Vice Enters the Story

Chapter 8

Neither Karen nor Jerry, were quite sure how exactly to deal with the start of the next day of work. They hadn't been at the station long enough to learn all the personal ropes of this particular station. Deakins was long on that kind of experience, though. He called them into his office as soon as he saw them.

"With Alex on reduced hours, I'm going to rely on you two to take up some of the slack. Here's some of the most recent cases. Go over them and get yourself up to speed. I also want you to go down to records and pull out the records of the cases with similarities to the one you just worked on. I understand there are quite a few. Look for anything that we can use for this one. Names, dates, or any other similarities. Get started on that and let me know if anything pops. I've got Carver coming over at 11:00."

"Alright, Captain." Karen said meekly.

Jerry just followed without comment. He glanced at Karen as they walked. "I get the feeling we're being given busy work. How about you?"

"Definitely, but you know what? We're going to go over those files with a fine tooth comb and come up with something that will show him that we're not just a couple of pretty faces."

"It sounds like a slow morning." Jerry grouched.

Karen grinned at him. "Should I arrest someone so you can shoot him? That'd really liven up your morning."

"Would you?" Jerry joked back.

They were smiling as they passed the main desk on their way down to the records in the basement of the building. Neither noticed the two men sitting in one of the offices with a third man behind the desk. None of the men looked like they were anything that they had to worry about nor did they look dangerous. Neither saw one of them lean over to his partner and say something. The second man whirled around to look after them. They spoke to the man behind the desk, who immediately picked up the phone and hit a single button.

There were indeed quite a few files. Jerry grabbed a box to carry them in but Karen had an additional armload when they made their way back upstairs. "I'm glad we don't have to walk up the stairs with these things." Jerry grunted.

"I thought they were supposed to be on the computer. Why do we have paper copies?" Karen agreed.

"Because they're backlogged in entering the files into the computer." Bobby said as he walked in.

Jerry whirled to look at him. "You must have the ears of a cat." He told him.

Bobby shrugged. "It helps. And Alex is fine, but she won't be in today. She had a rough night and the doctor wants her off her feet today. So it's just us."

"I'll give her a call later anyway." Karen offered.

"I think she's hoping you will. She has a hard time being left out of anything going on here at the office and she doesn't always trust me to tell her everything. Just don't tell her anything that'll upset her."

"You mean like the high old time we'll be having going over old files. I'll be sure to skip over that little tidbit." Karen said wryly.

"You-you really might want to. I don't think she'd believe you if you told her that that's what you're doing." Bobby was serious.

"Tell her we're having a gun battle and she's missing all the fun." Jerry piped in.

"That she might believe." Bobby grinned, but it was evident that his mind was home with his partner.

Jerry set the box down on the desks and glanced over at Deakins office. "Say aren't those the guys we saw downstairs? What do you suppose they're doing in the Captains office?"

Karen glanced casually at them. "None of my business. If it is he'll tell us when the time comes. Where do you want to start?"

Bobby was staring at them. "They're discussing you, Karen." He said.

"How can you tell?" Jerry swiveled his head from Bobby to the office and back.

"You can't hear them from here can you?"

Under Bobbys scrutiny Deakins walked over to the blinds and pulled the cord that closed them. Bobby looked searchingly at Karen. "Are you in trouble?"

"Nope. Why would you think that?"

"They were definitely talking about you. And Deakins closed his blinds."

"How did you know they were talking about her?" Jerry demanded.

"I can read lips. If I know the person and I've known Deakins for a few years."

"I can't for the life of me figure out why I'd come up in conversation with him and those guys. I don't even know who the hell they are. Open that box, Jerry, and we'll divide these up evenly."

"Come on, Karen. Don't tell me you don't even care. They could be saying almost anything in there."

Karen gave him a cool look. "Paranoia, suspicion, nosiness." She ticked all three points off on her fingers. "Those are not necessarily attractive qualities, Wilkes."

"Who are they, Bobby? Do you recognize them?" Jerry asked the other man who was still staring at the closed blinds.

"Vice. They're from Vice, but they shouldn't be here. We have no cases going that would possibly fall under their jurisdiction."

"Could it be about the bank case?" Karen asked. "Although why my name would come up, if it has, is beyond me. You and Alex are the big guns here."

"It couldn't have gone to them yet. Carver hasn't even come for the file and that's where it would start. It has to be something else." Bobby said. His brain was busily working on the puzzle.

Karen gave up waiting for Jerry to pass out the files so she elbowed him out of the way and began to unload the files into two equal piles. Her back was to Deakins office so she didn't see the door open.

Deakins didn't look happy. Bobby had known his captain for enough time to know that whatever was going down, Deakins didn't like it. The other men in the office must've had something important to say for this look to appear on the veterans face. "Wesson, Wilkes, Goren, in here." He called.

Jerry's head whipped around to the Captains office then back to Bobby. Karen sighed and set down her files, walking toward the indicated office like she was going to jail. Jerry was right behind her, and Bobby was behind him. Bobby met Deakins gaze and understanding passed between the long time associates. Whatever was about to go on Deakins wasn't happy and he was counting on Bobby to help keep it under control. That sent a chill down Bobbys spine. These things were never good.

Neither man seated inside Deakins office rose when they all crowded inside. That lack of courtesy was immediately noticed by both Jerry and Bobby. Also distinctly noticeable was the arrogant attitude of the redheaded man as they both stared hard at Karen.

Karens body posture was neutral, but her look as she returned the stares was full of barely controlled hostility. Jerry noticed the balling of her hands into fists. He casually stepped up beside her. Bobby hung back but he too gave the two men his patented "Bobby" stare standing just behind Karen opposite of Jerry.

Deakins recognized the potential for a massive explosion, deciding he needed to diffuse it quickly. "Bobby, you know Thomas and Osborn from Vice. This is Detectives Karen Wesson and her partner Jerry Wilkes. They just transferred into Major Case."

Deakins couldn't feel any lessening of the tension.

Karen returned the mens look stare for stare. They were making her mad. "Gentlemen." She nodded, choosing the word deliberately.

Jerry was becoming visibly angrier. "If they're vice, I doubt they're gentlemen." He snarled.

Thomas looked at Osborn, or Osborn looked at Thomas, there was no way to tell who was who and they nodded. "Perfect. A little young, but we can work with that." One of them said. They looked at Deakins. "We're hoping it'll go down either tonight or tomorrow night. We'll return her as soon as it's completed."

Deakins opened his mouth to reply but Jerry was quicker. "I don't think you will." He told them darkly.

Neither man had been paying any attention to him and they seemed surprised to see him at all much less was standing in front of Karen protectively. One of the men, Osborn, Bobby thought, opened his mouth, but Deakins beat him to the punch. "Relax, Wilkes. They're not the bad guys."

"No one has told me a thing that's going on and my partner doesn't just go with these thugs without an explanation." Jerry stoutly informed his captain.

Karen came to life swatting Jerry across the back. "Move over, you big lug." She barked.

Jerry whirled around to meet her angry gaze and realized he'd been blocking her view from possible danger. He took a small step off to the side but was ready to defend her if he needed to.

"Knock it off, all of you." Deakins barked. "Wilkes, back off."

"Captain, may I ask what exactly what is going on here? So far I feel like a cow at auction." Karen said quietly, but there wasn't anything quiet in the gaze she was feeding the two men who so far hadn't arisen from their seats.

"We need a fresh face. One that isn't known to most of the police force. We're doing a sting and the woman we had to play the victim was found out to be pregnant and she doesn't want to "endanger the baby." One of the men sneered the phrase.

Bobby stirred, resentment rising in him at the implied criticism of a mother protecting her child. It had always been a sticking point for him and it still was. Deakins recognized that and held a forestalling hand up to his lead detective.

Karen nodded. "Obviously the baby didn't belong to either of you." She stated mildly. The jibe, subtle though it was, struck home for at least one of the men. He flushed and looked down.

The other man, the one with red hair, clenched his jaw. "No, it was her boyfriends. She could've gone ahead and done this. It wasn't like we were going to let her get hurt." He growled.

"I guess since it inconvenienced you so much, she felt justified in not feeling safe with you to protect her."

Bobby was having trouble keeping a straight face. He could easily see Alex being just that sarcastic. The thought of his wife, home resting with his baby inside her, out doing whatever it is these bozos wanted Karen to do made him want to start punching them then and there.

Similar thoughts must've occurred to Deakins, because he hastily stepped between his detectives and the Vice cops. "Karen, they need you to act as a woman who is looking to hire her husband killed. All you have to do is hire the hit man then you're out of it."

"Why me? Why not someone else?"

The vice cops exchanged a look. Again Deakins stepped in. "They need someone who isn't known around town. It's possible that the assassin is "involved" with the force."

"A cop?" Karens look flew to Deakins face.

"You shouldn't have told her that." The redheaded vice cop commented angrily.

Even Bobby was surprised by that turn of events, but didn't miss Karens glare at the man. "I don't care for dirty cops for any reason." She informed him. "I'm new in the department, but something tells me there's more going on that that. I'll ask you again. Why me?"

The redheaded one, obviously the self appointed spokesperson stood up for the first time. "Because you'll be playing a little homely housewife from the sticks who came looking for her cheating husband and wants him killed for the money so she can inherit millions and marry her boyfriend. With a little makeup, you're perfect for the role."

Bobby was quick to grab for Jerry, but Deakins was quicker. He knew this portion would be hard to handle and had hoped it wouldn't come out at all, but the redheaded Vice cop was rankled and he was looking to provoke a fight. Deakins knew this information but he wasn't quite as prepared for Jerrys fury. Not that he could say he blamed the younger detective. Between him and Bobby, they managed to restrain Jerry just short of the redheaded man.

Deakins glared at the Vice cops. "That's enough! Jerry, cool off. They needed someone specific, because a description had already been sent to the suspect. They will need a lot of makeup to make Karen plain."

Karen was pale and angry, but she recognized why the men had come to her. "Not so much, Captain." She said quietly. "Jerry, it's alright. Come on. They are completely tactless. You can't fault them for that. When is this supposed to go down?"

"Tonight." The dark haired one said quietly.

"So there was a time crunch. Alright. I'll do it on two conditions."

"Karen, no!" Jerry protested. Karen held up a restraining hand.

"And those are?" dark hair asked.

"One, my partner is there to back me up in case something goes wrong."

"We have the sting all set up. He isn't in on it."

"Find a way or it's a no go."

Dark hair nodded after a moment. "Alright. We can work something out. And the second condition?"

Karen leaned closer to the men and there was no doubt about her towering anger.

"When this is over, no consequences, I get to slug the officer of my choice."

Deakins almost swallowed his tongue, but Karen had that coming and he intended to be a witness to the entire thing.

The two Vice cops swapped looks and nodded. "I'll make sure you get all the information you need within an hour." The dark haired one said. He was sure that he wasn't the intended target.

Karen nodded and turned to leave the office. She stopped just short of the door and turned back into the room. "Just so I know, who is Osborn and who is Thomas?"

Dark hair answered for both of them "I'm Thomas. He's Osborn. Why?"

"I just wanted to know who I was going to slug, that's all." Karen shrugged and walked out with Jerry and Bobby right behind her.

Neither man looked overly concerned, but then they didn't know, and Deakins did, that Karen was a brown belt on Karate. Whoever got slugged would have one hell of a bruise. He decided to keep that little bit of information to himself. Let them be surprised all on their own.

TBC