~ TWENTY-FOUR ~

The half hour Josie had requested to take a shower and make a phone call turned into two hours. She made the mistake of resting for “just a minute” in the Hollywood station cot room. The noisy day-watch officers banging their lockers shut woke her or she probably would have slept longer. A quick shower and she called Jake at work. He had already heard about the shooting and had called the narcotics office where Tomic filled him in on the rest.

Jake was in a good mood. He understood that the end of the Kent murder investigation meant a promotion for her and more stability in his home life. She didn’t mention her desire to remain in the Hollywood narcotics squad in Behan’s position as a detective supervisor. Why ruin his day before she knew anything for certain?

She’d made her call in the station’s report writing room and was just finishing her conversation when Marge walked into the cramped space with cluttered counters, telephones, and a dozen folding chairs that were all empty at the moment. She sat beside Josie and waited for her to hang up.

“Nice work, Corsino,” Marge said with not a sign of emotion. She looked tired and pale and Josie figured she probably hadn’t slept all night.

“You hear Gilbert’s given us enough to arrest Abby? You won’t have to kill her after all,” Josie said, hoping she was joking.

“I heard. I pretty much hung around the narco office all night listening to the radio. This morning the captain at Organized Crime promised I could be there when she goes down.”

“How’d you manage that?”

“I dated him last year . . . we’re still kind of friends,” she said and shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal. “I want that fat fucker and her psycho Sicilian dad to see my smiling face when they put the cuffs on. Payback’s a bitch,” she said, hesitated, and stood before adding, “I know you’ve gotta get back across the street, but I want to say . . . Behan told me you’re the one made this happen. I fucking owe you.”

“Yeah, you do,” Josie said, trying to look serious. “And I expect at least a couple of great meals with bottles of really expensive Cabernet. Go home and get some sleep so you don’t have a relapse and miss all the fun.”

THE SQUAD room was bustling with activity by the time Josie got back across the street. Detectives from the Major Violators section were helping Curtis and Donny finish the evidence reports for the large volume of cocaine recovered. It would be put back on Property division’s schedule to be destroyed a second time after Vern’s and Eddie’s trials. Butch and Stella were being interviewed on tape by homicide detectives, and Behan, with the assistance of detectives from Organized Crime, was sorting through the box of files Too Tall had confiscated from Abby’s office. A comprehensive statement had been provided by Too Tall, and he’d been removed to a safe house guarded by district attorney investigators.

“We’ve got a team watching Abby Morrison until we’re ready to pick her up,” Behan said, handing Josie a stack of files as soon as she walked into the office. “I’ve already gone through some of them. They’re dynamite. Our little Testa spawn keeps great records.”

“Are we okay looking at these without a warrant?” she asked.

“Too Tall wasn’t working for us, so the DA thinks we’re okay, but he’s running it by Judge Whitehall this morning.”

Josie relaxed. Judge Whitehall was a very conservative propolice jurist whose decisions usually leaned toward law enforcement. Her advice and direction would keep everything strictly within the law.

Curtis was finishing the evidence reports. Josie saw a ziplock baggie containing several smaller baggies each with one rock of cocaine sitting on his desk and she asked where he had recovered the drugs.

“When I searched Vern’s locker, he had them hidden in a can of deodorant spray with a false bottom,” Curtis said. “Dirtbag had a stash to plant on the competition.” He grinned and made a motion as if he were pulling a lever. “Cha-ching, them charges just keep piling on.”

Tomic was helping with the reports but he made no attempt to converse with Josie beyond perfunctory responses. He seemed sober and had shaved, showered, and changed his clothes, all signs of having been home with Mrs. Tomic rather than carousing with the cheerleader. If that were true, Josie was happy for him and could have made an effort to mend their partnership but didn’t. If they promoted her to Detective III in Hollywood, Josie could supervise him and the others, but she was weary of all the drama that came with being Tomic’s confidante and friend.

It was early afternoon before Lieutenant Watts and Captain Clark arrived in the Hollywood office. They congratulated Behan and the squad for a few minutes and then locked themselves in the lieutenant’s office.

“It’s so nice to be appreciated . . . for a second or two,” Curtis said sarcastically.

“Thanks so much, but your squad’s been dismantled. Welcome to South Bureau,” Donny said.

“Hey, we solved three murders and found evidence stolen from Property division they didn’t even know was missing,” Josie said. “Not to mention we put a dent in the Testa family’s enterprise. That should weigh in our favor.”

“Yeah, but all Art’s crap is on the other side of that scale,” Tomic said.

“We caught him and Vern. That has to count for something.”

The room got quiet. Josie knew why. Except for her, they were all veteran cops and had learned the department always overreacted. Their squad would probably pay the price, so the chief of police could tell the city politicians and community activists he had done something, changed the climate of corruption. It didn’t matter that one or two bad cops didn’t constitute a climate; that was the nature of the LAPD.

The door to the lieutenant’s office opened and the captain’s voice shouted, “Corsino, come in here a minute.”

She exhaled and gave Behan a tight smile.

“Use your head, don’t be a smart-ass,” he cautioned as she passed his desk and went into Watts’s office.

Captain Clark was sitting in the lieutenant’s leather chair behind his desk and Watts stood near the file cabinet.

“Time’s up, detective,” Clark said with a big grin. “Are you going to take the promotion and come to my admin section or stay here as a Detective II with not much chance of promoting anytime soon.” He motioned for her to sit on the only other chair in front of the desk, but she remained standing.

“There’s a Detective III spot in Hollywood. I think I’ve earned the right to be considered for that position,” she said with a strong confident voice.

Captain Clark looked at Watts and sighed.

“You’re not ready to head up a squad,” he said.

“I think I’ve proved I’m more than ready.”

“That’s my decision, not yours. Take the promotion or stay here as a Detective II and work for Ray Martinez. I’m moving him from Central narcotics to run the Hollywood squad. I won’t force you or the others to move, but that’s my onetime offer.”

She knew Martinez. He was already a D-III and had a good reputation as a hard-charging, knowledgeable cop. Josie couldn’t argue that she was more qualified than he was, but knew she’d be a better D-III in Hollywood.

“I’ll take the admin promotion,” she said and started to leave, but stopped and added, “Thank you for the opportunity.”

Josie gently closed the door behind her and glanced at Behan before sitting at her desk.

“Well?” Curtis asked. “Did you tell him what to do with his admin job?”

“I took it,” she said, looking at Behan. He nodded his approval.

“In two years, you’ll have Watts’s job,” Tomic said.

“Maybe in four years you’ll have Clark’s and we’ll have a narcotics captain who has a clue,” Donny said.

“I can’t believe you’d give up the street for a desk job,” Curtis said, not looking at her. He picked up his jacket and went into the hallway. She heard his locker open and slam close.

“What’s his problem?” Josie asked his partner and Donny shrugged. “You’d think he’d be happy to be rid of me.”

“You’re buying at Nora’s tomorrow night,” Donny said, giving her a hug before he left too.

The paperwork was done, and the evidence had been booked. Vern was sitting in a cell at men’s jail downtown, arrested for Kent’s murder, and Too Tall was safely tucked away for a few days until they obtained an arrest warrant for Abby Morrison.

Tomic congratulated her before he left, but his cold demeanor hadn’t changed. He kept his emotional distance. Their bond had been broken, but she had to admit she’d never really understood him or his complicated personality. He was willing to operate too close to that line between acceptable and questionable. She might put a toe in the water now and then, but he’d taken the plunge far too often for her comfort.

Lost in her thoughts, Josie hadn’t realized Behan was still in the office. She needed to go home and sleep, tell Jake the news he’d been waiting to hear. While she was standing in Watts’s office, the answer to the captain’s question was immediately clear, but now she was having second thoughts. Like Curtis, she wanted to stay on the streets; narcotics enforcement was exciting and fun. But there was another part of her that needed to promote. It tormented her that unqualified leaders like Watts and Clark made decisions that affected working cops’ lives and their ability to do their jobs. She liked and admired cops and wanted to make it easier for them to work. Most of all, she wanted to be the one making the decisions. The warrior and the chief halves of her brain were in conflict.

“Corsino, are you going home to sleep or are you going to stay here all day staring into space?” Behan asked. He got up from his desk and sat across the table from her. “You made the right decision,” he said.

“Did I?”

“Take the promotion and in a year or less find another position. Clark is never going to give you a squad.”

“I love working narcotics.”

“There’s a Detective III spot opening up in Internal Affairs in a few months to supervise a surveillance squad. You’d be perfect, and it would keep you on the street and give you IA experience when you’re ready to take the lieutenant’s exam.”

“Maybe the chief can still be a warrior,” she said and thanked him.

“What?”

“Nothing, a little internal dilemma.”

“You’ve got some time before the deployment period ends, so go home and get some sleep. I expect you to work until you leave.”

She followed him out to the parking lot and got into the Mustang. As she drove out toward the exit, Curtis was crossing the street coming back from Hollywood station. She stopped in the driveway and he walked closer to her open window.

“I still think you’re making a mistake, Corsino,” he said, bending over with his hands on his knees. “You could learn a lot more out here, but I’d work with you any day.” He straightened up, extended his right hand, shook hers, and walked away.

Josie rolled up the window and watched him go back into the narcotics office.

“That’ll do,” she said, nodding, and drove toward home.