Burbank and Lankershim, Jim had chosen this restaurant without much thought. This was where he had his first dinner as a full-fledged policeman; where he learned that Pete was quitting that night. Over the years they rode together, Jim occasionally wondered where both of them would be today, if they hadn't made a connection. What kind of a cop would he be without Pete's guidance? Who could he count on to be there for his family if the worst happened? Would he even be alive if Pete hadn't been around to watch his back? Also, what would have happened to Pete it he did resign?
The forty-five minutes allotted for lunch seemed to slide by. During which, Jim related the tale of his visit to the bank at Leland Way and Comstock; Kasak hanging on his every word. Jim left out most of what happened in the bank, preferring to focus on Pete's heroics. Larry met Pete when he was helping out the shooting instructor at the academy, but didn't know much about him. Early on in the shift, he had confessed to Jim that Pete terrified him. Jim laughed, telling the rookie that he wasn't alone in being afraid of Malloy.
After Kasak cleared them, Jim launched into the topic of safety. He stressed the need for Kasak to obey all his orders without question; how dangerous it was to go off on your own before you are ready.
"My training officer would have had my butt in a sling if I took off half-cocked. Whatever reason you might have isn't a good enough reason." Actually, when Jim ran off that first night, Pete was so mad that he looked like he was considering using the shotgun he was holding. It was a few years later that Pete admitted that the presence of witnesses had saved Jim. That and the fact that there is "too much paperwork involved when you shoot your rookie" also factored into Pete's somewhat restrained response.
"What if I run after someone I think might be getting away? Shouldn't I try and catch them?" The kid was a typical rookie; eager, anxious, innocent and stupid.
"Don't think. It's when you start thinking before you're supposed to think that you think yourself dead." Pete had told that to him on their first night together. Why not quote the expert?
"At the Academy they…." One look at the expression on Jim's face was enough to cut off whatever Kasak meant to say.
"The lessons taught at the Academy and in the street are very different. One is law and procedures and the other is survival." Deep down, Jim knew that being told this once wasn't going to be enough; it hadn't been enough for him but he had to try. Kasak needed to learn this lesson; if he didn't, he could end up being killed.
"I promise I won't run off." It was an earnest promise. One Jim was sure Kasak would forget in the excitement of a call; they all do. Was that how Pete's last partner was killed? As much as he wanted to know what had happened in that warehouse, it was the one thing Pete never talked about. Out of respect for Pete, no one ever mentioned Andrew Baxter
"Yes, you will. I did, twice, and I almost learned my lesson the hard way." Jim and Pete had been partnered for about three weeks when they stumbled upon a drug deal in progress. The two men split up and Pete went after the dealer. Jim's orders were to radio for back-up and stay put, but the buyer was still in sight. "I went after the buyer instead of staying with the unit. I followed him over a tall concrete barrier. The guy was waiting for me on the other side and I froze. All I could see was that gun pointed at my chest. That's when Pete showed up."
"You're lucky he found you. Was he mad?" Kasak was eager to hear all the details; this was the kind of cautionary tales cadets heard at the academy. Some cadets thought those stories were made up to scare them.
"Mad? He was spitting nails." Jim could laugh at it now, but at the time, he was sure that Pete was going to recommend that he be dismissed. "Pete yelled at me for fifteen minutes; talk about being terrified. I was sweating down to my socks."
"Did that happen a lot?"
"What, getting yelled at by Malloy? He didn't usually raise his voice, but, yeah I got a lot of very strong lectures." Pete was the only person Jim knew that could yell at you in a whisper.
"No. Did he save your life more than twice?" There was an under-current of worry in the young cop's voice; would Jim be there for him?
"I lost count of how many times Malloy pulled my bacon out of the fire. It's part of the TO's job." Jim hadn't voiced the fear that he wouldn't be able to keep Kasak safe; though it was there.
O~O~O
"Take a look at that." Jim was pointing towards a teenage girl on a bicycle that was coming their way. "I don't believe it."
"How is she doing that?" Kasak's voice echoed the amazement in Jim's. They watched as she made a perfect turn onto a side street, without using her hands. She couldn't hold on to the handle bars because she was carrying an ice cream cone in each hand. "Are we going to stop her?"
"I suppose we have to; even if she is the best bike rider I've ever seen." How to stop her was the problem. Jim didn't want to startle her by using the siren or horn and he didn't think she would notice the reds if he turned them on. "I'll pull the car up beside her and you tell her to pull over to the curb." Both officers were laughing at the sight. Not only was she carrying two cones, she was calmly licking rainbow sprinkles off the one in her right hand.
"Ah…Miss, would you please stop riding so we can talk to you?" For some reason, Kasak was starting to blush. This wasn't the kind of caper he had dreamed of when he applied to the police academy. The girl nodded, put her left hand on top of the handle bar and slowly brought the bike to a stop; careful not to drop either cone in the process.
"This one is all yours." Jim wanted to see how the rookie was going to deal with this problem. This was another thing that Pete hadn't taught him how to deal with.
"Why did you stop me? If I don't get to my cousin's house soon, her cone will melt all over my hand." She ran her tongue along the top edge of her cone; catching some of the sprinkles before they dropped to the ground.
"We stopped you because it isn't safe to ride a bike no handed while eating an ice cream cone. You could get hurt." Kasak wasn't even sure there was a law covering this.
"I won't get hurt; I do this all the time. Can I go now?" She put her right foot on the bike pedal; clearly dismissing the young officer.
"We can't let you ride your bike like that Miss…what is your name?" If Kasak was looking for Jim to help him out, he would surely be disappointed.
"Terry Pittman. Oh shoot, the cones are dripping on my jeans. I gotta go." She pressed down on the right pedal and began to ride away. Kasak was running behind the bike yelling at her to stop; Jim couldn't stop laughing. The girl was leaving Kasak in the dust.
"Do you want me to call in a foot pursuit?" Jim had gotten back into their unit and pulled up alongside the still running rookie. Kasak shook his head and continued to chase the girl, who made a left turn at the next intersection. By the time Kasak reached the corner, the girl was nowhere in sight.
"Do we have to report this? I mean, we didn't accomplish anything; she got away." Dejected, Kasak jerked the car door open, tossed his hat in the back seat, slid in and slammed the door shut.
"It happened, didn't it?" Kasak noted it in the log book while Jim performed a circle search in hopes of finding the girl. "Don't worry; my name will be on the report too. Mac Donald can laugh at both of us."
O~O~O
"You would have been right at home during the Spanish Inquisition, do you know that?" Pete was only halfway through his physical therapy session and complaining was his way of diverting his attention from the pain. Nick St. John, today's therapist was working on Pete's right leg; forcing him to bend the knee as much as possible. The wound was healing nicely, but the muscles needed to be stronger in order to support his weight.
"I aced Torture 101 in college. Stretching people on the rack was my specialty." Nick had been treating Pete long enough to not take anything he said personally. He actually found Pete easier to work with than most; despite his griping Pete was motivated by a desire to return to his career.
"I always wanted to be taller. It helps when you can look down at a rookie." Pete took the small barbell that Nick held out to him and started working on his left arm; raising it to his shoulder then back down. It was only two pounds, but it was all that Pete could handle.
"Sorry, I left my rack back home. Perhaps you could try wearing high heels." Nick was using a rolling pin-like device on his leg to help reduce any residual swelling. "Slower Pete, control the lifting."
"I doubt that they sell pumps in my size." Pete grimaced in pain, but he kept on lifting the barbell to his shoulder; until he heard Jean's voice.
"There might be a few available, in a clown shop." She was smiling, but he heard an undercurrent of animosity, perhaps, in her voice.
"We're done for the day. If you can, keep using the weight for another ten minutes." Nick gathered up his things and nodded to Jean as he left. "I'll send the nurse in with your pain meds."
"Tomorrow, can you come after the shot, not before it?" An "I'll try" was the best Pete could get in response.
"Hi Jean, I wasn't expecting you today." He watched as Jean set a package of crackers and a banana on the night stand. Pete thought she would take a seat, but instead she began to pace.
"I wanted to talk to you, without Jim around." There it was again, the serious tone bordering on anger. "It's about Jim."
"Is something wrong with Jim? He seemed fine yesterday." Pete had a feeling where this was going, but decided it was better to wait for Jean to speak; it might not be what he expected. He was still working with the barbell with his left arm.
"He was not fine yesterday! How could you do that to him?" She stopped pacing, spun on a foot and seared Pete with eyes angrier than a horde of bees after you knock over their hive. "You promised to keep him away from harm."
"Do what? Being stuck in a hospital bed vastly limits my capacity to do any harm, to anyone; least of all, Jim." Pete's first thought was that she mad about putting Jim with Kasak, but this anger was way out of proportion. Unconsciously, he was working the barbell faster.
"Do you deny forcing Jim to become a training officer?" Jean had come closer to the bed and was looming over him. Leaning back was not the ideal position to be in when someone was yelling at you; Pete used the bed controls to move himself into a more upright position.
"No, I think it will be good for Jim. It will also help his career." Outwardly, Pete appeared to be calm; the way he was jerking the barbell up to his shoulder and back down proved otherwise.
"It's going to get him killed! You are supposed to be his best friend." In all the years he's known Jean, she had never gone off at him like this.
"Whoa, back up here. How is that going to get Jim killed?" Granted, riding with a rookie is more dangerous than riding with a veteran officer, but Pete could only recall one training officer that got hurt bad enough to retire.
"Isn't it bad enough that he almost died saving your life in that drug raid? Now you want to risk his life again by making him do the most dangerous job on the force?" Pete knew about the problems that Jim and Jean had over Jim saving his life; that he understood, but this?
"Being a training officer is not the most dangerous job on the force. Who told you that it was?" He was certain that Jim did not voice that concern to his wife.
"It doesn't matter who told me. What matters is that you are putting Jim in danger. What about Jimmy? Huh?" Pete was confused; Jim hadn't said anything about fighting with Jean. Had she just heard this today?
"Jean, calm down." He paused to see if she was willing to consider calming down some. She wasn't yelling, so Pete took that as encouraging. "Being a training officer is no more dangerous than riding in an L car. It's certainly not as dangerous as working undercover."
"I'm so worried about him. All I can think of is him getting hurt…ever since…" She left the thought hanging, but Pete knew what she meant. Jim had taken a big risk for him. He could see Jean's thoughts heading towards him risking his life for a rookie.
"Do you really think that I would intentionally put Jim in danger; gamble with his life? Three weeks ago, did I run and hide?" Pete let out a large sigh. The last thing Jim needed was Jean harping on his job again. "In one way, it is harder than being on patrol with a veteran officer. The TO has to teach the rookie how to work the streets and that isn't easy, but every cop on the watch knows who is riding with a rookie. It's an unwritten rule that you back-up those teams if there is even the slightest chance that the call could turn dangerous."
Pete paused, waiting to see if Jean was processing what he was telling her. "Besides, Larry Kasak, like the others, is a veteran; military police. He will watch Jim's back."
"Like you did for your last partner? Where were you when he was killed?" Jean practically spit out the accusation that Pete had failed to protect his former partner. If her intention was to make him feel guilty for Baxter and by extension Jim, what she said had shaken him down to his core. He knew that he couldn't have prevented Andy's death; the investigation into the shooting had cleared Pete of any responsibility for it. Still, a part of him would always feel some guilt.
"That's not fair. You have no idea what happened to cause his death. How dare you accuse me of failing Baxter?" Pete kept a tight grip on the barbell he had been using, fighting the urge to throw it at something or someone. Both of them were losing their tempers and, as a result, were yelling.
"If Jim gets killed, will it matter how it happens?" Nothing Pete could say would change her perception that he had put Jim in danger. He cursed whoever made her think he did.
"Being a training officer is not going to get him killed!" Pete hurled the small barbell at the foot of the bed; adding a loud thunk to the mix.
"You don't know that!"
"I would never put Jim in a job he couldn't handle!"
"You're doing it now and you can stop it!
"I can, but I won't do that."Don't you have faith in Jim?"
"Quiet! You are disturbing the other patients." Neither of them had seen the nurse enter. Although they stopped yelling, both were visibly breathing hard and glaring at each other. Clearly, this would not be the end of their argument.
"I think you better leave. Pete doesn't need this right now." The nurse intentionally got between the two of them. She stood facing Jean, arms crossed in front of her chest; an unmovable barrier.
"This isn't over." Jean had lowered her voice, but it still dripped anger and insinuation. With one last glare, she grabbed the banana and crackers, taking them with her.
Pete had never seen Jean do something out of spite, but taking back the food, was certainly spiteful.
