Brenda walked in to the LAPD building with a chuckle still on her lips from the look on Sharon's face when she'd peeled through the yellow light, leaving the dark haired woman stuck at a notoriously long intersection. Her smile faded, as she saw Commander Taylor striding towards her, his eyebrows raised in anticipation.
"Good mornin' Commander," Brenda chirped brightly, pressing the button for the elevator.
"Morning, Chief. I just thought you should know that since the funeral for the Paramedics has been scheduled for Monday, the announcement for Chief is going to be delayed a little longer. Also," He continued, following her onto the elevator, "Chief Pope has Delk in his office waiting for you." He cleared his throat twice, nervously.
"Yes, Commander, what is it?" Brenda stepped off the elevator, making her way towards Major Crimes, sparing a glance back at the obsequious man.
"Uh, well. It's just that…Delk will probably have his own ideas when it comes to investigating, and you need to keep that in mind." He tugged at his tie, a fiery red that clashed terribly with his pink shirt.
Brenda nodded, scoffing. "You want me to play nicely with Tommy Delk, in case he becomes chief of police," Brenda said, her voice lingering cloyingly over the juvenile moniker.
"All I'm saying, is that in addition to your two victims, there are several living people, still counting on you." Taylor's voice mocked her emphasis.
"Well. Thank you for the vote of confidence, Commander," Brenda said, stopping outside of Pope's office. "Have a good mornin' now."
"You too, Chief." Taylor sounded defeated, as he turned and walked away.
Knocking, she heard Will invite her in, and pushed open the door.
"Good morning. Chief Johnson, I believe you've met." Pope walked around to stand behind his desk.
"Tommy Delk" The diminutive man held out a hand, smiling slightly. "Good to see you again."
"And you," She replied, shaking his hand briefly, noting his weak grip. She sat down in the chair nearest the door, settling her purse in her lap. "Let's get started, shall we?"
The two men followed her lead, taking their seats, and Pope gestured for Delk to begin. He told the story of a two year old bombing, finishing with the fact that there was no evidence to be found at the scene, but there was footage of the suspect buying two prepaid cellphones.
"I'd very much like to see that footage." Brenda replied, looking between Delk and Pope.
And as Delk responded, Brenda could feel an impressive rage beginning to coil within. The FBI was giving her three hours? Before they took over? Because this little man, this insipid little man who referred to himself with a child's name, didn't want to 'break trust' with the FBI. She snorted internally, the dark humor there not escaping her. She hadn't heard from Fritz since the day he'd surprised her at the station, and she supposed that's how it went, when things were done, and there were no kids. She tuned back into the conversation at hand, digging her nails into her palms for patience.
"…So I want you two to work together. Brenda, you will examine the FBI materials with Chief Delk present, and then, in three hours, this is the FBI's ball game. Is that clear?" Pope cast his clear blue gaze on Brenda, only the vein beneath his eye belying his frustration.
"Yes sir." Brenda replied, standing, and walking out of the office. She made sure to close the door with a little more enthusiasm than normal, just in case they were too dense to pick up the annoyance she was laying down.
She threw herself into the supple leather chair at her own desk, and pressed her hands to her head, pulling her hair tight against her scalp in frustration. She reached for her candy drawer, but paused with her hand in mid-air, then and spun her chair around, and picked up the phone instead.
"FID, Raydor" Sharon purred, smiling into the handset.
"I swear on Twizzlers, you're going to be investigating me before the day is out. Delk is the most infuriatin' man on the planet. Did you know he ratted me out to the FBI? I have a few hours with the evidence, before they swoop in and screw this case up as well. Honestly. They've had 2 years, and I've gotten more in 24 hours. And they want to just take it. Well. They have another think coming, if they think I'm just going to roll over for the big bad G-men. THOSE days are over, thank the lord." Brenda finally paused for a breath.
"Hi, Sharon. It's nice to hear your voice. Oh thanks, Brenda, I'm thrilled to hear from you as well. How's your day going so far?" Sharon teased gently
"Sorry. Hi. I am glad to hear your voice. You have a really, a nice voice." Brenda meant sexy, but she found herself blushing at the prospect of actually telling Sharon that.
"Thank you. Listen, I'm in the middle of a case with a beat cop in Hollywood div, but you said you have a few hours with the FBI evidence, right? You've managed to parlay deadlines like that into whole days when dealing with my division, so surely you can come up with a way to get the time you need, and figure this all out. I have faith in you." Sharon twirled the phone cord around her finger, glancing out at her squad.
"I…that means a lot." Brenda felt an odd tightness in her voice, and cleared her throat. "It's probably going to be another late one for me. Especially if I'm playing fast and loose with the FBI."
"I understand. Call me when you're done for the evening, and we'll figure things out from there." Sharon gently replaced the phone in the cradle on her desk, before spinning her chair to face the back wall of her office, and letting a wide grin dance over her face.
Xxx
Brenda tapped her fingers on the photos from the bombing. Turning to Delk, she flipped over the map on the desk between them.
"I think we're lookin' at this all wrong. Look, when you said a 'nearby fire station' responded, you didn't mention that it was right across the street from the bomb."
"Well, yes. That's why it was extinguished so quickly." Delk spoke in evenly modulated tones.
"But, why set a bomb off right across the street from a fire station? It doesn't make sense, especially if we're assuming that Kevin Masen is smart enough to build a bomb from untraceable parts."
"Maybe he didn't notice it."
"I think he notices everything. Look, the bomb went off at 6:33am. All LAFD stations change shift at 6:30. Ostensibly, two full crews could've responded to that blaze…" Brenda trailed off, staring at the map.
"So you think he was aiming at the fire station, not the IRS."
"And I think the first bomb was bait. I think he was trying to kill as many fire fighters as possible."
"But then why go AWOL for two years, and resurface to only kill two paramedics?"
"Maybe he's recreating the first scenario. Maybe the first two deaths are the smaller bomb. The bait. We just have to figure out what the big bomb is."
Just then the door opened, and three FBI Agents stepped in. Brenda was eager to share her theory, but Delk interrupted, handing off the files as though she wasn't even there. Her hands clenched into fists in the pockets of her blazers, as she sat down heavily. The men stacked the boxes on to a hand truck, and wheeled them away.
"I thought we were on the same page?" She seethed, once the door closed behind them.
"Look, even if you're right, the FBI has been on this case for two years, pursuing it as a failed IRS bombing. They'd be too embarrassed to admit they were on the wrong track. Now, they can go do what they do best, and find the missing fugitive. You and I can use the combined skills of our respective divisions to see if this crazy theory of yours has any bite." Delk smiled with his lips closed.
"So, you don't want to tell the FBI about the possible targeting of fire fighters?" Brenda asked slowly, trying to make sure she wasn't jumping the gun in trusting the enigmatic man.
"It's an untested hypothesis. We don't want to confuse them, or send them on a wild goose chase," he replied, watching the men maneuver the dolly down the hall.
"Ah. No. We don't want that." Brenda let a slow smile play on her lips, as she glanced at the man out of the corner of her eye. There might be hope yet for this case.