The Aftermath

It was only an hour after thwarting the would-have-been terrorist attack at the supermarket. Thankfully, no one was hurt, at least not any of the innocent civilians who were held hostage. Jack had driven himself, Chris, and Shadow back to the precinct. Jack parked the squad car and the cops all exited. Jack and Chris told each other that they would see each other the following day as they really needed to rest from what they had gone through.

Jack guided Shadow to his gray Chevy Malibu. "Come on, boy," Jack said to the dog as he opened the backseat as Shadow quickly crawled and jumped into the car. Jack shut the door and walked around the back and the driver's side as he opened the door and sat down and started the car.

Just another night in Grant City. Jack thought as he looked around. The city was full of crime as it was. It was once considered a peaceful place to live, but somehow the criminal element had skyrocketed in such a short amount of time.

After a while, Jack pulled up in front of an apartment building. As soon as he got out, he went to the door behind him and let Shadow out. Shadow quickly jumped out of the car and followed him inside the building. It had been quite a long day for Jack, but that was the price he had to pay for being a policeman. The criminal element had not stopped and it didn't look like it was going to end.

He had also thought about what his partner and friend had said. It didn't seem like the criminal element would stop if someone would go to a prison like Iron Point Penitentiary, as Chris's father was a religious man who helped out at a church, but was accused of selling drugs. Jack's father Frank even tried to help him out a bit, but there was nothing that could be done. Jack thought otherwise, however.

Jack and Shadow walked up the stairs to the second floor. They walked down the hallway and saw an attractive short-haired blonde woman standing by a door. She looked to be in her early-to-mid-20s and was definitely a stunner.

"Hey, Jack," the woman said.

Jack looked up and the image of the lady became clearer. "Ruby, what are you doing here?"

"I couldn't be at my place tonight," Ruby said. "I had to be safe. I've dealt with this creeper at the club."

"Which club?" Jack said.

"I was dancing at The Den of Iniquity tonight," Ruby said. "This guy had been getting a little fresh with me, even though I told him about the no-touching rule. He even sometimes comes around the Blue Fly if I am doing the go-go dancing over there. This guy is falling in love with me or some shit."

Jack scoffed and got out the key to his apartment and put it in the keyhole. "Really? What's his deal? Do I need to go over there and teach him a lesson sometime?"

"The guy is a regular," Ruby said. "But recently I found him following me to my apartment. He tried to tell me that he wanted to make sure that I made it home safely, and said that I owe him and pretend that he doesn't exist."

Ruby paused. "On the other hand, he does pay and tip me well, so I can't complain too much."

Jack chuckled a bit and as they walked into the apartment. "Look, if you want me to set him straight, just let me know. You should have called me and told me you were coming by."

"I didn't know what else to do, and I will," Ruby said. "I guess I could have called you, but I figured you were out busting some bad guys."

Jack sighed. "Oh, you better believe it."

Ruby leaned in a bit. "I can see it. You look pretty stressed right now."

"I just busted some terrorists trying to blow up a grocery store," Jack said.

"What?! You were there?!" Ruby said with so much surprise in her voice. "I heard about that on my way here."

"Chris and I just happened to be close by," Jack said. "We took them all down, but we were also close to being blown the fuck up."

"Oh no, baby," Ruby said with some worry in her voice. She came close and put her right hand against his left cheek.

"You want me to make you feel better?" Ruby said.

"I think should go get some sleep," Jack said and took off his police jacket that said "K-9 Unit" on the back.

"Oh, come on, Jack," Ruby said. "I think you need to ease some of your stress and I know the way to do that."

Ruby wore a jacket and a button-down shirt and started unbuttoning her shirt, revealing some cleavage and a pink bra. She continued unbuttoning until her shirt was completely open and leaned in to kiss Jack on his lips.

"Come on, Jack, I'll make you feel better," Ruby said and held his hand and started walking, guiding him to the bedroom.

It was now the following day. Jack and Shadow had gotten into work at the precinct. Jack led Shadow to the police kennel and Jack went on his way inside the precinct. Ruby stayed over at Jack's place until she went to go handle other priorities, like going to school.

"Good morning, Jack," a female cop said as she passed by.

"Good morning, Powell," Jack said.

"Good job on what you and Jones did last night," Powell said.

"Thanks, have you seen Chris?" Jack said.

"He showed up not long ago," Powell said.

"Thank you," Jack said.

Jack walked around the precinct to get to his desk. He had gotten some thumbs up from fellow cops about the bust he and his partner made the previous evening. Some even applauded him, until he saw Chris coming towards him.

"Jack," Chris said.

"Chris, what's up?" Jack said.

"Hennessey is looking for you," Chris said.

"Why?" Jack said. "Is he still pissed that he didn't send his private army in and that we took down the terrorists?"

"I don't know, but the moment I got here, he said 'where's Slate?'" Chris said. "Captain Inness is talking with him. I heard something about how they want to get Chief Redwater here to talk about this."

"We busted some terrorists trying to blow up a supermarket," Jack said. "Tell me they don't think we violated a direct order?"

"I'm just telling you what I heard," Chris said. "Come on, let's go talk with Hennessey."

Jack and Chris walked across the precinct where many cops were at their desks. They reach a door that had something written on the window. It read "Inspector Dick Hennessey." Through the window, Inness was seen talking to Hennessey, who stood behind his desk. Hennessey looked up and saw the two officers standing and gave an aggressive "Come in" hand gesture to both of them.

"…Come on, don't you think you're being unfair here?" Inness said.

"Oh, spare me, Eddie," Hennessey said. "You really think that they didn't violate any protocol?"

"I'm just saying you're being harsh here, especially with your title as inspector," Inness said. "Granted, they went into the snake pit, but they got out, didn't they? They apprehended all the suspects."

"Yes, but one of them is complaining about Slate's fucking dog," Hennessey said.

Jack cut in. "Well if you think Shadow was just assaulting the guy, then what do you think the guy was going to do with those people inside the store?"

Hennessey turned to face Jack with a stern expression on his face. "Slate, you and Jones even defied Inness's orders to stay out and wait until I brought in the Anti-Crime unit to sort the shit out."

"As I said before, Hennessey, if we waited, those people would have been dead," Jack said. "Whether they would have been shot or blown to hell, we were not going to wait to risk any of that shit happening."

Chris added his input. "Slate and I went in quietly. Some of the aisles were rigged with bombs. Shit, that guy even had a fucking detonator and had bombs strapped to his chest. It didn't matter if we had gotten the bombs off of the shells, he was already prepared to blow shit up regardless."

"Shadow even helped out," Jack said. "He even took the bombs off the shelves."

Inness cut in. "Hennessey, even Mayor Pinnacle and Gloria Exner commended these two for their efforts last night. You should at least give them some credit."

Hennessey scowled the moment he heard the mayor's name, as well as Gloria Exner, who was also running for mayor in the next mayoral election.

Hennessey sighed. "Okay, if the mayor himself, as well as the candidate say that these two did a good job in their efforts, then maybe you're right that I'm being a bit too harsh on them."

"Okay, as long we are square on this," Inness said.

Inness, Chris, and Jack started to walk away to leave Hennessey's office.

"Hold on, Slate, I need to talk to you some more," Hennessey said.

Chris stood close to the door and looked back.

"Not you, Jones, I need to talk to Slate," Hennessey said. Jack signaled to his partner that he'll catch up to him in a bit. Chris left the office.

The door closed. Jack and Hennessey looked at each other in complete silence, at least for a few seconds.

"What's going on, Hennessey?" Jack said.

"Slate, I must apologize for my reaction," Hennessey said. "I think the reason I have a hard time trusting you is because ever since your old man got kicked off the force, I can't help but think that you would end up just like him, especially with your ways of busting perps."

"Hey, I know that my father did not do any of the shit that got him kicked off," Jack said. "My dad is a good man and has a good head on his shoulders and even though he is not a cop anymore, he's still trying to make a difference in this city."

Hennessey stood there quietly for a bit, but then he said, "Your father was one of the best cops in the city, but he fucked up his career after the shit he did. It was said that he shot an unarmed man."

"He didn't do it," Jack said.

"That's what I was told, until the bullet matched his gun," Hennessey said. "I'm only telling you what I know. Now get out. I got things to look at."

Hennessey sat down. Jack turned around and got out of the office with a glare. Chris looked up and saw Jack coming his way.

"Jack, what's wrong?" Chris said.

"I'm just a little pissed right now," Jack said. "I'll tell you later. Let's go check out some stuff in town."

LATER THAT DAY…

It was now their lunch break. Chris took off to meet up with his girlfriend to have lunch somewhere, while Jack had a plan of his own. He rolled around in his squad car with Shadow in the backseat until he found a building around North 43rd Street. He found a building that had a sign on the window that said "Frank Slate, Private Investigator," and a phone number written under the name.

Jack turned to the backseat and said, "Come on, Shadow, let's go see how Dad is doing."

Jack parked the car and let Shadow out of the car as the dog followed him inside. The two went in through a foyer before walking in through a door and saw an attractive woman with shoulder-length auburn hair and had a headband on. She sat at a desk looking at something.

"Hey, Hildy," Jack said. The young woman looked up the moment she heard her name.

"Jack, what a surprise," Hildy said. Hildy Razwell was someone Jack knew from the past. They had quite a history together but things didn't work out.

"I was just in the neighborhood," Jack said. "Is Dad in his office right now?"

"Yeah, he is, but he is on the phone right now," Hildy said. "I don't think you should disturb him right now. It's a very important call."

"I won't be a bother to him, I'm his son, remember? I also brought Shadow along," Jack said as he walked towards the door that had Frank's name written on the window.

Hildy got up and went to pet the dog. "Hey, Shadow, remember me? I work for your grandpa," she said in a cute voice. "I'm sure Jack has told you a lot about me, hasn't he?"

Jack turned and looked back at Hildy petting Shadow. He looked at her and thought about the past. They have known each other since they were in junior high. They pretty much grew up together and even dated a bit. He sometimes wondered what went wrong with the two. It couldn't have been too bad if they were civil to each other at that moment. It wasn't long until Hildy was done and Shadow went back to Jack.

"Come on, boy, let's go visit Dad," Jack said as Hildy went back to her desk.

Jack saw his father through the window. Frank was an older man, in his late-50s with gray in his hair and a mustache. He had a suit on and a hat hung up on a rack. He was on the phone and looked up and saw Jack. There was even a poster that had read "Vote for Gloria Exner" and the picture was of an attractive blonde woman in her mid-to-late-30s at the least, maybe even her early-40s. He gave him the signal to come in. Jack walked into the office.

"…Okay, I will keep that in mind," Frank said on the phone. "I will go look at the site soon to give you some more info. Thanks, Ms. Exner."

Frank hung up the phone at his desk and saw Jack sit down in front of him.

"What a surprise, Jack," Frank said.

"I am on my break and just thought I'd drop by," Jack said. "Hildy told me you were busy."

"I was just on the phone with an important client of mine," Frank said. "I'm on a big case right now. Something big, but I'm never too busy to talk to my own son. So what brings you by? I see you have Shadow with you."

"I was just in the neighborhood, but I also got into it with Hennessey earlier," Jack said.

"Really? What did Dick put you through?" Frank said.

"Not much, just that he had an issue about the bust Chris and I did last night," Jack said. "He even said that he has trouble trusting me after you got kicked off the force."

Frank scoffed. "You know I didn't do any of that."

"I know," Jack said. "But that's what Dick told me. I wanted to punch him after that, but I didn't."

"Jack, listen, I know you have your methods of taking down criminals, even going off the books at times," Frank said. "But you are still a good cop. As for me getting kicked off, believe me, I tried to tell them that I didn't do any of the things that I was accused of. But you know damn well that Blatz has his lawyers and some cops on his payroll that there was nothing I could do. I wouldn't be surprised if he bribed Judge MacGuffin, either. But at least I'm still a detective, just not for Grant City."

"I know you and Blatz have your history," Jack said. "But I have my ways of trying to keep tabs on him."

"Yes, but that isn't all of the crime in Grant City, you know," Frank said. "We still have the Sanderville Family, the Blanjov Family with the Russians, the Triad, and so on."

"Crime exists everywhere, Dad, but Blatz is the one who has Grant City on lock," Jack said. "I can never give up on taking that fucker down after what he did."

"I know, Jack, but there is nothing you can do," Frank said. "By the way, I hope it's not too awkward that I had hired Hildy as my assistant."

"Don't worry about it, Dad," Jack said. "I know that Hildy and I had something, but that's all in the past. We split up sometime after I enlisted in the marines, remember?"

"Yes, I do remember," Frank said. "Anyway, I got to look at some stuff involving the case I'm doing. I'll call you later."

Jack nodded and got up from his seat and headed for the door. Before he could open the door, he turned to face his father.

"Hey, Dad, you think maybe I can help you on this case?" Jack said.

Frank faced his son. "Jack, as much as I would like for you to help, I think this case is something that I should look in on my own."

Jack nodded his head. "See you later, Dad."

Jack and Shadow walked out of the office and headed for the front.

"Hey, Jack." A female voice called for his attention and saw that it was Hildy once again.

"Oh, hey," Jack said.

"Just want to know something, how have you been?" Hildy said. "I know you come by often, but we don't really talk much."

"I've been okay," Jack said. "Just been dealing with shit at my job."

"I know what that's like," Hildy said. "I sometimes wonder what I could do with some skills that I have."

"Didn't you go to school for nursing and to learn to be an EMT?" Jack said.

"Yeah, but it's hard to get in," Hildy said. "Besides, I'm just trying to get by until more opportunities come my way. Hey, may I ask you something?"

"Sure," Jack said.

"Do you ever wonder what happened?" Hildy said. "I mean between us and all that."

Jack sighed. "Sometimes, but I try not to let it get to me. Besides, we didn't break up on the worst of terms. I got into my own shit, you got into yours."

Hildy looked away. Her eyes shifted to her desk.

"I guess," Hildy said. "But at least we can still be friends."

"Yeah, I guess so," Jack said. "Anyway, see you around, Hildy. Maybe the next time I come by, okay?"

"Sure," Hildy said and waved goodbye to him as Jack and Shadow walked out.

They went to the squad car. Jack let Shadow into the backseat, and then Jack went to the driver's seat and sat there. He started to reflect on what Hildy had said. They had dated when they were younger. Maybe it was his imagination, but it didn't seem to him that Hildy had really gotten over him and he started to wonder if he had gotten over her. He even wondered about Ruby, about whether that relationship with her was genuine or was mainly for fun.

In either case, it was time to go back to the precinct.