I hesitated for a moment. “Look, I really don’t know. He handled himself well under fire. Kept focus on mission priorities. He risked his life to save Team members. In my book, he’s a hero. But not everybody reintegrates well into the world.”
“That’s a political answer.”
“No, it’s not. It’s an assessment based on a guy I knew for a minute a long time ago.”
“If you talk to him, tell him to call me back.”
I laughed. “I’m not going to give him bad advice.”
Paris gasped and feigned offense. “Talking to me is not bad advice.”
“If he wants to stay out of jail, he won’t talk to anyone.”
She sighed. “You’re no fun.”
With a smile in my voice, I said, “I think you know better.”
“Well, maybe you need to remind me.”
Paris and I had shared some fun in the past.
“Listen, I gotta run. I’m in the middle of something.”
“I’m sure you are. Think about it,” she said. “We’ll talk later.”
I ended the call and continued following Howell for the rest of the evening.
The second night, things got dark. He pulled over a girl, initiated a field sobriety exam, and when she failed, he stuffed her into the back of his patrol car.
I followed him as he pulled away from the scene. I kept my distance. Officer Howell took a few turns, but didn't head back to the station. Instead, he pulled into an empty parking lot and pulled into a space.
I knew what was going to happen. He was going to give the girl an option of getting out of the arrest in exchange for certain favors.
This was the exact scenario that Zoe had described. There was no telling how many women Howell had done this to over the course of his tenure.
I contemplated my next move. I hadn’t followed him into the parking garage. I stayed on the street, not wanting to be too obvious about it. I pulled off my helmet and gloves and climbed off the bike. That was about the time that two patrol cars screeched up to me, boxing me in, lights flashing.
Officers hopped out with their weapons drawn. Twitchy barrels staring me down.
"On the ground, scumbag!”
Surrounded by four eager officers, it was in my best interest to comply.
"I'm a cop!"
"I don't give a shit who you are! Get on the ground, now! Put your hands behind your head and interlock your fingers."
I complied and ate the pavement.
The cops pounced and slapped handcuffs around my wrists. They wrenched my arms behind my back and weren’t too gentle about it.
"My badge is in my pocket," I said.
One of the dipshits pulled it out. He studied the shiny gold thing, then said, "What the hell are you doing?”
"Just cruising around, having a good time."
"You having a good time following around one of our officers?”
