Sgt. Eddie Presser was and had been doing his best to avoid the administrative hallway in headquarters. While he had to be in the building before and after every shift his squad worked, he didn’t always have to be in the admin hallway; “The Brass Corridor” as it was often called; but only in hushed tones and NOT where anyone of Captain rank or higher could hear.
Eddie didn’t mind The Brass Corridor before, but ever since his academy classmate, Sgt. Saul Panadopolus had gotten the order to upgrade the agency’s data storage and management systems, he’d been using Eddie as a sounding board. While Eddie felt duty bound by friendship to listen and support his friend, he was honestly getting tired of hearing about how the brass weren’t doing the right thing and were unnecessarily delaying the upgrades from the obvious best choice of service provider.
As a result of his attempting to avoid Sgt. Panadopolus, Eddie was doing his best to insure limited time in the building and to avoid unnecessary travel within the building. If he needed to talk to anyone in The Brass Corridor, he did his best to make it by phone or text. He had successfully avoided Sgt. Panadopolus for the better part of two weeks. Then the sergeant came looking for him… and found him.
Eddie was just cleaning up after roll call when Sgt. Panadopolus walked in. “Eddie!” he said, loud and sounding happy. “Eddie, the brass finally made the right decision!”
“What’s that, Saul?” Eddie asked, trying to sound interested, but inwardly cringing at whatever he was about to hear.
“The agency picked Quantum!” Sgt. Panadopolus replied excitedly. “They actually made the right choice!”
Eddie chuckled before replying. “You make it sound like they’ve never made a good choice before.”
“They rarely do,” said Saul, no longer sounding happy.
“They hired both of us, didn’t they?” Eddie retorted.
“True enough,” said Saul, once again smiling. “I’m just glad to see they still can make good choices. This is going to make my life a LOT easier.”
Eddie shook his hand. “Well, congratulations then. I’m glad Quantum was their pick and that it will serve you well.” Saul shook Eddie’s hand energetically and then turned to go back about his duties. Eddie turned and went back to his as well, silently thankful that he could stop making a concerted effort to avoid The Brass Corridor or his friend Saul Panadopolus.
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About four hours north of the city, Max, Sam and JP were just getting their day started. Eddie had assigned Max and Sam to attend a class on Developing and Managing Confidential Informants.
Sam was on light duty and had finally been cleared of his shooting. Per the department protocols, he’d been seen by the department psychologist and declared fit for duty. He’d been cleared by Internal Affairs at the conclusion of their investigation into his shooting. He’d been cleared by the Chief’s office after an interview with the Chief and Deputy Chief (of patrol). The city’s homicide section had done an investigation and presented all the evidence to the Grand Jury, and the Grand Jury had refused to indict Sam, returning a “no bill” on the shooting. So, the only thing Sam was waiting on now, to return to full duty, was a clearance from his doctor.
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Read the rest of this exciting episode as part of the e-book now available in Kindle format on Amazon. See it on Amazon.
