Chapter Thirteen: Soaring free.
Note: Takes place at the same time as chapter eleven.
Hawk's point of view
I slipped my cell into my jacket and revved my hog. With a roar, I shot out of my garage and onto the street in front of my house. Ted and Lisa could find their own way out of the neighborhood, I decided, and I took to the street fast.
There was no sign of anyone following me, so I traveled the main streets into downtown. Police headquarters was busy, as usual. That might actually work in my favor today. I really didn't want to run into Captain Jordan. I was already on his shit list and he would have no qualms about giving me the third degree.
I waved to various people I knew as I threaded my way to my desk. My old wooden chair creaked as I sat and the metal spring squealed in protest at my weight. I smiled at the difference between Lisa's desk and mine. No clutter here. All the papers were in neat stacks or the in/out boxes. There were no photos, either. I preferred being in the field. I logged in to the system and ran a query on Kotov. I was surprised to see more than one Kotov in the system.
A few keystrokes and I had all three in summary format. There was Viktor and his two sons, Alexi and Uri. I clicked print on all three and shut down my system. Time to scram before trouble found me.
The place was too cheap to have anything but a shared printer so I had to hope someone wasn't printing a novel. When I saw my pages printing right out, I smiled. The gods were favoring me. I snatched them up, folded them, and slid them in my pocket. A glance at the Captain's door showed it was still closed. Perfect.
My sense of euphoria lasted all the way to the edge of Detective's row. I walked around the corner and almost ran into Jordan. The short, balding, pudgy man did things to a suit that likely made more women into lesbians than the rest of humanity all rolled together. His already unfriendly face frowned even more than his norm.
"Hawkins, I thought I told you that you were on leave until further notice. Was I less than clear? What are you doing here?" He asked in a voice that reminded me of a bad English butler without the accent. His arrogance just bled right through.
"Sorry, Chief, I was getting some personal effects from my desk. I'm going home right now. It's been a long day and I need to rest up, anyway," I said in as neutral a voice as I could manage.
"I've told you before not to call me Chief. Really, Hawkins, are simple instructions beyond you? I imagine that you'll be needing that sleep," he said with an unconscious sneer.
I've met a number of deeply religious men, most of whom were not fond of my sexual orientation. They, unlike Robert Jordan, could be polite and hate the sin without hating the sinner.
Putting my hands on my hips, I nodded. "I certainly will, Captain. A night of drunken debauchery and making love to more women than you can count takes dedication. There is a special orgy scheduled in my honor at the local lesbian 69 union hall."
"Your attitude reeks, Hawkins. I don't think you are bright enough to know when you've been beaten. That little tirade you had on the phone sealed your career. You're done. With all the other disciplinary actions in your jacket, I've already spoken to the Chief of Detectives," he sneered, "and he is letting me fire you. You have brought enough disrepute on this department and I will, frankly, be more than glad to see you gone. Come to my office and turn in your badge and weapon."
I grinned and stepped into his personal space, quietly addressing him. "You talk a lot of shit, Captain Jordan, but since it's just me and you, let's cut the crap. You hate my kind. You know, the homosexuals, don't you? It's not my attitude you hate. It's the fact I get more pussy than you ever will, isn't it?"
He reached up and pushed me back. I stumbled in surprise. "Stay away from me, you freak!" he hissed. "Don't you dare get in my face." I don't know why that enraged him like that, but he was out of control. I could hear the room quiet behind me. He was still around the corner and seemed not to notice. A low voice that would be lost in the normal rumble of multiple conversations now could be heard by the closest of the desks.
"All you should be run out of the police department. Your kind will burn in hell. Homosexuality is a sin against God and you'll burn. I've been looking for a way to be rid of you since the day I took charge of this division. Kruger was a weak-minded fool to allow you to pollute this place and I will earn credit in Heaven by correcting his mistake. Not even counting your unnatural cravings, a woman has no place in homicide anyway." He held out his hand. "Your badge and gun. You're fired. Come on, give them over."
Slowly, burning with anger, I pulled out my badge and pistol. Slowly, I unloaded the pistol, but rather than handing them over, I stepped back and held them out, making him come to me. He was like a fish, seeing only the bait. With a hungry smile, he stepped out of the hall and took them.
I looked over the room and most of the detectives were staring at us with expressions ranging from shock, anger and satisfaction. I made mental note of the various people here. Some of them would talk about it later, I hoped. Then I smiled sweetly at my former boss.
"Jordan, I'm actually glad you fired me. This place has been a cesspool under you and I know Assistant Chief Kruger will be interested in what you think about him, even if he is only working with the DA now. Oh, and I'm sure everyone out there has found your views on homosexuality and women in general to be fascinating, too."
Jordan looked like he was waking up from a dream state. He turned and stared at the room in surprise, as though he hadn't even known they were there.
"I'll get someone to escort me out, since I'm a lowly civilian lesbian now. Detective Saunders, will you escort me out of here?" I heard the mix of bitterness and triumph in my tone. I was both devastated at the loss of my badge and exhilarated at the public exposure of my tormentor. I would hurt later. For now, I still had work to do. This case was not going to be wrapped up by someone else. I
would
finish it.
The petite brunette stood up and walked past the open mouthed Jordan with a withering glance. "Sure, Hawk. I need to get out of here and get some fresh air anyway." We left Jordan standing there, his mouth working like a beached fish. Once we were inside the elevator, she turned to me, angry. We had never been friends but I had never been her enemy either. "What the fuck was he thinking? He's nuts! Are you gonna fight this?"
I pressed the second floor button. "I don't know what I'm going to do, yet. I'm going to torpedo that jerk, at the very least. Come on." On the second floor, I led her to Internal Affairs. The detective at the front desk frowned sourly as I came in. It was the same bozo that had handled my last suspension. What was his name? Oh, yeah, Lazlo.
"Morning, Lazlo," I said brightly.
"Detective Hawkins, what now? Did you punch out the Mayor?" he asked tiredly.
I pulled out the chair and sat down. Saunders sat down next to me. "No," I said. "I was fired and I'm here to file a harassment complaint against Jordan before Saunders throws me out of the building."
His face lit up in surprise and he pulled out a report pad. In all my years of trouble, I had never filed a complaint against anyone. That must have made him reevaluate the situation.
"Tell me what happened," he said in a newly professional voice.
