The Fragile Edge by Suzanne Chazin

Author:Suzanne Chazin [Chazin, Suzanne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2021-05-21T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 26

Under the best of circumstances, County Police Captain Greg Lorenzo was not a jolly person. He was a gaunt, grim-faced man who only seemed happy when he was making other cops miserable. He was so obsessed with keeping overtime pay in the Special Investigations Unit to a minimum that he once made an officer come back early from his honeymoon rather than pay another officer overtime to cover for him.

It wasn’t surprising that Vega and Lorenzo wouldn’t like each other. What was surprising is that it had taken eighteen years for their paths to finally collide. First in December, after the Ponce shooting. And then again in January, when a Lake Holly police officer shot and killed a felon wanted on suspicion of murder and Vega made the mistake of being present without departmental approval.

In police work, there was no higher crime than failing to go through the chain of command.

“Captain Lorenzo,” Bernard Carver addressed him on the stand. “You are head of the county police’s Internal Affairs unit, is that correct?”

“It’s called the Special Investigations Unit,” Lorenzo corrected. He was always a stickler for details. Everything about him radiated a by-the-book demeanor, from his starched dress uniform, replete with medals, to his clean-shaven face with a slash of lips that barely moved. Carver could have subpoenaed Chief Lakeworth, who always looked as dazed and distracted as a golden retriever when the cameras weren’t rolling. Or Captain Waring, who, as an ex-military officer, would have felt some duty not to throw one of his subordinates under the bus. Lorenzo felt none of this. His duty was to the department, sure. But he earned his pay by depriving cops of theirs. Vega would just be another notch on his belt.

“Your primary purpose, as I understand it,” Carver continued, “is to police the police.”

“Affirmative.”

“You were part of the three-man board that oversaw Detective Vega’s disciplinary hearing in January.”

“That’s correct.”

“What was the purpose of the hearing?”

“To determine whether Detective Vega had violated departmental protocol.”

“You make it sound, Captain Lorenzo, like Detective Vega forgot to shine his shoes.” Carver smiled at the jury, who chuckled appreciatively. They were dressed for the weekend. Shorts and T-shirts. Big tote bags. It was a summer Friday and they were all in a good mood. They weren’t thinking about Vega’s torched career or Lucinda Ponce’s supposed dead husband or how much money Carver stood to make. They were itching to get an early start on the weekend.

So much for Isadora Jenkins’s theory that a two-day continuance could disrupt Carver’s rhythm with the jury.

“The stated infraction,” said Lorenzo stiffly, “was failure to obtain departmental approval for inter-agency police engagement.” Lorenzo didn’t like the jury laughing. He probably thought they were laughing at him. He had no sense of humor and was suspicious of those who did.

“In other words,” said Carver, “Detective Vega decided, without permission, to involve himself in another department’s police surrender that resulted in the death of a suspect—”

“Objection!” said Isadora Jenkins. “Your Honor”—she turned to

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