Stay in Touch

Chapter 9

Dear Rick,

I know it's been a while. Mike has an old sports car that he loves, and a jerk ran a light and T-boned him while he was driving it. Mike ended up with four fractured ribs and a broken arm. His back was messed up too. I try to look in on him as much as I can, and I'm stuck with another training officer while he's recovering.

It hasn't been easy adjusting to a new partner. He's nothing like Mike. The man's a hard ass named Marcus Donovan. The way he sticks to the rule book, he'll probably end up in Internal Affairs. I wouldn't want to cross his path when he does.

Mike has always been into what works, whether it's the standard procedure or not. I've gone along with that. One time I even offered to show a perpetrator my breasts to distract him long enough for Mike to disarm him. That gambit worked but partnered with Donovan; I can't do anything else like it. He's like Joe Friday in old Dragnet episodes, you know, "Just the facts Ma'am." And I don't think Donovan likes me, either. Maybe I'm imagining things, but he seemed upset that he'd be working with me. Mike should be back on duty in another month, two at most. I'm counting the days., both for his sake and mine.

I bought a copy of your novella. It was wonderful and inspiring. I'm hoping that someday I can do something as heroic as the smallest fraction of what the men and women you wrote about did. I can't wait for your full-sized book.

I hope that Alexis is doing better. She wasn't alone in the way she reacted. A lot of the cops at the precinct have kids, and from what they've told me, most of them were very shaken up by 9/11.

I've been following the hearings by the 9/11 commission. I assume you have too. It sounds like the Israelis weren't the only ones who expected an attack. Do you believe that our people put out a document warning that terrorists would attack using aircraft but took no action to prevent it? It turns my stomach just to think that our government could have dropped the ball that badly. I'm hoping that as a cop I can do a better job than that.

Have you heard the noise Bracken is making on the news? He's come out against sending troops into Afghanistan. In a way, he has a valid point. The terrorists who attacked us weren't Afghans. Most of them were Saudis, and the rest were from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Lebanon. Somehow, I don't think that's Bracken's real reason for his objection though. If his hitman was involved with the flow of drugs from Afghanistan, maybe Bracken is somehow too. That would make him an even bigger monster than we thought. Worse than that, it might make him aware of any further investigation into Finn Rourke's death.

I had to back off on that when the planes hit and then when Mike was hurt, but I've never given up on it. From what little I've been able to get, Rourke had a soldier named Jackie Coonan who was assigned to keep drugs out of Westie territory. When Rourke was killed, Jackie dropped off the radar, but he has a brother, Dick, who by all accounts is some kind of a minor saint. I've been trying to get an appointment to talk to him, but the times he's available are when I'm on duty and Donovan isn't about to go for any side trips.

I'll be done with my rookie year in about four months. At least I should be able to finish it out with Mike. I may be able to stay on as his partner until I transfer, or he retires or both. I hope so. After working with Donovan, I dread to think who I might get stuck with next.

Stay in touch,

Kate


Dear Kate,

Our failure to communicate is more my fault than it is yours. I should have dropped you a line, whether you had time to write to me or not. You're the one out there on the front lines.

I too am dismayed by the details coming out in the commission's investigation. Hopefully, the remedies they recommend will lead to more security for our country. I just hope they don't go overboard, at least not more so than what's already happening in this country. Have you been in an airport? Trying to get on a plane is like trying to get into Fort Knox.

I was sorry to hear about Mike's accident. Even though I've never met him, I feel like he's a friend, just through your letters. I wish Mike a speedy recovery from his injuries and respite from Donovan and his rule book for you. I hope I can meet Mike someday. I'd love to hear his version of how you offered to expose your precious assets to the bad guy.

Alexis seems to have gotten over most of the impact of 9/11. I notice she still startles easily. I think everyone in the city does now. But she's back to consuming ice cream at her regular rate. Mother blew into town and rebuked me about that, which was hypocritical since she indulges in therapy by frozen confection herself, but apparently, she thinks I should be more careful of my daughter's diet.

Mother's new nutritional demands may stem from her attachment to a new guru. She's had a series of them over the years, moving through yoga, transcendental meditation and an assortment of new age fads. The latest one is some TV doctor hyped by Oprah. I love the indomitable Ms. Winfrey, but she does endorse some strange characters. That psychologist she promotes gives some of the worst advice I've ever heard. Meredith and I tried some of the relationship exercises he recommends. I think if anything, they broke us up faster. In any case, Mother is back on her tour, and my freezer is again fully stocked.

Along with finishing my full-length portrayal our heroic first responders, I'm penning a new Derrick Storm novel. I think you'll appreciate this one. I'm introducing a new character, Derrick's father, Carl. I won't spoil it for you any more than that, but I figured that if I can't have a father figure, at least my taller and more pumped up alter-ego can.

In your last letter, you didn't say anything about how your father or his lawsuit is coming along. I hope that the trauma of the last few months didn't set him back. I realize that compared to three thousand deaths the loss of printers might suddenly seem trivial, but bad behavior by large corporations is not. It affects a lot more people in this country than terrorism does. I enjoy thinking that your Dad is still pursuing the good fight.

I did a little checking of my own on Dick Coonan. His charitable foundation puts out brochures and was more than happy to send me one. With the few particulars it gave, I was able to find the postings required by the sunshine laws for supposed non-profits. The figures don't add up, Kate. Coonan claims to have built several schools in Afghanistan and that his organization has an extensive compound there. Just the name of the country was a red flag. But more to the point, I don't believe he raises nearly enough money legitimately to have constructed what's depicted in the glossy photographs in his promotions. Either the funds are coming from elsewhere, the pictures are phony, or both. He may just be a huckster, but it could be more than that. Be careful Kate. If Dick Coonan does indeed have a presence in Afghanistan, he could be connected with the drug trade and possibly even with Bracken.

Stay in touch,

Rick