Colt was obviously in charge of processing the SUV. All the doors stood open, and the forensics team assigned to their department was digging into their kits.
"Roger that. Derek and the perps?"
"Perps are in the wagon. Derek's heading down to the precinct with them. He'll sit on them until we get there."
Making sure their perps weren't “accidentally” released wasn't a joke. His father, the Hope City Police Commissioner, had made huge strides in rooting out the systemic corruption which had riddled the department as few as five years ago, but there were still those who “lost” paperwork for a few hundred dollars.
He made for the first door and entered the skanky smelling bar. His eyes adjusted to the darkened interior, and he headed toward the sound of voices. He entered the main seating area of the bar in time to hear his captain.
"What did you say?"
Oh hell, that couldn't be good. When Captain Terrell's voice got low and growled like that, he was one step away from flaying someone alive.
"What's up, Cap? You wanted to see me?"
His boss turned. Oh, hell yeah, he was pissed. The man's face was lobster red, and his jaw was tightly clenched.
"It seems the DEA is declining to share the bust even though my team effected the apprehension and saved their undercover agent's ass."
He walked forward, planted his feet shoulder width apart, and crossed his arms, as he glanced at the smug DEA agent who was pointedly ignoring his captain. "That so? Well, hell, if they don't want to share the collar, let's call off our team. Let DEA process the scene."
He turned his back on the agent and lowered his voice. "We've got the four perps from the alley. They were loaded with Uzis. This was a hit. They will have intel. If the DEA bastard wants to play it that way, let’s take the ancillary busts which have nothing to do with the drug deal. We can push this up the chain. The DEA will be persona non grata for years."
His captain released a huff of air. "Still stuck with one of the sons of bitches on my team. She'll feed info to her agency."
"Not if she doesn't have access to it. She can earn her wings and our trust like everyone else on the team."
"You know her. Do you trust her? She seemed to have her shit together in the van. Tore out of it when the runner darted." The captain turned his head and stared at him.
He sighed. "I don't know. Haven't seen her for ten years. I have no idea if I can trust her or not. The person I used to know? Yeah, I'd trust her, but..." He wasn't going to sell Amber down the river because of their personal relationship. He wasn't that type of person.
"But, like you said, you don't know her now."
He nodded.
"Follow me." His captain glowered at the DEA Agent. “Degrassi, you've got the scene."
The DEA agent whipped his head around to gape at them. "What?"
"Your scene. We're taking the four men we arrested. They aren't a part of this bust."
"No, they're mine." Degrassi put his hands on his hips.
"What are you charging them with?" He angled his head back to his boss.
"Whatever charges you've booked them on." Degrassi's forehead furrowed. The man resembled a Shar Pei dog with all the folds smooshed together.
Captain looked at him. "Are we charging them?"
"Nope." Brody rocked back on the heels of his well broken in combat boots. "They were in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Bullshit." Degrassi shook his head. "You're working an angle. I can feel it."
Captain Terrell lifted his radio and said, "Juliet One to all Juliet teams. DEA has the primary scene. Let's go home."
All movement around them ceased. "Your police commissioner guaranteed your assistance."
His captain shrugged, "You guaranteed him we'd be credited with a portion of the bust."
"That's fiction." Degrassi sneered.
"Really? That's not what the Commissioner told me when I saw him," Brody sneered right back.
"Right, the Police Commissioner happened to have the time to talk to a piece of shit sergeant."
Brody shoved his hands in his pockets so he wouldn't be inclined to deck the son of a bitch and let loose with a fake laugh. "That is so funny! Damn, I'll make sure to tell my dad you think I'm a piece of shit sergeant, and he can't trust the DEA."
The man looked from the captain to him, confused.
"Oh, sorry, I was late to the briefing, and we weren't introduced. King. Brody King." He saw the moment the DEA agent put two and two together.
Amber strolled into the bar, brushing off her black jeans. She stopped short and glanced between the three of them. "Degrassi, what's going on?"
The man didn't acknowledge her. The DEA agent's stare still focused on him.
"Degrassi here is saying the DEA will take full credit for the bust," Captain Terrell said, but didn't move.
"For this collar? Nope. It's fifty-fifty. That's what we were briefed at DEA headquarters, and that's what was relayed to your Police Commissioner." Amber glanced from Terrell to him to Degrassi.
"Oh, for fuck's sake, were you making a grab here, Degrassi?" Amber raised her phone and waved it at the man. "One call and you're doing support work on the coast of the Bering Sea. You've been warned about this shit before."
"There's no problem here. We're sharing credit." The man spun on his heel and stalked to the back of the room where three members of the JDET team and two of the DEA's people were certifying a count of money.
"He'll
