The Philocalist 〰 ♡ 〰 Volume Two

The Night General

'Settle down. Find a seat. First up, I'd like to congratulate Officer Jackson West on the fine pinch last night. No crook is safe from Officer West, not even his landlord." Grey instructs.

People applaud and Grey gives Jackson a form.

"Letter of commendation?" Jackson guesses.

"Change of address form. Your apartment is now considered a "house of ill repute" - and under asset seizure. We need your new address by tomorrow, even if it's Mama's house. All right. This sharp-dressed man in the doorway is Detective Nick Armstrong. He'll be in the field after hours for your detecting needs. Yes, Officer Lopez?" Grey says.

"Detective Armstrong, on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is "patrol friendly" and 10 is "making us guard a cleared crime scene in the pouring rain 'cause you get "a power trip off of it," where do you stand?" Angela asks.

"Lopez." Grey chastises.

"No, it's all right, Sarge. I appreciate a direct question. A lot of cops take off the uniform, they put on the suit. Suddenly, they think they're better than the officers in this room. I'm not one of them. Patrol is where it all happens. It's fast, honest, pure, raw. 85% of all crimes are solved at the patrol level. So, the way I see it, I am here to help you, not the other way around. And if that doesn't win you over, I have five dozen of the finest donuts in the break room. That's all I'm saying." Armstrong grins.

"Detective, you think you can buy us with donuts?" Smitty raises an eyebrow.

"Absolutely not. Maybe rent you, though." Armstrong responds.

"Okay, are we done? Good, 'cause we're done. Be safe out there. Bradford, let me see you a sec" Grey dismisses them. 

Elle stands up and almost immediately has to sit back down.

"whoa there, slow your horses, cowboy" Nolan says, helping her steady herself.

"sorry, just got a little dizzy" Elle apologizes, trying to rub the black spots out of her eyes.

"oh, do you need to go to the doctor?" Nolan asks.

"I don't do doctors" Elle shakes her head, forcing herself to stand up again.

"why?" Nolan inquires.

"I don't need a doctor to tell me what's wrong with me" Elle brushes off and starts to follow Jackson and Angela out of the roll call room.

"that's not how that works" Nolan calls after her but to no response.

[Five Minutes Later]

"Sergeant Grey is setting me up to fail. You see that, right?" Jackson complains, staring down at the form.

"No. I really don't." Angela says as Elle hauls the gear into the back of the car.

Elle stumbles a little and Angela stops her from falling.

"you okay?" Angela asks.

"Come on, there's no way I'm gonna find someplace to live in one day." Jackson says, ignoring Angela talking to Elle.

"yeah, yeah, fine, sorry" Elle apologizes, straightening back up and starting to organize the gear in the back of the shop.

"Not with that attitude." Angela turns back to Jackson.

"Seven to ten days would be a reasonable amount of time." Jackson continues.

"It's at the sergeant's discretion." Angela shrugs.

"Just like sticking me back in long sleeves was at his discretion. You know, I know two guys from the academy who both got 80s, and they're both in short sleeves. Why's he penalizing me?" Jackson asks.