Intersecting Lines Book 2
10 The Range
Jane's viewpoint
"How's the wedding planning coming? Any luck with a venue?" I shrugged at Ana's words, not looking away from the target, squeezing off half a dozen shots, all in the centre mass 10 ring, before turning my head to look at Ana.
"I haven't really been keeping up with it, Maura drops some details here and there but mostly I leave it to them"
"You're joking right, I'd thought you'd be more involved than this, after all you're only doing this once" I stepped back from the lane and turned.
"Seriously?" I pulled the safety glasses off and laid them on the bench, followed by the ear defenders. "I'm leaving the planning in the hands of a certified genius, ably backed up by Natalie who's apparently a frustrated event planner and Alex who's apparently an anal retentive detail freak…" I shrugged, Maura and Natalie chatted about it several times a week, plus Alex Skyped in from New York at least once a week for a three-way planning session, Maura and Natalie together were capable of putting together fantastic things like The Intersection club nights or New Year's Eve, add Alex to the mix… "Anyway, I'm sure Nat's kept you in the loop" She shrugged.
"Mostly, it looks like it's going to be amazing, once they get a few things sorted. Y'know, minor details, like a venue, date, guest list, dresses, minor stuff" I grinned.
"All they'll let me do is turn up at the right time and place" She turned and snorted at that.
"Yeah right, as if. You worked out what you're wearing" She grinned nastily. "I'm sure you'll look lovely in that white princess-style dress Natalie was raving about" I knew she was revving me up so I just smiled.
"Yeah, as if" My smile widened to a grin as she rolled her eyes at me, before dragging us back to the subject while she reloaded her magazine with rounds out of the box. We were out at the FBI range as Ana got some time in; she was coming up for requalification later this month and wanted to make sure she was above the level required for the FBI's expert pistol rating.
"Do you know what you're wearing?" I looked up.
"You mean what we're wearing?" She paused as a smile appeared.
"I take it you want us both" I nodded once, of course I did, there wasn't a question I'd want them both with me. Ana nodded her head sagely. "Guessed as much, seeing Maura was having both Alex and Nat as bridesmaids" I looked down at the bench as I swapped out magazines, even though I could do that with my eyes closed, but it made a distraction.
"It'll be some kind of suit, Maura knows I don't want to be in a dress" Ana nodded once and settled the defenders over her ears before stepping up to the firing point in the lane next to mine, settling herself for a moment, facing to the right away from the lane, tapping the start button with her left hand. It was quiet for a few seconds, before the target came to a stop some 15 metres away and hung there, side on. It was programmed to randomly turn and face her for a few seconds then turn away. She stood there calmly for a bit before the target suddenly swung round, the dark outline coming to a stop facing her. Ana was already in action, spinning in place to face down the lane, partly dropping into a crouch, her right hand coming up as the left slammed up under her wrist, fingers wrapping round and steadying her aim as the first shot rang out.
Five seconds later the target flipped side on obscuring it, though you could see the torn paper from side on, showing where the shots had all gone. I nodded to myself. Ana had put ten rounds into it, all bar two inside the ten ring, the other two just outside it. Pushing the button to retrieve the target as she holstered her Glock, I wandered up next to her as we watched the target moving towards us. I nodded to myself, if that had been a bad guy he'd be deader than Julius Caesar right now. Ana picked up the conversation as the target approached.
"Yeah, I kinda figured that one out. You in a dress wasn't going to happen" We shared a glance before the target stopped in front of her. Almost all of her shots had gone through a circle less than three inches in diameter, with one shot almost two inches low and another inch and a half or so higher, leaving me frowning a little as I considered her shot grouping.
"The first shot was a fraction early, you shot as your hand came up" I indicated the lower shot. "The rest were well grouped, but they were starting to climb, not much but some" I let my finger drift up the shots before indicating the last, highest hole. "The last one, did you rush it?" Ana scowled at the target.
"Yeah, maybe, I also don't think I properly compensated for both recoil and the fact the gun was nine rounds lighter" I nodded sagely; it made sense.
"That sort of shooting will still be more than good enough to qualify, besides, if it'd been a gunman on the other end of those shots, all of them would have been pretty much instantly fatal" Ana's scowl held for a moment longer.
"I'd prefer it if all ten had been on target though" That was Ana, she was a perfectionist, never mind that she'd probably out shot more than 98% of her fellow agents, male and female, she still wasn't happy with her results. I could understand it though; when it came to shooting I felt the same way. Ana was good, damned good, I was just better. She shook her head again and moved back to the table to reload her Glock, stripping off the protective gear as she did while she glanced at me.
"You excited?"
"No, not really, it won't change anything between Maura and me, it's just a piece of paper" I rubbed at my right ear, the padding on the ear defender I'd been wearing was a bit worn on that side, it'd been irritating me all morning. "It won't change who we are"
"Nope, course not, but it is a very public statement of who and what you are" I thought that over as I watched her reload her Glock's magazine.
"It doesn't really mean that much to me, I'm not a very public person"
"Bull"
"What?"
"Tell that to everyone who's read about you or Maura over the last few years, the cases you've been involved with, plus especially the fact you're together"
"That's different, that's me being a cop, doing my job. I'm sure as hell no gay icon if that's what you're getting at"
"Maybe not to the public but to a lot of people in the LAPD you are" I turned to face her, curious.
"Me?" She nodded once.
"Yep, you and Maura both" I wasn't following her.
"Whadda you mean" She holstered her weapon then leaned back against the bench.
"Ever since the LAPD Ball, you, Maura and Nat have been role models to a lot of other gay people, especially lesbian cops" I frowned.
"What about you? I mean Nat's with you"
"I'm not LAPD, at the end of the day I'm considered a Fed, not LAPD whereas you three are each seen as being one of them"
"What about Brenda and Sharon? Don't people look up to them?"
"Not as many people know, after all they weren't out at the Ball, and they haven't exactly been too public about it so far"
"That'll change at the next Ball"
"Sure hope so" She hopped up to sit on the edge of the table. "Lots of people saw you and Maura, plenty more heard about it later, so you're public now" I thought about it, I suppose she was right, I'd decided that we wouldn't do anything to hide it at the Ball, we were a long way from Boston and no one here in the squad gave a fuck if we were gay.
"I guess" Ana nodded sagely.
"Lots of gay people in the Department look up to you, both of you" I turned to lean back against the bench next to her, turning my head to face her, ignoring the popping sounds from the far end of the range.
"I don't see it that way; I'm just doing my job"
"Just doing your job...right" She tipped her head to regard me. "To a lot of people who struggle with who they are, they see you, a famous cop, part of one of the highest profile squads in the LAPD, long history of solving high-profile crimes, Boston's first female homicide detective and youngest ever in Boston, as someone impressive, someone to look up to"
"That's just the job though, I was just doing what I'm paid for" Ana rolled her eyes.
"I'm not sure even you believe that" She looked over at me. "You've done all that, then come out as gay, your partner is one of the smartest, most beautiful and committed women I've ever met, together you've been an outstandingly effective team solving crimes, your record speaks for itself there, it's all over the net, been all over TV and the papers too. Then you both move out here, you're open about your sexuality at one of the LAPD's most public events and everyone, I mean everyone, was talking about our little performance at the Ball" I snorted.
"That just means 'everyone' must have too much time on their hands if they spend their time gossiping about us" She sighed.
"You don't get it do you Jane?" I wasn't following her.
"Get what?"
"Look, you went gay for one reason, Maura, right?" She grinned and gave me a wink. "Totally understandible reason, lots would for her, or you for that matter" I went to say something but she held her hand up as she kept talking. "Let me finish OK? You're a very good looking woman engaged to be married to another very good looking woman. You two together are striking, people notice you together and they're envious of how obviously happy you both are. On top of that you're both outstanding at your job, being gay's been no impediment to that either" I had to give her that.
"Yeah, I don't see the point though" She turned her head to look at me.
"Compare that with a young female beat cop, in the middle of a sea of male colleagues, and like we both know, too many cops behave like frat boys. She's either gay but still in the closet or maybe unsure of her sexuality, not sure if her being attracted to women is weird. God knows the average male beat cop's not going to be much help, their thoughts on lesbian's range from male fantasies about watching two lesbians go at it before they join in and have them both" I snorted at that, why in hell would I be interested in a guy if I was gay, let alone share Maura with them? Ana just nodded resignedly. "Yeah, God knows we've been asked enough times" She shook her head slowly at that particular stupidity then continued. "The other prevailing opinion is that lesbians are women who are frigid, can't get a guy and settle for a woman or who just need a fuck from a real man to set them straight" We exchanged a truly disgusted look, we'd both heard that last one too many times. "So our young lesbian cop is scared of what the other guys on her shift will say; will they ostracise her, will it hurt her career, will they trust her anymore to do her job, there's still a lot of prejudice out there, even if it is the twenty first century" I nodded.
"My Lieutenant back in Boston, Cavenaugh, old school cop, solid as they come, I thought he'd be fine, after all he'd signed off on enough commendations and citations over the years for my work, turned out to hate gays. Tried to make my life hell, he couldn't touch Maura, but me; he let it be known that I was fair game. Every sexist pig in the place took their best shot" I shrugged. "I gave as good as I got but I started getting all the shitty details, the crap assignments, or I'd be given the hardest cases and starved of resources" Ana grimaced.
"Unfortunately there are fools like that everywhere" I sighed in agreement, she wasn't wrong there.
"Yeah, another detective in homicide back in Boston, Riley Cooper, she's involved with Susie, one of Maura's criminologists, given Cavenaugh's treatment of me, they've kept it quiet, really quiet, just to avoid his BS" She nodded emphatically.
"Exactly. So lesbians worry about that sort of treatment, they wonder if the Department will support them, with good reason. Despite all the good words and policies and supportive statements from HR and Pope, that's all a bit terrifying to the average young female cop, then one of the force's top detectives and the chief medical examiner behave like being gay's the most natural thing in the world at the Ball"
"As does the head of Media and the FBI liaison"
"Yeah, we all behaved like being gay is nothing, right out there in front of everyone and word gets around. People talk about it, our young female cop talks about it, sometimes to their partners, hopefully the partner's supportive, they might go onto the unofficial LAPD forums and talk about it, it gets mentioned in the wider LA gay community, including comments in some of the LGBT media, it's a big thing for a lot of people"
"I'm surprised that it was us, I would have thought we weren't the first" Ana nodded once.
"We weren't, but a few lower-ranked officers felt intimidated or were hassled about it from other cops which made others a bit gun shy. That's why Andrea and Mikki weren't there; Andrea was concerned that it would cause Mikki grief for no good reason. They told us that over dinner at our place a month back, after Nat asked. They were really pissed, said that if they'd known about us being there they would have come and they're definitely going to this year's ball"
"I'd wondered about that, I mean Mendoza doesn't strike me as a shrinking violet about pretty much anything"
"It was Andrea, she'd heard of other gays suffering for being out in public in front of the LAPD, she didn't want Mikki to be on the receiving end of that"
"Is her boss Ruiz a problem?"
"Apparently not, but a couple of his Lieutenants and Sargeants are old school homophobes" I thought about that for a moment.
"If nothing's changed there, won't coming out at the Ball cause precisely the grief Andrea was worried about?" Ana rocked her hand in a so-so gesture.
"Maybe, maybe not, after all, Pope has six lesbians on his senior officer's team, that there's a statement all on its own" I thought about it then shook my head.
"Not many people know about that, though when Brenda and Sharon go public..." Ana nodded.
"Yeah, that'll really set the cat amongst the pigeons. The two most senior female officers on the force, gay" I frowned, thinking back at the comments I heard, and received, over the years, then spoke.
"For a lot of cops though, it'll just reinforce the stereotypes" She nodded agreeably.
"There are always going to be hold-outs, prejudices too hard wired to change, some people will feel threatened, they hate change or don't like gays for any number of stupid reasons. I mean some people still don't like Asians or Blacks for the same reasons" She shrugged. "There will always be lost causes. It's the ones who aren't lost, who will adjust that are important"
"I still don't feel like a role model" Ana shrugged again.
"Then don't think of it like that. Just be the outstanding cop you are and let that be your legacy. There's still an under-representation of women in the detective ranks, show everyone, even the sexist pigs, that being a woman, let alone a lesbian, is no impediment to being a damned good cop" I nodded and smiled.
"Now that, I can get on board with"