Chapter 5
Even after Street's statement that they are still friends, Chris is unsure of how to act around him. It feels lighter seeing him around HQ now, and in a group setting, she manages to joke with him too. One morning about a week later, Erika and Chris are getting ready to leave the apartment.
"You have your meeting today, right?" Erika asks, shouldering her backpack.
"Yeah, they want me in Hicks's office at 10," Chris nods and puts the harness on Billie. She is coming with her again today instead of going to the training center.
"Did they say what they want?" her friend asks while they are walking down the stairs. "No, Lynch just sent the email. But my best guess is TLI and Billie or some combination of that."
After that, Chris just stoically opens her truck and drives off, leaving Erika to wonder if she is really that rational about her meeting.
The schedule shows that 50squad is up first, so 20squad is the supporting team for today. This makes sense to Chris since Street is still on desk duty. They scheduled his next scan for the next day.
Chris starts training a bit herself and makes sure Billie is being patient. Seeing her sit at attention and study her surroundings with little head tilts makes Chris smile. She steps off the treadmill and takes off the harness, telling Billie it's okay to lie down. The young dog does so immediately and curls up next to Chris.
She continues her exercise until her watch shows 9:30. Chris heads to the locker room with her companion hot on her heels without any command. "Sit," she commands, and Billie reacts immediately.
While Chris clicks the snaps on the harness shut, Luca wanders in. "Hey, have you heard from Street today?" he focuses on her, and Chris frowns. "Now that you mention it, no. Didn't he come in today?"
Luca tilts his head, surprised and confused. "He didn't tell you?" he queries, and Chris can only shake her head.
"What's going on?" she asks while glancing at her watch. She has a few minutes to spare but not many because the last thing she wants to do is be late for a meeting with Hicks and Lynch.
"Today is the funeral," Luca frowns, "but he refused to talk about it with me or tell me when and where to be exactly. I just thought he might have told you,"
Chris shakes her head again. A feeling of shock and dread settled in her stomach. Her watch vibrating pulls Chris out of her head.
"I gotta go and have my meeting with Hicks and Lynch, but after that, we can try and find him. He shouldn't do this alone," Chris reaches for Billie's leash and hurries out of the room with Luca calling "Good luck" after her.
Chris stops to take a steadying breath outside of Hicks's door when she hears her name called. "Alonso, good to see you again."
"Sir?" she can't help the questioning tone in her voice at seeing Valdez walk up.
"Shall we," the man asks and just knocks. Chris is so perplexed that when Hicks calls "Enter," she just walks in with Valdez.
"Good, we're all here," Lynch comments, and suddenly Chris gets flustered. What was going on here? Had she missed something in the email?
"Sit," Hicks tells all of them, and Chris plops into a chair a bit awkwardly.
"You're probably wondering why you're here meeting with the three of us," the commander slowly focuses on Chris, who nods. "I can only assume it has to do with the K9 project," she gestures to Valdez.
"Yes, that's correct," Hicks continues. "The mayor's office is impressed and wants LAPD to broaden the project, unfortunately, that means a higher-ranking officer has to run it."
"They want someone with Leadership training," Lynch quips, "and no one in this room wants to take this away from you. But you'd have to put in some effort and go for a promotion."
Chris gulps. She hadn't thought about going for Sergeant, really. And there wasn't exactly room for another one of those in SWAT. All leadership positions were filled.
"As you are well aware, you are qualified and after TLI doubly so, but…." Lynch starts, and Chris finishes her thought. "There is no room for another leader here. I understand."
But she really doesn't. Why are they trying to take away her project? Her idea.
"We actually have a solution if you're open to hearing us out," Lynch softens her voice a little and Chris realizes she must've looked outright in despair.
All three of them were looking at her, concerned.
"I guess this is where I come in," Valdez finally speaks up. "We could use you as a team leader within K9. And with your promotion, you'd be the perfect candidate to continue running your project,"
"I don't know what to say," Chris manages to mumble. This was not what she was expecting to hear today. She'd come here to maybe discuss some things she'd learned in Germany, but they just essentially told her her time at SWAT was over if she wanted to see her project through and advance in the department.
"You don't have to make the decision today. We can give you about two weeks, right?" Lynch tells her and seems to check in with the men. Both Hicks and Valdez nod, and Chris finds herself dismissed quickly after.
Chris walks back downstairs in a daze, but as soon as she meets up with Luca, she has no chance to dwell on her thoughts of her future. Luca seemed to have used the time she was occupied to go digging around a bit.
"I have the time and place," he tells her and motions for Tan and the rest of the team to join them in the tech lab.
"Listen, guys, Street's mum's funeral is in like two hours. He didn't actually tell us, but I found the info," he explains, and the others mumble, a bit surprised.
"We should go and be there for him, shouldn't we?" Chris asks and shares a look with Deac. The older man looks worried, but he nods. "Yeah, we are still on call, but we could go and show up."
Just a short while later, Chris finds herself in a car with Deacon. During the drive, her thoughts circle back to the offer she just got. Chris couldn't decide if that meant a step forward or back. Hadn't she left K9 behind to go excel at SWAT? Why was she thinking about going back? Purely to get the promotion? To keep control of her project? Was that project even as prestigious as they made it out to be? Or was this just a quick and easy way to get rid of an officer that had outlived their welcome?
Chris frowns, and Deac must've caught that out of the corner of his eye.
"Is something bothering you?" he asks worriedly.
"Just something I need to think through," Chris replies, more reserved than usual, but she can't help it.
"Maybe talking about it can help? I can listen if you want me to," he offers, and Chris manages a smile.
"Later, now we should focus on being there for Street," she cuts the conversation short when Deac pulls up to the others, and they get out of the car.
"Are you sure we're at the right place?" Tan asks, looking around.
"I think so," Luca pointed across the grass to where two figures are standing next to the urn wall. One of those figures undoubtedly is the pastor, and the other has to be their friend.
Chris hangs back a bit while the guys start walking over. She suddenly doubts that Street wants her there. He had his reasons for not telling her about all of this. But her feet still move.
When they reach the pastor and Street, the two men shake hands, and Chris can hear the pastor say, "Looks like there are some other mourners here now. I'll give you your privacy," the man nods his head at them and then walks away.
Street looks stunned. "What are you guys doing here?" he whispers, and his eyes flicker between the group without settling on one of them in particular.
"We couldn't let you shut us out," Luca explains and does what he does best. He pulls his friend into a hug.
Chris keeps her distance, but when everyone had already said their condolences, she had to do her part. The hug is awkward, and she isn't too sure, but it feels like Street is shutting her out.
She almost lets out a sigh of relief when their phones cut the moment short.
