Read Online Critical Pursuit by Janice Cantore - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Janice Cantore
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like him, she doesn’t have any choice in the matter.”
* * *
When Brinna walked into the sergeants’ room, Sergeant Rodriguez waited for her. She motioned for Brinna to have a seat across from her.
“Hey, congrats on the Utah find. A park ranger called to recommend you for a promotion.”
“Hero found him; I think he’d look great in sergeant’s stripes.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Brinna noticed the look on her sergeant’s face. “Uh, they’re not taking Hero away, are they?” Fear spread as if it had been dropped by a grenade. Brinna felt sick to her stomach and flushed in the face.
Rodriguez blew out a breath and avoided her eyes. “It’s temporary,” she said. “And he’s not being taken away from you. Hero is just being sidelined, kind of like an administrative leave.”
Brinna gripped the arms of the chair. “How temporary?”
“I can’t say yet. All I can assure you is that I pressed the chief and he promised that only horrendous circumstances would make it permanent.”
“Like me being indicted?” Brinna said with undisguised bitterness.
“That’s not going to happen. The shooting was clean; we just have to ride out the Hester hurricane.”
Brinna started to rise when the homicide boss, Lieutenant Hoffman, entered the room. The threesome occupied thepatrol sergeants’ office. A large room off the squad room, it was used by all the sergeants of every patrol watch and was sparsely furnished with old beat-up desks and a few chairs. Hoffman motioned for her to stay, and she sat back down, wondering if he had information about the shooting.
“Evening, Caruso. How’s everything?” Hoffman joined Rodriguez on her side of the desk.
“I’m not sure,” Brinna said guardedly, looking from one person to the other. “This looks like a double-team.”
Janet smiled. “No, you didn’t let me finish. You actually have options. You can either ride out the unpleasant storm at the business desk, or you can do some retraining for two weeks for an officer who wants to leave detectives.”
Now she understood why Hoffman was there. “A homicide dick wants to leave the detail? That’s un —” Maggie’s words about an unbalanced detective came roaring back to her memory. “Is it Jack O’Reilly?” Brinna clenched her jaw to keep her mouth from dropping open. Not only were they sidelining Hero; they were assigning her to play nursemaid to a burnout two-legged partner for two weeks.
“He’s coming back to patrol?” she asked, her mind racing, struggling to find some excuse to get out of the reassignment. “I’ve heard he’s 5150, ready for a psycho retirement. Is that why they’re kicking him out of homicide?”
“Gossip.” Sergeant Rodriguez gave a dismissive wave. “I thought you knew better than to pay attention to that.”
“He wasn’t kicked out,” Lieutenant Hoffman said. “Jack has asked to be reassigned.”
Brinna bit her tongue. There were other worries on hermind. A lot of high-ranking officers objected to Hero. They wanted the grant money allocated somewhere else. Would her being reassigned give them ammunition? But would her protests about this “temporary” assignment label her a troublemaker? Milo always taught her to pick her battles. Maybe this was a battle she didn’t want.
“Okay, I understand,” she said. “It’s just for the two-week retraining period.”
“Correct.” Rodriguez nodded. “Don’t worry about Hero. He’ll be welcomed back when this is over.”
Brinna took a deep breath, relief flooding her veins as Rodriguez read her mind.
“I’ve heard a lot of stuff about this O’Reilly that isn’t gossip.” Brinna switched the focus back to the psycho cop. “Will he hold up his end of the unit?”
“Jack has had a rough year.” Hoffman stood and walked around the desk, leaning on the corner to face Brinna. “His pregnant wife was killed by a drunk driver. That would be tough on anyone. He’s been cleared
* * *
When Brinna walked into the sergeants’ room, Sergeant Rodriguez waited for her. She motioned for Brinna to have a seat across from her.
“Hey, congrats on the Utah find. A park ranger called to recommend you for a promotion.”
“Hero found him; I think he’d look great in sergeant’s stripes.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Brinna noticed the look on her sergeant’s face. “Uh, they’re not taking Hero away, are they?” Fear spread as if it had been dropped by a grenade. Brinna felt sick to her stomach and flushed in the face.
Rodriguez blew out a breath and avoided her eyes. “It’s temporary,” she said. “And he’s not being taken away from you. Hero is just being sidelined, kind of like an administrative leave.”
Brinna gripped the arms of the chair. “How temporary?”
“I can’t say yet. All I can assure you is that I pressed the chief and he promised that only horrendous circumstances would make it permanent.”
“Like me being indicted?” Brinna said with undisguised bitterness.
“That’s not going to happen. The shooting was clean; we just have to ride out the Hester hurricane.”
Brinna started to rise when the homicide boss, Lieutenant Hoffman, entered the room. The threesome occupied thepatrol sergeants’ office. A large room off the squad room, it was used by all the sergeants of every patrol watch and was sparsely furnished with old beat-up desks and a few chairs. Hoffman motioned for her to stay, and she sat back down, wondering if he had information about the shooting.
“Evening, Caruso. How’s everything?” Hoffman joined Rodriguez on her side of the desk.
“I’m not sure,” Brinna said guardedly, looking from one person to the other. “This looks like a double-team.”
Janet smiled. “No, you didn’t let me finish. You actually have options. You can either ride out the unpleasant storm at the business desk, or you can do some retraining for two weeks for an officer who wants to leave detectives.”
Now she understood why Hoffman was there. “A homicide dick wants to leave the detail? That’s un —” Maggie’s words about an unbalanced detective came roaring back to her memory. “Is it Jack O’Reilly?” Brinna clenched her jaw to keep her mouth from dropping open. Not only were they sidelining Hero; they were assigning her to play nursemaid to a burnout two-legged partner for two weeks.
“He’s coming back to patrol?” she asked, her mind racing, struggling to find some excuse to get out of the reassignment. “I’ve heard he’s 5150, ready for a psycho retirement. Is that why they’re kicking him out of homicide?”
“Gossip.” Sergeant Rodriguez gave a dismissive wave. “I thought you knew better than to pay attention to that.”
“He wasn’t kicked out,” Lieutenant Hoffman said. “Jack has asked to be reassigned.”
Brinna bit her tongue. There were other worries on hermind. A lot of high-ranking officers objected to Hero. They wanted the grant money allocated somewhere else. Would her being reassigned give them ammunition? But would her protests about this “temporary” assignment label her a troublemaker? Milo always taught her to pick her battles. Maybe this was a battle she didn’t want.
“Okay, I understand,” she said. “It’s just for the two-week retraining period.”
“Correct.” Rodriguez nodded. “Don’t worry about Hero. He’ll be welcomed back when this is over.”
Brinna took a deep breath, relief flooding her veins as Rodriguez read her mind.
“I’ve heard a lot of stuff about this O’Reilly that isn’t gossip.” Brinna switched the focus back to the psycho cop. “Will he hold up his end of the unit?”
“Jack has had a rough year.” Hoffman stood and walked around the desk, leaning on the corner to face Brinna. “His pregnant wife was killed by a drunk driver. That would be tough on anyone. He’s been cleared
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