Nolan's Journal Chapter 2
"Well, Celina and I went out on patrol today. I was hoping I could steer things toward the neighborhood around her mother's house, but it didn't work out that way. We weren't away from the division for five minutes before we got a call about a bank robbery in progress. The bank shouldn't even have been open yet, but apparently, it was for commercial customers picking up the cash they needed before opening up in the morning. The robbers must have cased the place ahead of time to know that. They went in dressed as small business owners. One had a shirt with the logo of one of the few bookstores left. Another had the name of a bowling alley embroidered across his back. They were both wearing masks. Some people wear them in public spaces, especially if they have vulnerable family members. So that in itself didn't worry anyone. And they hid their guns in the bank pouches that business people often use for transactions. All-in-all, it seemed pretty well planned.
"What they didn't plan on was one of the tellers having a hard time of the month. She spent the first ten minutes of her day in the ladies' room. And when she opened the door to leave she heard what was going on and called 911. So we arrived while the robbery was still in progress. Sergeant Grey figured that it would endanger fewer civilians if we showed up without lights and sirens, waited for the perps to leave, and grabbed them outside the bank. Unfortunately, they had a lookout who warned them cops were coming, so they decided to take hostages.
"The worst of it was that one of the small business owners had his daughter with him. He was planning to drop her at school before opening his store. Of course, the robbers decided to use her as a bargaining chip. So it was all very tense. Metro was called in and Bradford came leading his team. Fortunately, Lucy was acting as backup for Harper and Lopez while they busted a drug dealer they'd been tracking, so Bradford could keep his mind in the game.
"In a way, it played out a little like it did when we went to Guatemala to rescue Angela, except that this time, it was easier to get the plans for the building, and they were accurate. Bradford asked me to help him spot any weaknesses in construction that Metro could exploit to make a sudden breach. The bank was built like a bank, so there weren't many. The robbers made sure the doors were secured. But there was a fan on the roof that handled ventilation for the restrooms as well as the other enclosed spaces like the vault with the safety deposit boxes. We were able to pull it loose and expose a route that someone – a slim someone – could get through. That turned out to be Lieutenant Pine, Bradford's commanding officer.
"Pine went down and then opened a rear fire door and one used to service the drive-up ATMs. Metro threw in flash-bangs. They didn't want to expose the civilians, especially the little girl, to those, but it was the only way to grab the robbers before they could hurt her or anyone else. As far as the medics could tell, the little girl was fine, and no one, not even the robbers, suffered any lasting damage – at least not physically. I flashed back a couple of times to the bank robbery that put me on the road to being a cop. I had nightmares for months. I suspect some of the people in the bank today will too. They can get some help from victim's services, but that won't change what happened. I really hope that they, especially the little girl, can get the support they need.
"I did my best to forget about the suit Oscar Hutchinson filed against me, but Oscar is the nightmare gift that seems to keep on giving. It didn't help that I had to give Wesley my phone and run out of the deposition. It had a lot of things on it that weren't on the replacement I had to use. But Wesley finally got it back to me. The judge agreed that none of the information on it justified subpoenas, but didn't dismiss Oscar's case. I will still have to fight it.
"Wesley thinks our best witness will be Oscar Hutchinson's daughter, who can testify as to exactly what happened without implying law enforcement bias. I'm actually looking forward to seeing how she's managing to turn her life around. It can't be easy to put Oscar's influence behind her, but I have hopes for her.
"Sometimes it seems like almost everyone I know is working to put something behind them. With Lucy, it's her parents' deception. With me, it's the influence of my dad taking off and leaving me to my mother's tender mercies. She wasn't in Oscar's class of felons, but through Pete, I've slowly come to understand why my father left. When it finally came down to it, I had to cut ties myself. She was a leech, sucking life and love from everyone she knew. Even as a cop, I don't meet too many other people like that.
"Then there is Jason, Bailey's ex. She had to put him behind her, and I had to learn to live with her lying to me about him. Of course, it's not an issue now, but that doesn't change history. Bradford has a pile of issues high enough to fund a college psychology wing: abusive father, military trauma, addicted wife. He brings all of that to Lucy. Of course, Celina is coping with the lie her addict mother perpetrated on her all those years. And Aaron has to live down a world that thought and sometimes still thinks of him as a murderer. Grey was shot and had a partner die. Maybe the division needs a staff of full-time counselors for the cops – never mind the criminals.
"But perhaps it's pushing past the bad stuff that gives us drive and the strength to go out and try to help. Celina is anxious to make things better for the people she grew up with. Aaron wants to aid the wrongly accused. Bailey runs toward the flames.
"There are only a couple of cops I can think of at the division without that kind of drive. There's Wrigley, who wants to go home for lunch and work the shortest, easiest, days possible. And then there is Smitty who will use every trick in the book to work as little as he can while availing himself of the most perks he can get. As far as I know, neither one of them has had to deal with major obstacles in their lives. I'm not sure if they could even cope with any. I do know one thing. I would never want either of them backing me up. Give me the damaged, the scrappers who know what it is to fight through the pain. Those are the people I trust in the clutch.
"Still, it would be nice to have a few days of boredom with shoplifters who don't run, traffic stops where I can just write a ticket, and drug dealers who can't wait to flip on their suppliers. Just a couple of days would be great, except that in the back of my mind, Harper's voice would warn me of some impending curse."