Chapter 31: Promotions and Surprises
Office of Chief Reynard Sacco
LSPD Headquarters
Rockford Hills
The Next Morning
6:30 AM
Sergeants Harrison and Xander had been summoned in early the next morning by Chief Sacco to discuss something that they both assumed was very important. With the two of them both now dressed in full uniform attire, they entered the chief's office foyer to find that not even his assistant, Brooke, had arrived for work yet. Harrison knocked softly on Sacco's office door.
"Come on in, gentlemen" Sacco cordially said from the opposite side of the door.
The two sergeants entered the office and were both mutually surprised to find that both Captain Ella Gilligan and Lieutenant Brian Wong were also present in the room, both of whom were seated on the small black leather couch that sat to the right of Sacco's desk. Gilligan, like Harrison and Xander, was dressed in her black LSPD uniform. Wong, meanwhile, was dressed in his usual business attire with his tweed suit jacket, white button-down shirt, khaki slacks, and brown loafers.
"Good morning to you both", Chief Sacco affably greeted as he motioned to the two leather-upholstered chairs that sat directly in front of his desk, "Thank you both for making it in so early this morning. Please have a seat."
Harrison and Xander both nodded silent greetings to the captain and the lieutenant as they took their respective seats. "…And a 'good morning' to you all as well", Harrison said before looking to Sacco, "I'm sorry, Chief, but I think I speak very respectfully for both Adam and myself when I say that I don't think either of us was expecting a meeting with the command staff this morning."
"We're sorry to kind of spring this on you, boys" Lieutenant Wong pleasantly interjected, "But some job opportunities have recently come up in the department. The chief, Captain Gilligan and myself met privately earlier this week and have unanimously decided to recommend the two of you for the positions."
A now interested Xander leaned forward in his chair. "What positions?" he asked.
"I assume that the two of you have seen the Weasel News story about the retirement of Liberty City's Police Commissioner, Matt Fitzsimmons", Sacco said.
Both men nodded affirmatively. "Yes", Harrison replied, "I understand that his Deputy Commissioner, Jon Atkinson, is being tapped to replace him."
"That's right", Wong added, "Which brings us to these two positions here at LSPD. You both know that I'm originally from Liberty City. I grew up in the Rotterdam Hill section of Broker. As a matter of fact, Jon Atkinson and I were in the same graduating class at Rotterdam Heights High. He's an old friend of mine."
"That's interesting", Xander cut in, "But where's this going?"
"Lieutenant Wong has been offered the chance to return to Liberty City and become the new Deputy Commissioner of the LCPD under new Commissioner Atkinson", Captain Gilligan bluntly clarified.
Happy for his friend and former boss, Xander grinned. "Wow", he said as he extended a hand to Wong, "That sounds like an awesome opportunity, Brian. Have you decided to accept it?"
Wong reciprocated Xander's kind gesture by firmly returning his handshake. "I'm afraid I have", he said, "Yes."
"Captain Gilligan and I jointly accepted the lieutenant's letter of resignation just before the two of you arrived", Sacco added, "That leaves the position open for a new commanding officer in our Homicide Division."
With that, Wong looked Xander squarely in the eye. "I want you to return to the Detective Division, Adam" he said, "I want you to be my successor and take command of Homicide."
An equally flattered and astonished Xander nervously smirked in response. "Me?" he said, "Be the new lieutenant in Homicide?"
"Well," Gilligan cut in, "I guess we should clarify. If you accept the offer, we would amend your rank to 'Detective Sergeant' and you could return to Homicide as their acting squad commander. You would still receive the same pay scale as any other sergeant in the department for the time being. If, at a later date, you would want to take the Lieutenant's Exam, you could."
"That sounds awesome", Xander replied, "And I'd love the opportunity. But both Troy and I still have young officers to train."
"We thought of that", Sacco said as he simultaneously flipped open two separate file folders, "I see here that both of your trainees are doing well in their training and are almost through with their probationary allotments."
"Yes sir", Harrison said, "As a matter of fact, Officer Fostenberg and I have already had that discussion. He expressed interest in transferring over to the station at Vespucci Beach and working the daytime foot post once his training is up."
"I've had my discussion with Officer Horowitz as well, Chief" Xander commented, "She said that she'd like to stay on the dayshift at LSPD Vinewood and drive a patrol unit by herself."
Sacco approvingly nodded. "Very interesting", he said to Xander, "Sleep on the lieutenant's offer for a day or two and then come back and see me."
"Yes sir" Xander replied, "Will do."
Chief Sacco then shifted his regard to Harrison. "Now on to you, Mister Harrison" he said. "Just so you're aware", he began explaining, "This whole 'Fitzsimmons/Atkinson' thing in Liberty City got me thinking. As of now, we don't have an actual position in the LSPD for a Chief Detective. Theoretically, a Chief Detective would be someone who acted a go-between between the members of every detective squad and Headquarters. Since every squad has its own designated squad commander, the Chief Detective would work closely with each of them and supervise certain field operations as needed."
A captivated Harrison grinned with considerable interest. "And you'd like me to be Los Santos' first ever Chief Detective?" he asked.
"I think you would make a great one, yes" Sacco candidly replied before leaning back in his chair, "To be honest, we in the command staff have had our eyes on both of you gentlemen since you worked together in Homicide. Harrison, your past experience as an FBI agent and profiler seemed to be instrumental not only in tracking and apprehending Peter Hephaestus, but also cluing us all in on those alleged Martin Madrazo murders."
"And Xander", Wong cut in, "Ever since you had your promotion to Detective and I welcomed you into Homicide, your street smarts and amazing people skills not only propelled our overall solve rate to the ninetieth percentile, but I'm willing to bet that your diligent case work lowered the homicide rate for the entire city."
"I appreciate that, Brian" Xander said, "I really do. But I had help, first from Raven Wolf Claw, then from Fred Archley, then from Troy, and now from Shelly Horowitz. None of us can do this alone, as I'm sure we all know by now."
After taking a beat, Harrison cleared his throat. "Chief?" he said.
"Yes, Sergeant?" Sacco responded.
"I've already made up my mind", Harrison said, "It'd be my honor to be LSPD's first Chief Detective."
Sacco pondered the statement for a moment before smiling. "Great", he said, "As soon as Officer Fostenberg's trainee period is up, your promotion will become official. When will that be again?"
"In about three weeks, sir" Harrison replied.
With that out of the way, Captain Gilligan spoke up. "By the way", she said, "Harrison, how's your head healing up?"
Harrison smirked awkwardly. "It's…" he replied with an initial nervous stammer, "It's healing up just fine, ma'am, thank you. The ER doctor at Sandy Shores Medical cleared me for full duty. There was no evidence that I sustained a concussion."
"That's good", Gilligan said, "Not to mention, lucky. Has there been any notable progress in Blaine County's investigation into your assault?"
"I spoke to both Sheriff Burton and Chief Deputy Pulaski in a teleconference call on the phone yesterday evening", Harrison replied, "In addition to the whole 'Johnny Klebitz' investigation, Trevor Phillips is also being sought out as an accessory to my assault. LSPD, Blaine County, and the San Andreas Highway Patrol are all on the lookout."
"They even did a crime story profile on him on Weasel News this morning", Xander added.
"But it wasn't actually this Phillips guy who hit you over the head", Sacco said, "Is that right?"
"Yes sir", Harrison said, "Trevor was standing in front of me when I was struck from behind on the right side of my head. Apparently, my assailant used a drug lab beaker on me."
"Ouch", Gilligan said, "Any ideas as to who your attacker was?"
"Gordon Pulaski is running all of Phillips' known associates as we speak", Harrison said, "According to him, it's a veritable laundry list of unsavory characters. I'm going to give him a call before Fostenberg and I step out for lunch and see what progress he's made."
"How'd Blaine County end up getting called there in the first place?" Wong asked.
"Jeb Hewitt", Xander replied, "He's the daytime clerk at Ace Liquors. He dialed nine-one-one when he heard Troy and Phillips fighting upstairs. My friend, Enid McGee, was one of the responding volunteer paramedics. She called me when she found Troy's badge and ID in his pocket and recognized the name."
"While we're on the subject", Sacco cut in, "Harrison. Would you mind please explaining to us what motivated your tactical decision to shoot a refrigerator door?"
Harrison gave a half-hearted smirk in response. "Trevor Phillips was about to run. It was a split-second decision, sir. I had no time to think."
"I see", Sacco said, "Very good." The chief then stood up from his seat and mutually extended a hand to his two sergeants. "I think that's all for now, gentlemen" he continued, "You're welcome to go and get your shifts started."
Harrison was the first to reciprocate the chief's handshake. "Thank you for considering us, Chief" he said with a tone of considerable tone of gratitude in his voice.
Xander then took his turn. "Yes", he said to Sacco on the heels of Harrison's words, "Thank you, Chief. He and Harrison both gave Gilligan and Wong thankful handshakes, then turned and both started going toward the door.
"Adam?" Wong said.
Xander then turned to face his former lieutenant. "Yeah, Brian?" he responded.
"I really would love for you to run Homicide in my absence", Wong said, "Please don't take too long to consider my offer."
Xander pondered the repeated offer before empathetically nodding in response. The two sergeants then went out the door together.
Shenanigan's Bar
Strawberry Avenue, Mission Row
Later That Afternoon
12:30 PM
Harrison and Officer Fostenberg were seated across from one another in a booth at Shenanigan's Bar, a loosely Irish-themed pub and grill on Strawberry Avenue in Mission Row, which wasn't far from LSPD's South-Central station. Harrison dined on a Baked Corn Beef Brisket sandwich, while Fostenberg nursed a miniature Shepherd's Pie and both men drank ginger ales.
"'Chief Detective', huh, Sarge?" Fostenberg inquired.
Harrison gave a playful smirk in retort. "Yeah", he replied before clearing his throat. "Declan", he continued with a more serious tone, "I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of you. As I'm sure you remember, I initially had my doubts when you came into my office that day. You looked like a smug rich kid who was trying to play cop and look good for the media. However, I sorely misjudged you and I can't tell you how sorry I am for doing that."
Fostenberg held up his hands. "Hey", he said, "I don't hold any grudge against you, Sarge. I think on that particular day I probably was wondering the same thing about myself."
"Even so", Harrison replied, "My early impressions were dead wrong. You're a good cop and a damn good guy."
Fostenberg extended a hand to his field training officer. "Right back at you, Chief Detective Harrison!" he said.
Harrison shook Fostenberg's hand and smiled. "Has Captain Gilligan given you any word as to whether or not your transfer to Vespucci Beach will go through?" he asked as they broke the handshake.
"She put in a good word with Sergeant Tommy Kim", Fostenberg replied, "He's the dayshift supervisor over there. She told me that my chances of getting it are really good."
"That'd be awesome if you did, buddy" Harrison said, "That's got to be one of the best police beats in Los Santos. You definitely earned it."
Their conversation was abruptly interrupted by the ringing of Harrison's cell phone. "Sergeant Harrison", he answered.
"Hello Sergeant", a woman's voice answered from the other end of the line, "My name is Doctor Prisha Karanevaala. I'm the Medical Director here at the Lake Vinewood Health and Rehabilitation Center in Vinewood Estates." The woman's accent sounded like an interesting mix of Indian and British.
"Good afternoon, ma'am" Harrison warmly greeted, "How can I help you?"
"We have a patient here who just recently awoke from a comatose state", Dr. Karanevaala explained from her end of the line, "He was transferred over from Pillbox Hill Medical Center about three weeks ago. His chart noted that he was the subject of a police investigation and your contact information is what we have listed."
"I see", Harrison said into the phone, "What is this patient's name?"
"Ahron Ward", Dr. Karanevaala replied, "He suffered a traumatic brain injury as the result of two gunshot wounds to the back of his head."
Harrison sighed. "His name rings a bell", he said, "Some colleagues and I investigated his shooting several weeks ago. I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Alright", Dr. Karanevaala replied, "I look forward to meeting with you. Thank you."
"Thank you as well, Doctor" Harrison said, "I'll see you soon." With that, he just as abruptly hung up his phone and looked to Fostenberg.
"What's up?" Fostenberg asked.
"Do me a favor", Harrison said, "Call Adam Xander over at LSPD Vinewood and see if he can meet us at a place called the Lake Vinewood Health and Rehabilitation Center in Vinewood Estates."
"You got it, Sarge" Fostenberg replied as he took out his own cell phone, "Why?"
"Somebody's apparently back from the dead", Harrison flatly said.
[Author's Note: In the next chapter, after Harrison, Fostenberg, and Xander check on Ahron Ward, we will be starting a two-part event where Harrison and Detective Wolf Claw stumble upon the Paleto Bay bank heist. Stay tuned!]