One Step Ahead

One Of Ours

     1:25 PM 

       Garrett Sanger sat at his desk, working the computer mouse on his desk with one hand, occasionally stopping to click on something that caught his attention. In his other hand, he held a pen, poised over the legal pad lying next to the keyboard, ready to jot down the titles of any items he felt might be worth further inspection. As he started to scribble another note to himself, his desk phone rang, and he let go of the mouse to grab the receiver. 

      "Los Angeles Police Department, this is Lieutenant Sanger," he said. "What can I do for you?"

      "You can come up to my office, Garrett," Paul MacDevitt replied. "Dean Bledsoe just came back from his medical leave today, and I'd like you to fill him in on the current situation. Plus, I received some new information today that I'd like to discuss with your task force. So, other than Tate and Clavell, is everyone in your department currently available?"

      "Keith and Irv are on guard duty today, but El and LaMarr are here, I'll give them the heads-up as soon as I hang up."

      "Good. I'm going to call Vice and Missing Persons, and get their guys moving," MacDevitt replied, "We'll see you in fifteen."

      Placing the receiver back in its cradle, he rose from his chair and walked out of his office into the common area shared by the other detectives. "Lamarr, Eloise, the chief wants us in his office in fifteen minutes, so wrap up whatever you're doing," he announced. "Assistant Chief Bledsoe is back, and the chief would like us to get him in the loop."

      The two detectives hastily put aside the paperwork that they had been paging through and rose from their seats, following Sanger into the hallway. As they approached the elevators, LaMarr Pike inquired, "So, since the commander is back, do you think he's gonna change things up? With the task force and everything, I mean."

      Sanger shrugged as he pressed the elevator button, replying, "I guess that's one of the things we'll find out when we get up there. He's in charge of the unit, so it is his call, after all."

      "Unless Captain MacDevitt or the board have something specific in mind themselves, of course," Eloise Han commented.

      They traveled up to MacDevitt's office, and encountered Lew Bremerton and Bill Persky from the Vice Division exiting the other elevator, with Ed Garza following close behind. This caused Sanger and his companions to exchange puzzled looks, because even though Garza was a well-respected member of the department, Chief MacDevitt had made the decision not to include him on the task force, to avoid any appearances of impropriety due to his niece's legal issues.

      Persky reached the office door first, and allowed the others to enter before he stepped inside himself, closing the door behind them. The officers from the Missing Persons Unit had arrived ahead of them and had already taken seats in the row of chairs that had been arranged in front of MacDevitt's desk. The chief sat in his own seat, facing them, and to his left, another chair had been placed for Assistant Chief Dean Bledsoe, Sanger's immediate superior. Bledsoe, who was the Director of the Office of Special Operations, which encompassed all of their departments, had gone out on a medical leave in mid-October, just before the discovery of the journal, and Marlena Whitman's death. 

      "Good to have you back, sir," Sanger said, as he eased into a chair. "But I thought you weren't supposed to be back until the end of the month."

      "Apparently, I must be a quick healer, because my doc cleared me to go ahead and start back," Bledsoe replied. "I'm not gonna be doing any foot chases in the immediate future, but with the situation that we currently have, I thought I should get my ass back in gear and pitch in."