You'd Have to Ask - 31. Chapter 31

Road Trip

“Well Wheeler how are things going?”

“Not bad Sir considering.” Cole feels uneasy speaking to his boss.

“Well I want to thank you for what you did yesterday. It reaffirms my faith in all my Officers.”

“Thank you Sir.”

“I know it was probably pretty hard for you and you would never have done it if there wasn’t that problem sitting in our cells. I just wanted to let you know I don’t care what you guys do in private as long as it stays private. But if it affects an Officer’s ability to do his job, then I want to know.”

Cole says nothing.

“I bet you are wondering why this trip to Edmonton?”

“I have a feeling it is related to me sir.”

“As a matter of fact it is, Wheeler. We are headed to a meeting at the Downtown Station. I can’t tell you much right now Wheeler, but I promise that you will have the opportunity for a briefing before too long.”

The Chief thinks about the predicament that Wheeler has got himself into. He wonders how the rest of the Officers are going to handle it.

“We have a bit of time together Wheeler, May I ask how this is affecting you?”

“Informally sir?”

“Yeah Wheeler, this won’t be hitting your file. It’s just to help me understand the issue from your side.”

Cole measures his response, “Well Sir, my family and close friends know. I have been slowly coming out to them over the past month.”

“Any problems?”

“None now Sir, my family took awhile to come around but they are on my side.”

“That’s good, you were born and raised here, weren’t you Wheeler?”

“Yeah, been here all my life. I just finished building a house.”

“Good for you, I guess you have no plans of moving on?”
Cole tenses, he wonders if the Chief is giving him a suggestion. “No Sir, I hadn’t planned on it, but then again the situation may change in a couple of months.”

“Yes it could. I just wanted to let you know that the Sergeant and I will support you in whatever you decide.”

“Thank you Sir, that takes a load off my mind.”

“I’ll bet it does. There is one thing though, you are going to have to be forthcoming on any incident that involves this issue.”

“I understand Sir.”

“Good Wheeler. I want to let you know that I have an open door policy. Feel free to come and talk about it at anytime.”

Cole says thanks again. He tells himself that he will only involve the Chief if it really gets out of hand. He just has to define really out of hand.

The two men stare out the window and watch the scenery. Winter is not far off; the farmers are in various parts of harvest. Every once and awhile clouds of dust blow across the highway.

When they arrive in Edmonton the Chief suggest they stop and get something quick to eat before going to the Station.

“Anywhere in particular Sir?”

“No you pick a place I am not picky.”

Cole pulls into a Donair place on Calgary Trail. The two men order large donairs and pop. They sit in the restaurant to eat them. It is early in the afternoon and several Edmonton Police Officers stop in and get orders to go.

When they are finished they head to the Station. Cole parks the Explorer in the visitor parking and the two men head into the station. The Chief looks at the phone on the wall to call Boudreau but uses his cell phone instead.

After a few minutes Captain Boudreau appears at the door. He is in a suit and scans the waiting room. He sees two men who appear to be cops in civvies and walks over to them.

“Chief Lawrence?” Boudreau asks.

“Captain Boudreau, I recognize your voice.” The Chief says he flips his badge quickly for the man. “This is Officer Wheeler.”

“Please to meet you Wheeler.” Captain Boudreau shakes Cole’s hand.
“Well we better get up to my office, come with me and I’ll get you a pass.”

Boudreau signs them in and tells them to leave organization blank. The Captain leads them through the door into the restricted area. Their arrival is noticed by numerous sets of eyes. Cole is thankful he does not see any Officers that he knows.

They take the elevator to the fourth floor and they follow Boudreau to the IA Unit. There are offices with a waiting room and several interview rooms. Cole notices that other than a small window on the Unit door there are no windows. “This must be for privacy,” he thinks.

“Officer Wheeler, could I get you to sit in one of the interview rooms for awhile?” Captain Boudreau asks.

The Chief nods and Cole heads to the nearest room, he stops at small table and picks up some magazines to read. Then he enters the room and has a seat.

Flipping through the pages Cole tries to imagine what this is all about. He really feels uneasy sitting in Internal Affairs. “What do I know to help them out with?” he asks himself.

He leans back in the chair when he is tired of reading and closes his eyes. He thinks about the question the Chief asked about leaving Lacombe. He had never really thought of it before, but it may be something he has to do if things get too tense.

He thinks about Lance working at the Fire Station, he doesn’t appear to going anywhere and hasn’t mentioned any problems except with Brent. Cole hopes it will be the same for him and that he continues to live and work in Lacombe.

Cole opens his eyes when he hears the other door open. The Chief and the Captain come into the interview room and close the door. Cole moves the magazines to an unused chair. They are replaced on the table with several file folders. Cole notices one is thin and the rest are thick.

“Officer Wheeler, Captain Boudreau has a proposal for you, I have agreed in principle but the final decision is up to you.”

“Sure Chief, just a question what happens if I decide to say no?”

“Not much, I would be disappointed but I think I would understand.” The Chief says looking directly at Cole.

“We are not asking you to do something that would risk your life and it does not involve any of your fellow Lacombe Officers.” Captain Boudreau says.

“Thanks for clearing that up Sir.”

“As for the proposal the only people that are going to know about it is the Chief, my counterpart in Calgary, you and myself.”

“Excuse me Sir, not to be blunt or anything but how about all those Officers that saw us come in here?”

“That’s a good point, Wheeler. We are just going to have to make sure this is the only meeting that occurs here.”

Cole looks at the Chief, the Chief nods giving him permission.

“Well Sir I guess I will have to listen to the proposal but I am not convinced that half your station house doesn’t know by now.”

“Well, if it helps, the focus of the investigation is on people that are trying to co-opt cops, not on cops themselves.”

“Co-opt, you mean like that guy we arrested in Lacombe?”

“Precisely, we believe it is an organized effort to blackmail Officers such as yourself, except maybe this time it has backfired. We are hoping you will help use crack this case.”

“You mean other Gay Officers? Sir”

Captain Boudreau cringes at the term, he is obviously not comfortable with it as the Chief and Sergeant were. “Yes Officer others like yourself.” He was going to add “Not that there is anything wrong with that” but it would sound trite.

“Ok Sirs, I will look at the proposal and give you my answer after that.”

“Well we would prefer to have a commitment before, but since you are already a pawn in this scheme, nothing in the files will be a surprise to you.”

“Wheeler, I have to advise you that if you decide not to do this that you will have to sign a termination agreement.” The Chief says he doesn’t look at Cole when he says this.

“Termination agreement?” Cole asks.

“Yes, we require a signed affidavit that you will not divulge anything you read in these files.”

“Ok Sir” Cole says as he looks at the Chief, “I’ll sign that.” Cole feels very nervous he holds his career as a Police Officer in his hands. His decision today will affect the rest of his life.

The Captain opens the first file, it is upside down but Cole can see the picture attached to the inside of the cover. He recognizes it instantly and feels a pang in his chest.
“We’ll here is a synopsis of what we feel is going down.” The Captain says. “It appears that there is an organized effort to gain advantage on Police Officers by a business operating in Edmonton. We are not sure if this business extends beyond Edmonton, we are hoping you can find that out.”

“Right now all we can say is that there have been several suspicious cases that have fallen apart because Officers have had really bad memories, misplaced notes or not even shown up in court. This is all circumstantial and in the big picture it occurs all the time. But through contact with the Services in other cities we have found that the same individuals seem to get off on crimes for the same reasons.”

“How did you find out about this, if I may ask?”

“We actually stumbled across it and Officer that relocated from Calgary happened to see a perp that he had seen arrested in Calgary on much the same offence. He did a check on the guy and found out that the man’s record was clean. So he became suspicious.”

“What was the context which allowed him to do the check?” Cole asks. He doesn’t want this case falling apart before it even starts.

“Well it seems the Officer had a run in with the arresting Officer in Calgary and he became suspicious. His being in Edmonton is part of that run in. He consulted with his supervisor and was referred to us. We acted fast enough to allow the check of the perp before he was released.”

“So no rights were violated then?” Cole asks.

“No we have a supervisory capacity which enables us to check on cases. Basically it is to ensure that the department and its Officers are following the rules. Don’t worry its bullet proof and will stand up in court.”

“So my investigation is only looking into the business and not these cops that may have got involved.”

“That’s correct Officer, we don’t like people messing around in our house. Especially when good Officers are being blackmailed.”

“What about the guy in Calgary, it sounds like you have him dead to rights.”

“We don’t have enough of a case to pursue that Officer, nor does Calgary. I promise you Wheeler that part of the case is closed.”

Cole looks at the Chief and says “Forget about the termination agreement Sir, I’m on.”

“But we haven’t gone through everything yet.” The Captain says.

“It doesn’t matter Sir, I am doing it for my fellow Officers and besides I know how it feels.”