Protective Behavior by Cari Z. & L.A. Witt

Author:Cari Z. & L.A. Witt
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-64230-006-2
Publisher: GallagherWitt

Chapter 13

Mark

In an ideal world, investigations like mine would both wrap up quickly and take as much time as they needed. No one wanted things to drag on, but things couldn’t be rushed either. I had to be thorough. It was the only way to be absolutely sure I wasn’t destroying an innocent cop (the worst thing in the minds of most cops) or releasing a guilty one back out onto the streets (the worst thing in my mind). Unfortunately, it also meant a lot of brass getting pissed off about sidelining supposedly good cops, bean counters getting pissed off about paying those sidelined cops, and my boss getting pissed off about hearing from captains and the commissioner about me dragging my feet and “abusing my power.” As a result, there was always pressure to wrap things up as quickly as possible.

Years in the Internal Affairs Bureau had given me an immunity of sorts to all the screaming and yelling about that shit, so it generally didn’t bother me. Even Erin was getting adept at fielding their calls, and she’d quickly learned that if they shouted, they weren’t actually angry at her. In fact, she’d just leave them on hold a little while longer for spite. Professional? Maybe not. But neither was verbally abusing my assistant because I wasn’t available to take their call on a moment’s notice.

With this investigation, it wasn’t only higher ups and accountants losing their shit. I had witnesses being harassed and stalked, and it was escalating. Ryan’s friend was leaving the country to escape it. Officer Russel was harassing Ryan at his place of work, for God’s sake. And this morning, not long after I’d gotten off the phone with Ryan, two separate detectives had contacted me to let me know their CIs had caught wind of some gang bangers looking for JJ. Ironic, considering Russel and DeMarco had tried to frame Martin as a gang banger—now it seemed they had a few of them hunting down the key witness in my investigation. And of course Lieutenant Bridges had given me an earful about the optics of a case like this, and how if I didn’t want the two of us standing in the unemployment line, I’d maybe get this thing done fast and clean.

Translation: Unless you have a literal smoking gun and a bulletproof case, drop it before your vigilante bullshit gets us both fired.

IA investigations were always under pressure to be fast, but like few others, this one didn’t have time to drag on.

So, as Detective Morris was on her way to pick up JJ and move him into witness protection, I pounded out my report on the shooting of Martin Fredericks. It was perhaps more concise than my reports usually were, but it was to the point:

“Officers DeMarco and Russel aggressively escalated a routine traffic stop with Martin Fredericks and Jonathan “JJ” Howard. Officer Russel brandished his firearm without cause. Officer Russel threatened Howard with said firearm, also without cause, in what appears to be an attempt to provoke Howard and Fredericks.

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