The New Deputy
Chapter Fourteen-Seek and Thou Shall Find
EMMA
After Jennifer left, I felt completely miserable. She was right of course. Just then, Dangle's radio crackled and I heard a voice come over it.
"…..Ten-four. We got a major accident at the intersection of Rollins and Advers. A oil truck just T-boned a Silver 2004 Toyota Camry, license plate Kll3 NER0. Woman appears to be in her early thirties, blond hair. Please advise…"
My heart leaped into my throat. I stood up.
"Emma? What kind of car does Jen drive?" Garcia asked me carefully. I think he was thinking the same thing I was.
"A Toyota Camry," I said thickly. "2004. It's a rental."
We looked at each other for a moment before we scrambled out of the briefing room. I heard the others right behind me.
We arrived on the scene a few moments later. The green oil truck had its front completely embedded in the passenger side of the Camry. I rushed over and spied Jen unconscious in the driver's side. Her head rested on the window pane, the glass shattered and clustered on the ground. She had a bleeding gash on her temple. Garcia stood beside me. He gently reached out and smoothed her blond hair.
"She's alive," A paramedic said coming up to us. "But she's critical. We're getting the jaws of life right now."
I choked back a muffled sob. I felt someone's arms around me. It was Garcia. I pressed my face into his shoulder and sobbed.
I heard the loud roar of the Jaws of Life cutter as it cut through the car. Eventually they got her out and onto a stretcher before loading her into the back of an ambulance. Garcia hurried over to see if he could travel with Jen to the hospital. Before he climbed in, he turned his blue eyes onto me.
"This is your fault," he said stonily. "If you hadn't blabbed about us like a high school girl, Jen wouldn't have left the station."
"Whoa Garcia," Jones said holding up a hand. "That's a little harsh. It was nothing more than a horrible accident."
"That's right. The guy said his brakes went out a block away. It could've been anyone coming through," Dangle said reasonably and calmly.
"It wasn't anyone else! It was Jen," Garcia responded shortly and heatedly.
"Calm down," Johnson said softly to him. "She'll be ok."
"He's right," I said miserably. "It is my fault. I shouldn't have told anyone."
All eyes turned to me. I had tears forming in my eyes. I felt Dangle slowly slip his arm around me. Without a word, Garcia turned and headed into the ambulance. He hopped up and the doors closed. With a loud whoop, the ambulance began pulling away. Miserable, I pressed my face into Dangle's chest.
"He's just upset honey," Johnson said softly rubbing my back. "Jen's the first woman he's ever cared about. He's over protective of her."
I just nodded mutely. A little while later we followed the ambulance to the hospital.
Jen had a concussion, a bruised sternum, a black eye, and a broken arm. Thankfully, her seat belt was on or it would've been much worse. She was alert and sitting up in one of the beds. A large white bandage was around her head. Her arm was in a cast and sling over her hospital gown. Her blond hair hung around her shoulders. Garcia was sitting in a chair beside the bed, her hands in his. They both looked up at us.
I thought for sure, Garcia still blamed me. But he got up and came toward me. I froze.
"I'm sorry Emma," he apologized quietly. "I knew it really wasn't your fault. I was just distraught."
I shrugged one shoulder. "Meh,"
He hugged me tightly. I returned it. Jen beamed at us but her expression darkened when her eyes landed on me.
"Hey stranger," I said tentatively approaching her. She eyed me warily with her one good eye.
JENNIFER.
I watched Emma approach. My left eye was bruised. My arm and chest felt like someone had taken a jack hammer to it.
"I'm so sorry," Emma apologized. "I shouldn't have told anyone."
I studied her for a moment beadily before responding. I sighed.
"No," I said softly. "You really didn't do anything wrong by telling them Garcia and I had a date. I think what I was more annoyed at is how everyone responded to it."
I moved my eyes from Jones, to Weigel. They lowered their eyes shamefully. There were camera guys behind them.
"From now on we'll respond a bit more positively toward your relationship," Dangle promised. I smiled.
"It's not you. It's those two mainly," I gestured to Jones and Weigel.
"Sorry," Jones apologized right away.
Weigel nodded. "Yeah sorry."
I nodded and smiled as Garcia took a seat beside me again.
"Doc says you'll be out of here in a bit," Johnson said to me softly.
I nodded. I leaned back and closed my eyes. It looked like the concert would be postponed.
The following week, I began practicing for the concert. The stage was huge and it was almost as big as the Kodiak theater in LA. The equipment was already set up and my drummer, my guitarist and my keyboard players were already set up waiting for me. The department had a break so they came to watch the practice. I stood in the center in front of the long slender microphone. They began playing and I sang the opening lines. I moved softly with the music.
I spied everyone moving with the music too.
It was a fast paced song, kinda rock/pop. Once the song was finished, I told the band to take a five minute break. I carefully climbed down the small stairs that led from the stage onto the ground level.
"So, what did you think?" I asked happily.
"Awesome," Lt. Dangle said nodding and grinning.
"Amazing,"
"You're really something,"
I got similar responses from Weigel, Jones, Kimball and Johnson. Garcia beamed and hugged me happily.
Rehearsal continued for the next few days. The band and I were tight, and we never missed a beat.
The night of the concert, the entire theater was packed. There wasn't a seat to be had. I was back stage with Emma and everyone. They'd taken the night off to watch me.
"You're going to be great," Garcia reassured me brightly.
"Yeah!" Johnson agreed happily.
"Five minutes Jen," The stage hand said.
I took a deep breath and nodded. Garcia hugged and kissed me. They headed out to take their seats at the front.
The band stepped onto the stage and then I eventually did. The crowd went wild and cheered. The band started the music and I began singing. Everyone swayed to the music in their seats.
Toward the end, I motioned for Emma to come up and sing along with me. She was stunned but eagerly climbed up onto the stage. She stood next to me and we both sang into the microphone. Both our voices blended nicely. The crowd was going nuts and screaming. When the song ended, we hugged one another happily.
After the concert, Lt. Dangle treated us to dinner. I sat next to Garcia. On his left were Johnson, Weigel, Junior and Jones. On my right were Dangle, Emma, and Kimball.
"I propose a toast," Lt. Dangle said standing up and raising his wine glass. "To Jennifer and Garcia…and what an amazing concert!"
Acknowlegdeable cheers went around as we all raised our glasses and toasted.
We all took a sip. Garcia cleared his throat and turned to me. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. My heart hammered loudly in my chest. Everyone got silent.
"Jen, will you marry me?" he asked me, opening the box. A small but stunning diamond ring stood in the cushion.
I stared at it, completely transfixed. Eventually I found my voice.
"Yes!" I said happily.
Garcia gently slipped the ring onto my left fourth finger. He hugged and kissed me. I returned it.
I couldn't get any happier then I was right now.
EMMA.
I was so happy for Jen. She and Garcia spent the evening close to one another. I could see the forlorn looks of the others who were single.
"Guys you'll find someone don't worry," I said to Jones, Johnson, Weigel, Kimball and Junior.
"Well, I'm not sure anyone would want me anyway," Weigel said.
"That's true," Jones snorted taking a long drink of wine.
The five of them got into a debate over Junior's chance and they all agreed a woman would seriously need to be heavily drugged or sedated. That sent raucous laughter spreading through out them.
"Either that or Junior can date that guy we booked the other day," I grinned at him. "Since you two have already met."
Junior looked at me confused. "Who?"
"The guy who ear raped you," Dangle said.
Well that set them all off. Jennifer was even laughing.
"Right! Just think Junior you could call his wiener Mrs. Muffin and put him in a wedding gown!" Jennifer teased.
Well that set us all off. Junior scowled but he was laughing too.
"Are you ever going to let that go?" he asked.
"NO!" was the universal response.
"Alright well then I'm gonna have to even out the score," Junior said as he stood up. He put his hand on his belt and headed toward Jones. "Come here. I have someone you need to meet."
Jones spit out his wine and launched himself to his feet. We were all giggling hard.
"Junior, back off dude," Jones said warningly slowly backing up. Junior stepped forward.
"Aw come on. I know you want to," Junior retorted.
"Junior," Jones warned.
Jones hesitated before he bolted out of the restaurant. Junior chased after him. We all roared with laughter.
Dangle paid for dinner and we all headed home.
"Well, I'm seriously happy for Garcia and Jen," Weigel said leaning against the front of the cruiser. "Jen's a nice girl, a bit of a bitch, but nice nonetheless."
Dangle looked at her.
"You're just sore because she told you off," he responded. "Numerous times."
Weigel just muttered something incoherent and Dangle just looked at the camera guy.
"Yeah Garcia's a lot happier now. A lot of that anger seemed to have vanished. I just hope it's not spent on fucking Jen," Junior said to Jones.
"I don't think so we'd've seen bruises," Jones replied shaking his head.
"True," Junior said. "I just hope she has proper protection from his anger."
We were out on duty. I sat in the front seat of the cruiser. Dangle was driving. He stopped for a red light.
Our radio's crackled softly.
"We got a call that there's a missing little girl," Dangle said as the light turned green and he pressed the accelerator. We turned the corner. "So we're going to check it out. My heart always leaps when I hear it's a child, being I have my own daughter."
We pulled up on the scene. A couple stood. The woman was crying into a white handkerchief. The father spied us and eagerly waved at us. We climbed out and the camera guy followed. We approached them.
"Oh thank God! Our daughter is missing," the woman sobbed
"When did she vanish?" Dangle said.
"About two days ago," she said tears streaming down her cheeks.
Dangle and I looked at each other.
"And you waited two days to report her missing?" I asked incredulously.
"She always runs off somewhere," the father responded. "We didn't think much of it."
"How old is she exactly?" Dangle asked raising an eyebrow at them.
"She's seven," the mother replied. "But she's real smart for her age."
"Where was she last seen?" I asked them.
"Around here actually," the mother said. "She's wearing a little denim skirt and a white top. She has auburn colored hair and green eyes. A real cutie."
"What's her name?" Dangle asked.
"Elizabeth," The woman replied.
"Ok ma'am we'll check into it," I replied and turned. Dangle and I headed back to the car. I spied the little girl in the back seat. I glanced sideways at Dangle. He nodded in agreement and motioned for her to get down. She did. We climbed into the cruiser and pulled away.
Once we were far enough, I turned around in the front seat and looked at the little girl.
"Sweetie, your parents are looking for you. Why did you run away?" I asked her softly.
"You would too," she responded. "They're a bunch of fucking morons."
I saw Dangle's startled expression at her language, but I overlooked it for now.
"In what way?"
"Well did you get a load of my mommy? She does drugs every hour. My daddy's a lush with alcohol. They don't care about me nor do they pay much attention to me," Elizabeth said staring out the window of the cruiser.
"I did pick up the scent of alcohol on him," Dangle admitted.
I saw him also mouth the words "child services" to me and nodded.
"Well, how would you like to live with two people who would pay you a lot of attention, and who are free from drugs and booze?" I asked her.
She beamed. "That would be great,"
Dangle and I looked at each other again and we knew immediately who she could stay with.
We arrived at the station again. Dangle led Elizabeth into the briefing room where Garcia was sitting. Jennifer was not there yet. We stepped into the room. Jones, Weigel and Kimball were not in yet either it was so far just Junior, Garcia and Johnson.
"Um we picked up a stray," Dangle said gesturing to Elizabeth. "Her parents are real winners. They waited two days to report her missing. So, I'm thinking she could use a better home life. Garcia, you're our first choice."
"Is this who I'm gonna be living with?" Elizabeth asked looking up at Dangle, who nodded.
It registered on Liz's face before she beamed and opened her arms, lunging straight for him. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her cheek against his chest. She sighed happily. Garcia was taken aback and held his arms up at his sides as though something stuck to him that he wanted to get off. I could see he was awkward and patted Liz on the head twice before looking up at me and Dangle.
"Jen would love her," I said to him.
I only hoped Jen had a bit more interaction with kids then Garcia did, but then again the only kid he'd had interaction with was Dayna, but even around her he was shy. I waited.