Read Online An Evil Shadow by A. J. Davidson - Free Book Online Page B

 
 
 
 
 
    CHAPTER SIX

 
 
    Val felt ambivalent about carrying a shield again,
especially that of Chief. On the one hand he despised himself for going back,
however temporarily; to a job he had sworn he was through with. On the plus
side, being involved in an investigation once more brought the familiar surge
of energy that charged his mind and allowed him to focus with a relentlessness
that nothing else had ever come close to matching. And that troubled him.
    The weight of the hand-sewn, shiny-with-age leather
wallet which held the shield was the one tangible of his first twenty-four
hours in the job. Tuesday had passed in a blur of frantic activity. His picture
had been taken, he’d been finger-printed, sworn in, and issued with the shield.
A cell phone  under protest  , a beeper, and a parking permit
for his car’s windshield were signed for by Val. The sergeant in charge of the
gun safe took it personally when Val declined the standard issue .38 Ruger
revolver.
    All that had been quickly followed by an introduction
to some of the troops. Each UNOPD officer had undergone his or her training at
a police academy and was empowered to make arrests, by city, parish, and state
commissions. Then Val was briefed on the two main security systems operated for
the students’ safety —the blue-light
telephones and the escort-request service. Both briefings were rushed through
in indecent haste, as though Marcus had spread the word that Val could change
his mind before the ink was dry on his appointment.
    Under him, Val had one captain, four lieutenants,
eight sergeants, six detectives, and seventy-eight uniform officers. Thirty
part-time auxiliaries — mainly police cadets could also be called on when extra
manpower was required, most commonly for the policing of events at the
University’s Lakefront Arena. He was ultimately responsible for twelve patrol
cars, six motorcycles, twenty-five mountain bikes, one station house and one
lock-up.
    The previous year’s crime figures showed that larceny
came tops, followed by liquor and drug violations, burglary, aggravated
assault, and date rape. A female final-year Bienville Hall student had killed
herself in her car and a member of the science faculty had absconded with two
hundred and fifty grand. He was traced to Mexico City, but there had been no
request for extradition. The man had already blown the money, and the
university didn’t need the bad press.
    Val was sitting at his desk in his new office,
familiarizing himself with the duty roster while he waited for Captain John
Clements to show up. Clements had called in earlier and asked to meet with Val
at ten o’clock, one hour before the press conference was due to commence. Val
felt he already knew what Clements wanted to talk about. What police captain
wouldn’t feel bitter about a former lieutenant leap-froging into the chief’s
job?
    The office door was open, but Clements rapped the
glass panel before entering. He was wearing full uniform and was carrying his
peaked cap. A tall broad-shouldered man, he had salt and pepper hair and an
officious bearing. Ten years older than Val, Clements had been a campus cop for
twenty-eight years. The previous chief had assessed him as an efficient and
competent officer, though, reading between the lines, Val judged that
Clements’s promotions had been earned more from time-served than inspired
police work. He wouldn’t have lasted a day in the Desire housing project. He
was the sort of officer who would have been in the running for commissioner by
now if he had been in the NOPD.
    The few minutes they had spent together the day before
had been awkward for both of them. Clements’s grim expression did not hold out
much promise that this meeting was going to be any easier.
    Val stood up and gave him the keys of the Chief of
Police vehicle.
    “I want the standard rookie tour of the lakefront
campus. We can talk in the car.”
    Clements opened his mouth to speak, then