Tony returned to the watch commander’s office.
Amanda, who’d been sitting in as the WC, looked up at him. “What did the captain want?”
He made a face. “I’ve got to pull a unit to drive Chloe Conrad and her mother to RHD to be interviewed.”
“Who’s Chloe Conrad?”
“The registered owner of the Toyota that killed Sinclair.”
“Why does she need her mom? Is she a juvenile?”
He nodded. “Her father is Simon Conrad, the film director.”
Amanda shrugged. “Never heard of him.”
“Did you ever see Avenging the Innocent?”
“Of course. Everyone saw it. Great movie. Did he direct that?”
“Yep, and per the captain’s orders, which came from the chief’s office, which came from the mayor’s office, we are to show the family every courtesy—including chauffeuring them downtown to be interviewed.”
She scoffed. “Do you want me to take them?”
“No, McKenzie hit me up for an early out, so I’ll need you here. There’s just the two of you for supervision today.”
Amanda made a face. “What time is he leaving?”
“He said about 1300 hours…but he’ll stay until 1430 if he has to.”
An irritated sigh escaped her lips. “Okay.” She rose from his desk and started toward the sergeant’s room. “Who are you going to send?”
He sank into his chair and swiveled to look at the ACC screen, showing the location of the Devonshire units. “Unless they get an arrest or some big caper, I’ll have Bender and Price go. It will give him the opportunity to show his P-1 PAB and take her up to the fifth floor and RHD.”
She nodded and turned away.
He returned to his desk and picked up his radio. “17L90, have 17A67 call the watch commander.”
A minute later, the inside line rang. “Hey.” He advised the training officer of their assignment to drive down to the police headquarters. He held the phone away from his ear as Bender tried to get out of the drive.
“I understand you’ll wind up with overtime. But it’s a chance to take Price downtown and show her the Police Administrative Building.”
“You know, Lieutenant, you’re a good guy, but you’ll owe me one. We’ll be caught in the rush hour traffic coming back to the valley.”
“Just think of me helping you save up for that new bass boat you’ve been wanting.”
“Hell, my wife won’t let me buy a fishing rod, much less a motorboat.”
Tony laughed. “I feel your pain, brother. Grab something to eat, then report to the station. That will give you an hour and a half to get to PAB.”
“Roger that, boss.”
He called out to Amanda, who was doing paperwork in the sergeant’s office. “Hey, I’m gonna hit the head. I’ll be back in a few.”
She didn’t even glance up, but she did nod. “Okay. Gotcha covered.”
He grabbed his water bottle, then hurried upstairs to the men’s locker room. Thankfully, the area was empty. He went to his locker and set the stainless-steel container on the bench.
He worked the combination padlock, and once opened, he reached inside where his fingers closed around the top of a bottle.
Filled with self-loathing, he used swift motions to remove the cap of the water container and pour about three inches of vodka into the stainless-steel vial. The entire process took less than a minute. Good thing too. He’d no sooner shoved the booze back inside when Dallas Cruz charged through the door.
“Hey, Lieutenant. Taking a break from the chaos?”
“Nope.” He bobbed his head at bathroom stalls. “Just sending a captain to the harbor.”
The younger officer laughed. Then he pulled the keepers from his Sam Browne. “I can do better than that. I’ll deliver the mayor.”
Tony chuckled, then took a sip from his water bottle and moved toward the door. “Then let me leave you to it.”