Golden Shields ( Katy1008 & CrimsonMaster )

Evie looked from one of them to another, surprised by the fact that they didn't seem to be taking this seriously. She remembered how he Dad ranted about the man. She remembered how Steve was going to kill him. And then how James was going to make sure that no serious news organization would ever employ her. Now they seemed to be seeing the funny side of things. What was a little worrying was the fact that he was clearly still able to do now what he had done to each of them. Rusty placed the fifth of the freshly pulled beers on the bar, took the $20 and replaced I with a handful of coins. As Evie was about to pick up one, the programme returned. McBride centre screen with a picture of Evie behind him.

He started recapping her life - absent mother, father concerned with his career, brothers who resented a precocious child being foisted upon them.

"That's not true." Said James.

"None of its true." Her father joined in. And then came the 'former lover'. And with it some photographs... Tight t-shirt and shorts in one. A blue swimsuit in another.

"I have never been this guys lover."

"Of course you haven't. It's all bullshit." Said Tom. "You just have to deal with it"
 
Being a public figure, even a police officer often made one the target of those looking to further their own careers. Everything that Brent had done over the years was part of his plan to make him a network news star. If he was able to get the job he so much wanted. Brent would have new targets to keep his fame and he would soon forget about these people. This was a delusion of Brent's since none of the networks wanted anything to do with him. They had enough reports like Brent who spun the news into a twisted tail which looked nothing like the truth. Brent's report on Evie was just another pitiful try at some kind of wrapped stardom. Tom, Jack, Steve and James were all angered by how Brent was treating Evie, but they all knew it came with the job. Street cops don't usually get this kind of treatment. But high profile detectives which they all were, often suffered the slings and arrows that came with their praise.

Tom pointed out that Evie could sue McBride if she wanted. But that would change him, or undo what he has done. Each of Brent's verbal victims have thought about taking his ass to court, or beating the shit out of him, or even just killing the bastard. But in all honesty, they were better people then that. Tom gave Evie's thigh a gently pat with his left hand and raised his beer with his right. " You're a detective......And a damn good one.......Scum like Brent will always be around......You just need to get a tougher skin. " Tom said then he clanked his glass against Evie's.
 
Evie shook her head.

"If I sue him, even if I do win any damages, I will have given him 100 times the publicity he would ever have got from this." She waved her glass vaguely in the direction of the TV. "And I'm not going to give him that kind of stage. It's just annoying that he gets away with this kind of crap."

Tom and her Dad gave a vague shrug and nod of agreement. James was still watching the TV and half listening to the interview with alleged former college lover. He leaned in towards Steve and spoke to him, imitating a conspiratorial conversation but speaking loud enough for them all to hear.

"I remember this guy, don't you? He stayed over at the house a few times when Dad was on nights?" Steve fought a little to hide the smirk. Evie's head turned quickly, a completely stunned look on her face. Before she could say anything, Steve beat her to it.

"No no...that wasn't this guy. That was that jock...Martin... Played football." Evie's gaze shifted to Steve, still equally stunned.

"Noooo! The football player was Bill."

"You sure? I thought Bill was the guitar player." Evie suddenly realzed they were teasing her. She threw out a playful smack with the back of her hand against Steve's chest.

"HEY! Enough already. You're doing a bigger hatchet job on my character right now that McBride is." She looked at Tom and her Dad and put down her glass. "It's crap. There was no Martin or Bill, or a jock or a guitar player..." There was laughter in her voice and the guys were already chuckling. The humour lightened the atmosphere which was exactly what James had hoped would happen.

"There was that biker though..." James continued.

"Oh no no no...." Evie quickly reached out for James trying to put her and over his mouth. There was a mock struggle between them as James tried to keep talking and Evie continued to try and silence him; everyone laughing, McBride's report forgotten. Over the next couple hours the five of them had another beer and a lot of laughs each of them bringing up disastrous dates of one of the others. Even Jack and Tom talked about bad dates that they knew the other had had during the years they were partners. At a little before 11.00 just as they were finishing their last drinks, Tom's cell phone rang. He stood up and moved away from the table. When he returned, he wasn't smiling.

"There's been another rape. Our friend with the bibles!"

Evie stared at him. "They want us to attend? Now?" She picked up the glass effectively asing the question; how could they respond after they had been drinking?
 
The look on Tom's face was a solemn one as Evie asked her question. Tom nodded his head yes and said that this one was a bad one. Steve then spun around and asked if they could come along. Tom looked at Steve for a moment before saying okay. " Let's go.......My car is out front. " Tom walked ahead of the group and held the front door open for his closest friends. James climbed into the back as did Evie and Steve. Tom & Jack took the front, it was kinda like old times from riding in the same car again. There was no need for speed since the crime was long over. Tom placed the single red light on top of his car then pulled out. 15 minutes later, Tom pulled his car up to the crime scene and everyone left the car. It was a bit odd too see two Homicide Detectives, two Narcotics Detectives and a Vice Detective on the same scene at the same time. However, Jack was a Lieutenant, Steve was a Sergeant, James was almost a Sergeant and Evie & Tom were supposed to be there.

They all saw the bible which was inside of a large plastic evidence bag laying on the hood of a police car. The body was laying on the ground next too a car which had the front and rear driver's side doors open. One of the night time Detectives greeted Tom & Evie saying that he was sorry for bugging them at this hour. The Captain had asked for them to be brought here since they were heading up this investigation. The Detective then said that the rapist had moved up to murder. The Crime Scene Techs were already hard at work on the car. The Detective walked along with Tom, Evie and the others until they reached the body. He knelt down, pulled out his note pad then pulled the blanket away which was covering her body. " Our Vic is Miranda Osgood.......32......Mother of two who had been attending a zumba class at the dance studio around the corner.......The Perp attacked her around her car but no one saw it........He left another bible inside.......But this time he cut out her vagina and most of her uterus. " While the detective spoke, those body parts where sitting on the ground between the woman's bloody legs. Tom had scene a lot during his time on the force, they all had. Everyone was stunned by how brutal this attack was compared to his last attack. The coroner's team arrived to take the body down town.
 
Evie stood between Tom and her father as the detective first on the scene pulled back the blanket. The woman was a typical reasonably good looking woman. From the waist upwards, but for her colour and a small smear of blood above her right eye, it almost looked as if she were asleep. Below the waist however, was simple butchery. Each of the detectives reacted in a similar vein; a quiet expression of shock expressed in some form of expletive. Then silence. Evie felt her stomach turn. She had never been particularly squeamish (which with brothers like Steve and James and probably been a good thing; her main weakness was arachnophobia which they boys exploited mercilessly whenever they could) and whilst she knew she wasn't going to be sick, she felt the bile rising in her stomach.

"Was ..." Her voice cracked a little and she cleared her throat. "Was she alive when he started cutting?" The detective looked up at her and hesitated for a moment. He shook his head a little.

"We don't yet. ME will tell us that after the PM. I hope to God she was though."

She turned away and looked up at Tom. "We have to find this sick son of a bitch quick." Tom nodded. Evie looked back to the body as the detective covered the victim again. She thought for a moment and then looked at her watch, then to Tom.

"Wasn't Linda just coming out of a yoga class? Now this one... Miranda... On her way out of a Zumba class. Could there be some link there?"
 
It was possible that this man was picking his victims by stalking such places were women go. " That sounds very possible......But we can't cover all of the places in town where such classes are held. " Tom said then he added that he believed the way to find this was was the bibles. People like their rapist turned killer always make a mistake. In this case his calling card could be his undoing. Jack agreed that those unwrapped bible held the answer to who was committing these crimes. Tom asked Evie to call the publisher of those bibles for that list of customers first thing in the morning. " Sergeant Reed! " A detective called out as he came up to the group. He was holding in his hand a small evidence bag was was holding a small decorative piece of religious jewelry. It had a white background with a gold cross and a pair of angel's wings on ether side of the cross. The pin was about .75" in diameter and was the type worn on a coat or jacket. Tom told the detective to find out if that belonged to the victim. He then turned to Evie. " If it's not hers then will have to start checking jewelry stores tomorrow......Someone has to know where that came from. "

Tom and the others left the scene. He took everyone back to Malone's were they could pick up their cars and head home. It was now well after 12 am and everyone had a busy day ahead of them with their current cases. Tom returned to his place and just crashed on the couch. He never even tried to go down to his bedroom.
 
It was a depressing end to the evening. Five friends...one family... A few hours before they had been laughing and joking over a few drinks in their favourite bar. Now everyone of them went home alone, thinking about the same things. What they had seen. What kind of man this had to be. That somewhere in the city a family was being told that their wife and mother and daughter and sister had been brutally killed and the police had almost nothing.

Evie went home and made tea, thinking through what they needed to do in he morning. But they were wasting time. She thought about it, dismissed it, then thought about it again. She wasn't going to get any sleep anyway. She showered and changed and headed back to work, getting there about 3.00am. She could at least start going through the list of bible suppliers and look at both victims...see if there was anything that connected them.
 
Tom did get a few hours sleep. He rose around 4:30 am, showered, shaved, dressed and headed for the station. By the time he arrived at the station, Evie had been there and was already hard at work. There wasn't anyone who could say that Evie wasn't detected to doing her job. But Tom was a little worried that being so into a case could burn Evie out before she was 30. Even cops need to rest during a case, no matter how hard that case maybe. " Early bird gets the worm? " Tom asked as he sat down at his desk. He placed a large fresh coffee on Evie's desk which he had picked up on his way in. " What have you found so far? " Tom asked as he fired up his computer. Evie explained what she had been up to since she came into work.

It wasn't long before a uniformed officer came in and dropped off the coroner's report about last nights victim. The coroner said that before Miranda had been cut up, she was sexually assaulted. Some of the attackers semen was still coating her vagina. He received a call from the crime lab saying that they found a partial print on the pin, but no match had been found yet.
 
Evie looked up as the coffee cup appeared on the desk. She smiled a little, and then leaned back heavily in her chair. She sighed and shook her head, reaching out for the coffee.

"Not a damn thing." She took a sip of the coffee. "Thanks for this." She sat back up and picked up a handful of scrappy papers. "Do you know how many places in this City buy bibles? You wouldn't have thought that there's much repeat trade in bibles but my god... There are hundreds." She drew her hand Cross her face. "Where the hell do we start?"
 
Tom had been hoping for a single name that would stand out among the businesses that order bibles. But perhaps the list would still yield the answer he was hoping for. Tom passed the coroner's report over to Evie once his desk phone started to ring. This gave her the chance too read over the details while Tom talked with the LAPD Crime Lab. Tom was still on the phone with the lab techs when another uniformed officer brought the pin that was found in Miranda's car. Along with the pin was a report from the night shift detectives who questioned Miranda's husband about the pin and found that it didn't belong too her. Tom hung up the phone while telling Evie about the partial print and that the lab techs were trying to track it down. He then picked up the report from last night. Tom's eyes scanned over the single page then he placed the pin up from his desk. " Why don't we start with this. " Tom said as tossed the pin acrossed the desks over to Evie.

" We can start by checking out jewelry stores around town. " There were a lot of jewelry stores in Los Angeles. But Tom was sure that someone would know something about the pin. Since it didn't come from Miranda, it had to be left behind by the killer. Unlike the bibles, Tom felt that the killer had no idea that this was left behind. " Let's hit the streets and see what we can dig up. " Tom rose from his chain and walked around joining Evie behind hers. They quickly left the station and since it was Evie's turn to drive, they went too her car.
 
As they walked to the garage, Evie inspected the pin, rolling it and twisting it in her fingers.

"You know.... I don't think this is jewellery. Not in the sense that it would be sold in your typical downtown store. I don't think this is the kind of thing you can just walk in and buy." She stopped at the top of a flight of stairs as Tom carried on for a few steps. When he stopped and turned around, realizing she wasn't with him anymore, he was looking up at her.

"I think we should hit the churches... religious groups. I think this..." She held it up between her thumb and forefinger. "... is some kind of membership pin or campaign pin... I think the symbol might indicate a particular organization... If that's the case then one of the churches is probably going to be able to tell us which one and where they're based."
 
Tom's thoughts on the jewelry stores was too see if anyone knew who wore such pins. While it was true that they wouldn't sell such an item, someone would most likely know how to find those who did. Evie's suggestion about checking the churches and religious groups was a good idea, but Los Angeles had almost as many churches and groups as it did jewelry stores. Tom placed his arm over Evie's shoulders, not in anyway sexual, just as a sign of friendship. He walked with her down to the garage while saying that they should pay a visit to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. There they could speak with Archbishop of Los Angeles, Jose Horacio Gomez. With his help, it was possible to at least remove the Catholic Churches from the list and he could possibly point them in the right direction.

The drive from downtown wasn't a long one and soon Evie was pulling her car into the parking lot of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Tom called ahead and was granted a meeting with Father John Francis Manning, assistant to the Archbishop. The Archbishop was currently out of town and wouldn't be back for a few days. Tom & Evie were met by a Nun who took them too Father Manning's office. Upon entering the office, Tom & Evie showed their badges and ID's. Tom then asked what Father Manning could tell them about this religious item which Evie placed on his desk. Father Manning put his glasses on then picked the pin up. He nodded his head a few times before saying that this pin is worn by those who work at the Monastery of Angels. It was a large church which sat up on the hill over looking the city. This same hill was very famous since the Hollywood sign wasn't far from the monastery. Tom knew about this place. The sisters who worked & lived there were famous for making pumpkin bread. Father Manning was concerned that someone at the monastery could be involved with these brutal crimes. Tom told Father Manning that it was to early to say whether this pin belonged to the man committing the crimes. This of course was just to ease the Priest's mind. Tom did believe that the rapist turned murderer had dropped this. Tom thanked Father Manning for his help, he & Evie then left the office. " Let's pay a visit to the monastery.....And have a look around. " Tom said as he stashed the pin into his coat pocket.
 
The Monastery wasn't large, built from white stone and surrounded by a black iron-railed fence. It was dominated by a square white tower, arched windows at the highest point and a large white cross on the pinnacle of the roof. Evie pulled up the car on the road outside. Full access to the Monastery was not going to be easy and the Nuns who spent their lives there were enclosed from the outside world; a grille always separated them from any vistors.

The gift shop was the easiest place to access. Possibly in any other place in the City, the two of them would have been spotted as cops within a matter of seconds. Maybe in the gift shop of a Monastery they might appear just like a couple of tourists. Evie and Tom wandered slowly around the shop and then Evie noticed them. She stopped for a moment and then looked at Tom and nodded slightly in the direction of a couple of low level shelves along the one side of the room. Above them were cards and pictures but just above the floor was a row of individually sealed bibles. Exactly the same as the one which had been recovered from each crime scene.
 
A young lady was working behind the counter which held those wrapped bibles. She wasn't one of the Nuns, but a civilian who worked for the church. Tom began to approach the counter where the young lady stood. He saw that she was wearing the same pin which he had in his coat pocket. At least Evie idea of checking out the churches had paid off. You could probably find those wrapped bibles in a hundred place around town, but those pins were made special for here. Tom's cell phone started to ring just as he was going to speak with the young lady. He moved away from the counter to take the call while Evie would speak with the girl at the counter.

On the other end of Tom's phone was the LAPD Crime Lab. They had some good news and some bad news. The bad news was, there wasn't enough of a print on that pin to make any kind of match. The good news was, they had found some chemicals on the pin. Those chemicals were fertilizer along with Ammoniacal Nitrogen, Urea Nitrogen, Phosphate, Soluble Potash, Boron, Copper, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum, and Zinc. When Tom asked what all that meant, he was told that it plant food, or what makes up plant food. Tom had noticed the wonderful rose bushes around the monastery and a garden where fresh vegetables were grown. After hanging up from that call, a second call came in. It was dispatch telling Tom that a body had been found in the parking lot of a super market about 5 blocks from where he & Evie were. Tom had to interrupt Evie's talk with the young lady. He whispered in Evie's ear about a body being found 5 blocks away. Tom told Evie that they should go and check it out.
 
Evie looked at Tom as his phone started to ring. She watched him step away and as he answered, she tried to pick up at least part of his conversation whilst she turned and smiled at the young woman. She decided not to announce who they were at that moment. She picked up a small gift card and bought it. As the woman put it in a bag for her, Evie pretended to notice the pin. She commented on how pretty it was and asked whether she could buy one. The woman thanked her but told her they weren't for sale; it was only given to members of the order and the people who worked at the monastery. Evie then commented that that old make them quite rare...unusual and she asked how many people worked and lived at the monastery. He told her there were 35 nuns and another 6 staff including herself, some kitchen staff and a groundsman who looked after the gardens.

At that moment Tom came back and old her they needed to leave. Evie thanked the woman and said goodbye. On the way to the new scene Evie let Tom know what she had found out.
 
Evie's info on those pins was helpful. It was good too know that just anyone could buy one from the gift shop. They left the monastery using the twisting and turning road which led down to the main road. Once on the main road, Tom saw a city bus had stopped and a young man wearing a tan colored jacket and LA Dodgers cap getting off. The bus stop was just at the bottom of the hill from the monastery. Evie drove on until they reached the site of the reported dead body. A uniformed officer came up once Tom & Evie exited her car. He informed the detectives that the victim was 46 year Greta Downs. The officer walked with Tom & Evie over to wear the victim's car was parked. He told them that Greta had been shopping at the market. Greta was then forced into her car after leaving the market. Signs of a struggle were clearly visible in the car. Small white pills were tossed all over the front part of the floor. The officer then showed the detectives the pill bottle. Those white pills were nitro pills that Greta used for a heart condition. There were no signs of rape or trauma to the body , but a $10.00 bill laid on the passenger side floor. There was also a new wrapped bible laying on the seat in the back of the car. This was pointed out by the officer.

Tom asked if there were any witnesses, the officer replied yes and pointed to a group of 6 people who had seen the man running away from where the assault took place. The uniformed officers had already taken down their statements. Tom look at what was written. Each person saw the same man. Tom passed the description over too Evie so she could see it. White male, in his early to mid 20's. Blonde hair covered with an LA Dodgers baseball cap. Wearing blue jeans and a tan colored jacket. " Sounds like our man......And we just saw him getting off that bus a few block away at the Monastery. " Tom watched as Evie handed the notes back to the officer. " Lets head back to that Monastery and see if we can't wrap this case up. " Tom said to Evie as he started for her car.
 
Evie followed Tom and climbed into the car. As they made their way back up the hill to the monastery, Evie was thinking. Finally, she cast a look across to Tom.

"That's a very different victimology you know. She was a lot older than the first two. No sexual assault. No evidence that the assailant had a knife. And what's with the $10? The bible is the only thing that's the same. Do you think he made a mistake? Didn't realise her age or that she had a weak heart? It couldn't be someone else could it? A partner?" She pulled the car back into the same space she was in before.

"Are we announcing ourselves this time?"
 
Tom didn't think that the suspect made a mistake, nor did he think that there was a partner. He felt that the suspect just grabbed Greta, forced her into the car and during the struggle, Greta had a heart attack. It was obvious from how the pills were scattered about the floor that Greta tried to take her pills, but the suspect must have stopped her. From the visual inspection, Tom saw the Greta's purse was open and her wallet was out on the seat. Tom made it clear that this time they were announcing who they were. He told Evie about the young man getting off of a city bus at the stop just below the monastery. It was the same man seen by the witnesses at the crime scene. As Evie & Tom reached the top of the where the monastery was, they saw a old yellow bus parked along the side of the main building. Nuns were already starting to board the bus for a day trip. Once Evie parked her car, Tom climb out tell her to be sharp. There suspect was around here somewhere, Tom was sure of it. Tom spotted a young dark haired Priest walking out of the doors to the gift shop. " Father!?.......Can I have a word with you please!? " Tom called out as he started walking towards the priest. He pulled out his badge & ID announcing himself and Evie as police officer.

Father Garcia smiled agreeing to help try and be of some service. Tom pulled the sketch made of the suspect from the first attack. Father Garcia looked at the picture and started to shake his head. " This is our grounds keeper......Dillon Haynes. " Father Garcia was puzzled as to what was going on and his voice echoed that. Tom then told Father Garcia about the attacks and why he and Evie were there. He then asked Father Garcia were their grounds keeper was at this moment. Father Garcia said most likely in his room on the other side of the building, or the gardeners shack out behind the monastery. Tom thanked the priest then he looked at Evie. " Lets go. "

Tom took the lead walking around the monastery to where the Nuns were board the bus. Just beyond the door where the Nuns were slowly exiting from was a door marked Ground Keepers Quarters. Tom walked up to the door then stepped to the right side. He motioned for Evie to step over to the left. " Dillon Haynes!.......Open up!......It's the police! " Tom yelled out as he pounded on the door with his fist. It was quiet for a moment, then there was the sounds of shuffling coming from inside the room. Just as Tom was reaching out to pound on the door again, two shots ripped through the door. Tom yanked his hand away as the bullets whizzed between him and Evie. " You okay? " Tom asked Evie as he pulled his Desert Eagle. " On 3........1........2........3! " Tom moved away from the wall and kicked the door in. He rushed into the room his weapon ready to fire. On a desk beside the door was an open journal which Dillon was using to write down his dark thoughts. This journal detailed each of Dillon's attacks in his own words. Just above the journal on the desk was a 12 inch butcher knife with dried blood still on the handle. A box with new wrapped bibles was sitting beside the desk next to the wall. " He must have slipped out the back! "

Moments after Tom & Evie entered the room, a news van pulled up outside and Brent McBride jumped out with his cameraman. McBride saw a young man come running around from behind the building then he spotted Tom & Evie. " There they are!........Get the camera rolling....We don't wanna miss any action! " Brent ordered his cameraman then they took off running towards Tom & Evie. Most of the Nuns were on the bus by this time. The driver was just walking up to the bus when Tom spotted Dillon. " Dillon Haynes!.......LAPD!.......Stop where you are! " Tom yelled out as Dillon turned and fired 2 more shots from his .38 revolver at the detectives. Tom & Evie had to duck, but couldn't return fire since a bus load of nuns were right behind Haynes. Dillon then slugged the driver sending him to the ground. He then jumped onto the bus and behind the diver's seat.

Tom got too his feet just as Brent McBride came running up. " Sergeant Reed?.........What will you do now that he has hostages? " The smug reporter asked just as the bus pulled out. Tom blew passed McBride without saying a word. He did yell for Evie to call for backup as he started down the embankment. The road leading to the monastery twisted it's way down to the main road. Tom knew that the bus would have to travel slowly and it would pass just below where he was now heading. He stopped just as the bus rounded the first turn and started moving forward. Tom stood about 15 feet above the road as the bus approached. He hoped like hell that Evie was in her car and had called for backup. They had to get that room sealed off for the Crime Scene Techs. Tom waited until the bus was just below him, then he jumped onto the roof.

Dillon heard the thud on the roof of the bus. He stared to jerk the wheel hard right, then hard left trying to shake Tom off. Tom was able to hold on since the bus had a large roof rack which covered most of it's top. Still, Dillon was doing his best to shake Tom from the bus. He hit the next turn hard and the one after that even harder. The bus almost flipped over, but managed to stay up right. Once Dillon hit the main road, he fired 2 more shots from his .38 through the roof. With six shots fried from the revolver, Tom knew that Dillon was out. He moved towards the front part of the bus and hanging over the side, Tom started kicking at the door. Evie was close behind with light & siren going and McBride was behind her filming the action. Tom was able to force the side door open and he swung inside. He and Dillon started to fight for control over the bus as the Nuns were praying. Tom gave Dillon a backhand acrossed the face then he turned the steering wheel hard right which made the bus skid. He then jammed his foot down on the breaks bring the old bus to a halt. Dillon recovered and pulled a hunting knife from his boot. He took a swipe at Tom who was able to jump back. Dillon then charged at Tom which took both men out of the side door. They hit the pavement just in front of Evie's car struggling for the weapon.
 
Evie couldn't do anything except watch as Reed seemed to decide that he didn't need a partner anymore; watching as he began to chase the rear of the bus. She hesitated for a moment, looked across in the direction of Haynes' room. Was she supposed to stay there and protect the crime scene or follow her partner and leave it exposed to the likes of McBride or just members of the public. She climbed in the car and as she threw it into gear and hit the gas, she picked up the radio and called it in just like Reed had said. She followed the bus, not able to see what was happening inside. There didn't seem to be much movement other than passengers moving left then right then left again as the bus made its way down the hill. Then she saw Reed and she swore out loud. She had no choice but to watch him hanging on, watch the passengers move even more violently. She was helpless to do anything other than watch. She was almost as much of a passenger in this as the nuns were. On the outside.

When the bus stopped and the two men tumbled out, Evie slammed the brakes on hard making them squeal and leaving two parallel black lines down the concrete of the road. As the car finally came to a stop inches in front of where both men were, she jumped out and moved around the front of the car.

"Dillon. Don't move. Don't even think about moving."

She stood there, her weapon pointed straight at Dillon's head. Dillon stopped and Reed pulled out his cuffs and secured Dillon's wrists together in the small of his back. Evie holstered her weapon and glared at Reed

"Well that was fucking stupid. Were you trying to stop him or kill yourself... or didn't it really matter which? The nuns were the one group of women he wasn't going to hurt.... except by crashing the damn bus. I'm sure it looked good for McBride though." She wasn't shouting which surprised her a little in light of the adrenilin that was pumping through her veins at that moment. She shook her head. "I better get back up there and secure the scene, although who knows who's been in and out of there by now?" She turned around and climbed back in her own car, turned it around in the road, narrowly avoiding McBride as he made his way towards Reed and Haynes, the cameraman on his heels.

She drove back up to the monastery and headed for Haynes' room. There would be no way of telling whether anyone had been in here. The bibles were still there; the journal; the knife. It was probably going to be fine... but that wasn't the point.
 
Tom was taken by surprise at the way Evie had acted once Dillon had been placed under arrest. He just stood there listening too Evie go off, then he watched her leave. Tom had stopped a dangerous man, he thought that she would have been happy about that. There was no way of knowing what Dillon would have done to those Nuns. Certainly Tom couldn't know what Dillon's plans were. Tom just acted in the way that he saw fit to do. Evie didn't seem to understand that it's not that Tom didn't need a partner anymore. It was that he was trying to save lives and if that meant giving up his life then so be it. The crime scene was safe, Dillon was stopped and yes, McBride had some great action too show on that evening's news because he followed Tom & Evie instead of hanging around the monastery.

Tom stayed with Dillon until back up arrived. Other uniformed officer would make sure that the Nuns returned to the monastery while Tom with the help of a black n white took Dillon downtown. The crime scene techs came to the monastery and took control of the scene. Once back at the station, Tom booked Dillon for rape, murder, assault with a deadly weapon and robbery. The crime scene techs found money in Dillon's room with dried blood on them which would match Miranda Osgood's blood. His journal would tell everyone that Dillon was insane.

Not long after Tom was done booking Dillon, he was called to the Captain's office. He left the squad room and headed upstairs to Captain MacDonald's office. The Captain told Tom about a new division which he wanted to start. It was really more of a special task force then a division like Robbery/Homicide was. This special task force would be called the Major Crimes Unit, or MCU. The Captain wanted Tom to head up this new unit as it's Lieutenant. This was a shock too Tom, but one he gladly took. Tom then asked how many people would be under his command? The Captain said that the unit needed to be small and would only take the harder cases. Captain MacDonald suggested 4 others besides Tom. These others would be volunteers from with in the department. Tom would then pick from those who volunteered. The people he picked would then become part of his new special crime unit. This meeting went on for some time. The day shift had by now come to an end and so did Evie's last day on probation. She was a full detective now and had all the privileges that came with the title.

By the time that Evie returned too her desk. She would find her evaluation form signed by Tom. This stated that she had properly passed her probationary period and was now a full detective. Evie would also find a card signed by everyone who worked the day & night shift in Robbery/Homicide welcoming her as one of the gang.
 
Once the Techs were on the scene, Evie handed control over and then climbed back in her car. She drove down the hill, past the bus which now had its own crime scene techs surrounding it. McBride was gone, no doubt editing his piece for the 6 o'clock news. In all probability, he might get his piece on the national bulletin this evening. There was no sign of Tom and Evie assumed that he must have gone back in a black and white.

An hour later she was back at her desk. The duty sergeant confirmed that Dillon had been processed and that Reed had been called to the Captain's office. Maybe McBride wanted a full interview? Evie got herself a coffee and made her way back to her desk. She found Reed's evaluation, the confirmation of rank and the card. She started to smile as there was a round of applause, a few pats on the back and a few handshakes. Steve and James had obviously been called by someone once she had walked in the office so they had each given her a hug. Steve asked her if she had decided what she was going to put in for and she shook her head, saying she was quite happy where she was at the moment. Jack also paid a visit and after he had thrown in his own congratulations, as well as some comment about Reed clearly not knowing what he was talking about when it came to evaluations, he got everybody back to work with the promise of Malone's later when his daughter would buy everyone a drink. Evie laughed and shook her head as she sat down and started writing her own report.
 
The party didn't end when the other members of the Taylor Family left the Homicide Squad Room, there was still one other detail that needed taken care of. Detectives Webb & Pierce came up too Evie, one on ether side of her desk. Webb placed a small jewelry box on the desk in front of Evie. He said that everyone who worked Robbery/Homicide on both the day and night shifts chipped in and bought this for Evie. Inside the small box was a solid brass charm made too look like a cupcake. " I know we've given you a rough time over the past 6 months......But it was never personal......You're one hell of a cop Evie.......I really mean that. " Webb then offered his hand for Evie to shake. Pierce also echoed his partner's statement about Evie. " Anyone of us would be proud to have you as a partner Evie. " Pierce said as his hand was held out waiting for the chance to shake Evie's.

Tom was still in the Captain's Office going over the details of his new command. He leaned that the Governor was granting everyone who worked on the new LAPD MCU Task Force the power to make arrests anywhere in the state of California. He didn't want to be out done by the Governor of Hawaii and his Five-O Task Force. The MCU would work closely with local, county and state authorities, but have the freedom to go anywhere and make the arrests when needed. This kind of freedom wasn't normally given to the police, but bragging rights were in play here and California's Governor didn't want his state playing second to anyone else.
 
Evie looked up at Webb then across to Pierce. She couldn't deny she was suspicious. Her gaze followed Webb's hand as he placed the box on the desk in front of her. She looked back up to each of them then back to the box. She opened it and couldn't help but smile. She stood up and shook his proffered hand and then did the same with Pierce. But she still wasn't sure. This was a pretty dramatic turnaround and these two were good friends with McCaffrey. She had no doubt that he would have provided them with plenty of details. But she said nothing except thank you and then sat herself bak down to continue the paperwork.
 
The end of the day came and with it, went the work week. Tom had sent word down to Evie that he was still tied up in the Captain's Office and would be so a little longer. He promised her details of what was going on later at Malone's. Meanwhile....Webb & Pierce were working out their on plans for a party with the departments favorite sex kitten, which is what they thought of Evie. Being a Friday night, the Taylor gang could stay out longer. This would be a special day for the family since James had received his promotion to Sergeant. Once Tom arrived, he would add to that with his news. Evie would be free to go once her report was finished and placed on Tom's desk.
 
Once she had gotten word that Reed was going to delayed, and once she had heard of James' promotion, she took fifteen minutes and visited the drugs squad's 'quarters'. They were in the throws of their own muted celebration. Her dad was complaining at the fact that this was the second time he'd had to make the trip to this side of the building, but in truth of course it was one of his genuine red letter days beaten by very few in his life which had gone before.

Between them - the officers from the Drugs Squad who were just finishing their shift and the Taylor's - they agreed that they would meet up at Malone's from 6pm. Evie headed back to RobberyHomicide and told them of the time. She finished up writing her report, filed it and then shut down her computer. In the end she headed for Malone's with a small group from robbery/homicide including Webb and Pierce who were being very nice to her.
 
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