley in this story, the car he always drove in her books.
The Newbie
Barbara swatted the snooze button on top of her alarm clock. Six a.m. seemed to come earlier every day, she rolled over and closed her eyes…I have 10 more minutes until the next alarm…then she suddenly sat straight up in her bed. "Oh shit. I forgot today is the new girl's first day." Barbara sprang out of bed, groaned and stumbled into the bathroom…Why, oh why me?
The previous week AC Hillier had called her and Tommy to his office. When they arrived he asked them to sit down. He explained that their department was getting a new rookie detective. She had graduated first in her class at the academy, but had virtually no experience with a detective squad. She had already completed her basic constable duties and was ready to be incorporated into a working detective team.
Hillier told them she would be shadowing them exclusively, in particular Barbara. "What better way to learn then from the best team in the Met, especially my best female detective sergeant." Barbara longed to tell Hillier he might want to tone down his chauvinism a bit. She opened her mouth to speak, but slowly closed it.
Tommy could see the look on Barbara's face and jumped in before she blurted out something she would regret. "Isn't that great Barbara, another female on the team. Who better to show her the ropes than you, the best of the best."
Barbara shot Tommy a look that would have melted steel. Oh this is just great….just what I need, some smug-faced little rookie with delusions of grandeur. Truth be told, Barbara didn't relish sharing Tommy with anyone. They were a team…a team of two….not a team of three.
After they were dismissed from Hillier's office and back in the hallway, she pounced. "Did you know about this? Did you agree with Hillier that I would be the perfect buddy for some snot-nosed little rookie?"
Tommy ran his hand through his hair…."Well, I did know about it, but only since yesterday. It seems she is the daughter of one of Hillier's oldest friends. He asked me personally how I thought you would take the news. I told him you would be an excellent mentor to a new recruit, and she should feel grateful for the opportunity to learn from the best." Tommy graced Barbara with one of his most charming lop-sided grins. She softened slightly and sighed. "OK, but don't expect me to like her….because I won't!"
Tommy gave Barbara a quick side hug…"that's my girl". Barbara shrugged off his arm and stomped away in a huff…."I'm not your girl Sir." Behind her Tommy beamed and started down the hall after her.
Barbara threw her keys and purse onto her desk with a loud thump. Winnie looked up from his computer where he was reviewing some CCTV footage for one of their cases.
"Morning Barbie….and what a good morning it's going to be." He gave Barbara a wink.
"What's good about it?" You know how much I'm dreading this, reel in your sarcasm Winnie."
Barbara plopped down on her chair, and logged onto her computer. She had just started to organize her notes from their latest case, when she heard a loud throat clearing. Turning around she saw Tommy and an extremely tall, attractive young woman. Under her breath Barbara mumbled…."Oh great, not only is she an Amazon, she's pretty too." This was going to be interesting. At least she might be able to make book on which one of the testosterone charged detectives would queue up first to ask her out.
"Good morning everyone. As you all know, our team is lucky to be getting a new detective. This is Zahra Lawson. She will be working with Barbara and me. More exclusively, she'll be shadowing Barbara. I would expect everyone will welcome her to the fold and assist her in any way we can. OK, thank you everyone, you have your assignments for the day, off you go. Barbara would you and Zhara join me in my office.
Barbara rolled her eyes and followed Zahra into Tommy's office. "Please close the door Barbara. Thank you, both of you please have a seat."
Barbara ventured a sideways glance at Zahra. She looked nervous…or scared…she couldn't tell.
"Now Zahra, I don't want you to feel intimidated by any of us here. I'm sure you've heard a thing or two about our team and how we work. If you have any questions at all, about anything, please don't hesitate to ask. Barbara and I have been partners for 10 years, so right up front I'll apologize. Sometimes we can go into deliberation mode and close off everyone around us. That's just our personal style, you'll soon get used to that. Well, let's get to work, we have some suspects to track down and interview, I'll meet you two out front."
Zahra tried her best to carry on a conversation with Barbara in the lift. After the third or fourth remark, Barbara turned to Zahra…"I'm not very social in the morning until my third or fourth cup of coffee. So far I've only had two. You might want to make a note of that."
Zahra mumbled a quick "sorry" and cast her eyes to the floor.
Barbara and Zahra exited the lift on the ground floor and walked to the front sidewalk. Barbara looked up and down the street for Tommy's Bristol, but there was no sign of it. A very large silver Bentley pulled up to the curb. Barbara bent down and peered into the driver's side. She was taken a little aback when she saw it was Tommy.
"Jump in ladies, since there are three of us for a while, I had my mechanic get the Bentley out of storage. I thought the Bristol might be a little cramped for all of us."
Barbara rolled her eyes and hopped into the passenger seat. Zahra opened her door and slid into the back seat. The Bentley rolled smoothly into the morning traffic.
