This Time? Chapter 23
"We have a ceremony to attend," Bill announces to Lucy as she transmits her notes on Los Caimanes to Sergeant Carradine.
She rolls her shoulders and gets to her feet. "What kind of ceremony?"
"Awarding of the yellow sneakers. A new kid was just jumped in, so he gets them and they have a party."
Lucy heads for the stairs leading below. "How hard was he jumped in? Is he all right?"
"He has enough bruises to show off, but he's breathing and moving pretty well, so I don't think anything's broken. His older brother is already in. He gave the others a look that said they'd pay for it if they came down too hard on little bro."
Lucy holds herself back at the top of the staircase. "So when is this ceremony?"
"In about 20 minutes, as soon as the guys who went out for drinks and snacks come back."
"What kind of drinks?"
"Beer mostly, maybe some tequila. They want to party, not pass out. They've already got a DJ setting up. We'll be expected to start the dancing. I assume you can handle that."
"Are we dancing or making out on the dance floor?" Lucy asks.
"Probably both, if you want to keep up your cover. So you're up for it?"
"If you can fake it, I can."
Bill offers a crooked smile. "I'll close my eyes and picture my boyfriend."
"Yeah, me too," Lucy agrees, silently hoping she still has one.
Music vibrates off the walls as the Los Caimanes gaze expectantly at Bill and Lucy. She wraps her arms around his neck and presses against his body. For a few moments, they sway to the beat until the other gang members join the revels in order of rank. Then a boy with a bruised face steps forward expectantly.
Bill holds up his hand at the DJ, who stops the music. "It's time for us to show Julio that he's one of us. Bring forward the colors," he proclaims.
A young man Lucy recognizes as Bill's lieutenant takes a box from a table and hands it to Bill. Lucy studies it, noting any information she can see on the shoes' origin. Bill opens the box and smiles at the boy who receives his sign of success. He sits on the floor, surrounded by the other gang members, pushing his feet into his new shoes. Bill sends a sideways glance at Lucy, who is working on committing everything about the shoes to memory. As Bill openly waves his permission, Lucy partners with the boy. The DJ restarts the music.
"What do you know about the sneakers? Where do they come from?" Lucy asks Bill when they finally return to his apartment.
"They're a special order, sent up from a factory in Mexico."
"I could see that from the box, but I also recognized the back address on the label," Lucy says. "It's from the same little town where your people teamed with the Federales to bust a drug operation about four years ago. Harper had a UC assignment on the pipeline. She went over it with me as an example of UC work."
"That was a little before my time," Bill admits. "I've only been doing UC for three years. So you think there's a connection between that old operation and Los Caimanes."
"I think it's worth checking out," Lucy says. "They could be hiding drugs in shoe shipments. Shoes are bulky, fentanyl isn't. Sealed well enough to fool the dogs, the shoe shipments could get across the border with no or a minimal check. And with Los Caimanes setting up in La Fiera's old territories, they'd have a ready-made marketplace."
"Yes, they would," Bill considers. "Give me everything you have about the connection and I'll pass it on to my people."
"And I'll pass it on to mine," Lucy says. "The fentanyl may already be on the street."
Lt. Pine signals Tim to join her in her office. "Bradford, you're not here because I'm convinced you've got yourself together, but because I need every warm body I can get on this raid. Through a joint operation between the DEA and a UC cop out of Mid-Wilshire, we've been able to trace shipments from Mexico to a warehouse here in LA. Supposedly the trucks contained specialty athletic shoes, but we've determined that's a cover for drug smuggling. We've scoped out the warehouse. I'll give you the details, but it is very well-defended. We're going to have to launch a full press assault to take it down."
"The UC from Mid-Wilshire, was that Lucy Chen?" Tim asked.
"I didn't need to know that, so neither do you, Bradford. But I can tell you the UC won't be anywhere near the building when we make our assault."
Tim breathes out a sigh. "All right."
"So are you with us? Are you ready for this?" Pine demands.
"I'm ready," Tim declares.
"So, when is it going down?" Lucy asks Bill in the privacy of his apartment.
"Some time today," he says. "They'll be tracking a truck ID'd as bringing in drugs. That should give them cause to breach that the best gang lawyers shouldn't be able to motion away. It will be a joint operation of the DEA and LAPD Metro." He notes Lucy's almost imperceptible shiver. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she insists, "it's just that my…."
"Your boyfriend's part of Metro?" Bill guesses.
"If he's still my boyfriend, yeah."
Bill flashes his best reassuring smile. "He should be fine. Metro will know what it's getting into. They'll probably go in with enough weaponry to conduct a small revolution. I know the DEA will."
Lucy sinks down on a couch. "I'm sure you're right."
"But you're worried anyway. Hey, my boyfriend and I always worry about each other when we're off on assignments. But we work it out."
Despite her best efforts to withhold it, moisture glistens in Lucy's eyes. "How? How do you do that? I mean my boyfriend was married to a UC cop. It - it - didn't end up well. And he's afraid the same thing will happen again."
"Are you?" Bill asks.
"Maybe. I don't think so. I'm not her. But how can I figure it out?"
"You can't figure it out, not by yourself," Bill advises. "For my boyfriend and me, being gay in this job just made it harder. But that's who we are. We accept that. The two of you have to agree to accept each other for who you are and work with that together. Otherwise, there's no way you can hold on to each other."
"You're right," Lucy says. "So after the warehouse operation, is our assignment here finished?"
"Yours will be. I already have a rep for short-term hookups. So no one will be surprised to see you go. I'll keep gathering intelligence here until my bosses don't consider it worth further investment. But I suspect if we turn off the flow from Mexico, that may not take long. Did you have plans?"
"There's supposed to be a party, a wedding celebration for a very dear friend of mine. I'm hoping I can make it."
"Your boyfriend, is he invited too?" Bill inquires.
Lucy nods slowly. "I think he will be."
"Then maybe you'll have something else to celebrate," Bill suggests.
"Maybe we will."
