Nolan's Journal Chapter 3

"Wesley had a pleasant but promising surprise for me this morning. Monica Stevens notified the court that Oscar Hutchinson is dropping his suit against me. Maybe Monica realized that Oscar would try to screw her the way he has everyone else he's ever had business with and decided to cut him loose. Perhaps they realized they couldn't win with Ashley's testimony on my side. But with Monica and Oscar there are always wheels within wheels. Her insistence on gaining access to my phone, despite the fact that it had nothing to do with the case, suggests another motive. I have no idea what, but it would probably have to do with someone who could pay her the big bucks. Monica doesn't do anything out of the goodness of her heart – assuming she actually has one.

"I'm going to ask our tech forensics people to look at what's on my phone and see if they can figure out what she was after. But I have to make sure they either don't hold onto it long or, better yet, clone it so I can get it back immediately. After experiencing a day of emergencies without it, once was enough.

"After Wesley dropped the good news on me, Celina and I went out on patrol. This try we were able to spend more time hanging around her old neighborhood. Unfortunately, there's still no shortage of drug activity there, and we busted a couple of small-time pushers. Worse, neither one of them will be able to flip on a significant supplier. They are kids who get their stuff raiding medicine cabinets and stealing old ladies' purses. That appears to have netted them enough fentanyl plus an assortment of other pharmaceuticals, to turn a profit. They still had some pill bottles, so we were able to determine whom they ripped off. That may prevent some innocent patients from experiencing serious pain and other problems. I hope so.

"We started looking into possible space for a community support center. It's unlikely the LAPD budget will cover leasing any, or outfitting it. But we might be able to scare up some funding and support from local business owners, the way James Murray supports the one in his neighborhood. I've been trying to pick up a working Spanish vocabulary, but I still have a long way to go. I'm having Celina make the overtures. That should eliminate any language barrier problems. It's also obvious that she speaks from the heart and really cares about what happens to her neighborhood. I'm hoping that will help allay suspicions about police presence.

"Since Bailey's been back she hasn't had to fight any life-threatening fires. Because most of the fire department's calls are health-related, that's not really surprising. She's been busy with those. The two fires she has been out on have both resulted from backyard barbecue accidents. Thank God neither of them involved a propane explosion. Both the grillers were using good old-fashioned charcoal but got over-enthusiastic with starter fluid. Sparks jumped to grass and plants in the backyard and in one case, wood siding. The backyards are a mess, but the flames weren't difficult to extinguish. From what Bailey told me, one backyard cook will have to regrow his eyebrows, but had no real injuries. Lucky guy. I imagine he got the standard fire department lecture on taking care with flammable liquids. I hope it sticks.

"Bailey's going to be back on kitchen duty at the firehouse, which means she can bring home leftovers – if there are any. I wouldn't expect much of her chili or her stew to survive the hungry hordes, but I can hope. While she's gone, I've been cooking for myself. I tried out a Cambodian recipe that Officer Sok gave me. It's meat with cinnamon and some other spices I'd be more likely to expect in an apple pie. I was able to make it in a Crock Pot, and it was great! I'm going to pass it on to Bailey. If she can scale it up, there could be some very happy firefighters.

"Harper and Lopez managed, with backup from Lucy, to nail a major drug dealer. He receives his shipments directly from a cartel. So if they can get him to flip and reveal the route, it will be a major coup for them and the DEA. So far they're having no luck. I think they half expected Monica Stevens to show up as his lawyer. Since she worked for Elijah Stone and Oscar Hutchinson, it would make sense. But he has Lawrence Miguel, an attorney who normally practices in San Diego. That also makes sense since it's a hop, skip, and a jump to cross the border into Tijuana. The cartel probably sent him to make sure the suspect keeps his mouth shut. But since keeping your mouth shut is standard advice from a lawyer, that wouldn't tag him as corrupt – at least not officially.

"Harper and Lopez are looking into his background to see what they can find out about cartel connections. Lucy volunteered to go to San Diego to sniff around. I think she's desperate for more UC work. Of course, the LAPD has no jurisdiction down there, but there's nothing to stop Lucy from keeping her eyes and ears open. If she gets in trouble, she can get back up from the San Diego cops. That she speaks fluent Spanish can't hurt, and ancestries are so mixed in Southern California, that she won't stand out. I haven't spoken to Bradford. He's tied to a Metro operation and away from Mid-Wilshire right now. But I'm guessing that he won't be crazy about Lucy seeking out another UC assignment.

"The day wouldn't be complete without Smitty throwing a wrench in the works somehow. He's trying to kiss up to Grey so he can stay in Property instead of going out on the street. Grey hasn't been having any of it. He's been out on the street again, and he's older and in worse shape than Smitty. For one thing, Smitty's never taken a bullet. He's barely been out on the street enough to be near any that aren't in his gun. But Smitty cooked up a plan to keep his safe spot. I'm not sure how he did it, but somehow, all the computer records from Property crashed, and the backup mysteriously disappeared. That leaves Smitty as the only one who knows enough about what's there to help the techs reconstruct the records. Grey is super pissed off, but there's really nothing he can do about it right now. Still, I wouldn't want to be Smitty when the records are finally reconstructed.

"I heard Grey muttering something about putting Smitty on duty on the border between gang territories. He'd see more than enough action there. But I doubt that Grey will follow through. Keeping the lid on possible gang wars takes some smart and creative police work. It also takes some real guts. I have no doubt Smitty is smart and creative. It's allowed him to duck any tough or dangerous duty, at least during all the time I've been around. But guts? If Smitty has them, they have yet to make an appearance. I don't know why he's still on the force, but I have a guess that it has to do with the political contacts he made as union rep. Still, some of those guys are already gone. And when the rest are out of office, Smitty will finally have to put up or shut up. I imagine that when that day comes, Grey's grin will light up the whole division."