The phone on his desk rang, loud and insistent.
“All right, keep me posted.”
Lieutenant Gavin Hayes dismissed Detectives Barker and Harris from his office and reached for the extension.
“Hayes.”
“Good afternoon, Lieutenant. I’m calling from the office of Police Chief Luther Branson.”
“Oh. Good afternoon.”
It wasn’t the first time Gavin had gotten a surprise call from the chief’s office, but something about the tone of the secretary’s voice told him Branson meant business today.
“The Chief would like to see you in his office immediately.”
Trepidation hit Gavin’s stomach like a tidal wave.
“Um, the Chief and I didn’t have a meeting scheduled on the books today. May I ask what this is in regards to?”
“I’m sorry, Lieutenant. I’m not privy to that information.”
Bewilderment and annoyance mingled in his gut. How was he supposed to prepare for an obviously important meeting on a hair’s width of notice?
“Very well. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“I’ll let him know you’re on your way.”
The line went dead, and Gavin hung up the receiver. He stood, rolling down the sleeves of his dress shirt, and buttoning the cuffs. Then he grabbed his suit jacket from the back of the chair and slipped it on.
He straightened his tie and left his office with a single-minded focus — wondering what the hell was so important the Chief needed to see him right away.
“Oh, hey, Lieu.”
Detective Sgt. Taylor and Detective Vega crested the stairs and headed straight for him. Gavin kept moving toward the elevators.
“You two are supposed to be at the firehouse.”
Ike turned to follow him.
“Yes, sir. We spent the last two hours there, but they got a call and the place cleared out.”
“I see.” Gavin gave the up button a few hits and the doors swooshed open. He stepped inside, but Ike Taylor kept talking.
“I’m all for trying to be as delicate with this one as we can, Lieu, but at this rate it’s going to take us weeks to question all the players at both firehouses 12 and 23.”
The doors began to close, but Gavin reached out an arm, holding them open. “What do you want, Ike?”
“Well, I’d like a little more manpower, sir. At least one other detective team asking the questions at house 23 would be a huge help.”
“Fine. Make the assignments, sergeant.” He moved his hand. The doors began to close.
Ike moved fast, holding it open once more. “Wait, uh, are you in some kind of a hurry, Lieu?”
“You know, you should be a detective.” Sarcasm reigned and Gavin swatted at Ike’s hand, threatening to touch him.
Ike jerked away from the closing doors.
Gavin let out a nervous breath. At times, he loved the fact that he worked at the 3rd precinct. It was the biggest precinct in the city, and there was a certain prestige to it, being that it was the very seat of police headquarters. But at times like this when he was summoned to the office of the Chief, he wished he had to drive across town to get there instead of simply hopping on an elevator to the top floor. It was unnerving.
What the hell was this meeting about?
On the top floor, he got out of the elevator and was met by the smiling face of Branson’s secretary.
“They’re expecting you, Lieutenant. You can go on in.”
They?
Gavin took a deep breath and shrugged off his anxiety, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something big was about to happen. The major question was if that something big was a good thing or a bad thing.
He knocked softly on the closed door before poking his head in.
“Ah, Lieutenant Hayes! Come in, come in.”
Luther Branson was in his late fifties, short in stature, but fit and spry. A big personality and formidable reputation preceded him wherever he went, and Gavin often wondered if the man had gotten the job based on charisma alone.
He came around his desk with a welcoming smile and his hand stretched out. Gavin accepted his offered handshake.
“Good afternoon, Chief. How are you?”
“Good, good. Thank you for asking. I trust you’ve met the new Deputy Chief by now?” Branson gestured toward the older Asian-American man standing off to the side who Gavin recognized as David Lee. Lee had been promoted to the position vacated by ex-Deputy Chief Jay Schiffer after his involvement in the Lullaby Killings had come to light.
“Yes, of course. Good to see you again, Deputy Chief.” Gavin shook the man’s hand.
“Let’s sit.” Branson took a seat on the leather couch and Lee sat beside him, leaving Gavin to sit in the chair across from them.
The hot seat.
That’s what it felt like.
Was he about to be interrogated?
“I was surprised to get your call this afternoon, sir. I hope we didn’t make an appointment that I’ve forgotten about.”
“Not exactly, no. This meeting was inevitable, but not scheduled for today.”
Branson’s choice of words had Gavin’s mind racing with more questions. What exactly had he meant by that cryptic comment? Why was this meeting inevitable?
“Let me begin by saying once again how impressed I was at the stellar job you did during the FBI’s probe into the narcotics division’s involvement with Boston Martelli’s criminal organization.”
“Oh, I was barely involved, sir. I simply answered the FBI’s questions when they were asked of me.”
“Nonsense. You encouraged the men and women of the entire detectives section to cooperate with the FBI. Didn’t know I was aware of that, did you?”
Branson’s approving gaze bored into him, and Gavin shifted slightly in his chair. “Um… no, sir, I did not.”
“And don’t think I didn’t notice how you reached out to the other lieutenants of the detectives section to encourage them to do the same. I also have it on good authority that you took it upon yourself to field calls and inquiries from the heads of detective sections at other precincts throughout the city about how the FBI probe might affect them.”
Gavin was speechless. He had fielded those calls from the other precincts solely to take the burden off Captain Tom Brewster’s shoulders. He’d simply been trying to make his boss’ life easier during a difficult time.
“Chief, I’m sorry I didn’t run that past you first. I was only trying to—”
“It was damn good leadership, Hayes. That’s the kind of initiative I like in my command staff. You led by example and you stayed level-headed during an incredibly stressful time for this police department.”
“Well, thank you, Chief.”
“And the outcome of that probe was equally stressful.” David Lee’s tone held a measure of distaste. “Yet you remained a pillar of strength and integrity for the whole detectives section during the fallout as well.”
“You have no idea how much we appreciated that,” Branson said.
“Thank you, sirs.”
Gavin wasn’t the type who needed the praise of his superiors to feel good about his job, but it was nice to hear.
“We’re the ones who should be thanking you, Hayes. Between ex-Deputy Chief Schiffer harboring his serial killer son for years and all this crap with two of my narcotics detectives being in bed with Boston Martelli’s criminal organization, this department has been through a lot of shit in the last year.”
Branson was talking about the recent bombshell that both Lt. Mike Dunbar, and Sgt. Natalie Bains, the head of the narcotics section and the leader of the narcotics special task force, respectively, had been discovered to be dirty cops. Both of them firmly rooted inside the criminal enterprise of the notorious Boston Martelli — a local business tycoon with ties to the mob.
The FBI had recently taken Martelli down, an operation that lead to the discovery of the two dirty cops inside the 3rd precinct’s narcotics division.
“Well, at least Dunbar and Bains are both behind bars now, where they belong.” Gavin had no doubt they would both rot in prison, like they deserved.
“I’m only sorry that Tom Brewster ended up being a casualty of the FBI probe as well.” Gavin laced his fingers together and tried hard to keep the pissed tone from his voice.
Captain Tom Brewster had been his field training officer when he was fresh out of the academy. Then he’d become Gavin’s boss when he made detective so many years ago. They went way back, and Tom didn’t deserve the treatment he’d gotten.
But the city needed a scapegoat for the embarrassment Dunbar and Bains had caused, and that mantle fell on Captain Brewster. Tom had elected to take an early retirement rather than be demoted for his failure to supervise Lt. Dunbar better.
“I wish Tom well.” Chief Branson’s words belied the sudden tension in his voice. “But his decision to take an early retirement is inconsequential. Either way, we were going to have to find a replacement for his position as head of the detectives section. And my search for that job was not long or difficult. I knew I had the perfect man already lined up.”
Gavin nodded, his thoughts still muddled with sorrow over Tom’s predicament. It was such a shitty way for a stellar career to come to an end. Now Chief Branson was moving on, ready to replace Tom and wanting Gavin’s input on whoever he’d chosen.
The silence in the room suddenly blasted Gavin’s ears, and he looked at the chief. Branson was smiling at him.
“That man is you, Lt. Hayes.”
Gavin’s mind went blank.
Shock blasted his gut, like tiny prickles of ice along his insides.
What did the Chief say?
“We’d like to formally offer you the position,” Branson was saying.
Words.
Gavin needed words, but he couldn’t form them.
The chief was offering him Brewster’s position?
Was this for real?
“I-I don’t… quite know what to say.”
Branson stared at him. “You do understand that I’m offering you a promotion to the rank of Captain, and that you would be the head of the entire detectives section?”
“Yes, I do understand that, sir.” Gavin nodded. “I’m just… surprised. I’ve never lobbied for the position. I didn’t even throw my name into the hat.”
“No, you didn’t. And I must admit, I found that puzzling. Can I ask why you didn’t put in for the promotion? I mean, you had to know that you would easily be the front runner of all the in-house candidates.”
Gavin swallowed. “Thank you for saying so, sir. I’m very flattered. But—”
“I don’t want you to be flattered, Hayes, I want you to say that you’ll take the job.”
What was it he was thinking in the elevator ride up here? That something big was about to happen? But was this a good thing, or a bad thing? Gavin couldn’t answer that. Not yet.
“I’m afraid you’re going to have to give me some time to think about this, Chief.”
Branson gave him an incredulous look, like maybe he was rethinking all the praise he’d heaped on Gavin during this meeting. “What the hell is there to think about, Hayes? Higher rank, higher pay, more prestigious position.”
“More responsibilities, more headaches,” Gavin countered with a nervous smile. “Not to mention the impact on the homicide division.”
“What impact?” Branson shrugged his shoulders. “You move up to Captain, and someone else moves up to take your Lieutenant spot. It’s not like you won’t still be overseeing the homicide division. You will. You’ll be overseeing all the detective divisions.”
Gavin knew he was right, but it wouldn’t be the same. He wouldn’t be the one calling the shots in homicide anymore. Wouldn’t be the one shaping the homicide section or molding the homicide detectives.
“Still, I’m going to need a few days to think this over, sir. There were reasons I didn’t originally put in for the promotion. Those reasons still exist.”
Branson let out a loud, unhappy sigh. “All right. I’ll give you until the end of the week, Lieutenant. I’ll need an answer at that time.”
Gavin stood and shook hands with both men. “Thank you for thinking of me, sirs. I will be in touch.”
Gavin turned for the door with his head spinning like storm clouds.