Chapter 34: Moving Forward

Hank called me later that evening, laughing about the three chuckleheads, as he called them, and told me that he had told them some more stories. Of course, he kept their glasses full, so it was a profitable conversation for him. He told me that he had told a bunch of war stories about ‘the old days’ and how we did things ‘back then.’ I laughed and invited him and his wife over some night, and to just call me or Kelly to schedule it.

Over the weekend Kelly and I goofed off while driving the fruit of our loins all over town. In other words, it was a normal weekend. Saturday night dinner was hamburgers. Sunday, Kelly did a roast. The world didn’t bother us again until Monday, when Kelly went off to Matucket State and the kids went off to school. After that I began shutting down Reaper Security Consulting. I called Dom Ballantine and all the other chiefs and sheriffs I was working with and made appointments to see them later in the week. If I was ending my business with them, they deserved to hear it from me face to face.

Then I took a nap. The older I get, the more I like naps. They were good when I was four, they’re good when I’m forty-three! That was how Kelly found me when she got home, sleeping on the couch with Barney. She laughed at me and gave me a load of grief, so I chased her down the hall and we napped together for a bit. Barney didn’t join us for that. We managed to get cleaned up before the kids came home, because that was guaranteed to get us nothing but grief from the pair of them. Spoilsports!

Tuesday, I called Mike Crowley. He and Linda were still living in a retirement community out in Phoenix. He had a position as an adjunct at the local community college teaching criminal justice, and Linda did part-time work at a nearby elementary school. We were on each other’s Christmas card lists and talked once or twice a year. Kelly and I had visited a couple of years after he and I left the force. We had made it a vacation, spending a few days in Phoenix with the Crowleys and then traveling over to the Grand Canyon to see the world’s biggest hole! I waited until ten on Tuesday night, since they were three hours behind us.

It was Linda who answered. “Hi, Grim. Looking for Mike?”

“Hi, Linda. Yes, if he’s available.”

“Sorry, he has a class tonight. He won’t get home until ten or so, our time.”

“That’s one our time. I don’t think so. When would be good? I need to speak to him about a job.”

“Sounds interesting. Anything you can tell me?” she asked.

“Not just yet. Probably later.”

“Sounds very mysterious! He’s home all afternoon tomorrow. I’ll let him know you called. You want him to call you?”

I thought a second and answered, “No, I’ll call him. After one, okay?”

“Should be. After one our time. I’ll let him know you called. Give Kelly our love. You need to come out and visit sometime.”

We said our good-byes and hung up.

Wednesday morning, I drove down to Sullivan Springs early in the morning. Dom Ballantine greeted me and brought me into his office. “What’s up, Grim? I wasn’t expecting you for another couple of weeks.”

“I’ve got big news, Dom. I have to get out of the consulting business.”

He eyed me curiously. “What do you mean?”

“Just what I said. I’m shutting down Reaper Security Consulting. I got a real job.”

“What kind of job?”

I grinned. “The kind where everybody hates you and it’s always your fault. I’ve been appointed as the new police chief for Matucket County.”

“Jesus, you’re a real glutton for punishment. Whose bright idea was that?” he asked.

“I have friends in low places.” I explained what was happening and how it came about.

“You going to be able to fix it up?” he asked. “Matucket’s really gone downhill since you left there.”

I grimaced. It’s not enjoyable knowing that your hometown police department is known to be lousy statewide, not when you’re in the business. “They’re giving me three years to fix things. There’s a lot that can be done in three years, Dom.”

He smiled at that. “That’s true, Grim. There’s a lot that can be done in three years.” I had started working with Dom in the spring of 2023. It was now five years later. “You’re going to miss the ceremony when we stand up the South Georgia Regional Response System.” The SGRRS was the cooperative system we had developed among the departments I had been working with in South Georgia. While I looked forward to becoming the Chief back home, there were some things I was going to miss about consulting.

“You guys don’t need me anymore. You’re all going to do great. Hell, one of these days it’ll be your turn to become a consultant and teach how to set things like this up.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Just remember the first rule of consulting, Dom. Keep an eye on the money. Ask a consultant the time, and he will point to your watch, after you pay him.”

That got him laughing. “That explains a lot!” He stood up and held out his hand. “It’s been good working with you, Grim, really good. You’ve helped us a lot.”

“It was good working with you, too, Dom.”

With that I left to visit the other sheriffs and chiefs I had worked with. I would speak to them all by the weekend and then go home. First, though, I needed to call Mike Crowley. When I called after lunch, he answered, “That you, Grim?”

“Being a trained police officer, I deduce you have caller ID,” I replied.

“Who says being a detective is difficult? Besides, Linda told me you called. It’s good to hear from you, Grim! What’s up?”

“I called for some advice. Know anything about being a police chief?” I asked.

The line went silent for a moment, and then I heard, “You have got to be shitting me! Are you for real?” In the background his wife wanted to know what was going on.

I laughed. “That’s pretty much my response as well. Yeah. I got a new job.”

Linda kept asking him what was going on and I heard a muffled, ‘I’ll tell you later.’ After that he told me to give him the story, and the next ten minutes were a summary of the last two weeks.

“Anyway, that’s it in a nutshell,” I said. “Now what do I do?”

“Now you go be a police chief. You know what to do. For the last ten years you’ve been watching other departments and chiefs. You’ve seen some good ones and you’ve seen some bad ones. Do like the good ones. When do you start?”

“They want me as soon as I can. I’ve got a couple of lawyers double-checking the contract and I went for the physical and drug test the other day. They say the results will be back by Friday. At that point I just need to run over to the county office building and sign the contract. They’ll swear me in on Monday and the county exec will send out a press release. I’ll start the next morning.”

“Just how bad is it?”

“Bad enough. We are understrength about thirty officers, and I’ll probably lose some more once I start tightening things up. I stopped over at the Cherokee last week, and it was a sorry picture. Even off duty, cops look like cops. These guys didn’t. No idea how bad the white shirts are going to be. The council gave me three years, and I’m going to need every minute of it.”

He grunted in acknowledgement. “You going to hire on the open market?”

“I might not have any choice. Even if I could find some new recruits, it’s going to take me some time to train them up right. I don’t even know if the TOs and sergeants are any good. I might have to train the trainers,” I replied.

“Grim, you know what to do. Just do it.”

It was my turn to grunt. “Hey, quick question. Do I have to wear a vest all the time? And what about a uniform. I don’t remember if you ever wore a uniform.”

Mike laughed. “Yeah, you’ll need a uniform. I used to wear it for ceremonies and such. You know that! I used to wear it over at the American Legion when I gave you your medals, remember? Otherwise, I wore suits.

“Oh yeah, I do remember that.”

“It’s a judgement call, but mostly you’ll wear a suit unless it’s ceremonial.”

“And the vest?” I asked.

“I didn’t but I rarely went out into the field in command. I would run things from the Command Center in Dispatch. You’re going to have to be careful about that. You’ll have sergeants and lieutenants for that sort of thing. You’re the chief. You don’t go out on calls anymore. No more fun and games, just worry,” he told me.

“Yeah, I kind of figured that. I will probably do some ride-alongs, but I’ll just throw a vest on as needed.”

“You’ve probably gotten so old, fat, and lazy you can’t fit into your old uniforms anyway,” He laughed.

I rolled my eyes and groaned internally. It had been ten years. He was probably right. “Old people shouldn’t laugh at young people. We’re the ones who get to vote on their retirement homes!”

“You sound like my kids. Hey, Linda said she had invited you and Kelly out here again, so come on out when you get a chance. You can see how they do it here in our retirement community. The cop cars are golf carts with lights and bells, like an ice cream truck,” he laughed.

“If we do, are we going to find a Mister Tasty-Freeze uniform in your closet?” After that we said our goodbyes and hung up.