2020-08-08 - Some Cops Aren't Meant To Be Crooked

When the case of AKs had shown up in Esme's apartment she'd been, well, shocked to say the least. And highly suspicious. But she'd donned a pair of gloves and examined the USB drive first. Well, it wasn't a threat or anything it was...evidence. Potentially. Of the origin of the AKs it seemed. So whomever this was, hopefully was on her side. She had a suspicion on who it might be but, would wait and see.

In addition to the guns had been money. Five hundred dollars. Unmarked, small demoninations, legal as far as she could tell. But, it was probably still dirty money. Even so, she'd kept it on impulse before turning the case and video evidence over to Cecil in Forensics to also examine. The money would be useful. Things were tight with her mom gone and trying to make sure her dad was taken care of up in Seattle.

But the guilt of keeping the money didn't waste much time in causing her to lose some sleep at night. So, she figured it was time to talk to Ruiz. She had the money with her, stowed in the pocket of her jacket when she entered into his office. "Hey Chief, you have a minute?" She rarely ever bothered him unless she felt it was absolutely necessary.

He's still not accustomed to being referred to as anything but captain. Or jefe by a couple of the younger guys, on occasion. So the relatively unfamiliar voice calling him out as Chief is met with a moment's pause, and then a tick of dark eyes from the man bent over his laptop. His office is a tiny affair; he hasn't bothered moving, despite being offered something substantially larger. A filing cabinet is jammed in behind his desk, and a tiny window overlooks the police impound lot at the back of the building. Next to his laptop, a stack of unfinished paperwork and an empty coffee mug.

The captain's in civilian clothing today; a dark tee shirt and jeans, leather jacket slung across the back of his chair, tattoos scrawled up fairly well-built arms, and he looks like he hasn't been sleeping too well. "Officer Wilkinson," he greets after a moment or three. "Sure. Sure. You, uh, can have a seat if you like." He tips his chin toward the only chair in the room, opposite his desk. "Heard you brought in Hallisey, by the way. He giving you anything to go on?"

Esme walks further in to the office, closing the door before settling into the seat. An annoyed look crosses her face at the mention of Hallisey but she shakes her head. "Not yet, but I spoke with the Control Pad owner and she gave me her security footage which pins him at the scene with Liu trying to shake her down prior to the fire. Still not sure who it was they were trying to look for but she didn't recognize whomever it was." A beat of pause and then she shook her head. "Anyway. That, plus his practical admission, plus if Cecil can work his magic and get me prints off that gas can...hopefully it'll be enough to convince him to talk." She ran a hand over her face. "But. There's something else."

She sits up a bit more. "When I got home a couple night ago there was a black case on my kitchen table. Inside was a usb drive with video footage of a gun deal going bad. But also...the guns and clips and some money. AKs." Esme looked ever so slightly concerned. "The case was wiped down on the outside but the inside wasn't so. I have my suspicions about who it was that delivered it and I'm hoping it's them and not one of our new friends. I delivered the case to Cecil too to comb over the next morning."

Ruiz pushes some of the paperwork aside as Esme claims the offered chair. His laptop is clicked shut, too, and he eases back in his seat, hands clasped across his stomach as he listens to what the younger woman has to say. "Ms. Machinae?" he supplies after a moment, brows furrowed. "Yeah, I talked with her as well." He did a little more than talk, but that's maybe beside the point. A desk drawer is tugged open, and a thumb drive is withdrawn, and slid across the table to Esme as she continues.

And then he pauses at the something else, and his jaw hardens slightly. "Okay," he replies, slow, voice edged with caution. "What about the guns and the money?"

"So I heard." Esme nodded when Ruiz mentioned talking with Abitha. She looked to the thumb drive and considered it before sliding it closer to herself and into her left pocket. "The guns are with him too. To check also for prints." And here, she looks a little guilty. She's a good cop. She's never once done something that could jeopardize a case or her reputation. Even if it meant the bad guy got off on a technicality. Yeah, those losses hurt but at least she still had her pride. She reaches into her right pocket and produces the folded stack of rubber banded bills and sets it where the thumb drive had been moments before. "$500 dollars. Legit, unmarked, small denominations. I...had a moment of weakness. But it's all there."

No response to that. So I heard. Just a twinge of something at the corners of his eyes, and he continues to watch her carefully, in that way that he has. Like a hunter sizing her up, trying to suss out whether she's a fellow predator, or quarry. His eyes don't leave hers, even as she's reaching into her pocket for the stack of cash. He knows what comes next, and there's no particular look of surprise on his face when it happens. Something else, though; something too fleeting, perhaps, to quantify.

Then with a weary-sounding sigh, he pushes out of his backwards lean, and starts thumbing through the stack of bills. Counting it out, making sure it's all there according to the number she gave him. A baggie is produced from the same desk drawer as the thumb drive, and a post it note, and a pen. The latter takes a couple of tries; the first one he grabs isn't working.

"Detective," he murmurs as he writes, finally relinquishing her from his stare. "I want you to know that we're being put in about the worst situation possible right now. And it's going to tempt us to make some very bad decisions. It's going to tempt the best of us." The money's shoved into the baggie, and it's zipped shut.

Esme's dealt with all sorts of people during her time on the force. Cops and crooks alike. She doesn't like that look he's giving her, but she holds her own pretty well. Maintaining eye contact if he makes it, but otherwise being quiet while she watches him eventually sigh and produce that baggie. When he looks away, she lowers her gaze as well, focusing on the table. She drew in a soft breath and nodded. "I know it isn't looking good. And that the odds are all stacked against us." Lifting her eyes back towards him as he puts the money away into the baggie. "I'm going to be better. I can't...I can't be doing this stuff. I know that. It starts with pocket change and then. Well. Once they have something on you, it's hard to get out." She's seen it happen more than once. "It was a stupid thing to do."

"Si. They won't take us out directly," he explains. No explanation of who they are. "But they won't need to." The money, once it's been counted and notarized and entered on his laptop, is tossed into a bin of items to be processed as evidence. "They'll let us bury ourselves. Like this." His eyes cut back to Esme's, and attempt to hold them, if she lets him.

"Be better," is murmured an inch away from a growl. Not a request or a suggestion; it sounds an awful lot like an order.

Esme studied the interim chief for a moment as he spoke. At least that knot in her stomach was starting to untwist some. She straightens in her chair a little more as he catches her eye and she does indeed let him. A little nod given at his order. "I will be." She rises up to her feet. "This town's already taken so much from me. I'm not going to let this precinct go down in flames with it." She sounded fairly set on that.

"I'll let you know if I can get Hallisey to talk." A beat of pause before she adds in, "..Thank you." and turns to start heading back towards the door.

No answer to that. Just a slight nod from the older man, and the scritch-scratch of his thumbnail through close-cropped beard as he watches Esme. Then his laptop's screen, perhaps trying to remember what he was doing before she arrived. "Mm," is all he offers as she thanks him and prepares to make her way out. Maybe she catches a slight smile as she goes, or maybe she doesn't, but it's there regardless. Then disappears as he promptly gets back to work.