You'd Have to Ask - 12. Chapter 12

Cole gets a new Partner

Cole gets to the station at 19:30. The night shift is 12 hours 20:00 to 08:00. He gets his equipment on and goes to the Ready Room. Cole gets a newspaper and checks the news. He is waiting for Mark to show up.

Mark doesn’t show up. Cole wonders what happened. Looking around the room he sees a new Officer sitting there. Cole gets a funny feeling.

The Sergeant comes in and takes his place at the podium. The room becomes quiet. He tells them about current cases that are still open. Various ‘Wanted Posters’ from other Police Services are passed around.

Finally the Sergeant says “I’d like to welcome Constable Kelly Pritchard, she is joining us from the RCMP, she transferred in.”

The guys welcome the new officer.

“I have made some adjustments and Officer Kelly will be partnered with Officer Wheeler. Officer Comry has been transferred to the B Shift. Cole you’ll be her TO for a couple of weeks until she gets up to speed.”

Cole is not sure how he feels but it had to happen sooner or later. Cole is kind of pissed that Mark never told him about switching shifts. He glances over at his new partner and nods.

Roll Call ends and all the Officers get up. Most of the guys shake the new Officer’s hand. Cole waits till every one has had their turn.

“Cole Wheeler, pleased to meet you”

“Likewise” Kelly says as they shake hands.

Cole notices she is not wearing a wedding ring. As Cole and Kelly head to the car he notices a few of his fellow Officers checking her out. Lacombe’s Police Department has one other female out on the streets. Cole checks her out she is about 5’8 and in pretty good shape.

Cole lets Kelly do the vehicle check.

“I guess I’ll drive the first part of the shift, so you can get the lay of the land” Cole says, “Unless you want to”.

“No, its OK Cole, I actually prefer to be co-pilot’

“Great! Mark and I used to toss for it, and he always wound up driving” Cole laughs “So excuse me if I appear rusty”

“No problem Cole, I am sure you’ll do fine” Kelly says with a smile.

Cole notices she has intense blue eyes. She must be hell on interrogations.

As they drive down the main drag the town appears very quiet. The sun is just setting.

‘So tell me about yourself Kelly” Cole says.

“Well what do you want to know?”

“The usual, who, what when, where and why”

“Well I am 32 years old, born in Cold Lake. I have been a cop for 5 years. I was stationed in Peace River and decided I needed a change”

“So what made you come to Lacombe? Other than its irresistible beauty and friendliness” Cole says with a smile.

“Well, I was married to an Officer. He is with the RC’s too. Anyway we were in Peace River together and then the marriage went south. I tried to transfer out through RC’s but no luck”

“So how did you get here?”

“Well I was checking job postings on the net and I noticed that Lacombe was looking for Officers. I came down and saw the place and liked it so here I am”

“So how about you, Cole?”

“Well I was born and grew up here. My parents still live here. My brother is in Calgary and I have a sister in Vancouver. I have been with the force for 10 years”

Kelly studies him and checks out his hand, no rings. Cole notices this and says “Oh by the way I am still single” He says.

They both look at each other and laugh.

“So why is that Cole?” Kelly asks.

“I don’t know, I guess I have not met the right person yet” Cole wants a change of subject. “So where are you staying in town?”

“Well, I didn’t find a place to buy yet, so I am renting an apartment, month to month. Do you own a place?”
“Yeah, I have a house out on an acreage, that I just built. It is in Bentley, just west of here”

“Hey, that’s great I have always wanted to live on an acreage. Been living in towns most of my life.”

Cole notices a car, which just drove though a red light. He looks to Kelly as he turns on the siren and lights.

Kelly enters the license of the car on the car’s computer. The answer comes back immediately. “It’s registered to James McCleary, 55 Main Street”

Cole notices that the car starts to speed up. He sees the driver and notices it is a young guy. He recognizes the car. “I thought I recognized that car”, he says. “I don’t think Mr McCleary is driving it”

Cole speeds up to close in on the other car, but he has to slow down at the cross streets to make sure no cars are coming through. Kelly picks up on this and yells “Clear!” at every corner after checking for cars from the right.

He notices the driver starts to look around quickly. The guy suddenly makes a quick turn to the left and accelerates. The car is a large older model Buick. The turn and the sudden acceleration cause it to swerve on the road.

Cole closes in on the Buick, he doesn’t want to ram the car, as it appears that the driver may lose control. Cole holds back, he knows this road is going to come to an end soon and the driver will have no options.

“The roads going to come to a dead end up ahead, hopefully we can end this thing soon” Cole tells his partner. He can feel the rush of adrenaline through his body. He loves the feeling. “Thank God for bad guys!” he tells himself.

The car in front comes to a dead and stops suddenly. The door opens and the driver gets out and starts to run. Cole stops the car and gives chase. “57 Street” Cole yells as he runs after the man.

“Dispatch this is Officer Pritchard, we have a lone male suspect running west on 57 Street and shit, oops didn’t mean that, can’t see the Avenue sign. Officer Wheeler is in pursuit on foot”

“Roger that Officer Pritchard, I think I know the place, it’s a dead end right? Do you require backup?”

“Roger it’s a dead end and Negative, the suspect is unarmed and the Officer is closing in on him” Kelly replaces the microphone and joins the chase. As she is running she gets her handcuffs out and has them in the ready position.

Cole finally catches the guy and tackles him to the ground. The guy starts to squirm and punch Cole, Cole just holds him down, and he looks back and can see his partner coming.

“We can do this either of two ways,” Cole tells the man. “You can cooperate and we’ll take you into custody or you can resist and we will still take you into custody”

“Which is it going to be?” As Cole is saying this he has managed to get a hold of the guy’s left arm. Cole stands and the guy the guy follows suit to ease the pressure on his arm. Cole bends the guy’s arm behind his back and positions it so the wrist is exposed with the thumb up. Cole applies a little pressure and he can feel the guy resistance go down.

“Ok, Ok I give up!” The man yells “Fuck that hurts!”

Kelly is there as the guy says this and she quickly cuffs the man’s wrist. “Put your other hand behind your back”, she orders, the guy’s hand does not come back far enough and she tells him, “Further!” The guy does as he is told. Kelly cuffs the other wrist. Cole puts a hand on the guy’s shoulder and they lead him back to the police car.

“Pretty good take down Cole” Kelly says.

“Thanks, nice cuffing”

Back at the car they get the suspects name and address. They advise him of his rights.

Cole grabs the microphone “Dispatch, this is Wheeler, we got one and are taking him in”

“Roger Cole, do you need a truck out there to tow the other vehicle?”

“Roger that”

“Roger, over and out”

“I guess we should get this guy in the back and take him in, eh?” Cole says.

Kelly checks the cuffs on the guy and double locks them. Cole watches and then opens the back door.

“Dispatch is sending a tow truck, you want to stay with car and come back in with the truck?”

“Sure, lets go see how the guy got the car going”

Cole and Kelly check the car, they see that there is a key in the ignition. Kelly gets in and starts it. She turns to Cole and smiles. Cops see this all the time people leaving keys in their cars and wondering why they get stolen.

Cole heads back to the cruiser and gets in. “You Ok back there?” he asks.

The man grunts. Cole takes this to mean he is ok. Cole sees the lights of the tow truck coming. He waits to make sure everything is ok and then he starts driving.
“I seen you” the man says.

“Oh yeah?” Cole asks.

“Yeah, up in Edmonton the other night”

“It must have been a guy that looks like me”

“No, I am sure it was you. It was at the Denny’s on 104th, you were with another Guy,” the man says. “I know cause I’ve seen that other guy around a lot.”

Cole can feel his stomach tighten. He tries to recall if he has seen the man before. He draws a blank. “Well if he only saw me at the Denny’s than that’s not too bad,” he says to himself.

“Yeah, that other guy owns a bar I go to sometimes.” the man says with a knowing look.

Cole feels himself start to sweat profusely. “Well, I am sure it just a guy that looks like me.”

“Well I guess, but I am good with faces and I am sure I have seen yours before, besides you both had on t-shirts with a police crest on them.”

Cole remembers what Mike and him were wearing but he decides to let it go. The guy has nothing and it’s not going to help him get out of this jam. Cole sees the station up ahead and he wants to get this guy locked up ASAP.

Cole pulls into the parking lot and parks. He gets out and waits for Kelly to show up. The tow truck comes about five minutes later. He goes over and directs the man where to park the car.

When the car is parked, they go over to the driver of the tow truck. The man is filling out the bill. When he is finished, Cole checks it and then signs the bill. The man gives him a copy.

Kelly and Cole head back to the cruiser after waving bye to the driver.

“Did he give you any problems?” She asks.

“Nah, we were just talking about the weather,” Cole says.

Kelly goes to the back door and opens it. Cole helps the guy up out of the car. The guy still has a smirk on his face.

They escort the man into the station. Cole takes him to an open interview room. He then takes the handcuffs off and asks the guy to sit.

“Have a seat please, I’ll be right back” Cole says. Before closing the door he says, “Do you want anything? Coffee? Water?”

“Just water” the man says.

Cole heads out to the ready room to get some forms for the guy’s statement. He sees Kelly at the coffee machine. He holds out the cuffs for her.

“Want some coffee Cole?” Kelly asks as she puts the cuffs back in their pouch.

“No, not for me thanks” Cole says as he heads back into the interview room.

“Nice looking partner you got there. I bet a guy like you meets a lot of ladies.”

Pushing further the man says, “It makes me wonder why you’d hang out with the owner of a gay bar”

Cole tightens more, “Look Jack, so you think you’ve got something on me that will help make this go away. Well I am sorry but you got nothing”

Kelly comes into the room just as Cole is finishing “Hey Wheeler, what’s up?”

“Nothing the guy is just mouthing off”, Cole says.

Kelly puts the glass of water down in front of the guy.

The man takes a drink, as the Officers make sure the man is aware of his rights.

The guy shrugs him off.

Cole starts the interview as Kelly takes notes. When Cole has got all the facts he turns to Kelly “Did I miss anything?”

“I can think of nothing else.” She says.

Cole asks the man to stand again and advises him that he is going to be handcuffed. Cole asks the man to turn around and put his arms out behind his back, thumbs up. Once the cuffs are on Cole leads him down to the lockup. Cole grabs a bag from a pile on a desk and then leads the guy into a cell. Cole closes the door and removes the handcuffs.

“I need you to take off your belt and shoes. The man does as he is told. Cole puts them in the bag.

“Do you have any valuables?” Cole asks.

The man takes a wallet out of his back pocket and a pile of change out of a front pocket. He then takes off his watch and he drops all of it into the bag.

“Is that it?” Cole asks.

“Please turn around, I am going to have to search you.”

The man complies and Cole pats him down finding nothing else. Cole gets some coveralls and asks the guy to strip and put them on.

“You’re gonna like this cop!” The man says as he removes his shirt and passes it to Cole. The man then slowly removes his jeans and steps out of them. All the time he has his eyes locked on Cole looking for a reaction.

Cole though is in work mode and his reality is his job. Sex is the furthest thing from his mind.

The guy becomes frustrated with the lack of reaction from the cop. He finishes up quickly and puts on the overalls. All of his bravado has evaporated.

Cole has noticed the man has become very quiet. He seals the bag in front of the man. Cole initials a strip over the flap and asks the man to do the same.

Cole leaves the cell and locks it. He has a habit of closing it louder than he needs to. He likes the sound. He drops the bag off with the evidence clerk.

Cole goes back to the interview room. Together Kelly and him complete the report.
They gather their stuff together and go back to the car. They get in.

“Remind me to call Mr. McCleary in the morning.” Cole says, “He’ll have to come pick up his car.”

“I think I may advise him to watch where he leaves his keys” Kelly says.

“You wanna go hit a coffee shop?”

“Sure, I could use some, that stuff at the station was gross!”

Cole laughs “Yeah, we usually give it to the customers” He starts to relax feeling that the incident with the car thief is over.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Kelly asks.

“I didn’t want to influence your decision” Cole continues laughing.

Kelly laughs too as they pull up in front of a coffee shop. She calls in that they are on a break and gives the location.

They both get coffees and sit in a booth on the side.

“So you going to tell me what that guy had on you?” Kelly asks.
“What do you mean?” Cole responds.

“Well it was obvious to me that the guy figured he had something on you. What I don’t get is why he didn’t play it.”

“You are pretty perceptive Kelly.” Cole says.

“Well you get that way after being on the job as long as I have been, so what is it?”

“Ah, its nothing”

“Well excuse me but my partner looking like he saw a ghost is not nothing”

Cole thinks about this for a while. He just came out to himself; he is not ready to come out on the job yet.

“Later ” Cole says and then looks down at his coffee.

Kelly realizes that she is not going to get any more information out of Cole. She decides to let it be. She is used to partners opening up to each other. It just takes some time.