A Day in the life...
The continuing Journal of Amy Rohrbach
Based on the Target time line, contains spoilers
Entry Four
What started out as a bad week had blossomed into total chaos.
At first I thought it was just my day to be in the "lion's den". I got to work to find my desk covered in piles on piles of forms. I have no clue where they had been hiding, but somehow they managed to find and take refuge on my desk. If that wasn't bad enough, Grayson was late again -- the second time this week. I considered putting him to work in the file room. That would have taught him a lesson; it would have taken him a week to find his way out of there. Instead I tossed him the keys to the squad and sent him out on his own. It gives me a headache thinking how dumb that move proved to be.
I had long since given up believing that Grayson was part of Arnot's Goons. The proof came that day when he ended up clashing with a part of Bludhaven's Worst. I had been monitoring most of his movements. It was nearly dusk when he left the car and went in foot pursuit of two signal 12's suspicious persons and four fellow officers who darted out in front of his car. Nearly an hour later someone called for an ambulance and the meat wagon. Thirty minutes later I found out that Miller was spreading some crap about Grayson going nuts and beating two kids in the Zee Moores. It took all four officers to get him off them, and when that didn't work to their satisfaction, they cracked him in the skull. Grayson and one of the kids were taken to Rabe Memorial; the other was taken to the morgue.
I got to the hospital in what must have been record time. He had not regained consciousness yet. Detective Addad told me I might as well go home -- when the rookie awoke Addad was going to be getting his verbal report, and then my rookie became property of the dogs from I.A. The down side of being a cop in the United States is that, unlike the Criminal element, in the eyes of the Internal Affairs office we are guilty until proven innocent. It has actually become a goal in our office to keep it that way. After all, you were easier to control if they could hang something on ya. It was nearly 2 hours after I got to the hospital before Dick regained consciousness. The doctors said he was lucky that despite the severity of the concussion there was no fracture.
Addad was there when his eyes opened. I can think of worse sights to wake up to. I wasn't allowed anywhere near his room -- the mooks from I. A. didn't want me interfering in the investigation. I just returned to my seat in the waiting room. That is where Addad found me when he came out.
"I thought I sent you home," he whispered as he plopped himself down in the chair next to me and began rubbing his temples gingerly with his fingers. I didn't say anything. He finally looked up and announced that the kid said it was Miller and the others who beat the kids. My first instinct was to do my impression of Homer Simpson. "DUH!" After all, you were talking about 4 cops and 2 thugs against one rookie. After thinking about it, I came straight out with the question. "What do YOU think?"
He glared at me for a moment. I wasn't sure he was going to answer, but I wasn't going away and he knew it.
"Does it matter, Amy?" he said. "By the time Arnot, Miller, I.A., and the media get done with him there will not be enough left to make a decent can of dog food."
Addad is not a bad cop. He's not even a bad person. He's just more careful about what he does or says, but if you read between the lines you'll find the answers. The media had not been alerted yet; if they had they would have been swarming on that hospital, the station, and the rookie's home.
Grayson was in interrogation when I returned to the station the next day. Someone told me he was taken from the hospital against Medical advice, and he had been in there ever since. I got there in time to see I.A. leave the room and meet with Arnot, who left the monitor room that was adjacent to the mirrored interrogation room. When they got far enough away, I took the opportunity to duck into the monitor room. The rookie didn't look very good. His head was resting on the wooden table. It was a short-lived rest as Arnot joined him in the interrogation room. The inspector told him that Redhorn was going to hang him out to dry. He had only one option, and that was to follow the script. Admit to the crime -- the worst that would happen would be he would lose his shield and have to do some time for manslaughter. Then came the real threats: "Remember that you're still one of us. As long as you stick with the official story. You stray from the script… you're alone."
I wanted to break through that tempered glass and tell him he wasn't alone. And I will be damned before I let him think he was, but in Bludhaven you choose your battles just like you choose your words. The war has just begun.
Rumors in the locker rooms were that there was an information black out until Redhorn or Arnot were certain everyone was on the same page. The papers and television stations are under Redhorn's thumb too, so there was very little worry about a leak until Redhorn was ready to leak it. Unfortunately, I was so busy thinking about what Arnot said, I didn't see him leave the interrogation room. He caught me trying to slip out of the monitoring room. He corralled me into his office, and by the time they believed I didn't know anything, Grayson had already been released on his own recognizance. Not a normal move and definitely unexpected. I am sure they used some stupid line like "Don't leave town." My guess is they were hoping he would rabbit on them. He would become an armed fugitive and give them every reason to track him down and shoot him. A dead cop was not going to give them much back talk. I was sure they had a "tail" on him, and I was pretty sure he would realize it as well.
Sure enough as I got to my car, I caught the confirmation on my police band radio. Grayson went straight home. The kid's butt had to be dragging. The closest thing he had to sleep since he reported to work almost twenty-four hours ago was the time he spent unconscious at the hospital. I decided to let the kid sleep and get some z's myself. I wouldn't be doing him much good if I wasn't rested enough to out think Arnot.
He must have been asleep when I knocked. He was only half dressed when he answered the door, dragging a shirt behind him like a child's security blanket. He still looked peaked. He said he thought I was his lawyer. I pretended to be insulted, but I guess he was in no mood to kid around. I was really insulted when he asked if I was there to pile on him too, but I wasn't going to let him know. I wasn't going to do anything more than make light of his comment. Things were already too stressed between cops in this town.
You can tell my pet rookie lives alone -- his apartment décor consists of take out boxes and cereal bowls. After clearing a way to a chair, he excused himself while he washed up. One day I will tell him about the reflection from his television screen. I never realized how many muscles moved in the action of brushing your teeth. But back to the story.
It took a while, but I finally got it through his thick skull that I was going to help him whether he wanted it or not. I think he was worried about my rep. Or my safety, but I told him I was less likely to get hurt if I knew what I was looking for. And we didn't have much time to do this.
He told me what he remembered of the call. As I figured, Miller sent him into the cellar not realizing who it was. My guess is when he found the rookie pulling the other clowns off the injured kids, he clobbered him on the head. But before he was hit, Dick said he saw the kids' faces. It wasn't the kids they had been chasing. He said he saw the kids' faces as plain as day when they ran in front of him. He was right to not tell anyone else about that. They were probably witnesses to what happened. If Miller hasn't figured it out, he will soon enough.
Dick gave me a description of the two kids and then one of a Housing cop that Miller was fighting with before he got to the scene. That would be Walter. Good guy. Things started to look up. He thanked me before I left. I told him that was what I do, and I would let him know what I found when I found it. He said he meant for believing him. I smiled. I told "We're partners. In this town there is no one else you can count on."
Like any good cop, I immediately followed my lead. I headed for the Moores to talk to the Bludhaven housing police department's finest. Armed with some banana nut muffins, Walter and I sat down and chatted about what went on that night. I told him the kid was my partner, and I didn't believe he could have done what they claimed he did. He laughed.
"I would have to agree, Amy," he said, stuffing his face. "The kid excused himself when he broke up Miller's and my screaming match. That don't sound like the kinda person who would be able to beat to death a kid while holding off four of the 'haven's dirtiest. Actually you're not the only one interested in this, Amy. Some dude in a mask came by, sporting two police issued PR-24's. He wanted to know about the two guys you described."
He handed me a photocopy of the pictures he gave the other guy. He must have seen me bristle at the thought that this guy was running around in my town. Everyone on the force knows about the smug kid that runs loose in this town, but this didn't sound like Nightwing. One day I would like to personally thank him for saving Arnot from that nut case that took the station… not .
This sounded like we had a new wannabe. I think I am gonna paint a message on the side of the tallest building in 'haven… WE DON'T NEED YOUR HELP… GO BACK TO GOTHAM.
After getting all the 411 on the perps, I went to pay a visit to Alvie's mom. I was late. Miller had already been there. I found her and her infant daughter huddled by a heater, the cold billowing through her front door that had been shattered by HPD. I called in some favors and had a friend out to her house. They replaced the doorframe and door while I took her and her the baby to the Church. Father Michaels would let her stay until the repairs were completed. She wasn't able to give me much more than what she gave Miller. But then I remembered something. I asked her what Alvie's favorite fast foods were. Like any kid, anything that didn't outrun him was fair game. But there was one quirk in his take out orders -- he would only eat Dice's Pizza because they were the only ones that would cover his pie with jalapenos. Next stop was the only Dice's in the Moores.
Luck was with me. The call came in for a delivery on a construction trailer on the far side of the district. A fifty dollar tip to the manager, and I had my in. Tucking my hair and gun in the jacket, I became the fugitives' best friend -- "the pizza delivery boy."
Taking them down was easy enough. I was on my way to read them their rights when I heard trouble running full tilt for the door. The door exploded open, and the first shot just barely missed my head. By inches. The rest of them didn't seem to have a particular direction. Maybe that was because the four shots I spent hit one of them in the head and the other center mass.
Biggs and Alvie talked. They had been hiding in the basement and had seen the whole thing. Grayson had tried to stop Miller's guys from killing the other two kids when Miller knocked him out. Miller's on his way to some serious time.
Later that evening I heard that the new vigilante calling himself "The TARGET" captured and trussed up Miller and his goon. Some of the guys caught up with Miller's partner in crime who was really pissed and sang louder then Alvie and Biggs. So in his own way, this masked avenger was helpful. The coffee shop gossip is that it may be a retired cop 'cause of the getup made of what looked like an old padded commando style sweater and mask they used in the old SWAT teams before they went paramilitary, and he carried not one but two PR-24 batons and used both proficiently. Still, I find it hard to believe a cop, even an ex-cop, could think it's ok to violate the rules to make the laws work. Although in his own way this dude did help clear my rookie and bring down another bad cop, so I suppose I should at least try to be a little more open-minded.
All in all, we got lucky -- the good guys win again. In 'haven, it doesn't happen often. The kid was reinstated and given back pay and mandatory leave. I am on a three-day suspension with pay until there has been an inquiry into the deaths of two really dirty cops. Not much of a follow through -- there was too much outside media on this one. But Grayson was with me every day. When I told him to go home, get some rest, I would make his life miserable soon enough, he flashed that million-watt smile and said "Sorry Sergeant. We're partners. In this town, there is no one else you can count on."
Maybe not, but things are looking better all the time.