Leighton drove into the parking lot of Oceanside Police Station. This time he used the area at the front of the building. It seemed to Leighton, upon returning from the vast scorched landscape of Pembleton Farm, that the peach coloured building on Mission Avenue was somehow smaller.
He had only just got out of the car when Chief Winston slammed the glass door of the station open and rushed out of the building. As he strode towards Leighton, his eyes were hidden in a maze of angry lines.
‘Jones, where the fuck have you been?’ he barked. ‘I got a report from the owner of the Four Winds Trailer Park of a break-in to one of his trailers, the licence plate he gave matches yours. Then I hear from the fire commissioner who states that you deliberately entered into an active hot zone in the middle of the wildfires. What the hell is wrong with you?’
‘Sorry, chief,’ Leighton said, calmly, ‘I went looking for Tina, but it’s okay because–’
‘Shut the hell up! I don’t want to hear any more of your madness!’ Winston interrupted and held up his hand to silence the younger officer.
‘But sir–’ Leighton tried.
‘Enough, Jones, I mean it! You’re a pretty good cop. God knows you’ve had your personal and professional problems and that’s the reason I’ve been accommodating to you.’
‘I appreciate that, sir.’
‘Then why would an officer in your situation disobey a direct order?’
‘I don’t know,’ Leighton shrugged, ‘I just had a feeling.’
‘You had a feeling?’
‘Okay, it was more than that – a hunch or instinct – something like that.’
‘Christ, man, you’re a fucking traffic cop, not a Coney Island psychic.’
‘I know,’ Leighton looked at his feet, ‘I’m sorry, sir.’
‘Well, that’s of little consequence; I have no choice but to suspend you pending investigation into gross misconduct.’
‘Oh, come on, chief, that’s half pay. You can’t be serious? I’ve got bills to pay.’
‘And the worst part is this, Jones,’ Winston pointed an assertive finger a Leighton’s chest, ‘that whilst your skipping about the Oceanside backwoods with a flashlight, the little kid is most likely sitting pretty in Alaska with her daddy.’
‘You’re wrong, sir,’ Leighton said with a sigh, ‘I’m not accepting suspension. I can’t.’
‘Stop speaking, officer.’ Winston appeared as if he was about to combust.
‘Don’t you even want to know what I discovered out there?’ Leighton asked.
‘Don’t start again with this bull, Jones. You’re the one who’s wrong. I don’t want to hear another word or that suspension will become permanent. With a kid to raise on your own, you need to be a hell of a lot more responsible.’
‘Sir, with all due respect, you’re way out of line.’
‘Jesus! Okay, I’m done with this shit. Jones, you’re fired!’
‘What?’ Leighton frowned in shock, his thoughts were scrambled in a mixture of confusion and disbelief.
‘You heard me. And you brought this shit down on your own head. I told you that your wild turkey hunt for the kid was a fucking waste of time, but no – you had to go follow your half-assed instinct. Well, I guess now you’ll have a hell of a lot more free time to spend wandering around the countryside in search of the kid.’
With his authority asserted, Chief Winston adjusted his tie then turned and walked back towards the glass doors of the station. He had almost reached them when he heard a woman’s voice call from behind him.
‘Excuse me, chief!’ she called out across the baking heat of the station parking lot.
Winston slowly turned around to see Angela Blanchette standing next to Leighton Jones. The woman looked exhausted, scraped and bruised and yet capable of fighting off the entire world if she had to. In contrast, the grubby child sleeping in her arms looked blissfully calm with one sweaty arm curled instinctively around her mother’s neck.
‘My name is Angela Claire Blanchette, and I would just like to confirm,’ she said in a voice which was hoarse from endless nights of calling into the darkness for her lost child, ‘that – with the help of this good man here – my baby girl is no longer missing. Some sick bastard had taken her, just like I said.’
Chief Winston looked suddenly pale. ‘Miss, I don’t–’
This time it was Leighton’s turn to hold up a hand and silence the chief.
‘Don’t bother, chief. Mrs Blanchette probably wants to sign the paperwork and get her kid safely home. Given that instead of relaxing in Alaska, Tina spent several nights scared and alone on a deserted orchard hiding from a deranged killer, I’d imagine that she needs to get home for a bath and some decent food.’
‘There are still procedures to go through,’ Winston said, but his voice was less authoritative.
‘Well, maybe some of those medical checks can be done at home just as easily,’ Leighton said as he led Angela and Tina past Chief Winston and towards the entrance of the police station.
An hour later, despite Leighton’s optimism, both Tina and her mother had been taken to the Tri City Medical Centre for an examination. A couple of units had been dispatched to the Old Mill Way site, but the spreading fire made it impossible to get anywhere near the old farm.
In the meantime, standard protocol meant that Leighton had been required to submit a written report. So, he had dutifully taken the triplicate form to the area of the station shared by traffic and general crime.
Slumping into a seat, Leighton had only started filling in his form when he became aware of a presence standing over him. He glanced up and realised it was Captain Pierce.
‘Thank you very fucking much, Jones,’ he said.
Leighton glanced up. He had expected some fallout from the incident, but Pierce looked enraged.
‘What’s your problem, captain? The kid’s alive. I thought you’d be pleased.’
‘Pleased? You deliberately fucked up an investigation of another team, for your own personal glory and pissed off my boss.’
‘That’s not true.’ Leighton pointed an accusative finger back at Pierce. ‘I tried to hand everything I had to anybody else who might listen. But nobody would – not you or Levvy or the chief.’
‘Well, I hope you’re happy that you deliberately made your colleagues, Officers Dane and Lorenzo, look incompetent.’
‘Hey, those two did that all by themselves.’
‘Man, I’m just glad I’m moving on from this shithole!’
‘You and me both,’ Leighton said with a wry smile.
‘You’re going to get yourself fired if you don’t watch that attitude.’
‘Maybe,’ Leighton shrugged, ‘but not twice in the same day. Even I’m not that special.’
Pierce turned to go, but couldn’t leave without throwing a final curveball. ‘I’ll be sure to remind Gretsch to keep you on a tight leash.’
‘Who the hell is Gretsch?’ Leighton asked.
‘Your new boss as of next Tuesday. Oh, and starting Monday you’ve got a new partner – Danny Clarke. Try to do a better job of getting along with him than you did with the last one.’
With those parting words, Pierce turned on his heels and left.
Leighton finished his report with a smile on his face; Tina was safe and Angela had her child back. It was also good to know that Pierce was leaving, and that Teddy was no longer on his back. There was also comfort to be found in the fact that he would now have a dependable partner in Danny Clarke, but knowing that Tina was safe and that his own little girl would be returning home was more than enough to lift Leighton’s spirits.