The Big Proposal
CHAPTER TWO
9:15 A.M. I turned onto the long mountain road leading up to the remains of the P.A.G.A.N. compound and looked at the case in the passenger's seat next to me. I never listened to music in the car while I was on duty, and although I was officially off the clock, I still listened to the radio calls as I needed to be ready—just in case.
9:25 A.M. I finally arrived at the remains of the P.A.G.A.N. compound. It had been the first time I had been there since the morning after the incident and our attempt—Detective Streebek's and mine—to convince Captain Gannon and Commissioner Kirkpatrick of what we had saw and experienced that night.
A smile filled my face when I saw Connie there. She was just as lovely as the night we met. I got out of the car, stood in such a way that I could retrieve the case without Connie seeing it, then moved over to kiss her.
"Glad you could make it, Joe," Connie said before we kissed.
"Captain Gannon gave me the day off, unless I needed to be called in on an emergency," I said when the kiss broke. "And I wanted to spend it with you."
"Oh, Joe," Connie said before we kissed again. "Why did you want to meet here?"
"You see, Connie..." I started to say before I heard a dreadfully familiar voice coming from the radio in my car.
"Control-4 to 80-K. Come in, 80-K," the voice said.
I rolled my eyes, made my way back to the car, then picked up the handset of the radio. "80-K to Control-4. Go ahead," I said.
"80-K, return to station. Captain Gannon will explain once you arrive. 80-K, return to station," the radio operator said.
Rolling my eyes again, I looked at Connie as I said, "Roger, Control-4. Am on my way now. KMA-367."
After closing the channel, I moved over to Connie. "Sorry," I said.
"It's all right, Joe," Connie said. "I knew what I was getting into when I started dating you."
We kissed one more time before I got in my car and drove off.
9:45 A.M. I walked back into the Robbery-Homicide squadroom. Detective Streebek was sitting at our desk—a smile on his face.
"So, Joe. Did she say yes?" Streebek asked.
I had to resist the urge to give Streebek a whack upside the head as I shook my head.
"I didn't even get to propose before I was called back in," I said. "So, what's the big deal?"
"Don't know," Streebek said. "Captain Gannon said he wanted to explain when we both were here."
I followed Pep to the Captain's office and knocked on the door.
"Come in," Gannon said.
As Pep and I entered the Captain's office, Gannon smiled a sad smile at me.
"Sorry for calling you back in on such a..." he started.
"Joe said he didn't get to propose to Connie before he was called back in, Captain," Pep interrupted.
"Oh," Gannon said.
"It's all right, Captain," I said. "There will be other chances for me to propose to Connie. Uncle Joe told me growing up that if I were to be a cop, I would have to prepare for such interruptions to my life."
Captain Gannon sat silently for a moment, then nodded. I remembered the stories my Uncle Joe had told me about serving with Captain Gannon twenty years ago and how highly Joe held him in regard.
"So, what's the problem, Captain?" Joe said.
"A holdup on Spring Street," Gannon said. He handed Pep and I a slip of paper. "Go check it out."
"You got it," Pep said. Pep took the slip of paper and followed me out of Captain Gannon's office.
::TBC::