Chapter 5: One Long Night

"No! Mama!" a young woman repeatedly screamed, "Mama! Mama! Nooooo!"

Detective Troy Harrison suddenly jolted awake as he realized he was still in the shower in the men's locker room of CPD District 34. The feel of the cascading warm water eased him back into reality. That wasn't the first time he had experienced that fear-provoking dream of a past event that had truly scared him when it occurred years earlier. For the time being however, the detective washed his hair and body thoroughly before shutting off the shower and wrapping himself in a towel.

With his plainclothes and tactical vest unfortunately having to be disposed of due to getting inadvertently covered in decomposition bacteria at a crime scene, the only outfit Harrison had available in his locker was one he had originally intended to only wear for court: a three-piece blue tweed suit with dark blue faux alligator skin shoes and a light blue retro casual jazz Fedora hat. As he carefully put the suit, shoes, and hat on, a knock came at the locker room door.

"Harrison?" Detective Dobbs called into the locker room as he stuck his head in.

Harrison stood up from the wooden bench on which he'd been sitting. "Yeah, Dobbs?" he replied.

"The fingerprint report came back on the King crime scene", Dobbs replied, "The Captain and the Commander want to be briefed on everything ASAP. They're in the squad room waiting on us."

"Okay", Harrison said as he fastened the buttons on his blazer and put his badge chain around his neck, "Be right there, man. Thanks."

Harrison crossed into the Homicide squad room to find the entire squad waiting for him, as well as Asher and a slightly older Hispanic detective he didn't recognize. Likewise, a balding man in his mid-forties stood next to Captain Broussard, and the form-fitting white CPD uniform shirt indicated to Harrison that the man was a member of the command staff.

"Everything okay, Detective?" Broussard asked.

Harrison nodded as he sat down in his desk chair. "Yes, Captain", he replied, "I'm good, thank you."

Detective Brooks stood up and motioned to the man in the white uniform. "Detective Troy Harrison", he said, "I'd like to introduce you to my father, Commander Darren Brooks. He's in charge of operations here at District Thirty-Four."

Harrison stood up from his chair and shook the Commander's hand. "My pleasure, sir", he said.

Commander Brooks reciprocated his subordinate's hand. "Oh", he replied, "The pleasure's all mine, Detective. Nick and your squad mates have nothing but good things to say about you. Welcome aboard."

Abigail Asher, dressed in a camouflage-print hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, and brown work boots with her new Detective's badge on a chain around her neck, then chimed in. She motioned to the Hispanic detective next to her. "And I'd like to introduce you to my new partner, Detective Ernesto Machado", she said before looking to her partner, "Ernie, this is Troy Harrison."

Harrison and Machado repeated the exchange of handshakes. "Nice to meet you, man", he said.

"Likewise, Troy", Machado replied, "Like Abby said, please call me 'Ernie'."

Harrison nodded. "You got it", he said.

"I thought your transfer to Narcotics wasn't until tomorrow morning, Abby", Detective Tran said, "what's the rush?"

"Lieutenant Broussard asked me to start immediately in light of what happened earlier", Asher replied.

Harrison then gave the Captain a perplexed look. "Wait a minute", he said, "Broussard, so that's your…"

"That would be my wife Kathy, Detective", Captain Broussard clarified, "She's the Lieutenant in charge of Narcotics across the hall, and Abby's new boss, as it seems."

"Okay everybody", Commander Brooks said, "let's get down to business. Someone please fill me in on this King homicide and its connection to the Rodriguez case from last week."

Each detective took a turn explaining the situation to the Commander, from the initial tip that lead them to the pawn shop to the discovery of Maxwell King's body in the upstairs apartment.

"Okay", Commander Brooks said, "Where's the Crime Lab on processing the van that was found?"

"I got off the phone with Maury Kerr from the lab just before we came over here, sir", Asher chimed in, "He and his technicians found a nine-millimeter handgun hidden under the driver's side floormat. He rushed it to Ballistics, who matched the bullet striations to the bullets taken from the late Ronaldo Rodriguez during the autopsy. That's our murder weapon. Plus, Maxwell King's fingerprints are all over it."

Commander Brooks nodded. "I see", he said, "I'll call the State's Attorney and tell him that the Rodriguez murder has a prime suspect in the form of Mister Maxwell King. What progress are you making in the King homicide?"

Harrison took a moment to look over the fingerprint report that Dobbs had passed along to him before replying. "Well sir", he said, "According to this, the lab found fingerprints on the lamp used to bludgeon Mister King, which also match an overabundance of prints found all over the apartment. The suspect's name is Maurice Vega. He's a twenty-six-year-old Hispanic male, five-foot-three, weighing about one-thirty. Rap sheet indicates several thefts, numerous drug possession collars, and three armed robberies: a jewelry shop and two convenience stores. This guy looks like a thug for hire."

"And a cocaine addict", Machado added, "The power of any addiction is quite strong. If I had to guess, that's what Vega and King struggled over in the apartment. I certainly don't mean to be insensitive here, but obviously Mister King wasn't victorious in that scuffle."

"So", Commander Brooks theorized, "Maxwell King impulsively kills Ronaldo Rodriguez on the street last Monday, only to be killed over a bunch of cocaine by some thug a week later. Were there any bags of cocaine missing from the apartment?"

Asher shook her head. "There's no way to definitively tell, sir", she said, "We secured at least twelve bags at the scene and logged them in as evidence downstairs. Vega could've stolen a thirteenth bag before or after killing King and took off with it, but there's no way to tell for sure unless we find him."

Commander Brooks nodded in agreement. "Then that's what we'll have to do", he replied, "I'd appreciate if all you Homicide folks would hit the streets and look for Maurice Vega. I want an investigative alert and a flash message put out over the Citywide channel as soon as possible. I want any addresses associated with him to be checked out. Asher and Machado, check with all known dealers in The Wards and see if Vega's been coming by their corners looking to score."

Everyone filed out and got to work doing what the Commander had requested of them. Harrison's cell phone vibrated. He checked it and found that it was an urgent text message from Dr. Neal Bartholomew, the head of the CtOS task force. He hustled over to the Captain's office and stuck his head in the open doorway.

"Captain?" Harrison said.

Captain Broussard looked up from his desk. "Yes, Detective?" he asked.

"I hate to have to duck out like this, sir", Harrison said with a remorseful look on his face, "but the head of the CtOS task force just texted me. He wants me to report in to the CtOS Control Center. May I?"

Broussard nodded. "By all means", he said reassuringly, "Sunny and the guys will be busy for a while, anyway. If we need you, I'll call. Otherwise, we'll see you tomorrow morning."

A now comforted Harrison smiled. "Understood", he said, "Thanks so much for the latitude, Captain. I'll be here first thing tomorrow."

CtOS Control Center
The Wards
20 Minutes Later

The Wards' district CtOS Control Center looked to be very out of place, being that it was incredibly modern and high-tech building that sat in the middle of an otherwise low income, high crime neighborhood. Harrison drove his unmarked Chevy Impala police car up to the entrance gate, displaying his badge for the security guard in the boxy security shack.

"Detective Troy Harrison, CPD", he said to the guard, "Doctor Bartholomew is expecting me. I've been assigned to the task force."

"One second", the guard replied before picking up the receiver to a small wall phone inside the shack and briefly speaking to someone on the other line. He soon hung up and pressed the button to raise the security gate, waving him through. Harrison nodded at the guard out of gratitude and pulled the car into an open spot in the employee parking area at the front of the facility. He was in the process of walking toward the employee entrance door when he noticed a tall white man in his twenties coming toward him, dressed in a very professional looking brown button-down shirt and khakis.

"Detective Harrison, I presume?" the man asked.

"Yeah", Harrison replied, "that's me."

The man extended a hand. "Doctor Neal Bartholomew", he said, "I'll be your supervisor here at CtOS. Welcome to the task force."

Harrison reciprocated the doctor's gesture, shaking his hand firmly. "Thank you, Doctor. I hope I'm able to help you guys out."

"I'm sure you will, Detective", Bartholomew replied, "I hope you're ready for one long night."