Chapter 6

Ty phoned Claudia Rosen and told her he had thought about her offer of employment long and hard. He was flattered by it but he was happy and content in being a police officer and was turning down her offer. He could hear some surprise and disappointment in her voice as they talked.

He said, “Claudia, the position you have available requires an administrator more than an investigator and that is not what I am. You need someone who has strong administration skills as well has having investigation knowledge and management skills. Do you have other candidates to interview for the position?”

“There are two other people but you obviously were our first choice.”

“Let me give you a name of someone to consider. A Major Justin Marino was my commanding officer when I was in the Army. He has strong administrative and people management skills and is someone I think would do a fine job in the position you have available. He is stationed at Fort Benning and is retiring shortly. I would strongly recommend him for the position. Do you want his contact information?”

Claudia said she did and took the information. She thanked Ty for the referral and wished him good luck in the future. Claudia ended the conversation by saying that if Ty ever changes his mind and no longer wants to be a police officer he should contact her.

Ty felt relieved and satisfied when he ended the conversation. Justin Marino was a good man and would do a fine job for them if they hired him.

The next day Kurt asked Ty to come into his office.

“So I hear you turned down the job at the chemical company.”

“You know about the job offer they made me?”

“Claudia who I have dealt with on some other things gave me a heads up that they wanted to talk to you and maybe make you an offer of employment. What she told me about the job and the benefits I am a little surprised that you turned her down.”

“I like what I do here and a desk job is not my cup of tea. I talked about the offer with Denise and she left it up to me to decide what I wanted to do. All considered I am happy being here and I also think it’s best for my family. Money isn’t everything.”

“It may not be and while I can’t match what she offered I can congratulate you on your promotion to that of Chief of Detectives. It’s a position we have never had here. There is a bump in pay and while the detective staff here isn’t that large with your supervision they will become well trained in the performance of their duties.”

Ty thanked Kurt for the promotion.

While Ty now had a new title things hadn’t changed much in what his duties were. There still were similar cases that needed to be investigated but the increase in drive-by shootings and car hijackings bothered Ty.

Ty and Kat were driving back to the station one day when they heard on the radio that a lady at the Target store parking lot had just reported that her car had been stolen and in her car was her one year old baby. Since Ty was less than a mile from the scene he told Kat to call it in that they would handle this kidnapping and he flipped the switch for the flashing headlights.

Pulling into the parking lot Ty could see a lady in her twenties waving at them. He parked the car and walked up to the lady asking her what happened.

In a frantic voice she said, “I had parked my car here and had just gone into the store to return and Item. My baby Mathew was in the car seat sleeping and since I would only be gone one or two minutes I didn’t want to disturb him. I locked the car doors and went into the store. I was only gone for two minutes and when I came back my car was gone.”

Ty told Kat to go into the store and see if they had a video camera that recorded activity in this parking lot. He started to take the car information to put out an Amber Alert. He was getting the necessary information when he noticed a car similar to the one that was stolen pull into the lot and parked a few slots down. A man in his early fifties exited the car and somewhat nervously walked toward Ty.

“I suspect you are looking for me and the car. If this lady is the mother she will find her baby in the car. The baby is starting to cry.”

The mother ran to the car as Ty said to this man, “Okay, what the hell happened here?”

“It’s something that I am having a hard time believing. To tell you the truth I had just come from the store. I used my clicker to unlock the car doors and got into what I thought was my car and started the engine. My mind was concentrating on things I knew I had to do. It wasn’t till I was about a half a mile away that I heard a noise behind me and when I turned to look I saw there was a baby there. I realized this was not my car so I turned around and came back here.”

Ty initially doubted this man’s story but in doing some checking he saw that the two vehicles were the same year make and model. Their paints were an exact match and the front seats were positioned similarly. The clicker worked on both car doors and the key started the engines. This had to be a one in the million occurrence thought Ty. He thanked the man and checking his driver’s license took his name for the report and had him go on his way.

At home that evening after telling Denise about the reported kidnapping Ty’s phone rang. When he answered it he heard, “Ty it’s Justin Marino. I want to thank you for the referral.”

“Nice to hear from you Major, how did it work out?”

“First of all from now on call me Justin and it worked out fine. They flew me up from Benning for the interview and I guess after they did a background check they made me a very nice offer which I accepted. Administratively the job isn’t that much different than from what I had been doing. I am to start work in two weeks.”

“I think you will find that this is a nice place to live and raise a family.”

“My twin boys Josh and Jacob who will be starting high school have been on the net checking out the area and the high school. They are pretty good soccer players and saw where the high school has a good soccer program and are anxious to try out for the team. Annie has told me she is also anxious to settle down and not do the travelling from base to base anymore. Between you and me so am I.”