Chapter 25: City Cops & County Cops

[A/N: I'm going to be delving more into Trevor Phillips' background at some points, both in this chapter and the next. Some of these details reference things that Trevor said during the events of GTA V and the rest are just things that I inferred and am taking the liberty to expand upon for my own creative purposes.]

Technical Operations Section
LSPD Headquarters
Rockford Hills
The Next Morning
8:30 AM

The LSPD's Technical Operations Section, in actuality, was nothing more than a small side office on the first floor of LSPD Headquarters. The section was solely helmed and managed by Officer Lisa Maddox. Anytime an officer or detective needed anything done that involved extensive use of a computer or the internet besides a basic name or license plate query, Maddox was consulted. Her wide-ranging tech savvy, stoic focus, and almost obsessive-compulsive attention to detail made her a very unique and indispensable member of the force.

On this particular morning, as with most mornings, Officer Maddox sat at her desk that was outfitted with a bank of three high-definition computer monitors, where she often partook in several tasks at once. Maddox was a well-built brunette white woman in her late 30's of medium stature who was dressed in a black button-down polo shirt that had an embroidered LSPD badge logo on the left side of the chest with the words: "TECH OPERATIONS" embroidered underneath it in bolded uppercase white lettering, along with khaki cargo pants and black running shoes. The officer was suddenly started by the sound of someone tapping on her closed office door.

"Come on in", Maddox called out without removing her gaze and focus from her screens.

The door opened inward, at which point Sergeant Troy Harrison entered the small office, dressed in his uniform and holding a paper bag in one hand and a portable Styrofoam Bean Machine coffee cup in the other. "Good morning Lisa!" he cordially greeted.

With that, Officer Maddox paused her intricate and stony focus to turn her head and see Harrison into the room. "Sergeant Harrison!" she replied, "Good morning to you, sir. How can I help you?"

"Do you have some time to do a sort of 'off-the-books' deep dive on someone for me?" Harrison asked.

Maddox feigned a sigh. "I don't know, Sarge" she said, "I'm working on a credit card search, two Internet Protocol Number back traces, and have been searching the Vagos' Lifeinvader pages trying to pinpoint the potential victim of their next drive-by."

Catching on to Maddox's game, Harrison hung his head in feigned disappointment before bringing the bag and coffee cup over to the desk and setting them both down beside her. "Consider these an incentive then", he said.

Maddox then grabbed the paper bag and looked inside it, at which point she looked back to Harrison and smiled gleefully. "A grape jelly-filled donut from Rusty Brown's Ring Donuts!" she excitedly said.

Harrison pointed to the Bean Machine cup. "Not only that", he replied, "but this is a medium mocha latte from Bean Machine with a sprinkle of powdered cocoa on top."

"Sarge", Maddox said, "You're a prince! How'd you know?"

Harrison chuckled. "Declan Fostenberg is my field trainee. He's seen you having breakfast at the donut shop a few times."

"Okay", Maddox said as she turned back to her screens, "What do you need?"

Harrison retrieved his memo book from his pocket and flipped it open. "I need a deep background check on a guy named Trevor Phillips", he said as he read the name out loud, "He supposedly has a home address somewhere in Blaine County. I need you to check all available agency records if you would, please."

Maddox nodded and began typing rapidly. "Got it", she said. After a few minutes, a very detailed dossier on Trevor Phillips appeared on the center screen. "Okay", Maddox continued, "I've got Mister Trevor Phillips, date of birth June Sixth Nineteen-Sixty, home address is on Zancudo Avenue in Sandy Shores."

"Criminal history?" Harrison inquired.

Maddox scrolled down on her screen and appeared to be momentarily astonished by what she was seeing. "Wow", she said, "I'm getting record alerts from at least half a dozen law enforcement agencies on this guy. The Blaine County Sheriff's Office, San Andreas Highway Patrol, LSPD, DEA, The Blaine County Fire Marshal's Office, and it looks like even some police departments all the way up in Canada."

"Why Canada?" Harrison asked.

"His dossier says he was born in Montague, Prince Edward Island" Maddox explained, "By the looks of this, he spent a huge portion of his life up there."

"I actually have to get upstairs for a meeting", Harrison said, "Would you mind printing me out a hard copy of his records and sending everything up to my office, please?"

"You got it, Sarge" Maddox replied, "But as you see, there's a lot of it. It's going to take me a while with all the other stuff I'm working on."

"I'll be busy for the rest of the day", Harrison said, "So feel free to take your time if you need to." He then put a hand on Maddox's shoulder. "Thanks so much, Lisa" he continued, "You're awesome."

"Remember that when you're thinking of getting me breakfast next time!" Maddox said.

Leaving the office, Harrison went upstairs and entered the large conference room located at the end of a long hallway on the building's second floor. He was greeted by the surprising sight of what appeared to be nearly every law enforcement officer in that area of San Andreas. LSPD Chief of Police Reynard Sacco and Blaine County Sheriff Jack Burton stood beside one another at the head of the large elongated conference table. Sheriff Burton was a short, older white man appearing to be in his mid to late 50's who was dressed in his beige sheriff's uniform.

"Good morning Sergeant!" Chief Sacco warmly greeted.

"Morning, Chief" Harrison as he softly shut the conference room door and moved further into the room, "You'll have to excuse me. I didn't know we were expecting so many guests."

Sacco nonchalantly put both hands up. "Not a problem", he replied before turning to Sheriff Burton and gesturing back to Harrison. "Jack", he continued, "This is Sergeant Troy Harrison. He's our dayshift patrol supervisor here at Headquarters. He and some of his colleagues were the ones who first stumbled on to the events that have led us to call this meeting today."

Burton nodded to Harrison from across the table. "Good morning Sergeant", he said, "I've heard good things about you."

"Thank you, Sheriff" Harrison replied, "Chief Sacco and your deputies have all spoken highly of you as well, sir."

"If I may ask", Burton said, "Are any of Sergeant Harrison's colleagues present here in the room?"

From their seats on the left side of the table, both Dakota Michaels and Adam Xander raised a hand. Burton made a sort of selecting motion in Michaels' direction first. "And you are?" the sheriff inquired.

"Sergeant Dakota Michaels, sir" Michaels replied, "I'm the dayshift patrol supervisor over at LSPD's South-Central station in Mission Row. I'm also a member of the department's Tactical Unit where I currently serve as an entry team leader."

In the interim, Harrison took a seat beside Michaels at the table. "I see", Burton continued before motioning to Xander, "And you, young man?"

"Sergeant Adam Xander", Xander stated, "Dayshift patrol supervisor, LSPD Vinewood station. Sergeant Harrison and I were partners in the Homicide Unit at South-Central for a while."

"How did you all become involved with Ahron Ward?" Burton asked.

The three sergeants then took turns explaining the whole story to Sheriff Burton and all of the other officers in the room, starting with the La Puerta recycling center fire, continuing all the way through to their earlier encounter with Ahron Ward at the Pink Cage Motel in Alta, and finally getting to how Detective Wolf Claw had found Ahron as well as the subsequent vehicle fire that followed. Additionally, Harrison's theory about a possible tentative connection to the Vangelico jewelry heist was also brought up.

After everything had been better explained, San Andreas Highway Patrol Sergeant Carlos Bordilla raised his hand. Bordilla was a middle-aged Hispanic man with a dark-haired military buzzcut who was dressed in a beige and blue Highway Patrol uniform. "If I could just clarify things here", he said, "You think what happened to Ahron Ward may be connected to this 'Martin Madrazo' guy?"

"That's correct", Harrison said with a nod, "Yes. While Sergeant Xander and I were working together as homicide detectives, we stumbled onto a series of case files detailing several murders spanning several locations over the Southwestern United States over a period of two or so years. Through our ensuing research, we discovered that all of those murder victims had been associated with Martin Madrazo."

Chief Sacco then took an opportunity to chime in. "Both Sergeant Harrison and Sergeant Xander took the initiative to make me aware of what they had found at the time", he added, "I personally attended a meeting with them and supported their investigative efforts."

"These murders you've spoken of", Sheriff Burton said, "They were pretty much done with the same modus operandi of Ahron Ward's shooting, right?"

"Yes sir", Xander replied, "Ahron had been shot twice in the back of the head with a small caliber firearm, possibly a revolver, and was left with five one-hundred-dollar bills stuffed in his mouth."

"I guess my question is then", Burton said, "How do you want our agencies to cooperate and try to get ahead of all this?"

Chief Sacco spoke up once again. "Well," he said, "My suggestion would be that my officers take point on handling things here in the city, Blaine County handles their area, and Highway Patrol handles the roadways. However, if any of us happen to stumble onto any crimes that are similar to those that we've discussed here today, we must reconvene as soon as possible to compare notes."

After taking a moment to consider the suggestion, Sheriff Burton nodded. "So ordered", he said before motioning to Chief Deputy Gordon Pulaski, who sat at the right side of the conference table amongst his other Blaine County deputies. "Chief Deputy Pulaski", he continued.

"Yes, Sheriff?" Pulaski responded.

"If you're alright with it", Burton said, "I'm going to assign you the role of department liaison for this little impromptu task force we're putting together here. You'll check in with these good folks at the LSPD and Highway Patrol as regularly as possible."

"Certainly, sir" Pulaski replied without a second thought, "I'll be glad to do it."

"Then it's settled", Burton said before turning to Chief Sacco. "Who would you like to be the LSPD's representative in this, Rey?" he asked.

"Considering that they were the ones who came upon the whole 'Madrazo' lead in the first place", Sacco replied, "I'd like to appoint both Sergeants Harrison and Xander as our joint liaisons." The chief's gaze then turned to the two sergeants. "Gentlemen", he continued, "Are you both on board with that idea?"

"As long as that role doesn't impact my normal supervisory duties", Harrison said, "then yes, I'm on board."

"I agree with Troy", Xander added, "As long as we can still supervise our squads like usual, I'm all for it."

Highway Patrol Sergeant Bordilla then raised his hand. "I guess that leaves me to liaise for the Highway Patrol then, I take it?" he asked.

Sheriff Burton nodded in response. "If it's okay with the Highway Patrol commissioner", he replied, "then sure."

"Yes", Bordilla said, "About that, Commissioner Bradley asked me to apologize on his behalf for not making it to this meeting today. He's at a national highway patrol conference in Missouri and he won't be back for another few days."

"Not a problem", Burton added, "But if you talk to him, please advise him of all that we talked about today."

"Will do", Bordilla said.

Sergeant Harrison's cell phone then rang, at which point he then stood from his seat and politely excused himself, stepping to a corner of the room to quietly take the call. He returned to his seat roughly five minutes later with a very somber-looking expression on his face.

"Is everything all right, Sergeant Harrison?" Chief Sacco inquired.

"I wish I could say so, Chief" Harrison replied, "One of our suspects in the Vangelico store heist, Norm Richards, just died in the Intensive Care Unit at Mount Zonah. I guess the swelling in his brain worsened and he was pronounced brain dead. We were able to find his mother in Oklahoma and have her flown out here to see him. It looks like she made what she felt was the most necessary decision. He was Forty-Two years old."