{"id":2650,"date":"2024-03-09T14:13:53","date_gmt":"2024-03-09T21:13:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/?p=2650"},"modified":"2024-03-09T14:13:53","modified_gmt":"2024-03-09T21:13:53","slug":"helicopter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/2024\/03\/09\/helicopter\/","title":{"rendered":"Helicopter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

prompt: Write about a backstabbing (literal or metaphorical) gone wrong.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

available at Reedsy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

JJ was unsure about most things, but not this, not now; he was so far beyond unsure he began to doubt his own existence. Maybe he was just a figment of a fever dream, about to do this, not a real person after all. It made sense\u2026what person doesn\u2019t even know how to pronounce their first name?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJJ, you sure about this?\u201d Martina, his co-conspirator, asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, I\u2019m sure,\u201d he lied. \u201cI\u2019ve considered and planned a contingency for every possible twist.\u201d That, at least, he was certain of. His constant concerns of \u201cwhat if\u2026\u201d made him an excellent strategist and analyst \u2014 at least when given enough time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn that case, I\u2019ve got your back,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As JJ waited to be called in to the inquest, the clock taunted him, time stretching out. A young man carrying a clipboard called out, \u201cDetective Martina Simes,\u201d and she followed him in, leaving JJ to wait by himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He juggled dozens of possible scenarios in his mind, from the most likely to the absurd. No matter how the waves broke when he was called in, he would make sure that he and Martina would never again have to work for the overbearing Captain Helen Monroe. Behind her back, the squad called her \u201cCaptain Helicopter Momroe\u201d or just \u201cMom\u201d for the way she micromanaged everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If she had let him do his job, they wouldn\u2019t be in the situation they were in now. He gripped the folder he carried tighter. With the proof he had there, Monroe wouldn\u2019t be in her position any longer. At this stage in her career, they\u2019d probably move her to a desk somewhere to wait out her retirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He wondered what Martina was telling them. She was there<\/em> when it went down and was a victim of how wrong everything went. He knew there were others on the squad that would try to protect the captain, with the idea that if they didn\u2019t, they were a traitor somehow. Martina, though, was still recovering from the injuries she endured in the incident\u2026and<\/em> she said she\u2019d back him up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time continued to drag. JJ let the thoughts he was juggling rest. There was nothing left to do but stick to his guns and react to each falling chip as planned. He was interrupted by a young man holding a clipboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOfficer Price? Your first name\u2026is it Jake\u2026or Jack? Looks like I have a typo on my list.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, which is it? Jake or Jack?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJJ.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOkay, but what is your legal first name?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust like it is on your paper. J – A – E – K.\u201d He shrugged. \u201cIt\u2019s a typo on my birth certificate that was never corrected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo how did your mother\u2014\u201d the young man began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMom called me JJ. My dad didn\u2019t call me anything because he wasn\u2019t around. Teachers called me Jake or Jack or Jay-ek and I just let them, since it didn\u2019t matter.\u201d JJ sighed. \u201cAnd before you ask, I don\u2019t<\/em> pronounce my first name, so you just call me whichever makes you happy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOkay, then. I\u2019ll add a note here and get back in there. You\u2019re up next.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JJ entered the room when he was called in as \u201cDetective Jay-ek Price.\u201d Commissioner Dina Davis sat between the Vice Chief of SWAT Carlos Ortiz and Soo Kim, the Chief of Police. The presence of the commissioner was unexpected, but perhaps warranted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Captain Monroe sat behind a smaller desk to one side with a department advocate. An inquest was not unlike a bench trial, and the one under investigation was afforded representation. It looked like she hadn\u2019t bothered to ask the union for a real lawyer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JJ took his place behind the other small desk, next to the investigator from Internal Affairs, as the commissioner told him to take his seat. He looked over and caught Monroe\u2019s eye where he saw something he didn\u2019t expect \u2014 defeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDetective Price,\u201d the SWAT Vice Chief asked, \u201cwhat is your primary role?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m assigned to data analysis in the nineteenth precinct.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you,\u201d he asked, \u201cassigned to evaluate and advise on tactical matters?\u201d Ortiz asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot officially, but I often help when I\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chief Kim turned toward him with a bored frown. \u201cWhat were you doing on the sixteenth of February this year, at or around nine-thirty A.M.?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He laid the folder on the desk and put his hand on it. \u201cI was printing the documents in this folder for Captain Monroe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commissioner raised a hand. \u201cAre those the same documents the captain has already showed us? The ones printed off at\u2026,\u201d she looked down at the pile of papers in front of her, \u201c09:32 A.M. on the printer that resides just outside the door to Captain Monroe\u2019s office?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, ma\u2019am.\u201d He hadn\u2019t expected the captain to hand over his analysis of her tactical operation to the inquest. It was like she wanted<\/em> to fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The three of them conferred among themselves quietly for a moment. Commissioner Davis nodded and said, \u201cDetective Price, if you would, walk us through this document in your own words.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was it. He could show that Helen \u201cHelicopter Mom\u201d Monroe was not the sort to be leading a precinct. When he finished, she would be <\/em>finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn this document, I analyzed the tactical plan for taking down the drug lab, as coordinated by Captain Monroe with SWAT.\u201d He opened the folder to the diagrams he\u2019d added and pointed to each item as he went.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI pointed out that coverage in this alley was impossible without removing the dumpsters here and here first. I recommended at least two shooters on these rooftops here, and here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He flipped the page over to the diagram on the back. \u201cFinally, I concluded that unless these two neighboring buildings were secured, the tactical team was open to ambush from either the underground service tunnels here, or a makeshift bridge from the scaffolding on this building here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vice Chief Ortiz leaned forward, resting his chin on his fists. \u201cYou say you figured all that out just from looking at the original tac plan?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, sir, and a quick look at the online maps street view.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chief Ortiz and Chief Kim both looked at Commissioner Davis and nodded. She looked at them both, then back at JJ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOfficer Price, your evaluation matches what happened on the ground, and, as Captain Monroe has already informed us, if she had waited just another minute for it, Detective Simes would not have been injured, they wouldn\u2019t have had time to torch the lab, and we wouldn\u2019t have lost our prime suspect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JJ was stunned. The captain used his best ammo against herself. What was she thinking?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Davis continued. \u201cGiven the stellar career of Captain Monroe to date, and her willingness to admit her errors and learn from them\u2026and given your tactical know-how that hasn\u2019t been properly put to use thus far, we are reassigning both of you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou will remain at your precinct, but your jobs are changing. Captain Monroe is hereby promoted to Vice Chief in charge of our new Major Crimes Unit. Until such time as her position as precinct captain is filled, she will continue to carry those duties as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDetective Price is hereby promoted to Detective Sergeant Price and moved to Major Crimes as well. You will be in charge of the detectives and will head up analysis and tactical planning as well as cooperation with SWAT. In short, you will be Vice Chief Monroe\u2019s right hand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commissioner Dina Davis banged the gavel on the desk, and they all stood while the \u201cjudges\u201d left. JJ looked at the Internal Affairs rep that had sat next to him without making a sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you say anything?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCaptain Monroe started the inquest by telling us everything she did wrong. I had nothing to add.\u201d With that, the small man from Internal Affairs left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJJ,\u201d Monroe said. \u201cI know you thought this would be the end of my career\u2026hell, I<\/em> thought so, too. It seems we both ended up somewhere we didn\u2019t expect. If you\u2019ll show me a modicum of respect in Major Crimes, I\u2019ll do my best not to \u2018Helicopter Mom\u2019 you. I mean, if I don\u2019t respect you, neither will the detectives you\u2019re meant to be in charge of.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know about\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course I know. Just because I\u2019m a Captain\u2026Vice Chief now, doesn\u2019t mean I stop being a detective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JJ closed the folder and dropped it in the \u201cshred bin\u201d – the locked waste receptacle that was emptied into a shredder every day. \u201cI suppose you know I was planning to\u2026,\u201d he couldn\u2019t finish the sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know what you were planning, but I wasn\u2019t going to let you. If you did, you\u2019d be a pariah. If you\u2019ll throw your captain under the bus, how could your coworkers trust you? What kind of leader lets their people make themselves hated by their peers?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn other words, you were still being Captain Helicopter Momroe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She nodded. \u201cI was. To you, and Martina, and Kavin, and a few others who had some harsh words. Like I said, I\u2019ll ease up on you<\/em>, but not on anyone else. If I\u2019m to be Mom to Major Crimes, you\u2019re going to have to step up and be the dad.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JJ pursed his lips. \u201cBut I can be a cool dad, right? Like the one that lets them get away with stuff?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs long as it doesn\u2019t put them in harm\u2019s way, impact their job or go so far as to undermine your own authority, I don\u2019t see why not. Now get out of here and take the rest of the day,\u201d she looked at her watch, \u201call thirty minutes of it \u2014 off, Sergeant. I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll have a ton of paperwork to do in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, mom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExcuse me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was\u2026uh\u2026yes ma\u2019am with a British accent?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTry harder. See you in the morning, squad daddy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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