Recovery

Chapter 32

The Journal of John Nolan

My partnership with Lucy seems to be working out – as a partnership anyway. Grey sent us on an assignment that we both could have done without. As it happened, the U.S.D.A. Forest Service truck that Silas spotted was last seen in Switzer Falls Park, an area maintained by that agency.

Grey ordered us to wander around in plain clothes to see if we noticed anything that might tie in with La Fiera. The park is part of the Angeles National Forest, and once off the trails, someone could hide anything in the trees. Not knowing what else to do, Lucy and I started with the marked two-mile hike to the falls. It was picturesque, if not productive. When we were a couple, we did our hiking on the beach – usually with Jackson enthusiastically jogging ahead of us. We didn't take in much of the scenery. The two of us were too busy trying to get in some time together.

In the forest, we were supposed to do nothing but observe what was around us. We expected that most visitors would be staying on the trail to the falls. If La Fiera's people had been somewhere around, they would have been anywhere but the well-trodden path. So when I spied what looked like a narrow dirt track into the woods, Lucy and I decided to take it.

We continued into the forest with trees thick on either side. The area reminded me of where Lopez said La Fiera had held her. But I wasn't the only one getting a La Fiera vibe. Lucy thought the cartel might have a facility in there, hidden beneath the tree canopy. We were both wrong – about the cartel, anyway.

Lucy and I kept going with our hands on our guns. Finally, we reached what looked like a farm. If cannabis were still illegal in California, that would have been what I expected to find. But it wasn't what was growing. Instead, we saw a bunch of mushrooms sprouting at the base of evergreen trees.

I have an app on my phone for identifying plants. It came in handy when I was doing the landscaping for my house. According to it, the mushrooms were fly agaric. Like magic mushrooms, they cause hallucinations, but they're legal. Not the sort of thing I'd associate with La Fiera.

At the far end of the mushroom patch, we found a little hut, not at all reminiscent of La Fiera's expensive tastes. The place was roughly constructed but not falling apart. At least from what I could tell by looking, the roof didn't leak. A latch kept the door closed, but it wasn't locked. Since it was on public property and not posted as closed to visitors, Lucy and I took a look inside. There wasn't much there, just some gloves, masks, a scale, and boxes of baggies.

Apparently, some enterprising cultivator started a business selling a legal high. Unfortunately, if the entrepreneur also grabbed a Forest Service truck, that would have been anything but legal – more like grand larceny. Worse, according to a quick search on my phone, legal or not, if someone ate too much of the product, they could die of dehydration. That could mean a serious hazard to the people around the center or anywhere else the mushroom seller was doing business. We had to track him down.

Lucy and I, mostly Lucy, figured that if our suspect was spending a lot of time tending his crop, it probably already got him in trouble. She was right. The Forest Service recently fired a biological service aid who was working around Switzer Falls. His supervisor reported that several times he wasn't where he was supposed to be. Lucy and I thought that our suspect must have been too busy pursuing his private ambitions to do his real job. Then after he got fired, he stole the truck and went to push his wares in a neighborhood known for drug problems.

Grey put out a stolen vehicle report on the Forest Service truck. If we're lucky, the L.A.P.D. will catch the thief driving it. Lucy and I were busy patting ourselves on the back when we got called to a fire. I expected that the fire department would beat us there. They usually do. And Bailey's was the nearest firehouse. It's also among the quickest to respond.

Unfortunately, Bailey's station and, in fact, a whole battalion, including a hazmat team, had been called to a chemical factory fire several miles away. They were fighting the clock to prevent the release of toxic fumes. So Lucy and I reached the housefire site before any firefighters could arrive.

The neighbors who called 911 said they didn't think anyone was in the house. Both parents should have been at work and the children at school. The fire was on the roof and had spread to part of the second floor. Suddenly, a woman ran out the door, screaming and coughing. Lucy and I could barely understand her. But from what we could get, her son stayed home sick from school. She took a day to be with him and was fixing him some soup in the kitchen when the upstairs smoke detector went off. It had been going off lately whenever she was cooking something, so she didn't worry at first. But the stairs were full of smoke and flame, and she couldn't reach her child.

I surveyed the construction of the house as fast as I could. It looked like there was attic space under a dormer roof. Lucy was doing better with the mother than I was, so I asked her to find out if the attic had an opening to the second floor's ceiling. The mother said she'd never been up there, but she thought there was attic access from the upstairs hall.

Dispatch said the nearest firefighters were still five minutes out. The boy could be dead in five minutes. I had to try to get to him.


Applause breaks out in the roll call room as John makes his way to his seat. He coughs slightly before dropping down next to Lucy. "Are you all right there, Officer Nolan?" Grey asks.

"Fine, Sir," John responds, his voice still roughened by smoke. "The docs checked me out. I'm good to go."

"Good to hear," Grey responds. "But next time, let the firefighters go running into burning buildings."

"If they'd been there, I would have been glad to do that, Sir. But Bail, um, one of the firefighters, told me that if I'd waited, the child would have been crushed when the ceiling of his room collapsed. Thank God, he'll be OK."

"Thank Nolan," Lucy comments.

"Officer Chen, as long as you're paying attention, I have some news on your mushroom farmer. Either the happy juice affected his brain, or he wasn't too smart to begin with. He kept driving that stolen truck. Officer Wrigley spotted him making a California stop and pulled him over. Luckily, he was unarmed and didn't put up a fight. But unfortunately, the new A.D.A. can only charge him with stealing the vehicle. There's no statute for selling an uncontrolled substance."

"How about for growing one, Sir?" Nolan inquires. "The suspect made unauthorized use of federally administered land. That has to be a violation of federal law."

"Good catch, Nolan. The law enforcement branch of the Forest Service will be getting into that. But it's no longer our problem.

"Now, all of you will be covering your usual patrol areas unless instructed otherwise during your shift. But don't let familiarity make you lose focus. Stay alert, pay attention, and keep yourselves and others safe out there. That's it.

"Officer Nolan," Grey calls as John follows Lucy to the room's exit.

John turns. "Yes, Sir."

"The fire department decided that you deserve a medal of valor. Their liaison will be contacting you about the ceremony. But don't let it go to your head. You're still the most junior officer here with the most to learn."

"Yes, Sir. Is that all, Sir?"

"Good work saving the kid, Nolan."

John allows a smile to hint at his lips. "Thank you, Sir."

"Now go catch up with Chen," Grey orders. "You two have police work to do."

John trots out the door to find Lucy.

A/N A California stop is not unique to California. It's when instead of coming to a complete stop at a stop sign, the driver lets the car keep rolling forward. It's illegal in California, but people do it anyway.