OFFICE SPACE

Commissioner Owen Fisette stormed unannounced into Ed Brown's office, ignoring the niceties of being granted entrance by Ed's secretary. He paused to stare at Ed, shaking his head, his face red with anger, index finger extended, before plopping heavily into one of the blue upholstered visitor's chairs.

"What the hell happened last night?" He demanded, his finger still pointing at Ed's chest.

"Morning Commissioner," Ed said pleasantly. He hit his intercom button. "Mattie, a couple of things; find out where my sergeant is; ask Mac to cover at the eleven o'clock staff meeting, and would you please bring in some coffee for the Commissioner and me? Thank you"

"It's all over the radio," the Commissioner sputtered.

"What is?"

"You being involved in that firebombing this morning."

Ed wondered who said what to the media. If it was on the air, chances were good he'd soon be contacted by the TV stations.

Mattie Johnson entered the office, putting two steaming mugs on the desk. "Anything else, sir?"

"Yes, Mattie, I've changed my mind, postpone the staff meeting until this afternoon, say three pm. Have Mac prepare a press release about last night and invite the beat reporters in for a conversation as soon as possible. Jerry's probably still at the lab, but text him, ask if he's got any results from the firing or the GSR test, and schedule a press conference for 4:30 this afternoon. Invite everyone, including the bloggers."

"Yes sir," the secretary responded as she went out the door, closing it behind her.

Ed took a sip of coffee. "Ok, here's what happened." He recounted for the Commissioner the events of the last twelve hours. "The radio stations have it fouled up," he concluded. "They'll be invited to the meeting, and we'll get it straightened out."

Fisette drank coffee and calmed down somewhat. "The last thing we need, Ed, is to have even the slightest suspicion of another dirty cop here."

Ed interrupted him. "Look, I don't see what's dirty about finding a lost kid, getting her something to eat, and taking her home to her parents. My wife was in the car with us. We don't know what happened last night yet. If you're concerned about the shakedown investigation, it's going well; it's just about wrapped up. Mac's done a great job and has almost found the connection between "cops" beating up customers at the pot shops and demanding kickbacks from the shop owners... Most owners he's talked to don't want the slightest hint of illegality around them. They're making too much money and don't want to be shut down. They're doubling up on private security. They know handing out bribes to any of our folks would be a fast way to lock their doors forever and bring the Feds down on them. As for me, the tests should show". Ed paused at the knock on his door.

"Enter."

"Got those results for you, Chief. Morning Commissioner." Jerry Abbey dropped a manila file on his boss' now cluttered desk. He stepped back, waiting. Ed scanned the file, a smile crossing his face, then passed it across to Fisette.

"Anything else to report?"

Abbey grinned. "I owe a lab tech breakfast for rousting 'em out of bed so early." He left the room briefly, returning with the bag Ed had given him earlier. "I thought you might want these back too. Taking the bag from him, Brown slid his Glock back in his shoulder holster and bent over to put his throwdown back in the ankle holster. Sitting back upright, Ed opened his wallet, took out two twenties handing them to his sergeant. "It's my treat, Jerry. Take her over to DJ's on 9th, if you want to make an impression on her."

Abbey smiled and pocketed the bills. "How'd you know the tech was a female, boss?"

"Seriously, Jerry? Do you think I don't know who you woke up? A chance for you to go out with Brenna Chang on my dime? Just don't make it a lingering brunch. There's too much to do today."

"Think I'll see about a late dinner tonight instead."

"You're catching on fast, Sgt. Abbey." Ed handed him a sheet of paper. "Since you aren't going to breakfast, here are a few things I need you to follow up on." He waggled his fingers at his assistant.

Abbey looked at the list covering both sides of the paper. "I should have known you'd have just a few things for me, Boss. Let me grab something from the commissary, and I'll start working on this." Reluctantly he handed Ed back the twenties.

Ed nodded as Jerry stood there for a moment.

"Today, Sergeant…."

"uhh, right." He moved to leave.

"And Jerry,…. nice work."

Jerry Abbey smiled as he left the office. It was good having his boss' trust.

"Want me to be there today? At the press conference, that is?" Fisette asked.

"No, it won't be necessary," Ed replied, knowing he would be there.

"Think maybe I'll drop by, just in case. Someone from City Hall should be there. They might want the Commissioners' response to all this."

Ed groaned inwardly. 'No,' he mused silently, 'you want to make sure you get splashed on the Post's front page, preferably with a picture as large as your ego.' The Commissioner was insufferable, a faithful publicity hound. The building gossip said he wanted to be mayor someday. It would do no good to protest, either. Fran told him he needed to learn to deal better with the man, or he'd be on blood pressure medication in no time.

The next words out of Fisette's mouth stunned him.

"You got your wife out of retirement, I hear."

Ed could feel himself becoming angrier at Fisette's now gloating tone.

"I heard she was on the scene this morning." He continued.

The man was amazing. Ed paused and decided to go for the simple truth. "I called her. Fran was with me last night and met Catalina. I needed some sketches of the girl. She could do them faster than our artist, so she made some drawings for the uniforms."

"So why did she go to the kid's school?"

'How'd he learn that tidbit?' Ed wondered.

"Principal called me this morning. Dianne's a neighbor of mine. She told me a woman named Brown was looking for the kid and asking questions on your behalf. Had no authority but said Dianne should call your office for verification."

Ed fumed. Instead of calling his office for confirmation, she'd called a 'neighbor,' who just happened to be a city commissioner.

"I already told you. I'm not having my wife work as an investigator on this. Look, the kid has lost one or both of her parents. I sent Fran because she's someone Cat knows. If your parents had been murdered, wouldn't you like to see one person who cared about you and not just asking questions about what happened because it's their job? I'm not giving her a badge and a gun, for God's sake."

"And she understands the kid, why? Because she went through that herself?"

Ed had enough of the man and his officious oiliness. "Good for you, Fisette; you read her biography." He laid the sarcasm on heavily. "Seems you forgot to reread the part where it says she's retired from active duty."

The Commissioner opened his mouth to speak, looking like a fish.

"Leave my wife alone."

Owen Fisette hauled himself out of his chair. "Thanks for the coffee Chief. Have your secretary call mine when your Exec has the press conference set up. I'll be in the building all day."

Ed looked at Fisette's retreating backside. Damn the man.

AN: I recently bought a production copy of "The Return of Ironside" script. As I'm reading it, I see that the author, Rob Hedden, and I refer to some characters differently. So I am renaming them as I come across them. Staying in the canon (sometimes), Paul Fisette is now Owen Fisette. Johanna.