Nolan's Journal Chapter 12
"Ow! Ow! Ow! I got a through-and-through bullet through my side – the side of my very fine ass, according to Bailey. As usual these days, Monica Collins seems at the root of my troubles. What is it with beautiful redheads, anyway? First, it was Rosalind Dyer, and now it's Monica. Monica seems to also have a talent for attracting acolytes – one, anyway – the reason Mad Dog let himself fall off the roof. Her name is Blair London, and she's been the department shrink for six months. For six damn months, cops, including Mad Dog, Aaron Thorson, Tim Bradford, and that detective, Pierson, who went after Tim, had been spilling their secrets to her. She passed them on to Monica, who sold them to the highest bidder. That's how the Metro operation was compromised, and all those cops were killed. Mad Dog blamed himself for the deaths. That's why he killed himself. Blair blackmailed Pierson into going after Tim as a smokescreen. Now Pierson's dead. Monica is probably responsible for his death, but we don't have any proof of that. God only knows what Tim told Blair and what she passed on to Monica. When whatever it was surfaces, it may bite him in the ass.
"Ooh! Ow! Talk about ass. I have no comfortable position to sit in to write this. But I'm guessing I'm more comfortable than Tim is right now. The same goes for Lucy. They're still broken up, and she's still broken-hearted. Celina will do her best to be there for her as a roommate and a friend. We'll all try to stand by her. But there's not much else we can do. Monica is still out there with whatever secrets are causing Tim to build his wall. Right now, there's no way Lucy can kick holes in it.
"On the homefront. Bailey stuck to her guns about IVF, but I was inspired by Gino and his husband wanting to foster and possibly adopt Joey. Adoption, especially of an older child, would be the perfect solution for starting a family with Bailey. There are so many older kids who desperately need homes, but don't need nannies. I put the idea to Bailey, and she's running with it. Celina has a contact who may be useful as well. While I'm off work with this damn wound, which Monica is also responsible for, I'll have time to do a deep dive into adoption research. I guess that's a silver lining of sorts.
"Celina followed what seems like a good lead on Joey's identity. A preschool teacher reported having a student who was afraid of women. Fortunately, the school was able to put him with a male teacher. But one day he just disappeared and no one responded to his contact number. She got the local cops to do a wellness check at his address, but it was closed up tight. If his mother, or whatever woman had been making his life hell, was ever there, no sign of her remained. There was no evidence of foul play, so there was no reason to pursue the disappearance. Celina showed the teacher a picture of Joey. He confirmed that it was the boy who went missing. The school records have Joey down as Joseph Renault. Whether that's his real name or not, who knows? But it's a start for a records search. Lucy's going to handle that. It will be a good distraction for her.
"Ooh, Bailey just came in and she's ordering me back to bed. Too bad it isn't a romantic request. But she's going to climb in with me. Even with no romantic intentions, I love having her beside me."
"Oh God! Grey called to tell me that Oscar Hutchinson escaped from jail, and he has that sonofabitch Jason with him. He could be coming straight to the house. If I could right now, I would cheerfully beat him to a bloody pulp the way I did the last time we faced off. Grey's sending a marked unit to sit outside the house, but with Jason, that may not be enough. At least I have my gun, and until that bastard is behind bars again – or dead – it will never be far from my hand.
"Before I agreed to get into bed, I double-checked our security system and made sure the doors and windows were locked. Jason could break a window. He's too big to get through one, but he could throw in a bomb. I don't think he's had time to get one yet, but Oscar could have resources stashed all over the city, and he doesn't like me much. Sharing is hardly his thing, but in this case, he just might. We'll have to stay alert. I couldn't help her much, but Bailey barricaded the doors, and we covered the windows. After the last attack, I should have gotten metal shutters, but Bailey hated the idea of making our home look like a prison. Still, better to look like a prison than turn it into a mausoleum. After we get through this, I can build in some that retract. Monica will still be out there. I got shot rescuing Blair from Monica, and I'm guessing she'll hold a grudge.
The shop that Grey sent is outside. It's Laurence and Keening. They're both good cops. I'd prefer it if Harper was sitting out there with a rifle, but she saved my ass – most of it – when we went to get Blair. I wouldn't want to pull her away from James and Leah now.
"It's morning, and there hasn't been any sign of Jason yet. Maybe he's biding his time to put together some master plan to get back at us. But I have a bigger problem. A message came up on my phone from a caller identified only as MC. It has to be from Monica Collins. I don't know how she got my number. I thought I made sure that she never got her hands on my cell by giving it to Wesley to show the judge. But for all I know, Monica has a mole in the DA's office or even the judge's office. Or, according to Thorsen, he let Blair hold his phone to check on his heart rate. My number would have been on there. However Monica got my number, she's taunting me. I have no way of knowing if she's still in South America or in South LA.
"With Jason, Oscar, and Monica out there, we could have a blood bath worse than what happened with the Mafia. Garza's people from the FBI will try to help. Since Monica's involved not only in interstate crime but international crime, she falls under their jurisdiction. Still, the LA unit doesn't have all the resources it would like, particularly with Simone gone. If she were here, she'd probably call for help from her guidance counselor network to figure out Monica's next move. I don't know if that would work with a full-blown psychopath like Monica, and if she ties up with Oscar and Jason, that's three psychopaths. Still, Simone got some pretty incredible results before. It wouldn't hurt to try.
"If there is an upside to all of this, it's that we won't run out of food. Most of Bailey's best recipes are scaled to feed a firehouse. Our freezer is stuffed with saved portions. And if somehow Jason tries to cut our power, the generator will kick in. We'll survive this. If Bailey and I have each other, we can survive anything."