Part 7 (2/2)

Scott walked up to Angelo's desk. ”Good morning, Angelo.”

”Good morning, Captain.”

”Well. where to start? I may have to put you on a uniformed patrol today. The dispatch office was crippled when the computers went down, so they're putting everyone they can out on the street.” Scott said.

Angelo sighed and nodded. He'd spent more time in uniform in Vista City than he had since his days at the Academy. but that was part of the job. They were pick up officers and they had to try to be able to do any job that came up. Sometimes pulling extra patrols was the duty of the day.

”First, though, let's talk about your little adventure in L.A.” Scott said. His wry tone let Angelo know that there had been some problems.

”Uh...” Angelo said. ”My friend's death seemed to have some loose ends. I started pulling and...”

”First we got a call from Ira Johnson, an attorney. He called to check your credentials and than complained of possible unlawful activity and warned us that a lawsuit might follow. That made Moody happy.” Scott said.

”I've met him.” Angelo said. ”He'd like to sue us into the ground.”

”Well, I don't want to soak the department for three or four hundred thousand dollars, so let's see if we can avoid the whole lawsuit thing.” Scott said good naturedly.

”Are you telling me to abandon my investigation?” Angelo asked. He'd never heard that from Scott, but he was expecting it at any time. Detectives pursued cases, captains killed them, that was the way it worked.

”I'm not quite finished, yet. Later, I got a series of calls from Captain Brown of the LAPD.” Scott said. His eyes were bright. ”He was highly offended at your presence. He seemed to think that we had plenty to do here giving cows tickets and chasing rustlers.”

”I was off duty, Captain. I was operating on my own recognizance.” Angelo said.

”Yes, that's why you used your badge to get into the morgue and into the squad room down there.” Scott said.

Angelo sighed. He was caught there.

”Well, I really can't say that I haven't done the same thing from time to time, but now I have an appreciation for the consequences of that. That put our name and our reputation behind you, even though we might not have approved of it, Angelo. You committed us in LAPD turf. Believe me, the LAPD is touchy about turf. Now we have no choice but to either cut you loose, or to take the plunge with you. Remember that the next time you flash that badge.” Scott said.

”I'm sorry. I guess I'll let it go.” Angelo said. It was new perspective for him, too. There were people who worked at the SIS who simply wouldn't be cops anywhere else. Rebecca Stevens had an artificial arm. She wouldn't be accepted anywhere. Sonja Traveler wandered in out of the blue. A lot of her background was hard or impossible to check. Angelo knew this because he tried to check it. Somehow they'd let her stay in SIS, before she decided to move on. Angelo and Marcus should not have stayed cops after the disaster at the Russian Consulate, but thanks to the VCPD, they did.

”Now, I didn't say that.” Scott said. ”Tell me what you found.”

Angelo looked at Scott sharply ”I don't understand. Weren't you just saying that I had to be careful with where I took this?”

”True, but on the other side of that there's finding out the truth. What else are we in business for?” Scott said. ”I didn't say we weren't going to support you, I was just asking you to try and make certain what you were doing, first. Now, tell me what you found.”

Angelo reported what he found to Scott. It took a little bit.

”Hmmm...There's a lot of computer stuff in there.” Scott said.

”I don't know that much about it, but it seems as though the computer industry is a large component of the situation.” Angelo said.

”Well then, we'll call in our computer expert.” Scott said.

Uhura Young looked at the dead screen of Angelo's computer thoughtfully. ”Shane Chee was the big thing when he graduated. I'd wondered what was happening with him.”

”How might this relate to Randi Aiken-Marlowe's murder?” Alejandro Moody asked. He was the a.s.sistant Chief of Police and responsible for the day-to-day operations of the VCPD.

<script>