The whole squad, as it was, was waiting in the Roll Call room. It wasn’t like Eddie to be late. Sgt. Eddie Presser was one of those guys who believed that if you were on time you were late. He was ALWAYS early. If “the sarge” was late it didn’t usually mean good things. The room was made even more uncomfortable by the fact that Corporal Keith Winston was no longer with them. In fact, part of their day would be attendance at his funeral. The way the squad was now structured, after the loss of Keith, was:
- Sgt. Edward (Eddie) Presser – the squad sergeant. Eddie was a military service veteran and had been with Oceanside PD over a decade. His “rookie” partner was
- Patrolman Maximillian (Max) Breaklin. At the age of 24, Max was a decorated Navy veteran who had served as a corpsman with a Marine Corps Expeditionary Unit (now called “Raiders” once again) and had seen combat on several occasions. He’d graduated at the top of his class out of the academy and been assigned to Eddie as his FTO.
- Corporal William (Bill) Herstall. Bill was a fourth generation police officer and had gone to the academy with Eddie. They weren’t close friends because of something that had happened at the academy. No one knew what that “something” was and the two men always acted professionally and courteously toward one another.
- Patrolman First Class (PFC) Jessica (JP) Porter. JP was an Air Force veteran with a degree in psychology and was an amateur fitness competitor. She had caught Max’s eye early on but they’d avoided romantic involvement because they worked together and didn’t want anything to get messy. She had recently submitted her request for transfer after completing her FTO period.
- Corporal (CPL) Michael (Mike) Rakkie. Had graduated the academy one class behind Eddie and Bill. One half of the squad’s “Twin Towers of Terror.” Standing six feet five inches tall and weighing over 300 pounds, Mike had often been described as “strong and country fed.”
- Patrolman Kyle Drummond. Mike’s junior partner and the other half of the Twin Towers of Terror. The same height as Mike but far leaner at 255 pounds, Kyle had proven strong but quick and was notorious on the agency for having chased a suspect over two miles before squad cars had finally gotten in position to stop the suspect.
- PFC David (Dave) Brick. Up for promotion to Corporal, Dave was a worthy officer who had proven skilled at interpreting crime scenes to glean insight into a criminal’s mind. Rumor had it that he wanted to apply to the FBI. He held a degree in psychology, just like JP.
- Patrolman Samuel (Sam) Nichlaus. A Marine Corps veteran who’d also seen combat during his enlistment, Sam tended to always call Max “doc” as he would have if they were in the field during their military time. Sam was out of his FTO period, but not by much, having graduated one class ahead of Max at the academy. He’d received the top award for his marksmanship in the academy.
- And last but not least, Patrolman Peter (Pete) Jerstopholus. Pete was Corporal Keith Winston’s partner, and was now without a partner since Keith had recently passed away. He’d ride solo on patrol until a new partner was assigned for him. A third generation officer and overdue for promotion to Corporal, the rumor was that Pete was being held back because the Chief held some grudge against CPL Winston. Pete was also a widower, having lost his wife at a young age to cancer.
Although the squad was only down one officer, it felt like a lot more as they all sat quietly, or talking in hushed tones, waiting for Eddie to arrive. How Eddie ran Roll Call would set the tone for the day – and the day was already looking bleak with Cpl. Keith Winston’s funeral on the schedule. Patrol partners tended to sit next to each other which left Max and Pete sitting by themselves; not alienated but not… “fitting in” was maybe the best way to explain how it felt.
When Eddie finally came in, about five minutes late, everyone got quiet. He took his place at the podium, shuffled a few papers to get them in order and then looked up at his squad. “Good morning, people. First things first: Keith’s funeral is at 1300 today. We’re to report to the church parking lot by 1130 hours. We will not have any traffic control functions to perform. We will perform escort for the hearse and limousine. Max and I will be in front and,” gesturing with his head to go with his comment, “Pete will be immediately behind the limousine. Everyone else falls in behind him. Obviously all lights on, no sirens.” He looked down at the paperwork and then back up. “Uniform is dress blues. We have no patrol duties this morning so spend the time making sure yours is squared away. If you need help, let me know. Any questions?”
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Read the rest of this episode, part of Season Three, in the anthology ebook available exclusively on Amazon for kindle: http://amzn.to/2jcbPVB
