Nolan's Journal Chapter 18
"The 'Where are they now?' segment about Darcy Midkiff is set to start shooting tomorrow. Grey is letting Aaron off patrol so he can work on it as part of tracking Jason down. As short-handed as we are, I thought Grey would keep Aaron on the street, but I guess, after the LAPD's embarrassment, the sergeant wants to see Jason questioned about anything he might know about Oscar. Personally, I doubt that would be very much. Oscar wouldn't take the chance that Jason would flip on him. Still, it's got to be worth it, not only to keep Jason from coming after Bailey and me but to prevent his exploitation of any more women.
"A very sad piece of irony popped up today. Tim's been so pleased to get a rookie who's ex-military. He hasn't actually been bragging, but he was strutting a little after Gary grabbed a suspect who tried to escape by jumping into MacArthur Park Lake and swimming for it. Gary took a couple of seconds to ditch his equipment belt and his shoes but still outdistanced the guy, dragged him back to shore, and cuffed him. Obviously, some of his Navy training came in handy. But his other experience at sea proved to be a problem. When the Houthis attacked the commercial ship he was on in the Red Sea, there were some explosions – loud ones. So now, Gary is freaked out by loud sounds. He's OK with a single or even a couple of guns firing, or he never would have made it through the academy. But something like a bomb or, in the case of what actually happened, a fuel truck exploding, sends him into what Bailey described as a fugue state. He forgets what he's doing or even who he is and wanders off. That's no way for a cop to be. He'll be thoroughly evaluated by the shrinks at the hospital, but his days as an LAPD officer may be over. Hell, with his swimming skills, maybe he can be a lifeguard. Tim's old girlfriend Ashley seemed to enjoy being one.
"With the stoic face Tim always puts on, it's hard to know how he feels about his rookie being likely to wash out. But if the shrinks say Graves can't be a cop, Tim will get a new rookie. In the meantime, he'll be on his own on the street. Normally, being a sergeant, that would make him a field supervisor. But since Metro busted him out for reckless behavior, that isn't happening. It would also put Lucy directly in Tim's chain of command again, which, even though they're broken up, would be problematic. Grey has hinted more than once that he'd rather transfer out Tim than Lucy. So that makes a supervisory role at Mid-Wilshire even more impossible for Tim.
"On the upside of training, Stella is doing pretty well. She had her session with Lucy to try to figure out the most effective way she can study the rules and regs in the Rookie Manual. Lucy came up with a creative solution. After all Stella's time as a hunter, Lucy figured that Stella absorbs information better when she's in motion. So she decided that Stella should either listen to tapes of the information or see slides of the information while jumping on a little trampoline. Lucy saw that work for a couple of her mother's patients and Stella thought it was worth a try. She said she's always thought faster when she was moving. It's one of the things that made her such a good hunter. Anyway, it seems to be working. I gave Stella a couple of little quizzes on what she was studying, and she passed with flying colors. She may make both of us look good."
"Aaron found Jason! He wasn't in the guest house. That would have been too obvious. He was hunkering down in a shed that was built to hold groundskeeping supplies but, over the years, had become a refuge for various gardeners and maintenance personnel to grab a snack, a coffee, or even a nap. It had apparently been Darcy's idea for him to stay there while filming was going on. He had convinced her that he was falsely convicted because of that 'bitch Bailey Nune and her corrupt pet cop.' I can't recall Bailey actually petting me, but I wouldn't mind. Anyway, Darcy decided to say just that on camera. I guess she thought she could get Jason a new trial or something. He really has her brainwashed. He got her back on drugs, too. Hopefully, she can get the help she needs now that the whole sorry story is on videotape.
"The minute Aaron spotted Jason, he called for backup. Jason found himself facing a bunch of very pissed-off and motivated cops, especially the female officers. Stella and I were across town when it went down, but we managed to make it back to Mid-Wilshire in time to see Jason thrown in a holding cell until he could be shipped back to prison. Since he's an escapee, there was no question about him going there. Still, he'll have another trial for escaping and any other charges the DA can come up with.
"The downside of bringing Jason in is that he has no idea where we can find Oscar and knows even less about Monica. Oscar and Jason split as soon as they hit LA, and Jason started lining up his next dupe in his plan to get Bailey and me. He had already been studying his prospects while he was still in prison, and Darcy was at the top of his list.
"Ashley, Oscar's daughter, was able to give Lopez and Harper some good leads as to Oscar's other hideouts. So far, he's been a step ahead of them, but based on what they know now, they've got a few ideas of their own. Oscar goes for certain comforts as well as amusements delivered by working ladies. I've always suspected that his taste in those would be as twisted as his mind. From what Harper and Lopez have found out so far, I was right. He has some weird fetishes that only certain sex workers are willing to accommodate.
"Harper and Lopez figure that Oscar's hideouts will be close to sources of both the foods he prefers and the women who satisfy his other cravings. That narrows things down enough for the dynamic duo to set up a honey trap of sorts. They need a woman to go undercover – a woman Oscar doesn't know. Given his extensive involvement with crime and cops, that poses a problem. They can't use anyone from Mid-Wilshire. At one time or another, Oscar's had a chance to at least glance at every cop in the division, and he gave the women more than a glance. That rules out Lucy. Harper knows pretty much every UC cop in the state, probably the whole Southwest. So she put out a call for one who's been working up North in the more upper-class parts of wine country. From what Nyla told me, the cop, CeCe, ran a sting up there, catching the trust fund babies who thought they could get away with anything, including beating up on their compensated companions. Several of them, despite their very highly paid attorneys, ended up behind bars. Harper thinks CeCe may be just the weapon we need to put Oscar back where he belongs. God, I hope so."