Nothing To Lose Part 5

The office was quiet. Several of the investigators were at their desks. The only noises were the occasional sounds of phones ringing. Outside his office window, it was raining harder than Jonas had ever seen. He could barely see the squad cars parked in the open lot it came down so furiously. Sitting there, staring at the rain, he was deep in thought. He remembered the Great Flood of the 1990s, and similarities were there.  

More than the rain, Jonas didn't want to move. The new medicines were starting to take their toll on him. If not for the case, Jonas would have stayed home. Part of him considered retiring, taking a disability pension, and riding out his time comfortably numb off Vodka and lemonade on a beach somewhere. As the rest of the guys in the squad went about their day, doing paperwork, follow-up calls, and scheduling interviews, Jonas only felt good if he sat still, motionless, and frozen in time.  

He hoped it would look like he was calmly reflective; that the guys would think he was deep in thought. That was easier to hope for than them not noticing he hadn't moved and wondering why. Jonas had been around long enough that he knew he couldn't get that lucky. Cops, particularly around other cops, were naturally curious and the worst gossip whores he ever met. The entire department leaked information like a pool with holes in the liner.  

As he stared at the storm, a knock at the door caught his attention. He turned to see Danny before motioning him into the office.  

"What's up, kid?"  

Danny hesitantly told Jonas he was just checking in. He had a file in his hand but seemed to want to keep it a secret. Looking at Jonas, he held it out.  

"What's this?"  

"A patrol report from two nights ago. From the front of the Montgomery Club," explained Danny.  

Jonas opened the file. There were three witness statements, a report of a fight ending with a man pulling a gun, but all the parties were gone on arrival. The patrol officer who filed the report listed the Montgomery Club as suspect. She picked up on their lack of cooperation, and the convenient amnesia everyone had symptoms of.  

"Sounds like this is a non-starter," suggested Jonas.  

Danny stepped forward, putting a finger on the vehicle descriptions. He looked Jonas in the face as he looked at the vehicle, and the description of the driver. Jonas could see the partial plate, the description of him, and knew his partner was on to him.  

"This is where you went for information," he suggested. "Isn't it?"  

"Well, shit," sighed Jonas.  

Jonas went from his desk to the office door, closed it, and shut the blinds. He sat back in his chair, folded his hands together, and waited for Danny to say something. It was clear the kid was onto him.  

"You hit the Montgomery Club without backup?"  

"I did," answered Jonas.  

"Why?"  

Jonas didn't have a good answer. It was a judgment call, and one he'd make again. Danny was starting in the investigations division. He didn't have the connections or the street time that Jonas did. If he'd brought a new face with no connections into the club, it might have been taken as a sign of disrespect. And his relationship with Cal Montgomery, while unconventional, had yielded results.  

"It's complicated," he replied.  

Danny's wide-eyed response to the answer didn't bode well. If the kid couldn't understand the complicated nature of getting information from someone as connected as Cal, then telling him that Cal was his source wasn't going to do him any favors. But he had to tell his younger partner something. So, he explained.  

As Danny sat and listened, Jonas explained how he struck up a relationship with Cal Montgomery. He explained their history and that from time to time, he used Cal as a source. He admitted he knew Cal was a very bad man, but he kept the spillover from his business to a minimum, and outside of Bay City. For that, he respected him.  

"From time to time, our interests align. Cal wants to keep peace on the streets. He wants to legitimize his organization and keep his guys earning and out of lock-up," explained Jonas.  

"What about the things he's done before?"  

"He may have to answer those sins, but they weren't committed here. And while everyone knows who he was, until he jumps dirty in Bay City, as long as he's useful, I give him a pass," admitted Jonas.  

Jonas felt a sudden surge inside his body. His torso was tightening, and there was a burning sensation building up in the back of his throat. As he looked at Danny, he started reaching beneath his desk. Jonas grabbed the wastebasket and pulled it in front of him just before vomiting rained out between his lips and made a loud, echoing sound as he wretched.  

As Jonas finished, Danny was on his feet. He looked at his mentor, confused by the sudden release.  

"What the hell?"  

Jonas shrugged. He didn't want to tell the kid. It wasn't something he was ready to share with the others in the department. Sure, he told his boss and long-time friend. But he needed the guys on the street and in the trenches to believe he could still maintain. Losing it in his office wasn't going to help with that.  

"It's nothing. A little food poisoning and too much whiskey last night." 

The two lawmen looked at each other. Danny sensed Jonas was being deceptive, and it disappointed him. He knew Jonas had experience, and he knew the chief trusted him. He hoped to be able to gain experience from Jonas, to learn, and to grow as an officer. But if Jonas didn't tell him the truth about things, they wouldn't have a trusting partnership.  

"Keep your secrets, if that's what you want. Maybe being your partner wasn't the chief's best call," he told Jonas, turning to the door.  

Dammit, thought Jonas. He looked at Danny and told him to hold on. The kid was right. He kept secrets. He hadn't been honest about going to see Cal Montgomery. He wasn't truthful about what he was going through. And Jonas knew, if he was to stay active, he might need a partner watching his back.  

Jonas wiped his mouth. He took out a bottle of mouthwash, gargled, and spit into the waste bag before he wrapped it all up and threw it into the larger bag in the office. Stepping back in, he looked at Danny as his shoulders dropped.  

"You hungry, Kid?"  

"I could eat," admitted Danny, surprised by the insinuation.  

"Let's go find someplace and grab a bite. I'll fill you in on a few things; things you might need to know, and one I might need you to know."  

As Bay City was pounded by its tenth day of downpours, Cheryl Kearn sat in her living room, tying her sneakers, and relenting to going out in such weather. The clouds weren't promising, and the weather app on her phone said it would rain again in ninety minutes. She didn't have a lot of time. But the marathon didn't cancel or postpone because of rain or bad weather. If she was going to be ready, she needed to keep her training schedule, rain or shine.  

Cheryl walked out of her brownstone apartment, looked toward the river area, her favorite area to run, and toward the downtown area. She had little doubt that some areas would be barricaded along the river. But the drainage downtown often made things worse during times of heavy rains.  

Turning toward the river, she pressed the play icon on her phone and tucked it into her jacket pocket. The first song that played helped get her blood flowing, her energy up, and appealed to the spirited side of Cheryl Kearn. It always helped her get started.  

As an attorney, Cheryl didn't get as much time to run as she had in high school and college. Running the QC Marathon was her yearly escape. The next one coming up was only a month away, and she wanted to place in the top ten. As the season hadn't been great, it rivaled her professional life. She'd been so busy she hadn't had the time to escape the grind of the office. And the caseload was crushing her.  

Cheryl's heart rate slowly started to warm up as she bounced across State Street, headed toward the River Park area. The normally busy area was clear of people. She could see the flashing lights of the park barricades, keeping people from the edges of the running path. The path was close to a classy black fence line that had been installed up and down the river, covering a five-mile area. The only breaks in the fencing were for people to fish in the area. The flooded riverfront had risen over the fishing areas and was only a foot or so from spilling onto the running and footpaths. 

She heard the words of Dolly Parton come through her earbuds. Most of the greats from her parents' library were now in the great beyond, much like her parents. She still listened to music she grew up on, with a gentle mix of some newer sounds. And as she heard the immortal voice pushing her to be great, she smiled. It brought a memory of her mother, cooking dinner, shaking and shimmying to the tune playing in her ears. Her parents were goofs, but it was a good childhood.  

Cheryl passed Casino Row. Gone were the old riverboat operations, replaced by land-based casinos and hotels. Capris was a popular place, once upon a time, but business had slowed over the years. She remembered the pandemic's effect on local businesses, and even the gamblers didn't want to come out of their holes during the outbreaks.  

Cheryl passed by, waving at a roving security guard from Capris. She was starting to get soaked, and the run was getting harder to maintain. As she'd run two miles, she still had three more to go and didn't want to spend it on a treadmill, so she pushed forward. The skies were getting darker, nearly black, and the storm looked like it was going to come in earlier than expected.  

There was a sheltered area in a park not far from the north end of the parkway. It was once a shelter for the industrial park employees to sit under as their kids enjoyed the park and rides. She made a beeline for the shelter, planning to stop there long enough to check the weather apps and see what the chances were of making it five miles before it got ugly. As she pushed through the standing water that was getting deeper, her feet splashing with every movement, sounds of one of her father's favorite rock groups blared in her ears. It was loud enough that she was lost in the moment, riding the runner's high, and oblivious that she'd not gone unnoticed.  

Making it into the shelter, she ran in place while she checked her phone. As she looked at the screen, putting a code in, the reflection of someone behind her scared her into turning around. Lightning crashed, and the world froze in time. Cheryl's screams, albeit brief, went unheard as she was held in the darkness, her life draining from her body.  

At a table with two plates of tacos in front of them, Danny and Jonas were eating lunch when Jonas told Danny how things really were. He shared his history with Cal Montgomery. He shared his current struggle. And he waited for Danny to wrap his brain around it all.  

"Cancer."  

Danny repeated the word after Jonas explained why he wasn't feeling well. Jonas had told him the truth about his condition, as the two sat and shared tacos from a small backwoods joint just outside of town. It wasn't some place Danny had ever tried. Now, he knew that it was one of the best-kept secrets in the city.  

"Shit! I'm sorry, man."  

"Thanks," sighed Jonas.  

Sympathy was fine, but sympathy wasn't what he wanted. He told Danny to keep it to himself. He hadn't told anybody, and he wanted it to stay that way until they were through this case. He admitted he might need Danny to watch his back, and this was why.  

"So, now that you know everything you need to know at this point in time, where do we go from here?"  

"What do you mean?"  

Jonas looked across the table. He knew Danny wasn't warm to the secrets so far. But there were things he didn't want Danny to know. He was afraid of what a young, idealistic officer might do if things didn't fit into the rule book. And not everything always fits the way they tell you in the academy. So, he asked Danny if he wanted to be reassigned.  

"I got it," sighed Danny. "But just because I don't know everything doesn't mean I'm wrong. This meeting with Cal Montgomery, you should tell a partner about stuff like that. What happens if you go on your own and you're wrong?" 

"Then Cancer doesn't get to be what kills me," chuckled Jonas sarcastically.  

"That's what I mean. You could have told me the truth, left me outside, or something. Just because I'm not ready to intermingle with the informants and criminals you've learned to deal with, doesn't mean you should go without backup."  

Hmmm... Jonas was surprised. The kid was less worried about Jonas's habit of operating in the gray areas than he was about Jonas being safer doing so. He didn't seem to have a problem with coloring outside the lines if needed. Maybe Amanda had found him someone compatible after all.  

"So, is there anything else?" 

Danny asked a good question. But they weren't there yet. He made a convincing argument, and if he was to trust Danny to keep his condition to himself and cover for him if needed, then he needed to earn Danny's trust. He admitted that other things about his past might need to be discussed. But that wasn't today, and those didn't have any bearing on their current situation.  

"And if that suddenly changes, I'll tell you," promised Jonas.  

"Then no, I don't need reassigned, partner," Danny told him, offering a gentleman's handshake across the table.