Chapter 3

A typical week for a cop in the department consists of 6 days work then an allocated day off unless there is an emergency or limited staff. Saturday is just like any other day except the night which is worse. Before heading to work, Axel decides to stop off at the Wood Oak City Central Hospital. One of the perks of being one of the most senior officers in the district is the pay. He quickly pulls over to park his black Porsche a couple of blocks down from the entrance before spotting a parking attendant who is now sprinting over to give him a ticket.

The attendant then decides to knock on the driver's tinted window, "Sir, your vehicle is not registered to park here". Axel lowers down the window. Today he is in uniform as the city chief is visiting the district later… hat and everything. The parking attendant is stunned as he pulls out his badge.

Attendant: "I can see you are a city officer but your car is not a police marked vehicle so I am going to have to fine you. Please step out and hand over your license, you know the procedure"

Looking pissed off now and impatient Axel responds: "Take another look at my badge carefully"

After a long pause, the attendant feeling embarrassed tries to apologise "my mistake, Captain".

Axel: "Good. I get it you have a job to do. I'd appreciate it if you can keep an eye out for my car in the meantime I will only be ten minutes and am happy to put a good word in to your superior as long as I don't return to a ticket on my car from you or your local colleagues"

Attendant: "Of course Captain".

Axel reaches the help desk of the hospital on the private patient's floor and immediately shows the secretaries his badge before he is escorted to Brian's room.

Axel: "Hey man, how are you holding up?"

Brian: "Fuck that was painful, my first bullet" he smiles

Axel: "Try three- congratulations!" he responds showing him one of the scars on his left shoulder.

Brian, tries to move but is in pain: "Thank you for your help yesterday Captain, you saved my life"

Axel: "Glad you are still here. Within four months you will be ready to come back soon, DC O'Neil and Captain Hunter have also recognised your hard work so there is always a place for you whenever you are ready to come back. In the meantime, make the most of your days off!"

Brian smiles: "Hope things aren't too chaotic at the office, I heard about those red assholes"

Axel laughs: "Yeah, we got our hands full there!" he continues, "About yesterday, do you remember where Lieutenant Hart stationed you both over the morning before the incident?"

Brain: "Yeah, she ordered us to patrol the highway and industrial areas by where we called you"

Axel: "Hmm, did you manage to visit the harbour at all yesterday?"

Brian: "No, it must have been quiet there"

Axel: "Thanks Brian, take care of yourself"

Just in time for the 9am briefing, Adam has two cups of coffee handing one of them over to his partner.

Adam: "How is Brian?"

Axel: "He's going to be ok but will be out for at least five months… you know the pair didn't follow protocol yesterday and stationed themselves in the wrong area"

Adam: "Well that was lucky then, at least we found those thugs which by the way, their interviews were quickly done and they have now been taken into custody"

Axel: "Good. One less thing to worry about"

9am arrives and there is no sign of DC O'Neil- this is a rare sight and an opportunity to cancel the briefing.

Adam: "Fuck! Of course he's not here! He's gone to meet and pick up City Chief Inspector Clark….. Shit, you know what that means-"

Axel: "No fucking way do I really have to?"

Adam: "I did the last one"

Axel: "Ok joking aside and hand over today's paper work"

Both officers in uniform are addressed and saluted by the staff who are waiting patiently for the late briefing.

Axel: "Officers, apologies for the late briefing today, I will make this short. DC O'Neil is currently meeting with City Chief Inspector Clark. For those of you stationed at the office this weekend and in the local areas, he is likely to visit and talk to you. He is keen to share our practise to strengthen Green District whilst rebuilding Red District. It is therefore our duty to lead by example, setting the highest standards of practise. He would also like to witness our combat programme as well as our resources. Chief will take the opportunity to meet our new recruits who I am sure most of you are getting to know already. Before I continue, I would like to….

Suddenly the door at the back of the hall opens loudly, interrupting the briefing due to a late officer in Red District uniform. It's Blaze…. late again. No one is ever late to a briefing and she needs to learn this fast if her job is going to last here. The room pauses in silence, Jess whispers over to a colleague: "that bitch is lucky O'Neil wasn't chairing this morning, he would have fired her ass straight away"

The pause felt like a long time with everyone staring at the new officer at the back of the room…

Blaze: "Apologies Captain Stone, I got lost around the building. It won't happen again"

Axel: "I hope so for your sake. I thought you Brits were supposed to be punctual?"

The room chuckles as this briefing is turning into an entertaining verbal match from both sides of the room. Looking very offended and embarrassed, she takes an empty seat before saying no more when Axel continues with the briefing on today's cases.

"Briefing adjourned… remember how important this weekend is!….. Agent Fielding, report to my office immediately".

Adam looks up at the podium: "Good luck bro"

Upstairs on the 6th floor, Adam can see Blaze sitting, waiting outside Axel's office with her hat off looking annoyed. It looks like she has had a difficult day already and you can see from her appearance and messy hair that she rushed getting ready for work. Most of the female officers here are either dressed smart, business like in heals, jacket and make up when they are stationed at the office doing attorney work or at least they make a bit of an effort to tidy their appearance, hair back nicely, ironed uniform, clean shoes etc. when they are scheduled out on the field.

Adam: "What's going on with you? You need to take this a lot more seriously, it's not like Red District. The officers here work long hours, are ruthless for higher rankings like ours and will take any opportunity to demote a new lieutenant like yourself especially when you are from another district"

Blaze: "I will fix this, don't worry"

Adam: "You need to avoid getting strikes or your out! Work closely with us and pay attention"

Blaze: "Your partner is an asshole!"

Adam: "Wait until you meet the Deputy Chief, this is nothing. Good luck"

Axel arrives to open the door to the office where Adam and Blaze walk in first. Adam hands over some paper work, says something in his ear before Blaze salutes the two superiors. Adam then leaves the room and Axel sits by his desk while Blaze remains standing.

He starts his lecture: "If you're going to be successful here, you need to follow the rules. I have worked in this department longer than anywhere else and never has any senior officer arrived late. This seriously is your lucky day as our Deputy Chief is rarely out of the office and would give you a strike or suspension straight away".

He continues, "I have spoken to Agent Hunter at lengths about your work and given the circumstances, I will not take further action over this morning's and last night's punctuality issues"

This is a relief for Blaze- it really has not been as plain sailing so far as she expected.

To her disappointment, he continues: "You will however be under the watchful eye of your team to ensure that you are organised at all times. You are the only agent who is still in Red District Uniform. As a result of your lateness yesterday, you missed the uniform fitting and tour of the building which led to you being late today. I would suggest that you see Maureen on the floor below ASAP to take your measurements in order to change your uniform and smarten up before Captain Hunter briefs you on today's work at 10am. I'd expect your new uniform to be ready by this afternoon before the City Chief's visit. There is also a combat session you need to attend with lieutenant Yeung at 2pm today by the gyms. Here is your printed schedule for today and tomorrow, Hunter and I expect this to be followed down to a T today, is that understood?"

'Wow this is like being in the military', Blaze thinks to herself.

Blaze: "Yes boss, clearly"

Axel: "Great, glad we have cleared this up now. Do you have anything else to say or ask?"

Blaze: "As a matter of fact, I am deeply concerned with aspects of the department here".

Axel: "Fire away…"

Blaze: "Firstly I was sent the letter two days ago demanding my transfer from your DC here. Under current legislation I have rights to 28 days' notice so I had limited time to prepare for last night let alone abandoning the cases I have been working on for months! I also have no knowledge as to why I was transferred abruptly even after being promised a Captain promotion where I was…"

That comment just made Axel even more suspicious of her being the mole but rightfully so, he would have been angry with this arrangement if it were him.

"…Your superior also could have at least arranged some temporary accommodation to help with your long hours- my commute is an hour into the city. And lastly I am deeply offended by your comment this morning about my nationality. You can see from my resume, the amount of work I have done, my skills and my Judo experience is valuable to your department but you humiliated me in front of your staff to make yourself feel better!" She was clearly very upset and annoyed.

Axel: "Woah hold up hold up! – I apologise if that comment offended you, I said it in the spur of the moment. I can see your achievements in your file, they are remarkable but you took that a little too seriously"

Blaze: "Says the guy who has spent the last ten minutes giving me the serious official lecture"

Axel notices her eye colour right now has turned green from the sunlight beaming into the office and her hair is a lighter brown than yesterday – 'what the hell? Is she even human?- Don't be stupid Ax. If she is, she's beautiful… but yes she's got a lot of issues and a major attitude problem. Who does she think she is with all these demands?... accommodation, her own cases, her own uniform, comes and goes when she pleases…. She's not the Queen of England!'

After a lengthy silence, Blaze continues "Well, is there anything else you'd like to inform me of before I set out for my itinerary?"

Axel: "If you wish to make an official complaint about my comment this morning, I understand. You will have to take it to Adam. Apologies if I offended you. That will be all for now"

She salutes him before leaving the room, Axel thinking to himself- 'Shit, these Red Officers are starting to stress me out!'

The morning has flown by very quickly so far and the officers are expecting the City Chief to arrive in time for the Saturday night shift, not knowing if this visit will be brief or extended. So far today, the Deputy Chief O'Neil and Chief Clark have been attending Red District Police Department to implement any necessary changes.

Adam, on lunch break takes out his cell phone. "Keri?... How's it going and how is Sammy holding up?"

Keri: "I don't know Adam, he is not himself right now. Aside from him staying home and not leaving his bedroom he won't talk, is barely eating and isn't interested in doing much work. Something is definitely wrong, I think you guys need to talk".

Adam: "I think it's going to be another late finish, we have a new team to deal with right now"

Keri: "Your brother needs you, I don't know how much more I can do here…. You know that its Sasha's first swimming club day on Monday also, it would mean so much if you could be there"

Adam: "Ok, I will talk to DC and hopefully Ax will be able to cover for me"

Keri: "Thank you, I love you"

Adam feeling stressed: "Speak to you soon"

13:50 and Blaze made it early to fight club, or whatever this is. Every day this programme is done in shifts that the officers of all ranks must attend twice per week around their work. The best fighters on the force each teach a class in turns depending on the day. As she enters the dojo it is empty and she takes the time to look around before sitting on her knees to meditate and gain five minutes of calmness through this hectic day. The walls are filled with photos of masters of many martial art forms dating back to the last century. Next to the studio is a large gym then a swimming centre and behind this is a small mirrored studio with pinewood floor- perfect as Blaze is also a trained dancer and dance teacher and it would be great to make full use of this. This district definitely has more facilities and money invested into it compared to the Red District.

Seven other officers including Lieutenants Davidson and Auberry-Mason who are the only other reds walk in and stand waiting. Lieutenant Yeung arrives to greet the class and everyone bows.

"Today we will focus on self-defence techniques such as those used in Aikido that we can use in various situations. First I will need a volunteer attacker"

One of the Central officers puts himself forward. Yeung is a good teacher, knowledgeable and clearly experienced in his field. He demonstrates three different scenarios with and without a knife, explaining in slow motion what the officers can do to defend themselves from the three types of attacks before restraining the culprit. Blaze pays attention and respects the teacher, but in all honesty this is pretty basic for someone with her fighting abilities but she can understand the mixed level of the class, making it difficult for the teacher.

He then asks the group to pair themselves up initially then swap around each time, practising these exercises. Blaze keeps a low profile, doing what is asked of her and cooperating- the last thing she needs is more problems after this morning. "Fucking great, now I have to work with Stuart". Her current partner Davidson responds: "Good luck then".

The group continue their attack-defence routine as Yeung goes around correcting his students.

Stuart: "Yo Fielding, looks like we will be working together a bit longer" he comments with a smirk on his face.

Blaze bites her tongue, avoiding the confrontation and gets on with the exercises ahead. It's now her turn to act as the attacker. With force, Stuart carries out the defence exercises a couple of times with the aim of provoking her. On the third exercise, he takes it upon himself to restrain her on the ground, pushing himself against her back with his hand moving downwards. "You know this is giving me a hard-on right now don't you?" he whispers in her ear. Blaze immediately reacts, quickly freeing herself and flipping him over before punching him in the face and breaking his nose.

There is blood everywhere. "Fucking bitch look what she's done to me!".

Yeung: "Someone get a medic right now!….. Explain yourself"

Blaze: "Sensei I followed all the exercises properly, you didn't have to correct me once and you know I'm a respectful fighter. He took it too far and I had no choice"

Yeung: "The pair of you both need to file a report along with these witnesses" Stuart is taken away with the medic. "Either way, if there was a problem Fielding, you should have spoken to me directly and reported it. You will need to report to your superior immediately!"

'Shit, I'm definitely getting a strike now'.

Reluctantly, she is escorted back up to the 6th floor- its pot luck right now if its Hunter she has to speak with its not too bad, if it's the blond military guy then there's definitely a strike in it for her….