Disclaimer: Characters not OC are owed by Wolf, Dick and company. Not mine nor is the profit. I don't get anything for this.
Chapter 3
Is the City Ready for Them?
As a matter of course, they all took one vehicle. There was quite a disagreement over who would drive. Jerry offered to drive, quickly discounted. Bobby didn't want to drive and Karen just shrugged. Alex settled the entire matter by getting behind the wheel herself. "I'm pregnant, not helpless." She informed the world in general.
Bobby took the riders seat and Jerry looked at Karen. "Which side do you want?"
"Neither, but if I have my choice, I'll sit behind Alex. At least I will be able to see out the front that way."
"Do you want to sit in front, Karen? I can sit in the back with Jerry." Goren turned to the young woman. "I didn't think of that. You wouldn't be able to see from behind me."
Alex looked at her partner with pride. "That's nice of you." She smiled at him.
"No, that's alright. I'll just sit behind her. They make the seats tall enough now that I can see. Thank you for the offer." Karen smiled at the man.
"I'll change places with you." Jerry offered to Goren.
"Never mind, Junior. Let them be. Unless you're afraid of me."
"Don't call me that. And I'm definitely not afraid of you. I'm just trying to make a team effort here."
"Uh, huh. Okay. Detective Goren, can I call you Bobby?"
Bobby looked surprised. "You don't have to ask. That's my name. What do you want to be called?"
"Country." Jerry piped in.
"Not if you want me to answer, Junior." Karen piped in. "You can call me Karen. If anyone calls me Country they'd plan on getting dentures cause I won't be responsible for my response. And you?"
Alex looked into the mirror. "You can call me Alex. And I won't be calling you Country." She laughed. "Jerry, did you by any chance serve in the military?"
"Yes, ma'am. I was a marine." Jerry said proudly. "How did you guess?"
"It shows. How long have you been out?"
"About 15 months, ma'am."
"Well, let me tell you, you won't get too far with people if you keep talking to them like you do now. You aren't in the service any more. Remember that."
"Yes, ma'am." Jerry accepted the order quietly.
Bobby watched his partner put the young man on his best behavior and admired her. She didn't bully or cajole but she did put it right on the line. He found himself beaming with pride at his diminutive partner. She glanced at him and did a double take.
"What?"
He grinned at her. "Nothing. Just looking."
"Not while I'm driving." She made a face at him.
The traffic was light for a weekday and they made it to the arena in nearly record time. There were a few people at the ticket window but for the most part they were empty. The stadium parking lot had about 50 cars, mostly in the closest spaces. Alex parked the SUV and they all piled out. "I think we should split up." Bobby said. "I'll go with Karen to interview the janitorial staff. Alex, you and Jerry talk to the clerical staff. We'll find you when we're done."
"They should be pretty busy after the concert last night. It was a popular group." Bobby said. "If you need me, just give me a call."
"I'd rather you be with the janitors than the ladies in the office." Alex patted his arm. "Come on, Jerry. Let's see whose cage we can rattle."
"Right behind you."
Bobby started out and Karen moved up beside him. "That's the same side that Alex walks on." He mentioned casually.
"There might be a lot of comparisons between us given our similar sizes and general coloring. That's flattering to me. But not exactly fair to her. I'm not anywhere near as pretty as she is nor as sophisticated. Someday maybe, but not yet." Karen shrugged, dismissively.
"You don't take compliments well." Bobby observed.
"I don't like to take things I haven't earned. Can I ask you a question?"
"Go ahead."
"How did you keep your partnership once you got married? I thought that was against the rules."
"I refused to stay if they assigned me another partner for more than the few months while Alex is out on maternity leave. They had to make a decision. They did and we are still here. But I wouldn't recommend that for everyone else. Can I ask you a question now?"
"Sure."
"You dress like you came from the old west, yet you're here in the big city. Why? You can't possibly be happy here."
"No, I'm not exactly, but I have personal reasons to be here and when I'm done I can always go back home."
"Home to where?"
"Ah, ah, ah, one question, Bobby." Karen shook her finger at him.
"You're guarding your past. Are you afraid of what someone will find out?"
"If only that was the case. There's a janitor over there. Do you want to talk to him first or shall I?"
"Be my guest. I'll jump in if I want to know something."
The janitor was an older man in a blue denim coverall sweeping the debris between seats of the stadium. He looked like he had done this competently for years. There was very little wasted motion in his actions, but he had a lot of ground to cover. He glanced up at the detectives. "If you lost something, it'll be turned in at the lost and found by the end of the day."
"That's very helpful, but that's not why we're here. We're Detectives Goren and Wesson. Can we ask you a few questions?" Karen said.
"I guess, but I don't know what I could know that anyone would want."
"You know this stadium, don't you? And the people you work with? That in itself is a lot. It looks like you had a pretty good turn out last night."
"A lot of pigs. Just look at all of this mess."
"It's job security." Karen laughed. "But you're right. How full were the trash cans?"
The janitor snorted. "If that was all I had to do today, I'd be at home with a beer by now."
Karen smiled. "Does everyone feel like that about these events?"
"Naw, just us who have to do the hard work. Them in the office think they're better than us. It's like they think all this will soil their hands."
"Is there anyone who seems to make more money all of a sudden than the rest? Maybe they have a little better clothes or are driving a new car or taking more time off than they really should?"
"Only that new guy, Davis or some such thing. He's new, but he always has money. Why he's working here if he has so much money is a mystery to me. I'd be out of here in a heartbeat if I had that much money, I can tell you."
"So is there anyone else?" Bobby asked.
"Not that I know of." The man shrugged. "You could ask Rocco, though. He's over in Section AA. He's always got his nose into everyone's business. He'd know if anyone would."
"Thank you, we'll check with him. You've been a big help." Karen started to turn away.
"Can I get your name for the paperwork?" Bobby asked quietly.
"Sam. Sam Mixture."
"And you've been working here how long?"
"I've been here for 14 years. And proud of it. I'll tell you something, people were pigs then and they still are." He went back to sweeping the rows.
As they moved away, Karen shook her head. "I completely forgot to ask his name."
"It's okay. You're nervous. Just relax. It'll go easier. That's why we're working together. What was your take on our friend Sam? Do you think he could be in on the plans?"
"I doubt it. He seems too dissatisfied I doubt he is making money on the side. It will be interesting to see what this Rocco has to say. If he knows as much as Sam seems to think he does, it should be very educational."
It was immediately obvious that Rocco was of the same general bend as Jerry on first impression. He gave only the very briefest answers to Karen, but was more forthcoming with Bobby. He did indeed know everyone at the stadium, or thought he did. He held forth on most of them with great venom. He named names, gave evidence that seemed based on rumor and seemed to think he knew everything. It was hard to keep from scoffing at the man to his face.
Still, Bobby wrote it all down in his book and they left the man still raving. "I don't think he gave us anything we can really use." He told Karen.
"I think he lives in his own little world. Karen agreed. "Let's see what else we can find out from that woman over there."
All the third member of the clean up staff had on her mind was to work on Bobby. She flirted outrageously and made some very pointed remarks to him. Bobby was very uncomfortable. Karen stepped in and finished the interview and they moved on.
"I don't think we're going to find out anything else this way." Bobby said.
"Except what an adorable man you are?" Karen teased.
"As long as you don't tell Alex that. She wouldn't take it well."
"All she needs to know is that you are all hers, you big lug. And I think she already knows that."
"I hope so. I show her every chance I get. Let's go see if they found anything we can use."
Alex and Jerry were coming out of the office when Bobby and Karen were walking back out of the stadium itself. Alex looked seriously ticked and Jerry was watching her for signs that she might take a swing at him. "Did you find out anything useful?" Alex asked tightly.
"Not much. It was pretty much a dead end." Karen said.
"Not necessarily." Bobby disagreed. "We found out a few things, but they don't fit into any pattern yet. We'll have to see. Are you alright?" he asked Alex in a tender tone of voice.
"I'm fine.' Alex said in a taut tone and glared again at Jerry. "Let's go get some lunch."
Bobby lifted his gaze from his partners angry visage to glare fiercely at Jerry. There would be hell to pay for upsetting his partner and Karen didn't envy Jerry in the least when the time came to pay the piper.
TBC
