Got Your Six

Chapter 31

Captain Bennett

"Yes?" I say into my office phone after a single ring.
"Someone's here to see you. It seems urgent," Anna tells me nervously.
"I'll be right there," I say and then set the phone down, making my way out of my office.
Who could be out there asking to talk to me? Or apparently, needing to talk to me, urgently. It's a Friday afternoon and my shift is over in just a few hours. I was looking forward to going home. All I can hope for is that whatever this is about, it doesn't ruin my plans for the night.
"Mrs. Jenkins," I say shockingly after entering the lobby.
"Can we talk privately somewhere?" She asks me, her voice sounding rushed.
"Uhh, sure. Come with me," I say, leading her back to my office.
I'm trying to think of what this might be about as we walk through the bullpen. It has to be about Calvin. Why else would she be here? Whatever he's gotten himself into now, I'm not thrilled to hear about it.
I gesture for Kayla to take a seat as I close the door behind us. "So, what is this about?" I ask her. "My receptionist made it sound pretty urgent." I lean against my desk, not wanting to sit down. Something tells me that if I sit down, I'll just have to get right back up after she tells me whatever's on her mind.
"I overheard Calvin on the phone just before I came here," Kayla begins and I can already tell this isn't going anywhere good.
"Talking to who, Gavin?" I ask, somewhat impatiently.
"No, he was talking to his sister," She says, correcting my misjudgment.
"Oh, okay, about what?" I ask, not understanding what this has to do with anything.
"They've got some plan to track down Gavin tonight. Apparently there's some party that his sister is going to and Gavin is supposed to be there and Calvin says she's going to send him the location when she gets there," Kayla says, her words spilling out so fast it makes it hard to keep up. "I'm afraid he's going to do something to get himself hurt."
"Okay, please try to stay calm," I tell her, giving her a moment to catch her breath. "You did the right thing bringing this information to me. Does Calvin know you're here?"
"No, I left without telling him. He'd lose his shit if he knew I came to talk to you," Kayla says and then seems to realize something. "Oh, please don't fire him for this. I just want to make sure he's okay. He's just going through a lot right now."
"I know he is. We're just going to make sure everything is okay first and then go from there," I assure her.
I've already warned Calvin that he would lose his job if he couldn't leave this alone. I'm not lying to Kayla though, I am going to do my best to make sure everyone makes it through this unharmed. After that, I can't promise Calvin will still have a job to come back to. It seems he's just taken this a bit too far.
"Can you tell me his sister's name?" I ask her. Without a simple name, there's not much to go off of.
"Yeah, it's Christina Jenkins," Kayla informs me as I write the name down on a post-it note.
"Okay, and do you know where she lives?" I ask, getting ready to keep writing.
"No, we've never been over to see her. They usually don't talk to each other," she tells me.
"They don't talk to each other and now they're working together to take down a criminal?" I ask questionably.
This whole situation is very confusing to me but I'm doing my best to keep up with her. Maybe it would've been easier to keep tabs on Calvin if I kept him at work. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option. He was using his badge and authority for personal gain, and that type of thing doesn't fly under my command.
"I don't know what to say," she says, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know what's gotten into him."
"Okay, no worries. We can look up her name and find her. In the meantime, do you feel comfortable going back home?" I ask, fully willing to let her stay here until this is over.
"Yeah, I'll be okay," Kayla tells me.
"Okay, you don't think Calvin would do anything to hurt you, do you?" I ask her, not completely sure what state of mind Calvin is in right now. The way it seems is that he's willing to knock down anyone who gets in his way of getting to Gavin.
"No, he wouldn't do anything like that," she assures me.
"Okay, then you go on home and let us take care of this. Just try to keep Calvin from leaving the house if you can," I tell her. The less people that end up at this supposed party, the better. Less chance for someone to get caught in the crossfire if things get ugly.
"I'll do my best," Kayla says, getting up from her chair.
"Thanks again for bringing this to my attention," I say as she's stepping through the doorway.
Kayla turns and gives me a weak smile and I can see the worry in her eyes. I hope for her sake that I'm able to put a stop to whatever's coming. As soon as the door closes behind her, I whip around my desk and sit down in front of my computer. My fingers waste no time punching Christina's name into the system. I scribble down her address on the same post-it note I had put her name on and jump up from my desk.
Before I step out of my office, I glance over to the wall clock. It's going on five o'clock. I don't know where the party is, but if it's anywhere in town, Christina should still be at home. I don't know anyone who goes out partying at five in the afternoon.
"Princeton," I say, calling out to the first officer I spot after exiting my office.
"Yes, sir," he says, swiveling around in his chair to face me.
"If there are any reports of a party that come in tonight, I want to know about it right away," I tell him.
"Yes, sir," he repeats.
I spot Gonzales coming out of the locker room and intercept him on his way back to his desk. This is technically part of his case so I want him there to back me up.
"Let's go," I tell him.
Gonzales spins around without a second thought and begins following me to the parking lot. "Where're we going this time?" He asks intriguingly.
"I'll explain in the car," I say. I don't want any other officers overhearing us and trying to insert themselves into the case. I know how bored everyone gets when they have to sit at the station and do case work.
"Another unmarked ride, huh?" Gonzales says when he sees what vehicle I've chosen.
"Yeah, come on, get in," I say, trying to rush him along. I don't know how much time we've got to waste so I'd rather not waste any at all.
For once, I slip into the driver's seat while Gonzales occupies the passenger seat. It's just easier if I drive this time because Gonzales doesn't know where we're going yet.
"Oh, you're even driving," Gonzales says jokingly as soon as he closes his door.
"Yeah," I say, ignoring his attempt at a joke. I pull out of the parking lot and flip on the lights and sirens. I'm not exactly sure how much time we have so I want to make sure we get there quick.
"Lights and sirens?" Gonzales says, clicking his seatbelt. "What's going on?"
"Just listen," I tell him as I slow down for a stop sign just to speed back up. "So, apparently Jenkins has been working on this case at home and he's trying to track down Gavin on his own."
"Seriously?" He says shockingly.
"Yes," I say, slightly annoyed at the small interruption. "He's working with his sister who's supposedly going to some party tonight that Gavin is supposed to be at."
"So, we're going to find Jenkins or we're going to find Gavin?" Gonzales asks, trying to get on the same page as me.
"We're going to find Jenkins' sister," I correct him. "And hopefully she'll lead us to Gavin without even knowing we're tagging along."
"Oh, okay," Gonzales says with a grin while rubbing his hands together. I can tell he's excited at the possibility of getting into some action tonight.
I kill the lights and sirens about a block and a half from Christina's house and pull into the alley. There's still a vehicle parked behind the house which I decide to take as a good sign. I wish I would've looked into her file some more but I didn't want to risk getting here too late.
"I want you to call up dispatch and give them the license plate on that van. See if it's registered to Christina and then see what else they can tell us about her," I order Gonzales.
I keep my eyes peeled on the house while he pulls out his phone. All of the curtains are closed which makes it nearly impossible to see if there's any movement inside the house.
"Hey, this is officer Gonzales. I need you to run a plate for me," Gonzales says into his phone. "It's 5-1-5, Delta—Kilo—November."
I tune Gonzales out for the remainder of his phone call, which isn't that hard considering dispatch puts him on hold for most of it while they research the information.
"What'd you find out?" I ask him as soon as the phone lowers from his ear.
"That van is not registered to Christina Jenkins," Gonzales tells me, gesturing towards the van parked behind her house.
"Well, who is it registered to?" I ask impatiently.
"They said it's registered to someone named Martha Kindley. It is a handicap plate after all. Although, I don't know if Jenkins' sister is handicapped or not," Gonzales points out.
I take another look at the license plate attached to the van and sure enough, there's a handicap symbol on the end of the license plate. "Shit. What else could they tell you about Christina?" I ask him. I'm beginning to have a bad feeling that we didn't get here in time.
"She's got a few minor drug charges, a DUI, and a suspended license," Gonzales says nonchalantly.
"Let's go," I say, opening my door and hopping out of the car.
"What is it?" Gonzales asks cluelessly.
"If that van isn't registered to Christina and she has a suspended license, there's a chance she may already be gone," I point out to him. "We've gotta find out for sure."
I lead the way around the house to the front door, attempting to peek through the windows but getting denied by the curtains. Resisting my typical 'police knock', I do my best to knock in a more normal way. Gonzales is standing off to the side, watching around the house to ensure no one tries to run out the back door. There's no noise coming from inside the house, even after a second knock. Finally, I resort to my police knock and pound on the door as hard as I can. There's a little voice in my head that's telling me to knock down the door but I know that would only land me in trouble. I wait for a moment longer before giving up and walking over to Gonzales.
"No one's here," I tell him. "She's already gone."