She took a deep breath. “I got hired to shoot pre-production location stills for a movie. I have an NDA, so I can’t name thedirector. Anyway, he wanted me to photograph streets, stores, back alleys, etc. Pre-visualization for where the movie was going to take place. I think they used some of the stills to build sets. I was taking pictures in a parking garage at night because you have to have a parking garage chase scene, right? That’s when I saw Officer Howell murder a woman in his squad car. I know it sounds crazy. But I saw him strangle her. I took pictures. He saw me. As you can imagine, he wasn’t pleased. I got the hell out of there. He chased me. I managed to get back to my car and get out of the garage, but I got boxed in and pulled over by his buddies a few blocks later. They searched the car, took my camera, and miraculously found an eight-ball of coke in my car. I was arrested and thrown in jail. Nobody would listen to my story. I sounded like a crazy person. After I got out, I reported it to IA, but nothing happened. Except the harassment and intimidation got worse. A few weeks later, I had theaccident.”
“I’m sorry you went through that.”
“Yeah, me too,” she said in a deflated voice. “Onward and upward, right? At least Sean Pearson is behind bars.”
“I’m going to look into this,” I said.
“What difference does it make now?”
“Because Howell has a history of misconduct. Nothing ever happens to him. This wasn’t an isolated incident. He’s going to keep getting away with it if something doesn’t change.”
“What are you going to do?”
48
Pineapple Bay was notoriously corrupt. The PBPD had a bad reputation for this kind of thing. Officer Howell wouldn't be the first to abuse his authority, and I'm sure he wouldn’t be the last.
Pineapple Bay was in Coconut County, so I had jurisdiction. But this wasn't my area. I didn't have the authority to investigate misconduct. But criminal conduct was another story. Extortion, bribery, assault, murder, civil rights violations, corruption—that was in my wheelhouse.
Ginger and Cinnamon forced Jack to take a little R&R. It didn't take too much persuasion. They made a compelling argument and talked him into sailing to Bimini with them on Ginger's boat. She had a nice 42-foot WindDancer. Jack wouldn’t be much good as a deckhand in his current condition, but the ladies assured him they could manage. He seemed up to the challenge. The weekend at sea with the two beauties didn't sound like a bad adventure.
Denise got discharged from the hospital. I picked her up, took her back to her apartment, and helped her get situated. With a cracked rib, every breath hurt, but she’d make a full recovery.
I ran some errands for her, picked up some groceries from the store, and got her all set up while she recovered for a few days.
She reclined on the couch, watching TV while I stocked the pantry in the refrigerator.
"I gotta say, I could get used to this. I like being pampered. Maybe I should get shot more often."
"Don't you dare,” I warned. “You get shot again, I'll kill you."
She laughed, then immediately regretted the decision. Her face twisted with pain. "Don’t do that. You can't make me laugh.”
"Is there anything else you need?"
"Nope. I think I'm all good.” Then she added another request. “You can hang out and keep me entertained if you like,” she said with a hopeful smile.
"I think I could be persuaded to watch a movie with you. As long as you promise to behave.”
"Me? I'm a model citizen.”
I scoffed. "You’re trouble."
"No. You’re trouble. You got me into this mess.”
I gave her an incredulous look. "Me? You were the one who wanted to get into the field. I was just looking out for your best interest.”
She gave me a skeptical look. "Best interest, huh?”
"You still thinking about applying to the FBI?"
"I don't know. I'm not really thinking about anything right now other than what we’re going to watch. But I think for the moment I'm inclined to stay where I am.”
I smiled.
"Besides, and I'll deny this if you ever tell anyone, but I might miss you guys.”
Denise picked a rom-com, then proceeded to fall asleep about 30 minutes into the movie. She was still dosed up on pain meds.
