We were all in the briefing room and me, Tim, and Talia knew what today was.
"Everyone have a seat. Today is a special day for our rookies. 'Cause today we switch things up. That's right. Everybody gets a new training officer. Nolan, you'll be riding with Officer Lopez. West, you'll be riding with Officer Bradford. And Chen, you'll be with Bishop. But learning how to navigate a new T.O. is not your only challenge. By the end of next shift, I expect every rookie to uncover something personal about their training officer, something they don't want you to know. This will be a test of your investigative instincts and your fortitude. Best insight will win a day off. Worst one handles Saturday night cavity searches. That's it. Good luck." Grey tells us and we headed to where the weapons were and our cars. Right now, we were watching the rookie's prepping.
"Is the kid really a rock star?" Tim asks me
"Jackson? Yeah. He's better prepared than any rookie I've ever had." I tell him
"Screw prep. How is he out on the street?" Tim asks again
"So far, so good." I tell him then turn to Talia "What about Nolan?" I ask her
"He's a talker." She answers and as soon as she said that I knew today may be hell for me and I head to the garage
In the garage and stand by the drivers side and see Nolan come up to me and he then gives me a look like ' what am I doing'.
"Oh. Uh, usually Officer Bishop has me drive. She feels it's a better way to evaluate how I -" Nolan starts to tell me but I interrupt
"This is my shop. I drive." I tell him plainly
"Copy that. So..." Nolan starts to say but then he starts to quiet down not knowing what to say
"I was raised by a single mom. Everything I own was a hand-me-down from my four brothers, so I care about what I wear and how I look. Now you don't have to spend the next two days hunting for insight." I tell him
"I don't think that's how Sergeant Grey wanted me to gain insight." He says
"Are you a teacher's pet, Boot? 'Cause I thought I was gonna get a change of pace with you." I tell him
"Uh, no, ma'am. Just looking to get the most out of the experience." He says knowing not to argue with me
"Good. Because if I win you Grey's day off, you're gonna fix me and my sisters garage door. I heard you were a contractor." I tell him since Angela hasn't tried to call a contractor
"Yeah, no, happy to help. Probably gonna need a little more than "She likes nice clothes" to win this thing." He says and we both get in the car "So, where are we off to?" He asks me
"Court. I have to testify in a trial. Should take a few hours." I tell him then give him a look "Quiet time, starting now." I tell him and he stays quiet
(Time skip to the courthouse)
Me and Nolan walk through the foyer of the courthouse and while we are walking through the foyer Nolan is looking around.
"Never been to the courthouse before. This is exciting." Nolan tells me in an excited voice
"That feeling will pass. Caught this break and entered 10 months ago. Since then, it's been two preliminary hearings, two motions to suppress. It's endless." I tell him honestly and we see Ditka
"Hey, Lopez. Looking good." Ditka tells me
"Thanks. How's your wife?" I ask him then turn to Nolan "This is the only place in L.A. where you can find all the law enforcement agencies together. LAPD, Highway Patrol, Sheriff's Department, everyone acting like the top of the food chain. See that guy with the comb-over? They call him Hot Stuff. Know why?" I ask him at the end of my statement
"Nothing comes to mind." Nolan says
"'Cause he somehow managed to get sriracha in his eyes while he was driving. Ended up in Echo Park Lake." I say with a chuckle "Oh, and that's Officer Davis. She collects American Girl dolls and uses them to recreate scenes from 50 Shades. She's single, if you're wondering." I tell him
"Thank you. How do you know all this?" Nolan asked me
"Ah, well, if you want to keep secrets, don't work in law enforcement." I tell him honestly and I went to the bathroom while Nolan stayed in the hallway and while I was in the bathroom I heard Nolan yell stop and police all of a sudden
Soon, me and Nolan were standing outside and talking about the guy who got away.
"Sorry. I tried to catch the guy." Nolan apologizes to me
"Well, now we got to find him. Fugitive's name is Nestor Garcia. He's a mid-level drug dealer looking at 10 to 20 if he's convicted. Residence is in Boyle Heights. I volunteered us to check it out." I said while eyeing the disheveled manual "Leave that in the locker next time." I say handing it back to him
"Officer Bishop suggested -" Nolan started but I interrupted him
"Do I look like Officer Bishop?" I ask
"No." He answers
"Grey switched it up so you guys get a different perspective. Mine is you do your homework at home." I tell him and we start to look around for the fugitive now and we soon walk up to a house in a nice-looking residential neighborhood
"Do you, uh, date cops? I'm not asking - I mean, just trying to get some insight. You know, that, um, CHP officer at the courthouse was hitting on you." Nolan asks me
"It's not worth it. That guy can run around racking up trophies, but I date one cop, and I get a rep, so I fish in other pools." I tell him not giving him any idea that I used to be married to a undercover detective and then I knock on the door
"Nestor Garcia, police. Come out." I say after knocking
"What if we were to talk to the local merchants?" Nolan asks me and he then nods toward a kid who was manning a lemonade stand next door
"All right." i say and we head over to the stand
"Hey, how much?" Nolan asked the kid
"A dollar." Random Kid answers
"A little steep, but all right. Thank you." Nolan says after paying and when he gets the lemonade he drinks it but then his face contorts from either the lemonade being nasty or to sour
"Mm. Didn't expect it to be so, uh, thick." Nolan says after he swallows the lemonade
"You know the family next door?" I ask the kid
"Sure. The dad's a drug dealer. My mom gets really talky when she has Chardonnay." The kid tells me
"Have you seen him around today?" Nolan then asked the kid
"No, he's probably at the thing." The kid tells us
"What thing?" I ask the kid
"Buy some more lemonade and I'll tell you." The kid says
"Are you trying to extort a law enforcement officer?" I ask the kid
"No, it's basic supply and demand. I have something you need, so I can set the price." random kid says
"At least he's getting a quality education." Nolan tells me
"Too bad he won't get the same one in juvenile detention. You got a permit for this lemonade stand?" I ask the kid and the kid knew he had no other choice
Soon, we get into the ballroom to see Nestor escorting a young girl in a formal dress to the dance floor, and the crowd had started clapping and smiling.
"There he is. What's the party for again?" Nolan asks me
"His daughter's quinceañera. - 15th birthday." I tell him
"Oh, sorry. We don't get a lot of those in rural Pennsylvania. It's fun." Nolan says when the crowd applause for the girl and Nestor when they start to dance "Aww. He escaped custody to share a dance with his daughter. That's kind of sweet." Nolan says
"It's selfish, 'cause now her memory of this is gonna be us arresting him in front of her entire family. He did it for himself, not her." I tell him
"That never occurred to me." Nolan says
"That's because you had a dad who was around." I tell him looking at the girl and Nestor dancing
"Let me guess. Your dad was M.I.A., show up when it's convenient, bring a toy, act like a savior." Nolan says
"It was a stuffed animal. Last one he brought, I fed to the garbage disposal. And then he got cancer." I tell him
"So do we let them finish the dance?" Nolan asked me
"Of course. I'm not a monster." I tell him and continue to watch Garcia dance with his daughter
Soon, Garcia noticed us and Nolan nodded his head to let him know he can finish the dance and I see a grateful look on his face.
(Time skip to food truck)
"So, uh, did you have a quinceañera?" Nolan asks me
"Of course, and I looked good." I told him
"Who did you dance with? 'Cause you said single mom." Nolan asked
"My abuelo. Her dad." I tell him
"Oh." Nolan said
"He made me laugh the whole time. My mom was pissed." I said
While I am eating, Tim drives up in his car and the car screeches to a halt and I know he is mad when he jumps out of the car.
"Lopez!"" Tim yells mad
"Give us a minute." I say to Nolan
"Why? What's going on?" Nolan asks
"Just do it." I tell him and as soon as he is gone Time is at the table
"The hell were you thinking letting me hit the streets with a broken rookie?" Tim asked mad
"He's not broken." I tell him
"He froze when the bullets started flying. You gonna tell me the same thing didn't happen with you the day I got shot?" Tim asked
"I thought I helped him get past it." I told him honestly
"Well, you didn't. Now he's my problem. Not for long." Tim says
"I lied to Andersen to cover for the kid. If you out him, my career is over, too." I tell him hoping this will stop him
"Well, that was stupid." Tim stops for a moment "All right, look. I know just the neighborhood to take him to. He'll self-destruct by the end of the day, I'll catch him on my body cam, he'll be done. No one will know about you." Tim tells me
"His father's a commander at Internal Affairs." I tell him knowing it will end up badly
"I don't care. Boot's a menace." Tim says
"This is exactly why I didn't tell you. You think Jackson's father won't blame you for the kid's failure? This is political whether you like it or not." I tell him upset about how he thinks West will react
"What do we do? Leave him on the streets? Hope he doesn't get you killed?" Tim asked
"No. I don't know. He could be a good cop, h-he's smart. He has instincts you can't teach. There's potential." I tell him from how much I have seen of Jackson since patrolling with him
"Screw potential." Tim says still mad
"Tim. What are you gonna do?" I ask him
"I don't know. But I thought you became a TO to make sure boots get home safely, because of what happened to James, but because of this you are failing even your mission to make sure the boots get home safe. West can't shoot anyone when he hears gunfire, and that is on you." Tim says then leaves and I am upset now because he had to bring up the one person he should of never brought up
We got back to the station and parked the car into the garage and got out.
"Guess you were right about cops and secrets." Nolan tells me
"Yeah, I should've taken my own advice." I tell him
"For what it's worth, you covering for Jackson was a stand-up thing to do." Nolan says
"It was selfish, not noble. I did it to protect myself." I tell him and leave the garage with him following to see Andersen
"Lopez, Nolan." Andersen calls for us
"You wanted to see us?" I ask her
"The quinceañera felon you picked up yesterday, Nestor Garcia? He's requested to speak with you both." Andersen tells us
"Why?" I ask her
"A.D.A. thinks it's connected to a plea deal he's trying to cut. She's bringing him in from the courthouse now. You let me know how it goes." Andersen tells us
"Yes, ma'am." Nolan says and me and him enter the interrogation room where Garcia and his lawyer were sitting
"I want to thank you for yesterday. That dance meant a lot to my daughter, and the fact that you let me finish, that means a lot to me. So, to reward you, I have a gift. A drug deal is going down this afternoon, a large shipment, the kind of bust that'll get you noticed." Garcia tells us
"And you're just giving us this because we were nice to you?" I ask him
"No, I'm doing this to reduce my sentence. But I'm giving it to you because you were nice to me. So, you'd better hurry up, call the D.A. to make a deal, because the exchange is going down in two hours." He tells me and soon we head to the briefing room
"Okay, according to Garcia, the exchange is going down at Stoneson Home Supply on Sunset." Grey says
"They're gonna make a drug deal in the parking lot in broad daylight?" Chen asked
"Box stores are the perfect cover. Busy parking lots, multiple exits. They hide in the chaos." Tim says
"At 1500 hours, a car loaded with 80 kilos of cocaine driven up from Mexico will land in the parking lot. The driver will walk away. A runner for the buyer will climb behind the wheel and drive off. The whole thing takes 90 seconds." Grey says
"According to Nestor, the shipment is in a red Civic with Nevada plates." I add in
"Now, the parking lot only has two access points, here and here. Officer Bradford, you'll be parked out of sight over there. Officer Bishop, you'll have all eyes on this exit here." Grey tells Bishop
"And what about us, Sergeant? What's our position?" Nolan asked
"We need to know exactly when the car lands, so we need eyes on the whole parking lot. You will be with me here." Grey tells Nolan
(Time skip to the deal going down)
A man parks the Civic and gets out, walking away. The men in the truck get out and one of them gets into the Civic and starts the engine.
"Go, go, go!" I yell
I used the patrol car to block the Civic from escaping, with Bishop on the other side, but the driver of the Civic plows through the landscaping and takes off down the street.
"7-Adam-15, going after the red Civic." Talia says
Me and Nolan get out of our shop as the men in the truck get out and start shooting. A woman was walking through the parking lot and was shot in the leg and fell down.
"Aah!" The woman yells
"Ma'am! Stay down!" Nolan yells to the lady
"Stay in the car." Tim tells West and he approaches the shootout on foot
"I'm opened up!" Nolan yelled
"Let's go! I got you!" I yell and I continue to advance on the shooters while Nolan is reaching the victim
"Stay down!" Nolan tells the lady
TIm is spotted by one of the shooters, who fires on him as he takes cover behind a car.
The woman groans from the bullet in her leg.
"I got you." Nolan tells her
Me and Nolan soon get the woman into cover behind a truck and continue to fire on their adversaries.
"I can make it. I can get in there." Nolan says
"For reload!" I say
"I got you! - Ready?" Nolan asked
"Yeah. Got you." I tell him
Nolan crawls under a couple of vehicles, gets hold of a shooter's ankles and pulls hard. The shooter goes down, hitting his head on the way.
Tim is pinned down by another shooter when a patrol car comes up and literally runs the man down. He lies unconscious on the pavement as West steps out of the car.
"One suspect in custody." West says and we all head back to the station and back to the bullpen
"The moment of truth is upon us. End of shift. Time to come clean. What did you learn about your T.O.s? Officer West." Grey asks
"Sorry, sir. I was unable to gain any insight into Officer Bradford." West answers
"That's disappointing. Officer Chen?" Grey asks Chen
"I, too, failed in my assignment, Sergeant." Chen answers
"All right. All right, that leaves you, Officer Nolan. You can literally say anything and win the contest." Grey says
"Sorry, sir. Just as stumped as the others." Nolan
"Okay, fine. So no one wants extra credit. I guess we'll start at the basics. Tomorrow morning, you will have a quiz on your rook books. Study hard, 'cause 80 percent is considered a fail in my house. Dismissed." Grey dismisses us and me and Tim break start a conversation
"Looks like I fixed your rookie for you." Tim tells me
"Thanks. And I didn't get you anything." I tell him
"The only thing I need is for you not to lie to me again." Tim tells me and was looking at me like he wanted to say something
"What?" I ask him
"I'm sorry for what I said about James. I should not have said that." He tells me
"It's fine. You were upset. I forgive you." I tell him
"Great. See you tomorrow." He tells me and we both go separate ways to change out of our uniforms