Fallout
Chapter 8
The Journal of John Nolan
Ow ow ow! Everything hurts. According to the doctors, nothing is broken, but you couldn't prove it by me. Of course, being out of the hospital helps. At least I can sleep in my own bed – with Bailey. But my best moment in all of this was when she climbed into my hospital bed with me and whispered that I got him – meaning our serial arson murderer.
I believe that Bailey was almost as happy that Fred Mitchell was exonerated as that I managed to cuff Marcus before I passed out. So Fred's family can take comfort that he was a firefighter hero. And Bailey knows that she put her faith in the right mentor. So now, both the LAFD and LAPD can move on to more mundane challenges. I could use some mundane for a while. So could Bailey.
Until she gets the OK to go back to work, she's cooking and baking up a storm. She's good at it too. But if this goes on too long, I'll need to work out like crazy just to lose the weight, never mind getting back to full strength.
I'm supposed to go back to work next week. I'm both nervous and looking forward to it. I'll be on the desk until I'm cleared for full duty. But I'll also be working as the union rep. A contingent led by Aaron Thorsen came to the hospital to give me the good news. Since she was my first booster, I would have expected Angela, but she called and said Wesley is in trouble with Elijah Stone. He got a vicious beatdown, and things can only get worse.
Angela is spending every moment she can spare away from little Jackson, trying to gather enough evidence to nail Elijah. Of course, Wesley could testify against him, but that wouldn't keep Stone from making bail and going after not only Wesley but Angela and the baby. Wesley's not willing to risk it. In his place, I'm not sure I would either.
Family is everything. Henry seems to think so too. Despite wanting to avoid hospitals as much as possible, he and Abigail showed up to see me. He also dropped in on my professor at the university and got my assignments, so I wouldn't fall behind. Unfortunately, I had to wait until I could see straight again to work on them. Still, I think killer firebug Marcus gave me a whole new insight into psychopathic behavior. If there's an upside to being tortured, I suppose that's it.
Harper is doing whatever she can to support Angela's investigation into Elijah. Business at the aquarium supply store is increasing. Nyla and Aaron are making as many pass bys as they can to pick up on something, anything. But Elijah isn't showing his face. Still, if he even hints at any illegal activity that close to Wesley's office, they'll be on top of it.
I'm working my way through the books Bradford gave me about being a TO. Unfortunately, some of them are outdated. For example, the descriptions of life in the shop don't include body cams. But I don't believe the dynamic between mentor and boot has changed much. It's just recorded a little better.
I'm wondering how much the dynamic between Tim and Lucy has changed. Lucy seems determined to compete with him. They're still arguing about who won the bet about finding the treasure. They set up Grey to make the determination, but he declared a tie. If they were on the playground, they could punch each other in the arm and call it a day. But I'm sure that Lucy will come up with a new contest. And I'm equally sure that playing games like that is not something Tim would recommend. But I doubt that he ever dealt with anyone like Lucy before.
And speaking of Lucy, she said she heard Tim talking on the phone to someone she thinks is his sister. Or maybe she hopes it's his sister. Her hackles rise every time he talks to a woman. And she's still smarting about him dating Jerry's daughter Ashley.
Lucy's attitude about Tim is totally irrational, but then when are feelings ever rational? She knows that any romance with him, while he's her commanding officer, is totally out of bounds. Not only is it against regs, but it would mark her and ruin him. He'd be lucky to keep his sergeant's stripes. Hell, she was going to drop me if I hadn't dropped her first. And as equals, our relationship didn't actually violate any regulations. It would simply have been viewed as bad judgment. So while doing her best to climb the career ladder, she seems to constantly veer toward sabotaging her rise. But I suspect she'll manage to keep a lid on her crush on teacher for his good if not for hers. If there's one thing I know about Lucy, it's that she's always trying to help somebody with something. And helping Tim would be at the top of her list.
John's been standing at the desk for an hour when his legs start seriously reminding him that he still has healing to do. He's hoping for an intriguing request that will get his mind off the pain, but so far, the duty's been pure routine. That is until the moment that a woman walks up holding a small tank with a fish that appears to be dead. "I want to report a poisoning."
"Yes, Ma'am. Who was poisoned?"
The complainant snorts. "Can't you see? Goldilocks. I went to get her food at Stone Castle Aquarium supplies. But the idiot clerk told me they were out of it and insisted what he sold me was better. But Goldilocks died as soon as she ate it. So it must have been poison."
"Ma'am," Nolan replies as gently as he can, "my son must have had at least 10 goldfish when he was growing up. They die all the time. Couldn't it have been a coincidence? Uh, wait! Did you say Stone Castle Aquarium Supplies? On Hollywood Boulevard?"
"That's the one."
"All right. Now – what is your name?"
"Amelia Kingston."
"And I'm Officer Nolan. Ms. Kingston, I want you to think. Aside from being out of your regular fish food, was there anything else unusual about Stone Castle?"
"Maybe. There was a whole line of people there for fish antibiotics. Some folks take those when they can't go to the doctor, because they're supposed to be identical to what you get with a prescription. But I've never seen that many people trying to buy them before. And the place smelled a little strange too."
"Strange how?" John prompts.
"Like chemicals, maybe. But I don't know what kind. They weren't anything I've ever put in an aquarium."
"Ms. Kingston, would you be willing to talk to a detective about what you saw and smelled there?"
"If it will keep those fish killers from poisoning anyone else."
"It just might, Ma'am. I'm going to call a Detective Lopez to come and speak with you. She should be out here in just a couple of minutes, but you can have a seat while you wait."
John pulls out his phone and keeps his voice as low as possible while he talks to Angela. "What she told me is nothing our people would have seen on a drive-by."
"Disguising drugs as fish medicine is a new one on me," Angela admits. "But Harper might have heard of it. So I'm going to pull her in on this."
"So maybe Elijah Stone has finally screwed up?" John queries.
"Damn!" Angela exclaims. "I hope so."