The Way Back
Chapter 3
"We ought to throw a party," Ben declares. "You, Lucy and Jackson should celebrate passing your exam."
"It didn't work out too well last time we had a party," John reminds him. "Almost no one showed up - and there was that stalker who attempted suicide in my bed."
"Point taken," Ben concedes, "maybe just dinner. We could have it catered."
"For five people? I used to barbecue for four times that many in my backyard back home."
"This is your home now, Buddy," Ben reminds him. "And the L.A. Fire Department is usually not happy about the chance of flying sparks, especially when the winds are blowing like this. This is the first year I can remember in a long time when we haven't officially been in a drought, but it's still pretty dry, even here."
"Now you have a point," John admits. "We could do a potluck. Jackson said he and Gino have been cooking together. He can bring him if he's not on shift. And Lucy does a spicy vegetable thing. She made it once for me when we were - together. I put together a pretty good pot roast, and we can hit up Betsy Bakes for cupcakes. Lucy and Jackson seem to think they're the dessert thing now."
As Lucy describes the expression on Grey's face on seeing the puppy she and Santiago rescued, John hears a knock on the sliding glass door leading into the guest house. When he checks on it, he finds himself gazing at Jessica Russo. What do you want, Jess?"
"I want to talk, John. The DHS investigation is over. They've cleared me."
His eyes widen in disbelief. "They found evidence that Jimmy reached for his weapon? I know I didn't see…What was on my body cam?"
"There was no gun, John. You were right. But the brass wasn't about to create a PR nightmare by coming down on an agent that took down a terrorist. As far as they're concerned, I'm a hero - publicly at least. Internally, they've benched me. If I stay, I'm behind a desk for the foreseeable future."
Nolan blows out a breath. "So, are you staying?"
"I don't know, John. Is there a reason for me to stay?"
Nolan steps back, shaking his head. "Not from me, Jess. I know what I saw, and obviously, the DHS does too. But there's more to it than that. Henry is the most important person in my life. You endangered him. I can't forgive that. I don't think I ever could."
Jessica closes her eyes as her shoulders slump. "Then I guess that's it. Goodbye, John. Take care of yourself."
"Goodbye, Jessica."
"Everything OK?" Ben asks as John returns to the gathering.
"Yeah. Sure. What did I miss about the puppy?"
"I'm just guessing here, but was that Jessica at the door during the party?" Ben asks as John finishes scrubbing his roasting pan.
John grabs the dishtowel draped over his shoulder. "Good guess."
"It wasn't hard. When you came back to the table, you looked like someone had punched you in the stomach."
"That's the way I felt. She told me that DHS isn't going to do anything officially because it would be bad PR, but she's been busted down to riding a desk. I broke up with her, but after that blow to her career, I don't think she'd stay around L.A. much longer even if I wanted her here."
"Which you don't."
"No. You were right when you suggested we should batch it together. I think for a while it would be better if I'm not even tempted to have anything warm in my bed - except my heating pad.
"Do you know anything about the new captain?" Lucy asks as she, Jackson, and John take their places for roll call.
Jackson taps his pen on the table to an imaginary beat. "My dad knows him; said he was in the Israeli army. He didn't say much more than that, but I heard him and my mother talking about a Romeo and Juliet story. I don't know what that's about."
"Sounds intriguing," Nolan comments. "It would imply that at least his heart isn't solid stone.
Lucy spots a man with a military posture walking to the front of the room with Sergeant Grey. "I wouldn't count on that."
Grey takes the podium. "I would like to introduce to you, Captain Moshe Gross. He comes to us from the West Los Angeles Division, where he has established an impressive record for himself. He is now in charge of Mid-Wilshire, and you will give him your full attention."
If Gross has an Israeli accent, Nolan can't detect it, but his voice is deep, reminiscent of the actor who played Tevye in the movie of Fiddler on the Roof. "I understand that everyone here was shocked by the death of Captain Anderson. Wounds like that do not easily heal, and I get that some of you may still be mourning her passing.
"When my short-term predecessor took her place so quickly, it may have seemed disrespectful to her memory. You may even have resented having someone else in charge. I want to assure you that I will honor what she built here. You are a band of brothers and sisters. You depend on each other. You trust each other. I hope that I will become a part of that. However, as cohesive and exemplary as this station is, there is always room for improvement in both attitudes and procedures. I will be observing and going through the records to discover what we can do to make this unit function even more tightly, and I plan to meet with each of you individually. With that, I will turn roll call back to your watch commander."
Grey resumes his place. "If you've paid any attention at all to the news, you know that the passage of a raft of state laws regarding women's reproductive rights has caused an uproar and nation-wide protests. Now, I don't know what your personal views on the controversy are, and I don't care, but there is a women's march being staged today from Hancock Park, and we will be expected to keep the peace. As you are all probably aware, this is a highly emotional issue, and it won't take much to set off an incident.
I expect you to respect the right of free speech for both sides, but the moment any physical confrontation looks likely, I'll need you to get in there and defuse the situation. As much as possible I'm going to send male-female teams, to give you the best chance of building rapport with whoever threatens to get out of hand. Bishop, Nolan, Lopez, West that means you. Officer Nolan, we'll see if you can put your much-touted empathy to work. Santiago, Chen, you'll be on regular patrol, and I'll be handing the rest of you your assignments as you gear up. So take care of each other. Get each other's backs, and let's keep anyone from getting hurt.
"What do you think of the new captain?" Nolan asks as he loads the gear for the day into the back of the shop. "That part about making the unit function more tightly sounded a little ominous to me."
"I don't know, Boot, but if you don't get your ass in gear, it's not the captain you're going to have to worry about. So move it!"
"Yes, Ma'am," Nolan responds. At least Bishop sounds the same as usual. He takes comfort in that.
