The Rookie April A-Z Story Challenge

A

Words: Apple, apparatus, accessible, arrogant, abdridge

Aaron bursts into the briefing room, disheveled and out of breath. He's panting heavily as he tries to catch his breath. "Sorry- I'm late. My- car- it- broke down in the- middle- of- the road. I had to- wait for- the tow truck to- come. Then I- had to take- the- bus-"

Sergeant Grey shakes his head. "In the future, send someone a text or something so we know you'll be late."

"Of course, sir, my apologies."

"Juarez, give Thorsen an abridged version of what we covered in today's briefing."

"Yes, sir."

"The rest of you, this meeting is adjourned. You're dismissed."

As the briefing room empties out, Celina pulls Aaron aside. "A new drug has hit the streets."

"Really? What's it called?"

Celina sighs, preparing herself to tell him the ridiculous name. "Candy apple."

"Seriously?" Aaron scoffs. "That's the dumbest name I have ever heard."

"It's definitely up there, but I've heard worse."

"Like what?"

"The worst drug name I've ever heard is definitely giggle pig."

Aaron's jaw drops. "You've gotta be joking."

"Seriously. Apparently it was a big problem a little while back, especially for the NYPD."

"Juarez, let's go!" John Nolan pokes his head into the now empty briefing room.

"Sorry, I've got to go," Celina says before leaving with John.

Aaron isn't entirely sure what to do. Because he missed the briefing, he also wasn't given an assignment. A few minutes later, Nyla Harper enters the briefing room. "Thorsen, you're with me today."

"Wait, they're having you on patrol?" Aaron asks, surprised. It's not often that a detective gets assigned to patrol.

"Yes and no."

"What?"

"Technically, I am on patrol today, however I've got a specific assignment. Did Juarez fill you in on candy apple?"

"Yes, ma'am, she did."

"Okay, good. You're riding with me today. You and I are going to be scoping out the area for the drug. Suppliers, manufacturers, exchanges, you name it. Anything suspicious, anything related to candy apple, we're supposed to go and check it out."

"Understood."

"Come on. Candy apple isn't going to get rid of itself."

The two of them make their way out of the briefing room and towards their shop. Aaron starts to head to where the gear is kept, but Nyla stops him. "What?" he asks.

"I didn't know how long Juarez was going to take to fill you in. I figured I might as well get our shop all ready to go so that we could get out there as soon as possible."

"Oh, smart."

Nyla tosses the keys to Aaron. "You're driving, Boot."

Soon enough, they're on the road. They don't have any reports to check out yet, so until they do, they are driving around the areas that tend to have more drug related activity.

"So is there anything else that I should know about the drug?"

"Well, it's not accessible to just anyone. We've been told by our informants that you have to know somebody to even get close to the drug. If you want to buy or sell it, you need a reputation."

"What kind of reputation?"

A/N: I'm not an expert in the severity of different crimes, so I'm just basing this off of what I've seen on TV (cop shows) and how high stakes the situation is portrayed to be

"Come on, Boot. Use your brain. A criminal reputation. They gotta be known for some pretty ballsy stuff. Less severe felonies, like trespassing or vandalism, those aren't seen as 'cool' to other criminals. But if someone has a reputation for escaping prison, for armed robbery, for murder, kidnapping, those kinds of stuff... It's a lot easier for those kinds of criminals to get this drug."

"So we only need to keep our eye on the more high-profile felons?"

"Seriously, Boot? I'd thought that I trained you better than this."

"I'm sorry?"

"Even the criminals who seem less dangerous can turn out to be more than meets the eye. We shouldn't just assume that because they don't have as 'good' of a criminal reputation doesn't mean that they aren't capable of the same things that a higher-profile criminal is."

"Oh."

"Think of it this way, Boot. Let's use a lab for example. You've got a variety of different kinds of containers; a test tube, a beaker... They are different in appearance and somewhat in function as well. A small test tube may hold a lot less than a large beaker, but both are capable of delivering just what is needed to achieve a chemical reaction."

"But-"

"Maybe all that you need is the tiniest bit of something, and once you add it into your experiment, you could get a big result. You don't necessarily need the bigger beaker if all you need is a little bit of it. A small test tube may not be considered as useful as a big beaker, but in some cases, it really doesn't matter the size or function, both are capable of the same job."

"Huh."

"What?"

"Nothing, that was just an interesting analogy."

"How so?"

"I never took you for someone who would be interested in a lab."

"Are you saying that women can't be into science, Thorsen?"

Aaron's eyes go wide. "No! No, no no. That's not what I meant, I swear."

"Then what did you mean, Boot? Because you're sounding incredibly arrogant right now."

"Just, like, I didn't know you specifically were interested in science."

"Hm. Well, I'll have you know that I love a good scientific apparatus from time to time."

"Of course. My apologies."

Aaron's phone rings and he checks it only to find that Sergeant Grey is the one calling him.

"Boot, what did I tell you about being on your phone?"

"I'm sorry, but it's Sergeant Grey."

Nyla raises a brow. "Sergeant Grey?" Aaron nods and she sighs. "Answer it."

Aaron answers the call, putting it on speakerphone. "Sarge? Everything okay?"

"Why didn't you just use the radio?" Nyla asks.

"Because this is regarding candy apple and as of now, we've managed to keep its existence out of the media. I'd like to keep it that way. You never know who is listening to the police scanners."

"Understood. What's up?"

"We have a lead. I've sent Thorsen the address. But be careful, the owner of the house has a history of harboring dangerous weapons."