Charlie-316

by Colin Conway

  McNutt rebounded. “First thing we need to do is get Clint tossed off this case. The guy is an anchor.”

  Harris shook her head. “Not our call.”

  “I’m telling you, Cass, he’s trouble for us.”

  She ignored his not-so-subtle word choice and the shortened use of her name. He clearly wasn’t giving up on his campaign to get her in the sack. “I think we need to start with known associates of Todd Trotter. See who he ran with, get a better picture of him.”

  “Good idea.” McNutt looked around. “And this house, don’t you think? Find out who owns it. Maybe they have a connection to Trotter somehow.”

  “Now you’re thinking,” Harris said, throwing him a small bone.

  McNutt gave her his best devil-may-care grin. “Well, I’m no Honey Badger, but I do have my moments.”

  “Honey Badger. Where’s that even come from?”

  McNutt grinned broadened. He seemed happy to dish on Clint. “That funny video on YouTube a few years back, all about how the honey badger doesn’t give a shit whether bees are stinging it or if it’s going up against a cobra, it still fights on?”

  Harris shook her head. “Never heard of it.”

  “Well, you should google it. It fits Clint to a tee. Total prick, cares about nothing and no one. That’s why he should be off this case.”

  Harris asked, “What about Garrett? Do you know him at all?”

  “Sure, we went through the academy together.”

  “And?”

  “Stellar guy. Was a squad leader and everything.”

  “You cross paths with him on the street?”

  “A few times, before I made detective. We’d occasionally end up on the same calls if it was near the city/county border. Things like that.”

  “How was he?”

  “Seemed rock solid to me. Good tactics, good attitude. Took care of business.”

  Harris nodded, taking in the information and adding it to what she knew of Garrett from his public persona. SPD liked to use him in recruitment and advertising materials.

  “I really don’t want to mess up his world if we can help it,” McNutt added. “Like I said, he’s a good troop.”

  “Then there should be no problem.”

  “What about you?” McNutt asked. “You never worked around the guy?”

  “No, but I’ve been in the detective’s office for a long time.” She changed the subject. “Let’s go back to the barn, get a list of Trotter’s known associates and start running them down.”

  McNutt flashed her another flirtatious grin. “You got it, Cass.”

  She didn’t respond. It was going to be a long day.

  Chapter 14

  Cody Lofton loved the basement bar of Churchill’s restaurant. It was his place to have a couple drinks with the mayor or other party benefactors and relax for a couple hours. Upstairs was Spokane’s finest chop house, but the basement was a classic old-school boys’ club. Business and politics were discussed at every table. If those subjects weren’t to your liking, you could always move down the street to one of the cheap joints where depression and failure were served on tap.

  Occasionally, an attractive woman would enter and mute the conversation. That’s exactly what happened when Amanda Donahue walked down the stairs and looked around the bar.

  Mayor Sikes waved her over to their table in the corner booth.

  “What are you guys doing here?” Amanda said.

  “The chief and I were just catching up.”

  Chief Baumgartner smiled at her, his eyes watery from his second Grey Goose and soda.

  “What are you doing here?” Sikes asked. It was now clear to Lofton that Sikes’ marriage was in jeopardy. He’d have to do something about that. Perhaps a conversation with Sikes’s wife about the overly flirty new assistant could snuff out this budding relationship.

  Amanda shrugged. “I was just out for drink. I’d heard this was a nice place and thought I should stop by to check it out.”

  Of course, you did, Lofton thought.

  “Cody, hop out and let Amanda scoot in.”

  Lofton smiled and did as the mayor asked. When he sat again, Amanda was uncomfortably close to him. He could feel the heat of her leg against his. He pushed his Maker’s Mark to the side and grabbed his water. Suddenly, he felt the need to be sharp.

  The bartender, having caught Amanda’s entrance, made a beeline over to their table. “May I get you something, ma’am?”

  “I’d like something fruity.”

  “What do you have in mind?”

  “Whatever you suggest. I trust you,” she said which sent him away with a smile. The TV above the bar was turned to FOX News, even though the sound was off.

  “What are you boys talking about?”

  “We were talking about the Garrett situation,” the mayor said, focusing all his attention on her.

  Lofton winced. Even though Amanda was the mayor’s assistant, he didn’t want to continue the conversation in front of her. Considering her recent behavior, he no longer trusted her.

  “As I was saying,” Baumgartner said, retaking control of the conversation, “I got an update from Detective Clint earlier.”

  “How is the investigation going?” Sikes asked.

  “Good. I think.”

  “What do you mean, you think?”

  “Clint’s an odd duck. All conspiracy theories wrapped in mysteries. Every morning, he sees ninjas in his cornflakes.”

  Sikes smiled and looked at Amanda, but she was paying close attention to the chief’s words. The mayor’s smile faded, and he turned back to the chief.

  “Do you think it was wise to pick him as part of the investigative team?”

  “I do,” Baumgartner said confidently.

  Sikes shook his head. “Can you imagine what this would be like if it had been him instead of Garrett?”

  The bartender brought a red drink over to Amanda and set it on the table in front of her. “It’s a—”

  “That’s okay,” she said. “I’ll never remember. Just get ready, though. When this is half empty, bring another.”

  He smiled and walked away.

  The chief cleared his throat before continuing. “Clint broke a suspect’s arm once outside a Circle K. This was before I was chief. I was a captain then. Anyway, the former chief thought Clint went too far. I didn’t, though. I saw Clint’s side and made my opinion heard, but it didn’t matter none. Too many others didn’t like how he handled the situation. They thought it was excessive. I didn’t have the juice to do anything about it. Clint was jammed up, lost days and pay, letter in his file, that sort of thing.”

  The chief stared into his glass, considering something before he continued. “I may not get his conspiracy theories, but Clint’s good police. Once he sinks his teeth into something he’s like a dog with a bone, a real case solving motherfucker.”

  Amanda giggled.

  “I’m sorry,” the chief said, slightly embarrassed. “Maybe I should slow down on these.”

  “I’m not offended,” Amanda said.

  “Anyway, Clint said things are progressing and there doesn’t appear to be any hiccups beyond what we already know.”

  “Well, regardless,” Sikes said, “we’re lucky it was Garrett. We can work with him.”

  Baumgartner nodded and kicked back his glass, finishing his drink. He lifted the empty glass to signal the bartender.

  The mayor sipped his beer. He glanced at Amanda who was still watching the chief, studying him. “Cody,” Sikes said, “what did you think of the press conference this morning?”

  Lofton shrugged. “I thought it went fine.”

  “No, you didn’t.”

  Lofton met the mayor’s eyes which were now full of maliciousness.

  “Tell the chief what you thought of his performance.”

  Sikes quickly looked to Amanda then over to Baumgartner. Lofton knew exactly what the mayor wante
d and why. He took a slow breath, steeling himself.

  Baumgartner’s eyes slanted, sensing danger.

  “You set us back,” Lofton said.

  “How’s that?” the chief asked, his jaw muscles flexing.

  “You didn’t control the message. The press repeatedly called Trotter a victim.”

  “And I repeatedly corrected them,” Baumgartner said. He raised the empty glass to his lips. Finding no relief, he set it back down and looked expectedly to the bartender.

  “No, you didn’t,” Lofton said. “They said victim and you said suspect. That’s not correcting them. You should have stopped their questioning and immediately challenged them. It was that important. If you’ve watched the television coverage of the press conference you hear victim over and over. Tomorrow, when the newspaper comes out, you’ll see victim in print. Nowhere are you ever on the record correcting them. We had this exact conversation before the briefing. That was our number one priority. Frame the narrative, I said.”

  Sikes sat up straighter, a wicked smile forming at his lips. He never looked toward Lofton, instead watching the chief the entire time.

  “You worry too much,” Baumgartner said, unconvincingly.

  Lofton moved his water to the side, grabbed his whiskey and took a sip. He felt the warmth of Amanda’s leg against his. “You can never worry too much about the press or social media. You also had the opportunity to confirm Garrett’s identity. Why didn’t you?”

  “Because we don’t do that. We have procedure. Maybe if you cared about how things are actually done instead of how things look, you’d understand.”

  Lofton glanced to the TV before speaking. “Take a look at the TV, Chief. Your super soldier is on the national news. The fact that you denied what everyone already knows makes you look like you’re hiding something. What’s worse, it makes us, the city, look like we’re hiding something. If the press thinks that, they’re going to start digging. If they can’t find anything, they’ll dig harder until they find something. I don’t want that. I want the press to write their stories and go about their business. I know you don’t think my advice is worth much, but it would have helped our situation out a lot. If you haven’t figured it out yet, Chief, my job is to protect the city.”

  Baumgartner’s lip curled back. “That’s my job as well, you little prick.”

  “Well, you both work for me,” Sikes said with a smile. It was clear he enjoyed the exchange.

  The bartender brought Baumgartner’s drink to the table and left without a word. The chief lifted the glass and took a quick sip.

  Lofton lifted his whisky to his lips and froze. Amanda’s hand was on the inside of his thigh and moving slowly upward.

  “I appreciate your assessment of the situation today, Cody. That’s why I like you,” the mayor said, smiling at Amanda. She smiled back at him and lifted her hand a little higher on Lofton’s leg.

  Lofton put his whisky back on the table. “I think it’s time for me to go.”

  “Where are you off to?” Sikes asked.

  “Who knows where this thing is headed,” Lofton said, thumbing in the direction of the TV. “I could use a good night’s sleep.”

  Lofton nodded to the chief who glared at him. He was going to have to mend that fence as soon as possible. He should have found a way to be more diplomatic, but the chief had seriously mishandled the briefing that morning. Besides, it was clear when the mayor pitted him against the chief that he wanted blood sport. If he had to choose between a happy mayor who trusted him or an unhappy chief who didn’t, the choice was easy.

  Amanda’s hand was high on the inside of his thigh when he scooted out of the booth. He nodded at the table and noticed the subtle wink from Amanda.

  Outside, Lofton stood on the corner, waiting for his Uber to arrive. He couldn’t believe that Amanda had made a move on him. She was definitely a hottie, but someone he could never see himself chasing. There was too much baggage with her. Still, it was nice to be pursued by a woman that attractive. His sense of satisfaction was soon replaced with the realization that Amanda had played him perfectly.

  She was now alone with the mayor and the chief. He couldn’t go back in to the bar without looking like a complete moron.

  He stomped his foot and shouted into the night, “Shit!”

  Chapter 15

  Angie Garrett quietly entered her bedroom. Her husband lay sleeping. “Baby,” she said, gently rocking him to wake him from his sleep.

  “Hmm?”

  “It’s time to get up.”

  “What time is it?

  “It’s after eight. You told me to wake you.”

  He’d gone to bed a little more than an hour ago, the recent events finally catching up to him. He only wanted an hour of sleep and then he said he’d try to jump to Angie’s “normal” sleep schedule.

  She’d left her nursing job once Molly was born. She had talked about going back to work, but they were making do and she enjoyed being a stay-at-home mom. Having him home for a couple days would be nice. She wished it was under different circumstances, though.

  Garrett swung his legs off the bed and sat up. He rubbed his eyes and grunted.

  “You can stay in bed, if you want,” Angie said.

  Garrett grunted something she didn’t understand before he lurched to the bathroom.

  He was always sullen when she awoke him from naps. He’d work himself out of it in a few minutes.

  She went out to the living room. The kids were in bed for the night and it would just be the two of them. She was hoping for a couple minutes to reconnect. Even though she hadn’t been apart from him since the shooting except when he visited his mother, they hadn’t really talked. She wanted to know how he felt, but he had his wall up.

  She’d seen it go up and come down for years. Whenever something bad happened to, or around, Ty he’d erect it and barricade himself inside. His true feelings wouldn’t come out. The only emotion he’d let escape was anger. After a while, though, he’d let the wall crumble and he’d again become the man she fell in love with years ago. She knew that was the challenge of loving a cop, but she was up to the task.

  Garrett walked out of the bedroom, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands. “Man, I’m hurting.”

  “We can go to bed right now,” she said.

  He smiled at her seductive tone. “Mrs. Garrett, are you trying to seduce me?”

  “I am.”

  “On a normal day, I would, but I feel like garbage. It wouldn’t be worth it for either of us.”

  “Speak for yourself,” she said.

  “You’re naughty,” he said and dropped on to the couch next to her. He rested his head on her shoulder.

  Her phone vibrated, and she picked it up. “It’s Winnie,” she said.

  “Take it,” he said with his eyes closed. “You know how she is. She’ll keep calling until you answer.”

  Angie swiped her thumb across the phone to answer the call. “Hey, sis.”

  “Have you been on Facebook?”

  “No, why?”

  “Your address was posted by some hate-monger and it’s getting shared.”

  Garrett overheard the conversation and suddenly sat upright. He walked into the other room and disappeared.

  “Why would they do that?”

  “I don’t know,” Winnie said. “Why do any of those people do what they do?”

  Garrett walked back into the room with his laptop. He sat next to Angie and turned it on.

  “Any person in particular we should search for?”

  “Type in Ty’s name. I’m sure you’ll find it.”

  Angie ended the call with her sister and leaned over Garrett’s shoulder. After he completed the login for his laptop, he called up his Facebook account. On his own wall, even though there were supporting comments, ugly and vitriolic statements had poured in.

  “Oh, my God,” Angie said, looking over his shoulder. “Who are t
hese people?”

  There was one account, Jim SupraMan, who posted Garrett’s home address. It even had a Goggle Earth photo of his home attached. The caption read, Murdering Cop’s Address along with the actual street address.

  Garrett followed the link and went to Jim SupraMan’s home page and saw several links to news clips featuring coverage of Ty’s case. Several of the commenters on his page made comments about losing the safety of their streets due to cops like Garrett. They were careful to avoid overtly racist statements that would get them banned from Facebook, but their intentions were clear.

  Garrett called up his settings. It took several minutes to determine how to do it, but he deleted his account.

  Angie slid the computer in front of her and followed the same steps. She never bothered to check her feed.

  “People are animals,” she said, closing the laptop.

  “I want you and the kids to go stay with your parents in Kennewick.”

  “We’re not leaving you, Ty,” Angie said.

  Garrett stood. “This isn’t up for discussion. Call your folks. Tell them you’re coming down now. Tonight.”

  Angie said, “I am not leaving this minute. The kids are sleeping.”

  “This situation is spiraling out of control.”

  “I understand the situation better than anyone. I’m here with you.”

  “I’m already stressed out, Ang. Don’t add to it, please. Just do what I ask.”

  She studied him and realized the most loving thing she could do was take the kids and go somewhere safe.

  “I’ll leave first thing in the morning, okay?”

  “Fine.”

  Garrett stormed into the bedroom. There would be no changing his mind now. She would call her parents and then make the two-hour drive to Kennewick in the morning.

  She stood alone in her living room, realizing that Garrett’s emotional wall would continue to be up. Maybe going to her parent’s house would be best for her, too.

  Chapter 16