Chapter 37: The Next Steps

Bayview Lodge
Procopio Promenade
Paleto Forest
Later That Day
4:30 PM

One of the coziest lodging destinations in Blaine County was the Bayview Lodge, a trio of log-cabin style buildings tucked away on the Procopio Promenade in the Paleto Forest just outside the town limits of Paleto Bay. Concentrating very much on providing the utmost comfort and convenience for their guests, the property featured a diner, general store, and an on-site laundry facility in addition to the main lodging building.

In Room #7, Anna Barakova sat up in the comfy queen-size bed reading a mystery novel. She was once again dressed in her go-to lounging outfit: a well-used Yale University sweatshirt, gray sweatpants, and white cotton bunny slippers.

The room's door was soon unlocked and came open, at which point Troy Harrison entered the room and shut the door behind him. Dressed in a long-sleeved white sweatshirt that featured the ironed-on green image of an elk with: "BAYVIEW LODGE" written across the front in green uppercase text as well as a dark gray sweatpants and gray slip-on shoes, Harrison held a Styrofoam take-out container in one hand and a cardboard drink carrier containing two paperboard coffee cups in the other.

"Hey babe", Harrison greeted as he kicked the door shut behind him with his foot, "Sorry it took me so long. The diner was packed with people. The owner told me that the Cluckin' Bell plant calls it quits every day around this time, so that's why they were so slammed."

Anna then sat up, swung her legs over the side of the bed, and stood up before going over to Harrison, at which point she gratefully wrapped her arm around him and kissed his cheek. "No problem, honey" she replied, "Are those my pancakes?"

Harrison set both the take-out container and the drink carrier on the small round table just beneath the room's side window. He then opened the take-out container's lid, revealing a very appetizing pair of buttermilk pancakes drenched in maple syrup. "Buttermilk pancakes", he said, "smothered in maple syrup per your request, my love. I got us each a cup of hot chocolate while I was at it."

"Oh", a gleeful Anna said as she sat down in front of her dinner and unwrapped the provided plastic silverware, "Troy Harrison, you are a prince. Thank you."

Harrison chuckled as he sat down across from his girlfriend at the table, sipping his hot chocolate. "You're so welcome!" he said.

Anna grinned as she noticed her boyfriend's new attire. "Nice shirt", she said with a giggle.

Harrison smirked. "Hey", he replied, "I had to do something while your food was cooking."

"You're not going to eat?" Anna asked.

Harrison shook his head. "I also had some bagels while I waited", he said, "I'm all set."

Harrison sat lingering in this laid-back time with his girlfriend before deciding to change the subject. "Hey babe", he said, "There's a part of me that really wants to leave work at work right now, but I wanted to ask you a question. Who's working at the Ballistics Lab during the night shift?"

Anna sipped her hot chocolate before replying. "Rosie Chesterman", she replied, "She's the lead ballistics tech on the night shift and she usually has two or three other techs working with her. Why?"

"I guess I'm just curious if she got down to analyzing Vlado Marks' revolver yet", Harrison said, "Highway Patrol called while I was at the diner to tell me they submitted it to the lab."

"Troy", Anna interjected, "You're a Los Santos cop. I don't think I have to tell you how many guns the PD submits per shift."

"No", he replied, "you don't."

Anna paused in her eating and sighed. "Look", she said, "If you don't her anything from the lab by tomorrow, I'll talk to the techs in Ballistics myself, okay?"

Harrison nodded agreeably. "I'd appreciate that, baby" he graciously said, "Thank you. And I'm sorry for being short with you just now."

Anna reached across the table and took Harrison's hand. "I love you", she sweetly said, "No snappy replies or shitty attitudes are ever going to change that."

Harrison was abruptly roused around 6:00 the next morning by the shrill sound of his cell phone ringing once again. After a grunt of frustration, he reached one hand over to the nightstand beside the bed and grabbed the phone before lifting his head off his pillow and looking at the screen. It was a text message that read: "Meet Michael, Franklin, and I at the pizzeria on the Del Perro Beach boardwalk near Red Desert Avenue. 6 PM tonight. Be there or be square, Piggy. -Trevor".

Anna then rolled over towards her boyfriend and opened her eyes. "Damn", she groggily said, "Your phone sure does ring a lot."

Putting the phone back down, Harrison turned towards Anna and stroked her face before giving her a deep, passionate kiss. "Well," he said after breaking their tenderhearted embrace, "I am the Chief Detective after all. It comes with the job."

Anna chuckled and gave him a warm smile. "Was that a text notification?" she inquired.

By this point, Harrison had his legs swung over the edge of the bed and was in the process of putting his dark gray sweatpants back on. "Yeah", he replied, "It was from one of my informants. He wants to meet up at Del Perro Beach later tonight. I'm hoping he has a lead for me on Vlado Marks."

Anna nodded as she too got up out of bed and began getting dressed. "I hope so too", she said, "It'll be a big weight off your shoulders once you catch his ass, huh?"

Harrison looked at his girlfriend and scoffed. "Definitely", he replied.

As Anna finished putting on her white cotton spaghetti-strap tank top, Harrison affectionately wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her cheek. "Sorry we've both been so busy lately, baby" he said, "What with my promotion, looking for Vlado Marks, and trying to put Martin Madrazo out of business, life really got in the way."

Anna chuckled. "I appreciate it, hun" she said, "I really do. Honestly, though, I think you made up for it quite well last night. Twice."

With that, the couple erupted into laughter and began packing their luggage.

Office of Detective Sergeant Adam Xander
LSPD Homicide
Mission Row
12:30 PM

Adam Xander, dressed in a charcoal business suit and black shoes, was just finishing doing some work on his office computer when he got a knock on his door.

"Come in", he said.

The office door came open and Chief Detective Troy Harrison walked in with some paperwork in his hand. Harrison was now dressed in his blue tweed suit on with his blue slip-on loafers. "Afternoon, Adam!" he warmly greeted as he sat down in the small chair opposite Xander's desk.

"Hey Troy", Xander replied, "Let me guess. You've got some more paperwork for me. What, does the chief need to see our mileage logs for his budget meeting or something?"

Harrison smirked. "Oh no", he said, "It's good news this time, bud, and for you in particular. I hear you and Dakota both took the Lieutenant's exam a week and a half ago."

Xander nodded. "We did", Xander replied before his disposition seemed to abruptly change on a dime. "Wait", he excitedly continued, "Is that…?"

Harrison put an official memorandum in front of Xander and smiled proudly. "Congratulations, Adam!" he said, "I'm happy to officially report that you and Dakota Michaels are the top two highest-placing Lieutenant applicants! Well done, Lieutenant!" He then extended a hand to his friend.

Xander glanced over the memo before reciprocating Harrison's handshake. "Thank you, Chief Harrison! You made my day!"

Harrison nodded and broke the handshake to sit back down in the chair. "I know that this is probably a stupid question at this point, man" he said, "But after your promotion officially goes through, do you still want to stay on here at Homicide?"

"Absolutely", Xander replied without reservation, "I know I was kind of apprehensive about being the boss before Brian Wong left, but I've really gotten used to the role over these last few weeks. Plus, Gwendolyn, Clayton and Wolf Claw are all working really well together."

"Glad to hear it", Harrison said, "I'm curious, though. Has Dakota said anything about where he'd like to end up?"

"Captain Gilligan asked him that same question right after we took the exam", Xander explained, "He said that he'd like to continue doing double-duty here at South-Central doing both Patrol and Tactical Unit."

"Noted", Harrison replied as he got up from the chair and headed toward the door, "I'll stop by the Patrol bullpen downstairs and check in with him before I clock out tonight."

"Okay", Xander said, "Thanks again, Troy."

"No problem, Lieutenant Xander!" Harrison replied, saying his friend's new rank with a noticeably deliberate amount of blatant prominence in his voice before leaving his office and shutting the door behind him.

Red Desert Avenue
Del Perro Beach
Later That Night
5:55 PM

Harrison arrived at the Del Perro Beach boardwalk five minutes before Trevor Phillips' requested meeting time of 6:00 PM. Now dressed in a black Nirvana t-shirt and faded blue jeans, he spotted Michael De Santa, Trevor Phillips, and Franklin Clinton all seated around a picnic table in front of the small beachfront pizzeria that Trevor had mentioned in his earlier text message. The metal gate over the pizzeria's front window indicated to Harrison that it had apparently closed for the evening.

"Good evening, gentlemen" Harrison greeted as he sat down at the picnic table beside Franklin. The two men bumped fists as they often did.

"What's up, Harrison?" Franklin replied, "Thanks for showing up, homie." Franklin was clad in a white Los Santos Panic jersey and matching shorts with very new-looking white sneakers.

"So why have you guys dragged my ass out here to this beautiful beach?" Harrison asked.

Dressed in a camouflage-print tank top with matching camo hunting pants and light brown boots, Trevor set a file folder out in front of the off-duty Chief Detective. "I called in a favor with my friend Maude back in Sandy Shores", he began explaining, "She works as a bounty hunter. I explained our…uhhhh…'unique predicament' to her and in exchange for doing her a few favors for her in return, she supplied us with three perps we could use to throw your cops a bone and buy us time."

"Hold up", Harrison cut in with both hands up, "Hold up. You guys are thinking of framing three randomly-picked assholes for some shit that you did?"

Michael then cut in. He was dressed in a light blue polo shirt with blue and white surf shorts and white flip-flips. "No", he said, "We're simply wondering if we could use these dudes for you to float a lead to your cops and buy us some time."

"Time for what?" an increasingly frustrated Harrison asked.

"You said that you and your guys were on the lookout for Vlado Marks, right?" Franklin inquired, "Hoping that he'll lead y'all to Martin Madrazo?"

"Right", Harrison replied.

"Well," Trevor said, "With all due respect to your fellow piggies, Mister Harrison, their rather linear ways of thinking are about as useful as a fart in a tornado compared to the seemingly infinite and potentially useful street smarts of a homeboy from South LS, a retired bank robber with a nice house in Rockford Hills, and a smart enterprising Blaine County businessman like myself. Especially given this atypical situation."

Harrison chuckled. "I must be losing my squash", he said, "Because in his crazy 'Trevor' way, this guy's actually making sense for once." He then sighed deeply. "Alright, fellas" he continued as he flipped open the folder and took out the first piece of paper, "What'd you got?"

"Darrell Molvado", Trevor explained, "Twenty-eight years old. He's originally from Illinois. He jumped bail after getting busted for setting fire to an outdoor trash can. Maude has good reason to believe he's hiding out with his aunt at her farm in Grapeseed."

Harrison nodded and looked to the second profile, grimacing at the unsettling appearance of the second subject. "Damn", he said, "There's a face only a mother could love. Who's this putz?"

"Freddie Zatruc", Franklin said, "He's a fifty-year-old coke dealer from South Carolina. Jumped bail after the sheriffs there found ten kilos of premium-grade powder stashed inside his driver's seat."

Harrison scoffed. "Sounds like someone we know", he said.

Trevor rolled his eyes and ignored Harrison's passive jab. "Anyway", he said, "Maude thinks that this Zatruc guy is hiding out with the Lost MC bikers at their trailer park in Stab City.

Harrison nodded once again and flipped to the last page, the image on which showed a clean-cut-looking white man in a nice collared shirt. "What'd this clown do?" he asked, "Skip out on his taxes or something?"

"Appearances can be deceiving, Harrison" Michael interjected, "That's forty-seven-year-old Pierre Voleur from Maine. He apparently jumped bail after robbing a Canadian tourist at gunpoint. He got away with a four-hundred-and-forty-nine-dollar digital camera and approximately five-hundred dollars of the guy's cash."

"Damn", Harrison said, "Nice guy."

"I know, right?" Trevor said, "Not even I would be that stupidly brazen. Maude's informants all say that Monsieur Voleur here has been hitchhiking up and down the Grand Senora Desert for the last six weeks or so, so he may be a little harder to track down."

"No worries", Harrison said, "I'll pass these guys' profiles along to my detectives in the morning. The question is, how are we going to go after Marks and Madrazo?"

"I say we go straight to the source", Michael said, "We hit the Madrazo house. Hard. More than likely, your boy Vlado is hiding out there since you and Franklin made that surprise visit to his earlier hiding spot."

"I like that idea", Harrison replied, "But I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that without looping in the LSPD. Plus, we're going to need an inconspicuous car and a shit ton of weapons and supplies."

"I can get us the weapons and supplies", Trevor interjected, "My buddy Melvin from the Ammunation in Sandy Shores can hook us up. What I'm wondering is, how are you going to sell our involvement in this to your LSPD pals?"

Harrison shrugged his shoulders. "I'll just tell them that we'll be using an outside team as backup. I think I can get us a car, too. Give me a second." He then took out his cell phone and briefly stepped away to make the call.

Franklin, Michael, and Trevor all exchanged looks after Harrison got up from the table. "Franklin", Trevor said, "Can we really trust this Harrison guy? I mean, how do we know he won't have a SWAT team waiting for us tomorrow?"

"Harrison's a good cop, T" Franklin replied, "But one thing he absolutely isn't is a snitch. If he's willing to go along with our weird plan of using those three dudes as scapegoats, he's definitely got our back."

By that point, Harrison returned to the table and sat back down. "Okay", he said, "I found us a car. I just talked to one of my detectives. Her stepdad owns Hayes Autos on Little Bighorn Avenue in Strawberry. He's willing to fix up a beat-up old van for us free of charge."

"Cool", Michael said, "Let's meet there tomorrow morning. Let's say nine-thirty?"

"Sounds good", Harrison replied.

"Right on", Franklin added.

"Alright then", Trevor added, "I'll call Lester and have him meet us there too. Harrison, e-mail me a list of those weapons and supplies we'll need and I'll bring them to the auto shop tomorrow."

"Will do", Harrison said as he got up from the table and waved goodbye, "See y'all tomorrow."

[Author's Note: A couple of things to unpack here. First, I know that Harrison going along with the whole scapegoat thing kind of makes him look bad. But I just put that in to show that nobody in the GTA universe is neither purely good or purely bad. As any of us who have played the games (especially GTA V) know, that universe as a whole is one big, interpretive gray area. Secondly, in case you were wondering, yes, that scene in Xander's office was a little tacked on at the last minute. I wanted to show Xander's evolution as a character. Finally, Happy Holidays to you and yours! I'm going to take a few days to celebrate with my family and then get back to writing right afterwards. I hope to have this whole thing wrapped up by New Year's, so stay tuned! Thank you everybody for your support thus far!]