Chapter 7 (Career Advancement)
She gazed down onto the floor of her station, her arms crossed in front of her body, her fingers spread, drumming against the nubby tweed of her tailored jacket. Her eyes narrowed as she watched Celluci enter the room and move towards his desk.
He ran a hand through the unruly blond hair as he passed by Kate Lam's desk and he responded with a broad white smile to something she said. Always was a flirt, she thought, in amusement. The habitual beige trench coat flapped as he strode across the room raising a hand to his current partner, Dave Graham. He carried a bulging ancient attaché case in his hand which he set on top of his disorderly desk. Working at home on a case, she thought, no wonder he was the golden boy of the department.
Slipping off the trench, he hung it on the coat rack behind him. He settled into his chair and cast a swift glance towards her office. Crowley frowned slightly and tensed, stepping back even though she knew that he couldn't see her through the silvered and smoky glass. Celluci opened the attaché. Pulling out several file folders, he returned them to the lower file drawer of his desk.
Current case files then, she thought. Good, he needs to stay focused on the current and ongoing cases. The last time he started messing with cold cases and wasting her department's resources, there had been all hell to pay. She had been keeping a tight watch on him since that Mendoza fiasco. She had been keeping him on a very short leash.
Michael Celluci, she thought to herself, I know that you think that I am the Wicked Witch of the West, but believe it or not you are the closest thing I have to an heir in this department.
It had been a long hard road for Allison Crowley, coming up through the ranks at a time when women on the force who didn't work in Records or Traffic were scarce. She had been a frontrunner, and had to battle stiff resistance to first her presence and then her advancement. It had been the same for every torturous step of her career.
The female officers even today met with a certain amount of resistance, especially from the 'old boy's club,' but not on her fucking watch, or in her department by God! She seriously doubted that Kate Lam had ever been faced by a group of older detectives who whenever they saw her, cupped their privates and told her that she, "didn't have the right 'tools' for the job." She had spent years partnered with male detectives who garnered all the credit for her ideas and work. She seriously doubted that Lam had been told by a superior, sporting a suggestive smile, she would never be promoted, "until she could grow some balls."
Well, she had grown. She had grown a hard and abrasive demeanor, as a defense against her detractors. And she had succeeded despite them all. Her intellect coupled to a caustic personality had served her well and she had advanced well beyond any of her early tormentors who had either retired or sought other more sheltered precincts. She knew the rules, and she used them. Protocol and rules were what kept you safe, sometimes they were all that kept you alive. Protocol and rules were what kept her people safe on the force and in the street. Step outside the rules and you were on a long and slippery slope.
She had had high aspirations for Victoria Nelson, when she had first come across her, and had unobtrusively followed her career. She could have been the one, the one she would pass on all of her experience to, the one she would mentor and get behind. The one whose career she could advance, as no one had been there to advance hers. Well that had been a huge disappointment, Nelson had the brains and the feel for the work, she didn't take any shit from any one, and she attracted the very best to her. Victory Nelson should have been the centerpiece of her team. But she failed, oh she didn't succumb to a character flaw no…it was a physical weakness, her eyes gave out. All that investment and promise wasted.
I at least still have the other half of the famous Nelson/Celluci team, she thought.
She had transferred all of her interest to Celluci following what she still viewed as Nelson's desertion. He was, if not as brilliant and fiery as Nelson, an intuitive and gifted detective. He believed in the law and in due process with the same zeal as Crowley did herself. And if Nelson would just leave him alone, a long and distinguished career in law enforcement was ahead of him.
If Nelson would just leave him alone…she thought. The ex-cop turned PI was always nosing around the station and around her detectives; Celluci had a particular weakness for her. Nelson was like a god-damned vampire, she thought, sucking the life out of Celluci's career. She was damned if she was going to allow Nelson to fuck things up for Celluci, not her golden boy.
So she watched, and she kept track, and she made sure that Nelson knew she wasn't welcome in any capacity in the station. Now she had an opportunity available, and she was going to make sure that Celluci took advantage of it.
She descended the stairs and walked across the floor towards Celluci's desk. As she approached she watched him rise from his chair with two black surveillance tapes in his hand. She knew the moment he saw her, he stiffened slightly and then forced himself to relax. He laid the cassettes on the desk top and rested his fingers on top as she spoke. "Surveillance tapes, Celluci?"
"Copies from the Toronto Aquarium in the Parker and Hakito homicides," he replied. "I wanted to do some reviewing at home."
"Hmmm!" she said, "Did you spot anything?"
He shook his head, "no, not yet, but I want to review them again. I just have this gut feeling..."
The famous Celluci intuition, she thought, I wish I could debunk it…but he gets results.
"My office in five minutes, bring Lam and Graham," she said turning on her heel.
***
Mike shifted uneasily in his chair and looked across to Dave. The rotund detective sat in apparent calm except for the smallest twitch at the side of his right eye and the slightly asthmatic rasp of his breathing. Mike knew his partner and he was pretty sure Dave was jonesing for a nic stick big time. He always did when he was nervous.
Is there any way that Crowley can already know I shared confidential police records with Vic last night, any way she knew that I had copied the surveillance tapes for her…? I don't think so…fuck, the woman has the ability to make me feel like a seven year old in the principal's office.
Mike consciously forced his body to relax down into the chair and stretched his long legs out in front of him. Hell, she's not even in the room yet.
Kate came in and cast a rather withering look at Mike and then Dave. She thinks whatever shit Dave and I have gotten ourselves into that we have somehow managed to drag her into the muck as well. He smiled experimentally at her and was rewarded with a quizzical, 'Can someone tell me what is going on?' look.
All eyes turned to Crowley as she came in and crossed directly to her desk. She sat straight-backed in her chair and placed her clasped hands on the top of the desk. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun, a style as severe and uncompromising as her gaze. Mike, by sheer self control kept himself from flinching as that gaze fell on him.
At least be happy there is a desk between you, he thought, if she was right next to me I'm not sure I could keep from cringing. The force of her personality is almost as intimidating as the royal undead bastard's. A ripple of gooseflesh skittered between his shoulder blades and his attention was snapped back to Crowley as she started to speak.
"I have received and approved a request from both the Homicide and Organized Crimes Units of the Greater Vancouver Police Department and the RCMP. They are working on three cases all of which bear marked similarities to the Parker and Hakito cases which you are working. They are asking for our assistance in establishing a joint team to investigate this series of executions. They want us to send one of our team to Vancouver to work in tandem with their detectives. That's you Celluci."
Not so much as a "Do you mind? Please. Or a by your leave?" was Mike's first thought, followed almost immediately by, Christ! Fucking Fitzroy is in Vancouver! Great just fucking great!
Crowley continued, "Lam, I want you to partner up with Graham while Celluci is out of town, and I want the two of you to keep him apprised immediately of any new information on these ongoing investigations."
Such was the force of her personality that Dave and Kate only shook their heads up and down in immediate agreement. Mike sputtered once or twice and as Crowley's eyes swung back to him she said, "This has the makings of a very high profile case Detective, surely you have no objection to an assignment that stands to provide substantial advancement to your career?"
Mike managed to shake his head no, finally clearing his throat and saying, "No, no objections, when do I leave?"
***
A little more than an hour later Mike was walking to his car, attaché and airline ticket in hand. He glanced up past the red and white flag snapping in the breeze, to the clear blue of the early morning sky. There were thin white clouds scudding across the azure field high above him. The air was full of the familiar sounds of the parking lot and the surrounding city. It has just gone ten now, my flight is at five, if I leave an hour for security, I'll need to check in at four and I'll probably need at least an hour to get out to the airport by cab. Maximum, I have maybe five hours to get ready and leave my life in some semblance of order.
***
It didn't take too long to drag his suitcase out from under the bed and load up his essentials, he hoped that his contact in Vancouver, what was it…Detective Kavanaugh, knew a good dry cleaner, I'm going to need one, he thought, looking at the rumpled array of shirts he had packed over top of his few remaining clean ones. He packed his sweats and casual wear in a second duffle along with his kit. I've always heard that the Stanley Park trails and seawall were a great place to run and bike he thought as he shoved his runners in the end pocket of the duffle. Now I guess I am going to get a chance to find out.
***
As the door to her office opened, Vicki glanced up from the Gaelan file, spread across her desk. She pushed her glasses back up higher on her nose and as her eyes focused on the figure in the door she said, "Life finally just too much for you, are you running away from home Mikey?" Her eyes rested on the suitcase and duffle that Celluci dropped to the floor then rose back to his face inquiringly.
"You are not going to f'ing' believe it Vic," Mike said as he crossed the room and dropped a file folder in front of her. "Crowley just loaned me out to the Greater Vancouver PD…special task force, I have a plane to catch at five."
"A special task force?" Vicki raised her eyebrows. "Let me guess," she said as she laid a palm on the crime scene photos that currently littered her desk courtesy of the very annoyed detective who stood in front of her. "Vancouver has a case which is similar to the Parker/Hakito homicides?"
Mike flopped tiredly into a chair across from her desk nodding, "Three actually, though Vancouver is calling them executions," and then he held up a hand as Vicki drew in the breath. "Before you ask, I haven't been briefed yet. When I am, if there is something I feel relates to your case, I'll call you."
"You better buster!" she said, and then continued with a smile, "Hey at least you're familiar with Vancouver's resident vampire. You'll have to drop by some evening and pay your respects, maybe say, "Hi" for me. Henry sent me his new address yesterday even..."
"Vic, I'm not going anywhere near 'My Liege the Leech.' I was never so happy to see the ass end of someone as I was of Fitzroy." Mike stormed. "I finally have 4400 klicks distance between us and now that witch Crowley is sending me right into his lap."
Vicky smiled more broadly. "If I were you…I wouldn't tell Henry you were glad to see his ass, you know how he is about compliments on his physique." She teased, barely suppressing a giggle at the image of Crowley forcing Mike to sit in Henry's lap.
"Very funny Vic!" He grimaced and then continued, "Here is the contact info for where I'll be staying in Vancouver," withdrawing a folded sheet of paper from his inside pocket and laying it on the desk. He pulled two cassettes from his side pocket and laid them on top of the folder. "And these are the surveillance tapes from the Aquarium." He sighed. "Please leave Dave and Kate alone on this one Vic, Crowley is on high alert and they just don't need the heat. I'll call you when I get settled in Vancouver. OK?"
Vicki came around her desk and surprised him by uncharacteristically placing a light kiss on his cheek and saying, "Have a good flight Mike, keep in touch."
"And…" he prompted.
Vicki sighed and held up her hand in the attitude of one taking an oath, "And…I promise to leave Graham and Lam alone while you are away."