In the briefing room, the rookie's were having a conversation until Grey cam in the room.
"All right, grab your seats. A special day here at Mid-Wilshire. In fact, we're gonna start off by playing a game I like to call "What is a patrol officer's least favorite assignment?" Officer Lopez, why don't you get us started." Grey says to me
"Easy. Guarding a dead body." I answer
"Solid one. Officer Bradford?" Grey asks TIm
"Canvassing in the rain." TIm answers him
"Bishop." Grey says
"Driving the drunk wagon. It's just nasty." Talia says
"Without a doubt. And yet, for me, the absolute worst is the VIP ride along." Grey says and almost all of the officers start groaning
"Why? That sounds like fun." Nolan says
"Officer Bishop, would you like to inform your Boot why the ride along tops my list?" Grey asks for Talia to explain
"Because if anything happens to your VIP, it's your ass. So, you take the lowest of low-risk calls. It makes a 12-hour shift feel twice as long." Talia explains
"Plus, you're trapped in a car all day with an entitled prima donna coated in body spray." Then Tim adds
"Officer Nolan, you want to take a guess why we're playing this game?" Grey asks Nolan
"Because you're giving me the VIP ride along? John guesses with a question
"No." Grey says
"Really?" John asks
"No. You absolutely got the ride along." Grey says and then people start laughing "He's waiting in the Captain's office for you now."
"Sir, is it too late to ask for a sick day?" Talia asks him
"Yes, it is. Grey says
"Uh, who is this VIP, anyway?" Nolan asked
Me and West left after roll call and were in our patrol car, patrolling around.
"I heard a rumor." West says breaking the silence
"About what?" I ask
"My dad said a detective position is opening up, and your sister and Talia are top contenders. So, I would keep an eye out for The Tap." He tells me
"What do you know about The Tap?" I ask him
"It's how the higher-ups signal that you're a shoo-in for detective. "Officer, your sister should think about taking the exam."" West says winking twice at me
"Angela is so ready to move up. Did your dad say anything else? Anything she can use to get a leg up over Talia?" I ask him
"No. Mnh-mnh. Listen, I really shouldn't have told you that." West tells me
"Don't worry. I won't say anything. But Angela will definitely appreciate the heads up." I say and we do a fist bump
"7-Adam-7, reporting a possible assault in progress." Dispatch said and we head to the address
We make it to an apartment complex and walk into the hallway and we soon hear a man screaming. Both me and West come down the hall, weapons drawn, looking for the source of the sound.
"Sounds like someone's getting killed." West says
"Police! Open up!" I say pounding on the door
When no one opened up the door to find Jason sitting in a chair with electrodes in his hands while breathing heavily.
"What the hell are you doing?" I ask him
"Nothing." Jason says
"Uh, no, I've - I've heard of this before. Did you shock yourself so you can feel an adrenaline rush?" West asks him
"Dude, y-you should try it. It really just clears the sinuses." Jason says and then sniffles
"Where did all this stuff come from?" I ask him
"The Jason bought it from a friend." Jason said
"Really? And where exactly does your friend work?" I ask him
"The ... hospital store." Jason said
"Okay. Look, The Jason is gonna put on The Handcuffs, because he's under arrest." West says
"Hold up, Boot. We're not looking to arrest this guy." I say stopping West from arresting him
"We're not?" West asks
"Not if he can point us towards someone more worthy of jail. How about it? I can make the charges go away, but to do that, I need to know the name of the guy you got all this stolen equipment from." I say and we use him to find the guy who stole the equipment he had
"We caught you with a van full of stolen medical equipment. At least twenty grand worth, which makes it a major felony." I tell him
CHUY
"How'd you guys find out about me? Come on! Somebody gave me up. I'm too smart to get caught any other way." Chuy tells us
"But are you smart enough to walk out of this room a free man?" I ask him
"What are you doing?" West asks me
"Offering up a deal." I tell him
"But this is a good arrest." West tells me
"But there's a better one right up the food chain. Isn't that right, Chuy?" I aks Chuy
"Maybe." Chuy says
"Make that a "yes," you might sleep in your own bed tonight." I tell him and soon me and West are with Sergeant Grey
"Explain something to me, Lopez. I can see you two filed a lot of evidence reports, but I can't seem to find a single booking report." Grey says to me
"I've been instructing Officer West about how patrol can leverage lower-level criminals to get actual intel on higher-level felons, sir." I explain to him
"Perhaps earn some to ever be on the detective list." Grey tells me
"Officer Lopez convinced our last suspect to give up a pretty significant target." West tells him
"Is that right?" Grey asks me
"Yes, sir. We have credible intel that could get us Lawrence Abuto." I confirmed
"Major Assault Crimes would be thrilled to collar a weapons dealer like Abuto. Loop them in. But, Lopez -" Grey starts to say when I interrupt
"Sir?" I ask
"Be careful. It's a high-reward strategy but also high-risk. There's a real possibility this won't pay off at all, and then all you did was let a bunch of little crooks get away." Grey tells me and soon me and Jackson are in Andersen's office
"Major Crimes took a run at your intel on Lawrence Abuto. They couldn't do anything with your informant's information." Andersen tells me
"Are they sure? 'Cause we had that guy wrapped up with a bow." I say
"He was lying to you, Officer Lopez. Frankly, I'm surprised you couldn't tell." Andersen says
"Ma'am, I believed him, as well." West told her
"Officer West, you're a rookie. Lopez, you're a veteran. You're usually a lot more careful than this. I'm really disappointed in you." Andersen tells me
"Yes, ma'am." I say a little upset and I go into an interrogation room after leaving Andersen's office to get away but West finds me
"Hey. Been looking for you. What's wrong?" West asks me
"The Jason is in ICU." I tell him
"What, you mean the guy who likes to shock himself?" West asks to make sure
"The guy he flipped on found out about it. Beat him half to death with a pipe." I tell him
"Th-That's not on us." West said with a stammer
"No, it's on me. If I hadn't been so gung ho on getting The Tap, he'd be in the house of detention, looking at a few months of jail. Now he might not be able to walk again." I say feeling guilty
"There's no way you could've known about that." West says
"Maybe. But I didn't even think about it, and I should have." I tell him mad that I did not think about what could have happened
"You, um, think this will make sure you never make it on to the detective list?" West asked me
"Are you kidding? Even though I would love to be a detective, I don't plan on being one anytime soon. Plus, I am gonna have to earn my name to be on it in the future." I tell him
"Anything I can do to help I will. You had my back when I needed it. Oh, right. I almost forgot. Did you hear about Tim's wife?" West asked me and as soon as he told me what happened I went wit Talia to the parking garage to find TIm
When me and Talia got to the parking garage we saw Tim in his car, lost in thought and looking depressed and that is when Talia got in the front and I got in the back leaning over the back seat.
"What are you doing?" Tim asks us
"Hanging out with you." Talia answers
"Look, I appreciate the thought, but I'd rather be alone." Tim tells us
"Too bad." I say
"I'm not gonna talk about it." Tim says
"You don't have to." Talia said
"But we're gonna be here if you change your mind." I say being a supportive friend
"So what do we do now?" TIm asks us
"Drink." We all say after a minute