Commander

by Mel Todd

  A torrent of information flooded into her nose, a few she recognized, some she didn't, but either way she moved towards what she could tell was a strong scent, new in the last few hours.

  "Here, someone rubbed pot on this pole." She pointed at it with a dismissive wave of her hand and kept walking. Her nose led her to the pot, and she tapped with it her booted toe. "Drugs under this, I don’t know the type, but the sharpness tells me drugs."

  Waris stooped and lifting up the plant pulled up a bag full of blue crystals. "Ecstasy. Keep going." She did, hitting on more pot, cocaine, two guns, ammo, and meth. Three were false positives with just oil or the essence rubbed on something which she could identify every time. In her head it was like have a gauzy veil over the background of real smells and she just dismissed it. Things that were actually there were solid, and she couldn’t smell anything behind them. By the end she had a headache from trying to focus on the scents so much and just wanted to inhale something safe, like her coffee.

  "Okay, last test, Officer Largo." He waved, and the three judges walked over. "Tell me if you scent anything on them."

  She shot him a look, but figured it was part of the test and walked over to them, inhaling as she got closer. Heavy perfume hit her in the face and she couldn’t help but wrinkled her nose. She heard a soft chuckle but kept her eyes closed, sifting through the smells.

  "You want me to say everything?" She asked carefully, knowing there was a minefield here.

  "Everything. They were warned and still agreed."

  Fuck me. This has got to be a set up. I swear if I lose my job over this, reporters are going to get an exclusive.

  "Are you sure? What I say might impact their standing."

  A male judge grinned at her. "Trust me, all my sins are already known, so feel free to air that laundry." His grin held no worry or anger.

  McKenna shot one more look at Waris who just nodded and sighed.

  "You asked for this. You, sir," she nodded at the man, "have approximately a dime bag of good pot in your left suit pocket and you had Irish Whiskey in his coffee, Maker’s Mark."

  The man blinked and laughed digging out the pot. "You are correct I did. I’m technically on vacation and my wife drove." He held out the pot and Waris took it with a half-smile.

  "Judge Fraiser has crack in her inner jacket wrapped in a perfumed handkerchief. While this lady," McKenna nodded at the tiny oriental woman who had the most serene smile she ever heard, "is dying."

  The laughter stopped and Fraiser’s head snapped around to look at the woman. "Pearl? Is that true?"

  The woman, Pearl, nodded her head at McKenna. "You are correct. I have late stage AIDS, and they are giving me three months to live. This was going to be my final act as a judge. I handed in my retirement paperwork yesterday. But I wanted to do this. To see something." She turned calm dark eyes to McKenna. "They have realized some dogs can smell cancer and diabetes. I’m hoping they run a few more tests and see if those shifters who are doctors can also identify some diseases we don’t have tests for yet. Maybe before tests could determine that the person had contracted the disease. Thank you for this verification of my suspicions."

  Fraiser handed over the crack pipe and a small bag of crack even as she stared at Pearl face ashen.

  "Why didn’t you say something?"

  "And what would that have done? I contracted HIV a long time ago and didn’t know for even longer. Having a husband who spread his affections around while you are in law school is not recommended. Detective Largo, thank you again." She turned and walked off the field, Fraiser’s hands clenching, but she turned and looked at McKenna, then at the black judge.

  "I give my approval. This exhibition left no questions in my mind. Heck, she smelled through a piece of fabric I soaked in Windsong and Patchouli. I could barely stand to have it in my pocket, but she smelled through it. I’ll accept anything she finds with higher priority than I give the drug dogs. No offense meant, Detective Largo, but I don’t know how else to phrase that."

  "Seconded," rumbled the man. "I will be following your career with interest officer." With that they left, Frasier almost running to catch up with Pearl.

  "That mean I’m not about to be fired?"

  "Nah. Everyone knows that Michael Johnson is a functional alcoholic, and he doesn’t bother to deny it. He has a driver and is never drunk, just drinking. His worst crime is being a bit too lenient on alcoholics."

  He looked over at the stands and people talking with excited hand movements and smiles. "I think you are a hit, Largo. You said you can teach Davidson?"

  "I assume so, sir. We just need the drugs to smell," McKenna answered even as she saw JD heading their direction.

  "Sounds good. I’ll arrange it. Good job." He gave her a brisk nodded and headed over to the watchers, his body relaxed and almost bouncing as he headed over.

  "Way to go, Kenna." He handed her the mug containing her coffee.

  "Oh, thank you. I needed that. The patchouli mix sucked." She inhaled deeply over the coffee sighing in relief as it flushed out her senses.

  "Ready to be the star narc officer?"

  "No. But I’m ready to train that nose of yours." She said with a grin, even as he groaned.

  Chapter 21 - Accusations

  NASCAR announces their intent to create a pit crew of 100% cheetah shifters trainees for the next racing season. The NFL is calling it a cheap and exploitive marketing gimmick, however rumors from the Bengals, Lions, Panthers, and Bears are that they are seeking shifters that match their mascots for on and off the field advertising. The Timberwolves are trying to create an all wolf cheer team. If nothing else sports in the next year is going to be very hairy. ~ TNN Sportscaster Doug B.

  "We should get going, figure out our desks and then how to get a hold of drugs to learn the smells of all the various types." Her voice distant as she looked at the training area. It had been easy, almost too easy, and part of her wondered if she still counted as human with all the changes being made.

  A mental snort made her snicker, and she decided to get to work and quit wasting time. With a sigh she turned and stopped as she saw Raul storming towards them, his face a thundercloud. Owen Waris stood a few feet away talking to the witness, and the videographer still panned around recording.

  "Largo, I want to talk to you!" He all but screamed it from a few feet away even as he kept moving.

  Frowning McKenna looked at him, not sure what his issue would be.

  "Yes? What is going on?"

  "You fucking bitch, I know you planted that stuff on Piers. You’re probably using."

  "Wait, what?"

  "You know damn well what I’m talking about. You wanted a job in Narcotics, so you framed him to get the job. How did you get rid of Hector? Try to convince people he used also? Well it isn’t going to work. I’m going to get rid of you bitch."

  McKenna just looked at him, his face red and hands clenched so tightly she thought his knuckles might pop through the skin.

  "Raul, I think you -"

  He cut her off taking another step forward, so he stood only two inches from her, spittle flying as he raged. "Don’t fucking call me Raul. We aren’t friends and I’ll never be friends with a back-stabbing bitch like you. You had to be using, probably offered to trade the kids up for your drugs. Come on, there on the bus, they waited for you. Then you offered yourself up to them, just like any other two-bit whore. Women are all the same, using your pussy to get what you want. Training the kids to go find drugs was just part of the game. You knew they wanted them to train them as bodyguards. That’s why you helped."

  She felt the blood drain from her face, even the cat in her seemed stunned as she looked at him. To her side she heard JD growl, a deep low sound that rattled in her bones and part of her wondered if he’d started to change. But she didn’t take her eyes off Raul, trying to figure out what to say.

  "See, you can’t even respond. You know I’ve got your number. Bitch, I’ll prove you arranged all of t
his. Got poor little Kala killed. What? Couldn’t handle the competition? Why else would you be fucking your captors unless you were in on it? I’m going to prove you for the lying whore you are."

  He closed the remaining inches, and that woke up everything in her, she took a step back angling her body and bracing herself.

  "Hernandez, I don’t know what your issue is. But you’d better think before you say anymore."

  "You don’t scare me, bitch. I’ve removed people like you before, and I’ll get rid of you two. Hope you enjoy your time as a mommy, it’s going to be over soon." With that taunt he turned and stormed away, leaving McKenna standing there, chest heaving, blood pounding in her head.

  Everything in her wanted to change to go after him to demand answers as to what he meant. She shook standing there, trying to not give into the rage, the need to protect Charley.

  "What the hell was that?" Waris’s voice pulled her out of the internal battle between killing him and going to find Charley and make sure he was fine.

  She looked at him and caught a look at JD’s face. It held rage like she’d never seen, and through the link she felt how close he was to slipping into warrior form. That knowledge helped pull her back from her internal struggle.

  "How much did you hear?" Even to her own ear, her voice sounded harsh, uneven.

  The man paused looking at them. "Enough, but more interestingly they were still recording video, so I should have the majority of the conversation on tape."

  She laid a hand on JD’s arm. He closed his eyes and she could feel him pull the rage back under control.

  ~You okay? Anger isn’t normally your style.~

  ~Yeah, talk later.~

  Even his mental voice sounded strange, but she let it go and focused on Waris looking at her. That helped her mind kick in and she frowned.

  "Sir, do you know how much of the video tape has been released, or even discussed?"

  The man shrugged. "No. I mean I heard it was pretty horrific, so they shut down all access to it outside of the legal process. Which means I’m sure rumors have gotten out, but I haven’t heard any details."

  McKenna turned to look after the figure of Raul going into one of the buildings. "Then how would he know details about it? And no one has ever said anything to me, but how did they know we would be there at the zoo? I didn’t think our exact schedule had been publicized. How did they know to be waiting for us? I mean I know the rape tape part got leaked, which I am not happy about."

  In the weeks that followed she had not spent any time thinking about the act itself, only about focusing on the children, making sure they were okay. Now she did think about it.

  "Wait, what? Rape?"

  "They raped me both to try to break me and if I didn’t comply, they would rape the kids." She shrugged. "I don’t want to dwell on it, I took my blood price out of them." Her smile showed all her teeth. "But I had a reporter saying that he had seen it and thought I should know parts of it had gotten out."

  Waris looked at her with wide eyes. "How in the world did a reporter get a hold of it?"

  "He said someone had slipped it to him. JD? Were there reporters at the scene when they found me?"

  "Sure," his voice still had the echoes of a growl in it. "I thought they figured out something was going down, followed us, and waited. I don’t remember if anyone actually talked to them or what they got. Most of my attention focused on finding you." By the time he finished talking he’d lost the growl and a thoughtful look grew on his face. "And the after-action report following the shooting of Kala came up inconclusive. The driver had been drugged unconscious, and they found him at the zoo behind a dumpster."

  Waris looked at them, then glanced at the door where Raul had entered. "Are you implying one of your fellow officers might have been involved in the abduction of you and the children, Largo?"

  McKenna bit her lip then shook her head. "Implying no. But I am concerned that not only did he know about the rape, but also the drugs and training of the kids. But rumors fly fast and there is nothing he said that he couldn’t have heard. Everything he said could have been gleaned from watching the tapes, I assume. Though I am concerned anyone thinks I had anything to do with planting the drugs, or Hector leaving so we could get these positions. That will make our time here very unpleasant."

  Waris nodded. "Point. I’ll take care of that aspect. People should be arriving soon enough. Let me go talk to some people and I’ll be back in our squad room in twenty. You’ll find your name plates on your desks. Go settle in." With that comment he turned and waved at other people who had witnessed the scene. McKenna saw Kirk hiding in the back and didn’t know whether to smile or roll her eyes.

  Her mood dimmed, she hitched a shoulder at JD and moved back towards the buildings. Her coffee now cold.

  "Would you think it insane of me to call and check on Charley?" She asked, her voice low.

  "Insane? No. Counterproductive probable. He knows how to get a hold of us, and I’m pretty sure that qualified as an empty threat."

  "But not positive."

  "No. Talk to him tonight. Let’s find our desks, I don’t doubt that Waris will be right behind us."

  She nodded and they headed in, but she kept an eye open just in case Raul waited for them. The way to the office remained clear, and they entered the empty space. The desks were scattered in two rough rows, pairs of desks facing each other. In the back corner, the least popular space she assumed, sat two empty desks except for name plates and computer equipment.

  Pulling out the desk chair she sat down, and opened the drawers, most of them empty, which implied she could fill them. A computer sat on one side with a keyboard and monitor. Pulling it up, she logged into the system and then had no idea what to do.

  "I know nothing about this job." She admitted in a half whisper. Even so it seemed to echo in the empty room.

  JD gave her a look. "You managed to handle everything that has come at your lately. I’m pretty sure you’ll handle this. But I do need to get a notebook and some pens. I’ll feel naked without it."

  "Without that? I’m still trying to get use to not carrying twenty pounds around my waist." The banter helped lift her spirit, and she turned her attention to the inside of the squad room. Images of people with warrants out for them were on one wall as well as stats. Getting up she moved closer, then lost a bit of the good humor. It had the month to date, and year to date, death tolls due to drug use and drug crime statistics broken out by age range and gender. The numbers for children twelve to sixteen made her nauseous.

  I guess I get to use my ability to see if maybe I can make that number lower. Do my job to the best of my ability. I doubt they’ll just throw us out there. I need to focus, learn what I can and do the best damn job I can. But most importantly, make sure I come home to Charley.

  The thought made her smile, and she turned with a new focus as the door pushed open and a few men came in, looking up at her and nodding, their faces wary. She’d noted she would be the only women working in the squad. It remained to be seen if that would be an asset or not.

  Everyone busied themselves working at their desks, the awkward silence hanging in the room. Waris entered the room and stopped, dragging every eye to him just by his presence.

  "Listen up. I’d like to clear the air here and put some forth some information that you don’t know. One, detectives Largo and Davidson accepted and received these jobs before they came back to work. As Largo was on leave and Davidson on personal time. The issue with Olson had nothing to do with them. Second, IA has received confirmation that Olson was skimming from busts and dealing on the side. IA is dealing with that but no one else is under suspicion. As for Hector," Waris sighed. "This information will be coming out soon enough, and Hector specifically didn’t want anyone to know until he was gone, but he has prostate cancer." No one had made a sound when he talked about Olson but a sharp intake of breath went through the room when he talked about Hector’s cancer.

  "He is entering
treatment this week and has promised to keep me informed as to his status. Now that being said, I’d like to welcome McKenna Largo and JD Davidson to the team. They are both shifters and we just finished proving some interesting abilities to an impartial panel of judges. We will try to not abuse their abilities, but I expect to make use of them."

  He nodded at everyone and headed for his office, calling over his shoulder as he went, "Debrief in ten. Laredo and Guinness, you’re teaming up with the newbies for a while."

  That seemed to break the eyes and a lean, tall man with a cowboy hat, brown hair, chewing on a piece of gum headed over followed by a man who all but screamed Irish with pale skin, freckles, red hair and mustache, and green eyes.

  "Welcome to Narc. I’m Lorne Laredo," the cowboy said holding out his hand to shake. "What did he mean by special abilities?"

  The red headed smiled at them. "Name’s Sean McGuinness, but everyone just calls me Guinness. It just might be my beer of choice." Everyone shook hands and McKenna shrugged.

  "Turns out I can smell drugs as good as, or better than, a trained canine unit. Advantage to being able to decipher the scents. I’ll be teaching JD as we go along. Right now the biggest problem is I don’t know all the drug scents."

  Laredo and Guinness looked at each other, then back at them with slow wide smiles crossing their faces.

  "Well then, I’d say first thing on our schedule will be heading down to the evidence locker for you two to lay your noses on everything." Laredo said a soft drawl coming out as the smile gleamed.

  "If you prove as good as my fantasies are hoping, these dealers won’t know what hit them."

  McKenna grinned back, her predator smile slipping out. "That is my hope too, cause I’m pretty damn sure they helped fund my little adventure. I wouldn’t mind a chance at some payback."

  Chapter 22 - Side Effects

  SETI has always scanned the skies for proof of alien life. While random transmissions have been recorded, they’ve never been repeated consistently enough for us to prove they aren’t just random space noise. A new snippet of repeating patterns has been captured from roughly the direction of Uranus. Not much, only about forty-seconds but they’ve announced a prize for anyone who can come up with a translation of the signal. It is probably just space junk or old signals we sent out being reflected back to us. But who knows, maybe we aren’t the only life out there. ~ TNN Science Adviser.