Love Knows No Boundry

Chapter 8 -- Hit the Ground Running

The days would be long. Four straight hours, lunch, then four more. There was a lot of information churned out. Next week the computer specialist would be there.

While the basic information could have been disbursed on screen, the hands on components were difficult to explain and comprehend. You could see the satellite map lay out, but when you came to a T-intersection or a blind alley way, you would have actually needed to have been there to know that there are two different doors side by side at a certain point, or the dumpster was actually attached to the building. I found out that that is why John Littleton from NOPD and I were there. We knew a lot about New Orleans especially the 'Quarter' with all of its little nooks and crannies.

What didn't help was that I was beginning to allow my evening interactions with Percy to distract me. Tuesday morning I finally had to call Tammy. We talked while I was on my lunch hour.

"Tammy it's like she's a different person, but the same. That sounds stupid doesn't it?"

"No not really LaSalle. I suspect she really wants to be honest and now she can because she knows that you will be gone in a week and you won't be there looking her in the face as she remembers those intimate things that she told you."

"I would just say keep listening. So what about you Christopher?"

"What?"

"What are you sharing" Don't you think that you need to start chipping at the truth too?

"What"

"About the other woman?"

"What about her?"

"Sonja said that she and your brother had talked a lot about Savannah but that he sees a difference in how you have talked about Sonja verse Savannah." She said that "he thought that you were in love with Savannah in the romantic way but that you seem to care about Sonja because of the job. How you two share life and death situations and have a 'family' to care for" Cade seems to think that "you are drawn to her selflessness."

"Yeah, I can see that Tammy. I know Sonja would give her life for me. That has caused me to want to be close to her because I feel safe around her."

"Okay LaSalle. Just put on your big boy pants here. Set daily goals for the 'train up' and don't allow your mind to wander like you do when you are on a stake out. Stay focused on the mission. Remember you are not just there to learn but you have knowledge that the others don't have. Remember how King calls this 'my city'. Well, New Orleans belongs just as much to you"

"Thanks Tammy, I knew that you could help."

I marvel as I finish my lunch and walk back to the conference room. We talk about NICS being a family. King was much firm with me when I went off the rails with three cases.

The first where I thought a Marine had been involved in a crime during Katrina only to have the case surrounding his murder to resurface after I joined NCIS. King took me to task on how I treated his widow. I was a different person when I worked there.

While he was sympathetic through Savanah's murder and the aftermath, he chastised me and my response of how I dealt with it by the sleeping around.

Then the Tucker time and how I snuck around keeping it a secret from both him and Percy.

Now here is Tammy. For weeks she kept my secret from King and Percy. She provided support encouraging me to do the right thing.

She never pressured me about Percy as I would have expected. I know how close they were and that Percy told her everything.

That brings us to now where she sees what's going on but realizes that I must stay focused on the current mission and what might happen.

Tammy was another one that I was wrong about. Even after she saved King and me from a sniper, I still doubted her.

I returned to the classroom totally focused. At the end of the day the senior trainer pulled me aside.

"You were of great help to me today La Salle. I'm ex-military and had to learn to be a 'beat cop'. Your experience in urban warfare allows you to see this mission from the streets. You were able to provide firsthand knowledge and experience how crime organizations plan, think and execute in a city. Thanks for being focused in there. Please continue to question and make comments about what we are trying to plan. We don't want any casualties on our side from failing to plan."

I walk out of the room know that I owed Gregorio big time.