Get caught up:
It had been a good weekend as far as Max was concerned. The air felt like autumn had already arrived. While most folks in Oceanside enjoyed spring and summer weather the most, Max’s favorite season had always been fall. It was, in his opinion, the best time to go camping and he believed that nature gave its best shows in fall – unless you really got off on thunder and lightning. So Monday morning found Max quite happy to be driving in to roll call. Day work wasn’t always fun and he liked evenings and midnights as much as everyone else since it meant there was less department leadership around. The utility blue uniforms from Elbeco had proven as comfortable as any he’d worn but the day work uniforms weren’t so bad either. He’d spent enough years putting together uniforms that measuring placement for a name tag and rank pins wasn’t a big deal. He found a spot for his Jeep in the rear lot of the station, grabbed his equipment bag and headed in.
He was early – as was typical for him. Sam, a former Marine, was the only other officer from the squad there yet. They exchanged greetings, talked about the weekend briefly and then others started strolling in. Everyone was still early – just not as early as Max or Sam. No one ever showed up to Roll Call late. It was one of Eddie’s pet peeves and Eddie was respected enough that the squad didn’t want to unnecessarily aggravate him. It was one of the axioms of leadership that a lot of managers never got (and one of the differences between management and leadership): If your people respected you, they worked to make your day easier. If your people didn’t respect you then your day got harder simply because they weren’t motivated to HELP make your day easier. Managers don’t often act in a manner that earns them respect. LEADERS do.
Eddie walked into the room just a minute before Roll Call was supposed to start and everyone took their seats. Max realized they were a person short at about the same time he realized Eddie looked tired; not the usual “it’s early on a Monday morning,” tired but tired as if he’d been up all night. When the squad was seated quietly and Eddie got to the podium he dove into the morning briefing without precursor or greeting.
“It’s going to be a long day, people,” he said gruffly. “I’m sorry to not be more cheerful or motivational, but we’re shorthanded and we’ve got extra duties assigned.” Max looked around and realized Keith – the oldest officer on the squad with the most time on the agency – wasn’t there. Eddie was still talking. “Additionally, I’ve been called away from the street for a training assignment with the county.” He looked at Max. “Normally that would mean you’d ride with someone else, but given other circumstances, you’re going to ride alone today.” Max nodded his acknowledgement. It was highly irregular but also a compliment to Eddie’s faith in his ability.
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All of Season 2 of The Oceanside Chronicles, including officer survival notes and an alphabetical list of characters can be purchased as an anthology on Amazon.com via Amazon Prime.
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