Tony felt awful. He was nursing one hell of a hangover, but worse than that, he placed one of his co-workers in a position where his friend lied to protect him.
If the woman from last night decided to do a deeper investigation into their accident, not only was he exposed to departmental discipline, Blaze was too.
He’d called his insurance company as soon as he arrived home. But what if he was more intoxicated than he thought, and the agent heard slurring in his words?
You really crashed and burned yesterday, you idiot.
Worse yet, he was tempted to pop the top on a beer to take the edge off his hangover.
“Sober for ten years, and you blew it in one night. You’re an idiot,” he said out loud to himself.
Guilt weighed heavily. You need to make this right.
He hurried to shower, shave, and get dressed. Stopping at a convenience store, he purchased a large black coffee, a super-sized bottle of water, and impulsively picked up a small vial underneath a sign that said: Drink Too Much? Try The Morning After Shot.
As soon as he reached his damaged truck, he guzzled the hangover liquid. He shuddered after it went down. “Tastes like bull piss,” he whispered. He followed the bitter remedy with a third of the water.
By the time he arrived at the station, he’d drunk the rest of the water and most of the coffee.
He walked into the watch commander’s office.
Blaze was reviewing a crime report and looked up. “What are you doing here?” The sergeant’s tone was curt.
“I decided to come in.”
“Is your head on straight?” Blaze’s way of asking if he was sober.
“Yeah. I’m a little rough around the edges, but I can work.”
“Good. I’d rather be out in the field instead of playing WC.”
“Give me ten minutes to change.”
When he came back downstairs, Blaze rose from behind the desk. “I’ll be on the radio if you need me.”
“I appreciate it, but I’ve got everything handled inside.”
The sergeant nodded and picked up his war bag. “Don’t screw up.”
He busied himself by catching up on reviewing and signing reports.
The phone rang. It was the line reserved for officers or other police personnel to call the watch commander directly.
“Lieutenant Mancuso.”
“Hey, Tony. It’s Gunner Ferrari from RHD. I’m in Chatsworth with Bender and Price. We’re at the home of Chloe Conrad, the R/O of the car that killed Dolby Sinclair.”
At the mention of Sinclair’s name, remorse swept over him. Pushing his anxiety aside, he spun toward the ACC and pushed a couple of buttons to see where his units were located.
“Okay. What’s up?”
“I’m not ready to say she’s missing, but we can’t locate the Conrad girl. We came out here to interview her because she said some things to Price yesterday that might indicate Chloe was being blackmailed.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Her mom had no clue she wasn’t in the house. Her phone is here, which isn’t good. Right now, I’m trying to get in touch with Chloe’s friends.”
“Is there any reason to believe there’s foul play instead of a runaway situation?”
Ferrari sighed. “Not sure. There was an unexpected pizza delivery last night that’s not sitting well with me. I’ve got the mother arranging for me to access their surveillance video, but we’re having some difficulty.”
“What do you need from me? Do you think if I called the surveillance company, it would help?”
“No.” He sighed and lowered his voice. “Mrs. Conrad doesn’t know the password for the surveillance system. She’s tried to reach the husband because he supposedly knows. But he’s working, and not returning her calls. When we hang up, I’m calling the studio security and get the guy to answer his phone.”
“Sounds like a shit-show.”
“It is. I just wanted to give you a head’s up. I’ve notified my bosses downtown, but you may want to let your captain know because the girl is a well-connected juvenile.”
“Okay. Keep me posted.”