Chris and Cory pounced on him the second he got through the door.
'How's Victor?' 'What happened?'
Tc just shrugged and went to put his bike away.
Chris frowned and followed him with Cory close behind. 'Tc, what's the matter?'
'I don't know.' He said irritated. 'We were coming down a hill, his bike slipped, I went ahead and the next thing I know his bike is mangled under a truck.'
Cory almost gagged. 'Is he okay?'
Tc shrugged again. 'He got a bad bump to the head, a bad knee and a bad shoulder. Palermo took over when he got there and I wasn't told a thing.' He spat out and wandered off towards his locker mumbling, 'You think being sergeant I'd get told thingsā¦'
Chris and Cory just looked at each other. It wasn't like Victor to make mistakes on his bike and it wasn't like Tc to be mad at Palermo.
'Palermo sounds pissed.' Cory said.
'I'll say. Remind me to keep out of his way when he gets here.' Chris replied. 'Oh, did you finish writing that report he wanted?'
Cory dashed back to her desk, grabbed the file and started quickly scribbling down on a pad.
'I guess not.' Chris said to herself.
Palermo came back a couple of hours later and immediately called them all into his office.
'I though I'd tell all of you at once to save repeating myself. Witnesses say that Victor's front wheel came of his bike causing him to crash into the truck. He's got a concussion, a badly dislocated knee and a shattered shoulder which took most of the impact. In other words, he isn't going to be back for a while.' Palermo let the news sink in before he continued. 'Because we are coming up to the peak summer holiday period we need as many hands as we can get.'
'Do you want us to work extra shifts Lieutenant?' Cory asked.
'A few but with Victor out of the field I'm going to be getting someone in to replace him whilst he's gone.'
The three officers exchanged looks.
'We won't have time to train them though.' Tc said.
'That's not a problem. Long Beach has been working on a project and has been training extra bike patrol officers for situations like this. I've already spoken to Long Beach and they are sending someone over tomorrow.'
'That soon?' Chris asked.
Palermo nodded. 'With Victor out on injury it will leave a huge gap in our system. At least this way you all won't have to cover his load.'
Chris and Cory left the lieutenant's office a short time later feeling rather bemused. Only Tc remained as per Palermo's wishes.
'That was weird.' Cory said.
'Definitely.' Chris agreed. 'I wonder who they'll get in to replace Victor.'
'Hopefully someone good.' Cory was relieved that she'd finished the report and had it on Palermo's desk by the time he got back to the station.
'Hopefully but not probably.'
'What do you mean?'
'Think about it. Murphy's Law states that we will probably get someone who thinks they know everything and can do our jobs better than us.'
'You never know Chris; we might be lucky and get someone really nice.'
'I doubt it.' Chris had seen it all before. It would probably be some hot shot guy who thought that because she's a woman she'd be useless as a cop. She's seen it far too many times and was not looking forward to the new recruit.
Tc slowly peeked his head around the corner. Victor was lying in the bed looking out the window. He had bandages on his leg and arm and a patch on his head.
Tc went into the room. 'Hey. How are you feeling?'
'Like I got hit by a truck?' Victor replied. He sounded tired. 'What happened?'
'Um, you got hit by a truck.' Tc said. 'Don't you remember?'
Victor shook his head then winced from the pain. Apparently he'd forgotten he had a sore head too.
Tc sat down on one of the chairs. 'We were chasing a kid who stole mobile phones. We were heading down the hill on Montana when your front wheel came off and you hit the truck.' Tc paused for a minute. 'You really can't remember any of it?'
Victor gave a one arm shrug. 'I can remember the nurse that was there. She works here and was on duty this afternoon.'
Tc laughed. 'Trust you to remember that.'
Victor smiled weakly. 'The doctor told me I'd be here for a while.'
'Yeah, Palermo said pretty much the same?'
'Do you know what's going to happen?'
Tc screwed up his nose. 'They are bringing someone in from Long Beach to do your job while you're gone.'
'Make sure they do my paperwork too, won't you.'
Tc grinned. At least Victor was annoyed that he was getting replaced.
'Do me a favour though?' Victor asked.
'Sure. Anything.'
'Palermo's probably going to call my mother because she's listed as my next of kin. Can you check up on her occasionally and make sure she doesn't kill my fish?'
'Will do.' Tc replied. Victor had started a collection of 'ugly' fish. Basically it was a group of the ugliest fish he could find. Rosa had house-sat for Victor when they were doing the Eco Relay and had managed to kill them by feeding them breadcrumbs. She thought that one of the fish (that was supposed to be flat anyway) needed its diet supplemented.
Tc was greeted at the firehouse the next morning by a loud, unfamiliar voice.
Cory and Chris were chatting to a woman dressed in SMPD uniform. She was a few inches shorter than the other two women but had a very domineering quality about her. Her short purple-brown hair lay flat but had been gelled to spikes at the ends.
Chris spotted him and waved him over. 'Tc, this is Leslie Baker. She's the recruit from Long Beach.'
Leslie thrust out her hand at him and shook his hand vigorously. 'Hi. I take it you're Sergeant Callaway.'
'Yeah.' He said giving her an odd look. He wondered what Chris and Cory had told her.
Cory handed him the local paper. Yesterday's accident had made the front page. The picture was of him and the nurse, who'd been listed in the caption as being Sharon Roberts, tending to Victor before the ambulance had arrived.
'Had Palermo seen this?' He asked.
Cory shrugged. 'Probably but he hasn't said anything.'
Palermo came downstairs and saw Tc. 'Good, you're here.' He said. 'You'll be riding with Leslie today and I'll need that theft report by this afternoon.' He then motioned for them to get out on patrol.
Tc stared off riding slowly. He wasn't sure how fast she liked to ride or how good she was at handling the bike. As it was she was already lagging behind him.
He turned around to see where she was. She was riding with one hand on the handlebars and the other was sending an SMS. She was barely looking where she was going.
Tc rolled his eyes and kept riding.
A few minutes later she pulled up beside him.
'Are you finished?' He asked.
'Yep.' She said. 'Do you usually ride this slowly?'
'Only with amateurs.' He said cheekily.
She pretended to be offended. Then a call came over the radio. Two men who having a punch-up over a traffic accident.
She looked over at Tc as he radioed that they'd be attending. 'Race ya.' She said and took off.
Tc shook his head and peddled after her.
They weren't the first officers there and the situation had been pretty much resolved by the time they pulled up.
Tc had to admit that Leslie was quite fast on the bike. He only had a few seconds to wait until she pulled up behind him.
The other officers at the scene asked to start questioning the witnesses.
After Tc got through questioning a woman who was rather unhappy about being asked to stay and talk to the officer with three young, restless children in her car, he started looking around to see where Leslie had gotten to.
He found her chatting happily to the nurse that had been at the accident yesterday.
He wandered over to them.
The nurse spotted him. 'Ah, so we meet again.'
Tc could see why Victor might like this woman. She was tall, skinny and blonde with curves in all the right places. If Tc didn't have another gorgeous blonde on his mind at the moment he might even be interested himself.
Tc just smiled and looked questionably at Leslie.
Leslie just gave him one of her grins. 'Are you finished?' She asked, much in the way that he had asked her earlier.
He nodded.
Sharon elbowed Leslie.
Leslie rolled her eyes. 'Tc, this is Sharon Roberts. She's the nurse from the accident yesterday. She's also my roommate.'
Sharon held out her hand. 'Nice to meet you.' She didn't have the violent handshake that Leslie had.
Tc turned his attention back to Leslie. 'Shouldn't you be questioning witnesses?'
'I am.' She said. 'Sharon saw everything.'
'Again?' Tc asked her.
Sharon nodded. 'I know. I seem to attract traffic accidents at the moment.'
'Are you done here?'
'Yep.' Leslie said and put away her notebook.
'Good. We've got to get back to the station.'
'And I've got to get to work.' Sharon said. 'There's a handsome cop I've got to look after.'
'Okay, take care.' Leslie said and gave Sharon a hug goodbye. 'See you at home.'
Tc and Leslie got their bikes and started riding off.
'You seem to know her quite well.' He said.
'We've been friends for ages.' Leslie said. 'Since primary school.'
'Oh.' Tc said. 'Does she like Victor?'
Leslie laughed. 'She's thinks he's nice and he's friendly to the eye but she's not into him like that.'
'Why not?'
Leslie just shrugged.
'How's Victor?' 'What happened?'
Tc just shrugged and went to put his bike away.
Chris frowned and followed him with Cory close behind. 'Tc, what's the matter?'
'I don't know.' He said irritated. 'We were coming down a hill, his bike slipped, I went ahead and the next thing I know his bike is mangled under a truck.'
Cory almost gagged. 'Is he okay?'
Tc shrugged again. 'He got a bad bump to the head, a bad knee and a bad shoulder. Palermo took over when he got there and I wasn't told a thing.' He spat out and wandered off towards his locker mumbling, 'You think being sergeant I'd get told thingsā¦'
Chris and Cory just looked at each other. It wasn't like Victor to make mistakes on his bike and it wasn't like Tc to be mad at Palermo.
'Palermo sounds pissed.' Cory said.
'I'll say. Remind me to keep out of his way when he gets here.' Chris replied. 'Oh, did you finish writing that report he wanted?'
Cory dashed back to her desk, grabbed the file and started quickly scribbling down on a pad.
'I guess not.' Chris said to herself.
Palermo came back a couple of hours later and immediately called them all into his office.
'I though I'd tell all of you at once to save repeating myself. Witnesses say that Victor's front wheel came of his bike causing him to crash into the truck. He's got a concussion, a badly dislocated knee and a shattered shoulder which took most of the impact. In other words, he isn't going to be back for a while.' Palermo let the news sink in before he continued. 'Because we are coming up to the peak summer holiday period we need as many hands as we can get.'
'Do you want us to work extra shifts Lieutenant?' Cory asked.
'A few but with Victor out of the field I'm going to be getting someone in to replace him whilst he's gone.'
The three officers exchanged looks.
'We won't have time to train them though.' Tc said.
'That's not a problem. Long Beach has been working on a project and has been training extra bike patrol officers for situations like this. I've already spoken to Long Beach and they are sending someone over tomorrow.'
'That soon?' Chris asked.
Palermo nodded. 'With Victor out on injury it will leave a huge gap in our system. At least this way you all won't have to cover his load.'
Chris and Cory left the lieutenant's office a short time later feeling rather bemused. Only Tc remained as per Palermo's wishes.
'That was weird.' Cory said.
'Definitely.' Chris agreed. 'I wonder who they'll get in to replace Victor.'
'Hopefully someone good.' Cory was relieved that she'd finished the report and had it on Palermo's desk by the time he got back to the station.
'Hopefully but not probably.'
'What do you mean?'
'Think about it. Murphy's Law states that we will probably get someone who thinks they know everything and can do our jobs better than us.'
'You never know Chris; we might be lucky and get someone really nice.'
'I doubt it.' Chris had seen it all before. It would probably be some hot shot guy who thought that because she's a woman she'd be useless as a cop. She's seen it far too many times and was not looking forward to the new recruit.
Tc slowly peeked his head around the corner. Victor was lying in the bed looking out the window. He had bandages on his leg and arm and a patch on his head.
Tc went into the room. 'Hey. How are you feeling?'
'Like I got hit by a truck?' Victor replied. He sounded tired. 'What happened?'
'Um, you got hit by a truck.' Tc said. 'Don't you remember?'
Victor shook his head then winced from the pain. Apparently he'd forgotten he had a sore head too.
Tc sat down on one of the chairs. 'We were chasing a kid who stole mobile phones. We were heading down the hill on Montana when your front wheel came off and you hit the truck.' Tc paused for a minute. 'You really can't remember any of it?'
Victor gave a one arm shrug. 'I can remember the nurse that was there. She works here and was on duty this afternoon.'
Tc laughed. 'Trust you to remember that.'
Victor smiled weakly. 'The doctor told me I'd be here for a while.'
'Yeah, Palermo said pretty much the same?'
'Do you know what's going to happen?'
Tc screwed up his nose. 'They are bringing someone in from Long Beach to do your job while you're gone.'
'Make sure they do my paperwork too, won't you.'
Tc grinned. At least Victor was annoyed that he was getting replaced.
'Do me a favour though?' Victor asked.
'Sure. Anything.'
'Palermo's probably going to call my mother because she's listed as my next of kin. Can you check up on her occasionally and make sure she doesn't kill my fish?'
'Will do.' Tc replied. Victor had started a collection of 'ugly' fish. Basically it was a group of the ugliest fish he could find. Rosa had house-sat for Victor when they were doing the Eco Relay and had managed to kill them by feeding them breadcrumbs. She thought that one of the fish (that was supposed to be flat anyway) needed its diet supplemented.
Tc was greeted at the firehouse the next morning by a loud, unfamiliar voice.
Cory and Chris were chatting to a woman dressed in SMPD uniform. She was a few inches shorter than the other two women but had a very domineering quality about her. Her short purple-brown hair lay flat but had been gelled to spikes at the ends.
Chris spotted him and waved him over. 'Tc, this is Leslie Baker. She's the recruit from Long Beach.'
Leslie thrust out her hand at him and shook his hand vigorously. 'Hi. I take it you're Sergeant Callaway.'
'Yeah.' He said giving her an odd look. He wondered what Chris and Cory had told her.
Cory handed him the local paper. Yesterday's accident had made the front page. The picture was of him and the nurse, who'd been listed in the caption as being Sharon Roberts, tending to Victor before the ambulance had arrived.
'Had Palermo seen this?' He asked.
Cory shrugged. 'Probably but he hasn't said anything.'
Palermo came downstairs and saw Tc. 'Good, you're here.' He said. 'You'll be riding with Leslie today and I'll need that theft report by this afternoon.' He then motioned for them to get out on patrol.
Tc stared off riding slowly. He wasn't sure how fast she liked to ride or how good she was at handling the bike. As it was she was already lagging behind him.
He turned around to see where she was. She was riding with one hand on the handlebars and the other was sending an SMS. She was barely looking where she was going.
Tc rolled his eyes and kept riding.
A few minutes later she pulled up beside him.
'Are you finished?' He asked.
'Yep.' She said. 'Do you usually ride this slowly?'
'Only with amateurs.' He said cheekily.
She pretended to be offended. Then a call came over the radio. Two men who having a punch-up over a traffic accident.
She looked over at Tc as he radioed that they'd be attending. 'Race ya.' She said and took off.
Tc shook his head and peddled after her.
They weren't the first officers there and the situation had been pretty much resolved by the time they pulled up.
Tc had to admit that Leslie was quite fast on the bike. He only had a few seconds to wait until she pulled up behind him.
The other officers at the scene asked to start questioning the witnesses.
After Tc got through questioning a woman who was rather unhappy about being asked to stay and talk to the officer with three young, restless children in her car, he started looking around to see where Leslie had gotten to.
He found her chatting happily to the nurse that had been at the accident yesterday.
He wandered over to them.
The nurse spotted him. 'Ah, so we meet again.'
Tc could see why Victor might like this woman. She was tall, skinny and blonde with curves in all the right places. If Tc didn't have another gorgeous blonde on his mind at the moment he might even be interested himself.
Tc just smiled and looked questionably at Leslie.
Leslie just gave him one of her grins. 'Are you finished?' She asked, much in the way that he had asked her earlier.
He nodded.
Sharon elbowed Leslie.
Leslie rolled her eyes. 'Tc, this is Sharon Roberts. She's the nurse from the accident yesterday. She's also my roommate.'
Sharon held out her hand. 'Nice to meet you.' She didn't have the violent handshake that Leslie had.
Tc turned his attention back to Leslie. 'Shouldn't you be questioning witnesses?'
'I am.' She said. 'Sharon saw everything.'
'Again?' Tc asked her.
Sharon nodded. 'I know. I seem to attract traffic accidents at the moment.'
'Are you done here?'
'Yep.' Leslie said and put away her notebook.
'Good. We've got to get back to the station.'
'And I've got to get to work.' Sharon said. 'There's a handsome cop I've got to look after.'
'Okay, take care.' Leslie said and gave Sharon a hug goodbye. 'See you at home.'
Tc and Leslie got their bikes and started riding off.
'You seem to know her quite well.' He said.
'We've been friends for ages.' Leslie said. 'Since primary school.'
'Oh.' Tc said. 'Does she like Victor?'
Leslie laughed. 'She's thinks he's nice and he's friendly to the eye but she's not into him like that.'
'Why not?'
Leslie just shrugged.
