BANGIN' (Urban)

SIXTEEN

Detective Brenner scratched the spot where the bullet struck him, inches away from his left shoulder. The police issued bulletproof vest barely protected him from the shot. The impact sight was a little sore, but he could deal with it.

"This kind of negligence is exactly why I should pull you off of the case! You're not even listening to me," the captain slammed a hand on the table. Brenner snapped out of it and thought of his next words.

"Cap, I had to. It was good information and we had to act on it. Who knows when there would have been another chance to catch Wright in the act?"

He thought that his superiors would be happy about the work that he was doing, but this meeting had proved him completely wrong. "You were sloppy. Getting a team together in less than 3 hours meant it was doomed before the operation even started. Acting on a whim like that is not acceptable, and I won't have it in my precinct."

"But-"

"I don't need any backtalk from you. Five officers were shot and one was killed. And what's worse is that the bullet we pulled from his body was an LAPD standard-issue bullet. So while you all were aiming for Wright, you ended up shooting at each other! The media is gonna have a field day with this," the Captain rubbed his temples.

Milo felt sad for the family of the fallen officer, but he was still firm in his belief that it wasn't his fault. Why wasn't anyone trying to catch Braxton, when the only reason they were in that predicament was that there was a drug deal going on? Was anyone going to charge the actual criminal, or was Milo going to go down for it himself?

"We'll control it. It doesn't have to get out. Bottom line is, I need to keep chasing Wright. I have informants and we're getting closer every-"

"No. Put a cap on your investigation and pass your informant down to the DEA. You're off this case." No way was his hard work gonna just go on to the next overrun government agency, so his intel could sit on top of a desk piled high with cases. Brenner worked way too hard on this, just for it to go down the drain.

"Captain-"

"No! I am not discussing this." The captain's words shook the room, but Milo wasn't backing down. Surely he could get the old guy to see what a mistake he was making.

He shot to his feet, allowing the courage to fuel his plead. "With all due respect, you're gonna let me stay on this case. I'm gonna bring that bastard in and you know I am the only one who can do it. I will give you my badge and my gun if I fail, but there's no way I'm just gonna give up on this. Do you really want Officer Lopez's death to be in vain?"

Captain Lozano stared back at him relentlessly, but Brenner knew the mention of the fallen officer was enough to sway his decision. "Fine. Screw up again and I'll let Internal Affairs have you."

Milo straightened out his blazer, feeling victorious, and headed for the door. "And Brenner?" He doubled back. "Don't you ever speak to your Captain like that again." He nodded, hiding a sly smile, and left the stuffy office.

His partner, Detective Olivia Landry, was sitting smugly at her desk. As he walked towards her, she began to pretend as if she and the rest of the precinct had not just been snooping in on the heated conversation he just finished having.

"Everything okay?" Her fake concern made his ears itch, and he knew her true desire was for him to get in trouble. "I told you that last-minute sting was no good."

Landry did, in fact, tell him to call off the op, her reasoning being that there wasn't enough time for them to prepare. She was so against it, that she decided not to go. He and the team he put together spent less than an hour looking at the blueprint of the warehouse and coming up with a tactical plan.