Tito Spaulding met Joseph Morelli and instantly disliked the man. Joe's claim to fame of having the sexiest ass in town was inaccurate. Morelli should get called the biggest asshole in town. "How long were you a detective?" Tito asked though he knew the answer. It was his way of gauging Morelli's reactions to detect the truth from a lie. Everyone had a tell.
Joe smiled. "Ten years," he proudly replied. Tito noted that was the truth. Morelli's smile was genuine, showing in his eyes. "I have the most solved cases." Joe was still honest.
"Did you have help?" Tito asked. Joe's smile turned to a sneer. To the untrained eye, one would think Joe was still smiling. Tito knew better.
"Of course not," Joe replied. Tito noticed the scar above Joe's right eye turned red, and his smile turned into a sneer, with the right corner tipping up higher than the left. Folks, that was a lie. Filing that away, Tito let Morelli talk about himself.
Tito realized Joseph Morelli loved to toot his own horn, making himself look good in all situations. Maybe it was the Burg brainwashing. Perhaps, someone made Morelli think he could do no wrong. "Where are you from?" Joe asked.
"Boston," Tito replied.
"I've never been," Joe said, attempting to make small talk. Tito preferred silence. He didn't want to listen to Morelli's chatter. "Most of the guys I met in the Navy were from Boston. Did you sign up for the Navy?"
"Marines," Tito answered.
"Why did you join the department?"
"I wanted to give back to the community where I grew up," Tito replied.
"Didn't you say you're from Boston?" Joe asked, narrowing his eyes. He glared at the training officer. Tito's dark hair was buzzed to the scalp. His dark grey eyes never left the road.
Tito fought the urge to tell Morelli to use his detecting skills. "Born in the car on the side of the highway. My dad got transferred to Trenton. We lived here until I was thirteen, then moved to Boston," Tito explained. He never bothered giving the reason for the move.
A car sped past Tito. He turned on the lights and chased after it. The vehicle pulled off the road. "I've got it," Joe said when they parked behind the speeder.
Joe strutted to the car like a preening peacock. Tito wanted to observe. "Are you aware you were going over the speed limit?" Joe asked when the woman lowered the window. He rested a hand on the window frame to prevent her from rolling the window back up.
The woman breathlessly replied, "I'm sorry, officer." She pressed her breasts against Morelli's hand. Tito watched Joe caress her chest with his fingers. "Yes, baby. That feels good." Joe's behaviour could get the precinct charged with sexual harassment or assault.
Shaking his head, Tito approached to stop Joe's inappropriate interaction with the woman. "License and registration," Tito ordered. The woman pouted. She leaned to open the glove compartment, raising her barely covered ass for him to see. It wouldn't work on him. Tito preferred the slender Hispanic male type. He had his eye on a man working at Rangeman, the security company. The tattoo below the man's eye was sexy, despite indicating he killed a man.
Tito wasn't innocent of murder. It was a necessary evil in the military. You killed, or you got killed. He wanted a lover who understood the meaning of sacrificing your morals to save another person's life. "Don't you like what you see?" the woman purred, passing Tito her papers.
Shaking his head, Tito turned on his heels and went to the cruiser to enter the details into the computer. The woman's name was Carol Spanelli. She worked at Dominoes, the local strip club. Spanelli had four unpaid speeding tickets. Tito wrote another ticket since Spanelli was under the number of points before getting her license suspended. She was flying under the radar.
"Awe. Does it have to be like that?" Carol asked when Tito passed her the ticket.
"It does," Tito replied. "One more ticket could get your license suspended."
"Yes, officer," Carol replied. She seductively sucked her finger. Joe leaned to whisper something to the woman. Suspecting Morelli would request favours to fix the tickets, Tito stood close to Joe, catching every word on the body camera. Tito was thankful he wore the sensitive equipment, which would pick up the man farting in the car that passed them.
The fool, Morelli, was nailing his coffin closed, one infraction at a time. Tito felt he didn't have to report to the chief at the end of the week. Hopefully, Juniak would have plenty of proof that Joseph Morelli was a crooked cop and didn't deserve to wear the badge.
~~~~~
Eddie Gazarra, Carl Costanza, Big Dog and Robin Russell went to Pino's for lunch. They sat in their typical booth by the window. Lester and Bobby entered the restaurant and waved. "May I take your order?" the waitress asked.
Smiling, Eddie replied, "Sure. We're splitting an extra large with pepperoni, mushrooms and peppers."
"I'll get that ready for you, Ed. Beers to drink?"
"We're on duty," Carl replied. The waitress smiled, then said she'd bring them cola in a few minutes. She stopped at Lester's table to take his order. They ordered subs and got a few more delayed for when they finished eating.
"I know where my cousin's living," Eddie said, grinning.
"Us too," Robin replied, pointing at the others. She recognized the meatball sub that Lester ordered with the extra cheese and marinara. "When did your sister-in-law move back to town?"
"Pete lost his job. They had to move back home," Eddie said. Eddie felt he owed his friends an explanation. His niece and nephew were in their early teens. He shook his head. "I hoped they could hire him at Rangeman. She looked embarrassed to see me. I didn't want to draw attention to her." He glared at his friends, silently warning them not to embarrass his sister-in-law.
"What does Pete do?" Carl asked. He was surprised Sarah returned to her high school job waitressing at Pino's.
"Mainly IT shit. There haven't been any tech jobs available in the area. The company where he worked went bankrupt," Eddie explained. "Finding another job in the city was cutthroat. Too many applicants for very few jobs."
Lester overheard Eddie talking about his brother, Peter Gazarra. They needed another person in the IT department so Silvio could return to Miami. He missed his family, and they didn't want to relocate to Trenton. Bobby realized what Lester was planning. He grabbed a napkin to write the website address for Peter to forward a resume.
"Sweet," Lester said. He left his seat along the back wall, then approached Eddie. "I overheard your conversation. Have your brother email Rangeman with his resume." Lester passed Eddie the napkin. Eddie raised an eyebrow at the barely legible writing. Robin rolled her eyes, then grabbed a pen and pad from her pocket. She wrote the website name on her notepad, then tore off the page for Eddie. Lester watched in amusement.
"Eddie can barely read his own messy scrawl," Robin explained. Lester gave Robin his sexy crooked grin before leaving the officers to enjoy their lunch. Robin fanned her face. Lester was a sexy man. Sarah arrived with the drinks. She placed the cola and a glass of iced water on the table for Robin.
"I figured you needed something to help you cool off," Sarah joked. "I'll be back with your food in a few minutes." Sarah disappeared back into the kitchen.
"Excuse me for a minute," Eddie said. Robin moved from the bench, letting Eddie get out of the booth. He approached Bobby and Lester, seated beside each other with their backs to the wall. Lester waved a hand, motioning for Eddie to sit.
"What's up?" Lester asked.
Eddie lowered his voice, "How is she?"
"Recovering," Bobby quietly replied. They didn't want anyone to overhear their conversation. "Is Morelli out?"
"Yes," Eddie replied. He looked over his shoulder. "She has my number. Ask her to call." Eddie promptly left and returned to his seat a second before Joseph Morelli entered the restaurant.
"He was looking over his shoulder before reaching the door," Robin whispered as she slid back into the booth.
Eddie nodded in appreciation. He grinned when he saw Tito Spaulding follow Morelli inside. "Christmas came early," Eddie announced. "Spaulding is shadowing Morelli."
"He's handsome," Robin whispered. "I've never seen him with a woman."
"It's not common knowledge, but he's gay," Eddie whispered. Robin shook her head, motioning zipped lips with her fingers. It was a shame. All the attractive men were married, gay or assholes.
Sarah placed the pizza on the table. She winked at Eddie as she gave him a basket containing cheesy garlic bread. "Shirley's going to kill me," Eddie muttered before shoving a piece of garlic bread into his mouth. He passed the basket to the others to help themselves.
"You realize our car will reek of garlic," Robin said, squinting at Eddie, who shrugged.
"The price of enjoying garlic bread," Eddie said. He ate another piece, then left the rest for the others.
"Does Shirley still have you on a diet?" Carl asked.
"Yup," Eddie answered around a bite of pizza. "Which is why I ordered pizza for lunch, and Sarah gave me the bread."
Joe ordered his meatball sub, then looked around the restaurant. He saw Santos and Brown sitting in the back booth beside each other like queers. "What did you say?" Tito asked, glaring at Morelli.
"Huh?" Joe asked, not understanding why Tito looked ready to kill him.
"You said the men in the back looked like queers. Do you have something against the LGBT community?" Tito asked, towering over Morelli. Tito knew more got added to the acronym, but he didn't think Morelli would understand more than the four letters.
"No," Joe replied. "What do you care? Those guys are thugs and criminals." Tito shook his head. Morelli didn't get it.
Tito approached the men wearing black. He had seen them around town, capturing men and women who skipped bail. "Hi," Tito said. "I'm Tito Spaulding."
"Lester Santos," Lester said as he extended a hand. Bobby introduced himself and asked Tito to take a seat.
"Excuse Morelli. He has no class," Tito said loud enough for everyone to hear. "I've heard stories about you, Santos."
"Oh?" Lester asked, his eyebrow raising toward his hairline.
"My uncle was impressed with your control after basic," Tito replied.
Lester groaned, "Please, tell me your uncle isn't General Connors."
Tito laughed. "Sorry, buddy. I can't. Uncle Fitz is visiting in a few weeks. He'd get a kick out of you living here." Lester unlocked his phone and passed it to Tito.
"Enter your number," Lester said. Tito did as requested. Lester sent him a text. "Now you have mine. Text or call when he's in town. I know Stephanie would like to see her Uncle Fitz again. How are you related to Fitz?"
Smiling, Tito replied, "My mom and his wife are sisters. How does Stephanie know him?" He was curious about the connection. Tito didn't recall having the Plums as relatives.
"Honorary uncle," Bobby replied. "Your uncle and Stephanie's dad, Frank, served together."
Tito thanked the men for the intel. As he turned on his heel, Lester said, "If you're ever on Haywood alone, drop by. Send me a text." Lester removed his phone and sent Tito a message. Tito grinned. He couldn't wait to meet Stephanie Plum-Manoso and the legendary Ranger face to face.
"Thanks," Tito said, raising his phone. He was still smiling when he sat beside Morelli.
Sarah delivered the food to Morelli and Tito. She recognized Tito from school. "Hey, Tito, when did you move back to town?" Sarah asked.
He wiped his mouth on a napkin. "Around five years ago," Tito replied. "I finished my last tour with the Marines and returned to my roots." Sarah squeezed his shoulder.
"Pete and I moved back with the kids," Sarah offered. "He's looking for work. Do you anyone hiring IT professionals?"
Tito nodded to Lester and Bobby in the back. Sarah got the message. She'd ask them when dropping off the bill. "How's Scott?" Tito asked. Sarah frowned. Her brother, Scott Riesling, didn't come home after his first tour.
Sarah shook her head. "He got killed in action," Sarah whispered. "Pete and I named our son after him."
"I'm sorry for your loss," Tito said. He lost touch with his friend after leaving Trenton. Tito and Scott were inseparable. Rumours spread around Trenton that they were dating. It wasn't true, but Tito was attracted to Scott. Tito realized he preferred boys. Scott was confused about his sexuality. A few months after Tito told Scott he was gay, the family moved to Boston. Tito didn't know to say goodbye.
"Thank you," Sarah replied. "He missed you. Did you know?" Tito shook his head.
Joe listened to the conversation. He wondered if Tito was a closet gay man. His reaction earlier made him wonder which Rangeman employee Tito was dating. "Have you met anyone?" Joe asked when Sarah left.
"No time," Tito replied. He didn't want to talk about his personal life with Morelli. Joe was phishing for something to determine Tito's sexual orientation. Tito wasn't stupid. He wasn't born yesterday and knew what intel Morelli wanted.
Tito continued their patrol shift in the Burg. Morelli sat up straight and behaved appropriately. "What is it about this area in Trenton?" Tito asked. He didn't like Chambersburg or the premise of the Burg. "It's like stepping back into the fifties."
"That's what's so great," Morelli replied. "The women know their place is at home and raising the kids."
"It's backwards," Tito said. "Women have every right to be in the workplace. We need them for balance."
"Balance what?" Joe asked. His scowl pissed off Tito. Morelli honestly believed women should stay home to cook dinner, clean, raise the brats and service their needs?
"The testosterone in the offices. Women get work done. They take the nasty calls and have a way of smoothing ruffled feathers," Tito explained. "Wouldn't you want your wife to work?"
Joe snorted before he laughed. "Maybe I'd let her work as a secretary or receptionist. But I want my wife to stay where she belongs. At home with our children," Joe said.
"What about when the children are in school full time?" Tito asked.
"Then they can research recipes for dinner," Joe replied as though it was obvious. "In the Burg, we look out for each other. Would you let your wife work?" Joe was phishing for something - anything - to determine if Tito was gay. Tito couldn't understand why it was vital to know. He wasn't hiding in the closet. Saying, "Hi, I'm Tito Spaulding, and I'm gay," was an inappropriate way to introduce yourself.
"I would expect my wife to work. As for the children, I would help her raise them," Tito replied. Morelli deflated and assumed Tito wasn't gay. Morelli's reaction was everything Tito expected.
"Pfft. My wife would not work as a BEA. Once my Cupcake gets dropped by Manoso, I'll be there to snatch her up. She will learn her place is in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant."
Tito knew Manoso by his military reputation. His service record was immaculate. Manoso was the top Rangers recruit and earned the nickname Ranger. "Who is Cupcake?" Tito asked despite knowing the answer.
"Stephanie Plum," Joe replied.
"Haven't you heard the rumours?"
"They're all lies concocted by Ranger and his posse," Morelli answers.
Tito shook his head. He didn't like Morelli's attitude toward Stephanie Plum. Manoso would never lie about Stephanie's inability to have children. Tito thought Stephanie had balls by taking on the BEA position with Vinnie. He couldn't wait to meet the woman.