Meet the New Boss

Chapter 9

When Jim heard raised voices coming from Krause's office, he took out his earpiece and paused the computer-generated voice that was reading the report he'd scanned. He guessed the door was closed, because he couldn't make out any words or identify the other voice, but he thought Krause sounded angry. He wondered what the argument was about. Maybe they were finally going after Krause, now that he'd been linked to Greene and the Matthews case. He had no idea what was happening with the case. Two long days had passed with no word from Karen, and after his last conversation with Krause, he couldn't risk calling her when he left the station to walk Hank. Someone could follow him out of the station house without his knowledge.

"What's happening?" he asked.

He didn't really expect an answer, but Bartkowski surprised him. "I dunno," he said, "but the Chief of Ds is in with the boss. Boss don't look too happy."

Jim shrugged and reached for his earpiece, but before he could pick it up, Krause called from his office, "Dunbar, get your ass in here – now."

A little apprehensively, Jim headed for the lieutenant's office. Just what he needed, he thought, a chat with Krause and the Chief of Ds.

When Jim entered the office, Chief Tunney looked at Krause and nodded, expecting the lieutenant to tell Jim he was present. Instead, Krause remained silent, his arms folded, and looked away. "It's Chief Tunney, Detective Dunbar," Tunney finally said, sounding surprisingly friendly.

"Chief," Jim replied, extending his hand in Tunney's direction.

After shaking Jim's hand, Tunney glanced at Krause, frowning, then continued, more formally, "Detective, it has been brought to my attention that you were re-assigned here in error. I have rescinded your transfer. You are to report back to Lieutenant Fisk at the 8th Precinct immediately. Lieutenant Fisk will fill you in."

At first, Jim could hardly believe what he was hearing. Then the Chief's words sank in, and a wave of relief swept over him. His exile was over. Determined not to show any reaction, he kept his expression a blank. He merely nodded and said, "Yes, sir."

"That's all." Tunney turned to leave. "Lieutenant. Detective." He nodded to both of them, then strode to the door and out of the office.

Krause glared at Jim ineffectually. "What're you waiting for?" he demanded. "You heard the Chief. Get out of here."

Without answering him, Jim turned to leave.

"And, Dunbar, I never want to see your face around here again."

"Me neither," Jim muttered under his breath.

"What's that?"

"On my way, sir," Jim replied. He went back to his desk.

"What was that about?" Bartkowski asked him.

"I'm being sent back to the 8 – apparently, there was some kind of mistake," Jim replied noncommittally.

"Jeez, something's always fucked up around here," Bartkowski commented.

"Yeah." Jim sat down at his desk, still stunned by the sudden turn of events. It seemed too good to be true, but he'd been sprung from the 4-0. He wasn't sure how it had happened, but at that moment, all he cared about was getting out of there.

Jim wasted no time as he packed up his belongings. He wasn't going to stick around any longer than he absolutely had to. Silently cursing the need to work carefully and systematically, he finished his packing as quickly as possible, then ran his hands across the desktop to make sure he hadn't missed anything. If he left anything behind, there was no way in hell he was coming back for it. When he was sure he had everything, he stood up and signaled to Hank.

"Good luck, Jim," Bartkowski said when he saw Jim was ready to leave.

"Yeah," he replied, then added, with a wave of his hand, "Good luck, guys." They would need it, he thought, as he walked down the hall and out of the 4-0 – for good.

Fisk hung up the phone and called the squad into his office, a grimly satisfied expression on his face. "The Chief of Ds called," he announced after Tom closed the door behind them. "IAB found a saw in Captain Greene's tool box that matches the saw marks on Joyce's bones. The s.o.b. was so sure no one would ever suspect him, he didn't even get rid of it. Looks like he just washed it off and threw it back in his tool box. The lab found some traces of blood and bone on it anyway. And his DNA came back a match to the samples the ME took. IAB has had him under surveillance ever since they executed the search warrant. They're on their way to arrest him now."

Marty pointed at Karen and gave her a knowing look.

Karen smiled to herself, looking thoughtful. "What about Lieutenant Krause?" she asked.

Fisk shook his head. "IAB talked to him, but the guy's slippery," he said, frowning. "He claims he didn't know anything about Greene and Joyce. He says Greene told him One PP decided Jim was a liability and had to go, and Greene ordered him to make that happen. There's nothing to prove otherwise, and you can bet Greene's not gonna be talking."

"Son of a bitch," Marty muttered.

"Yeah." Thinking they were dismissed, the detectives started to leave. Then Fisk smiled and added, "Oh, by the way, the Chief has rescinded Jim's transfer. He's on his way back here from the 4-0."

"Yes!" Karen exclaimed, with a little fist pump.

Fisk looked at her indulgently. "That's all."

After they returned to their desks, Tom and Karen exchanged high fives, while Marty sat down, smiling and shaking his head at the same time. Campbell looked uneasy.

"Don't worry, kid," Marty told him. "You just got lucky. They'll transfer you out of here, and you won't have to work with the famous blind detective."

"Jim!" Karen exclaimed when she saw him and Hank walk into the squad room. Karen, Tom, and Marty left their desks and went to greet him. Campbell took a couple of tentative steps toward them, then hung back, watching the scene with a mixture of curiosity and uncertainty.

Fisk came out of his office. "Welcome back, Jim."

"Thanks, boss." Jim shook Fisk's hand and headed for his desk. When he was almost there, Marty spoke up.

"Hey, Jim, you know what this means, don't you?"

Jim stopped and turned toward him. "No, what's that?"

"They can never get rid of you now. We're stuck with you."

Jim grinned at him and continued walking toward his desk. Marty turned to Tom. "Now that's smug," he said, jerking his head toward Jim. Still smiling, Jim sat down at his desk and leaned back in his chair. He was back.