Schism

Chapter 4 part 2

Bryan let them all pass out of earshot.  He reached out, rested fingers on the lower desk drawer handle and stopped to check his watch, to burn the time into his mind.  He allowed himself to look at the picture once an hour, though he knew he should switch to every two hours.  With a slight tug, the drawer slid open. 

The glare from the overhead lights obscured Claire's face and Bryan reached in to tilt the framed photo.  The last photo he had.  The glare slid away and he saw her deep red hair, contrasted against the baby's thin brown hair.  Both smiled up at him.  It had been a trip to the park.  Just a snapshot that had turned out to be worth framing and putting on his desk.  Every other photo, the albums and boxes of them in their apartment, every file on his old computer, had burned in the fire.

It took four deep breaths for Bryan to close the drawer.  One hour, he could look again.  He forced his focus to the sticky note.  "Gotta get the bad guy."

He stood and walked to the Lieutenant's office. 

"What?"  Hayes answered the knock.

Bryan leaned in.  "You left a note."

"Bryan."  Hayes' voice softened annoyingly.  "Come on in."  The Lieutenant, sized like an NFL noseguard whose bulk had been pulled to his waist by a desk job, leaned elbows on his desk.  "How are you doing?"

Bryan tried to tamp down his temper.  It wouldn't do much good with Hayes, hadn't in the past.  "Great.  You want an update on the missing mental patient?"

"Just wanted to make sure everything was going okay," Hayes said.

Bryan tried to think up a straight answer.  "I've got the lightest load in the department and I get a cake case like this.  Not even a homicide case.  How could I be anything but great?"

Hayes simply stared back.  Bryan knew some half-wit department psychologist had told the Lieutenant to go easy on him.

"I want on the arson task force," Bryan said.

"Don't start."  Hayes finally leaned back, dropped the caring, concerned look.

"You put the rookie, Dieterly, on it?  When you know I don't have a single real case open."  Bryan tried to keep his temper down, but he felt his emotions begin to reach up and overwhelm the rational part of his mind.

"You're never going to get on it.  Just drop it."

"They can't handle it."  Bryan said.

Hayes shook his head.  "Shut it.  Nichols and Meyers are good police."

"They're just looking for one perp.  There are two.  The M.O.s are different."

"And how would you know that?"  Hayes asked.

"Your briefings.  Everybody knows all about it.  My fire, the other two big fires, there were no traces of triggers, accelerants, nothing."

Hayes filled the air with a sigh.  "You know those fires burned hotter.  They didn't leave enough evidence behind." 

Bryan rubbed his eyes at the Lieutenant's stonewalling.  "Fine.  Bigger and hotter.  That still sets them apart from the other fires.  The skinheads left plenty of firebomb evidence at all of those."

Hayes held up a platter sized hand.  "Stop.  We're not looking at those as hate crimes yet."

"Because you don't think so, or because the D.A. can't comprehend that the victims are always black, Latino or Asian?" Bryan asked.

No answer.

Bryan watched his lieutenant stare back.  He knew what Hayes would say if he could.  If he didn't have the department's priorities dictated to him by higher ups.  Bryan tried to drop it, to stay quiet, but his frustration with not being able to do his job, the one thing he needed, was too much to hold back.  "How many more fires?  How many more people have to die?  Let me in on it."

Hayes rose, towered above Bryan.  Every trace of sympathy and gentleness was gone.  "Til you turn black, til you know one god damn thing about anything, don't you ever bring up hate crimes to me again."  The man blew out a loud breath, but didn't seem to calm down.  "You think I have time for your whiney ass shit, Mickelson?  You think I don't know there's some group of racist assholes starting to torch the city?  You think I don't worry about my own god-damned family getting burned to death by those stupid bastards?  You think my hands aren't tied by an idiot D.A. who'd waffle if they burned a cross and swastika on the precinct doorstep?  You think I don't know it's gonna get worse?" 

Bryan let the anger wash over him.  The honest treatment from Hayes enabled him to finally swallow back a smart-assed answer.  Instead, he let Hayes' words sink in.  His lieutenant knew there was a racist group in the area, one that was responsible for the small fires at least.  He hoped there was somehow a connection to the bigger ones, but knew that was a long shot.  There had been nearly a dozen of the small fires in just the last few months, all of their targets minorities.  There had only been three of the large ones, none of them recent.  Any connection was doubtful, but Bryan would dig into any evidence of a link.  He kept silent and waited, but Hayes' anger was still on high.

"That's right.  Shut it.  You know damn well I am never going to put your ass on that case.  And if I catch you digging into it again, I'll send you for another psych exam.  And after that last one, you'll be gone."

Bryan rose and walked to the door.  Still, two years later, Hayes didn't think he could handle the grief.  What could he do to change the man's mind?  The work was what made him able to handle it.  "I was doing the work.  Look at the files," he said.

Hayes leaned back a degree.  "You were doing twenty hour days, Bryan.  Using the work as a distraction and wearing yourself down.  I know you can do the work.  I don't know if you can do the work without killing yourself."

Bryan could only stand there.

"Just do this case.  Show me you're not sliding downhill, then we'll talk."

Bryan nodded back, hand on the doorknob.

"And don't leave.  Our wonderful D.A. is doing pep talks in every department.  Should be here soon and I wouldn't want you to miss it."

 *

(Author's note:  I hate to play favorites, but Hayes is one of the characters I like the most.  But...do you think he's safe with a bad guy like Jared around?  Stay tuned to find out what happens and to see what clues Bryan digs up about William!)