Discerning Retribution

ii

The Advantages of Young Blood

REAGAN COULD PRACTICALLY FEEL THE WAVES OF ANGER emanating from the bulk form of her department chief, Gary Agustin. The man had immediately called her into his office the instant he caught sight of her on her way to her desk. What got the man's blood boiling, the detective could only guess.

"You've been to Cerberus?" He asked in his gruff voice, referring to the nightclub by name. He leaned back on his high-back, swivel chair, and massaged his temples with his one hand.

The Chief of Homicide Division was considered tall, by normal standards, and sported a well-built body unlike most men his age, which made him intimidating to look at. Sitting down though, Reagan thought, the man seemed more like a stern-looking father with his graying curls and square face.

She knew better than to think he was actually something as adorable as an overprotective father though. Her direct superior had been part of the old law enforcement system and was one of the few retained when the ranks were cut and shuffled. He had held one of the key positions in the national police in the southern islands for more than twenty years and had managed to, not only eradicate major crimes in his previous jurisdiction, but also keep crime groups from other neighboring areas out. He was a rare straight arrow among the ranks, which was probably why he was reinstated as the head of their division.

"Yes, sir. I actually just got back with Ignacio." She replied. She wasn't offered one of the two chairs placed in front of his table, so she remained standing with her hands behind her back.

The detective was new and had only spoken to the man once when he interviewed her for the position; she reckoned her superior wouldn't be too tolerant of any presumptuousness on her part. She would soon learn how to deal with such a scary man, but for the moment, she thought she'd do with interacting with him formally.

"Good. So you know it's a suspected bombing?" He raised one bushy eyebrow at her. It was a test of sort, if she had managed to get the information from the doctor.

Reagan nodded. "Yes. I spoke with Dr. Austria and she told me her initial assessment - that the body had blown up."

The chief grunted, leaning forward on his chair, his hands clasped atop the wooden table. "I assume you already thought of the repercussions of her findings."

"Either this case is a homicide or an attempted terrorist attack."

"Correct."

She waited for a while for the older man to continue, but when he remained silent for a good five or ten more seconds, she took it as a sign that she should say what else was on her mind.

"Will the bureau be taking over, sir?" She inquired. It was usually the guys with the bigger guns who handled crimes suspected to be domestic acts of terrorism, though she wasn't sure if their case fall under that category. Sure, it was a suspected bombing, but whether or not it was terrorism was something they have yet to find out. It could be an intended homicide or an unintended one, for that matter; a body count of two was simply too small a number for it to be anything else.

There were rules regarding other departments taking over, she knew, and there had to be some courtesy involved in it somewhere. She could only hope the chief wouldn't let anybody take the case from their hands completely.

"No." He began. "At least not until there's hard evidence that it may be a domestic terrorism case."

She nodded. "Understood, sir."

Her lips almost curled up into a smile. It was her first case, and she'd be hell bent on keeping the other agencies from taking it from her either way, but hearing the old man confirm it was still theirs to solve, at least for now, made her feel a liking towards him.