Page 87 of Protected By West
Chief Fagan was just taking off his jacket and setting it on the hook. "Take that shit eating grin off your face and come on in here."
Instead of going straight to his chair and sitting down, the chief walked past his desk and set his hand on Weston's shoulder. "You're allowed to puff up a little, son. You and the team did really well out there today."
Weston fought off the feeling that he wanted to strut around the office. "It was a pretty good showing."
The chief sighed and gestured to the chair closest to them. "Go ahead and have a seat before your head gets too big for you to hold it up."
Weston moved to the chair, but he didn't sit until Chief Fagan was settling into his own chair.
"I'm joining the team tonight for a little celebration."
"I was wondering," Chief Fagan smiled at him, "why you weren't heading out with your team right after the assessment."
Weston knew that the chief wasn't just passing the time with the question, but he wasn't going to waste time with the answer either.
"The team is taking the transport back to our headquarters and cleaning and restocking it. The weapons all have to be cleaned and reset in the armory and after action reports are assigned to the group."
Chief Fagan chuckled. "Aren't you afraid that they're going to be mad at you for leaving them the paperwork?"
Weston shook his head. "I have my share of the report to write. I was taking notes on the ride back anyway. Besides that, I have more combined hours writing reports than anyone on my team with the possible exception of Fox."
The chief tapped his fingers on the desktop, chuckling to himself. "Ah... paperwork."
"It's a pain, but a necessary one."
"These days," the chief agreed, "we have cameras on everything. Security cameras outside businesses. Even people with cell phone cameras, but they don't capture everything. We still have to write it down, too."
"And evaluate our choices." Weston sighed. "It's a necessary evil, but if and when we'll be called into court to testify. Those notes and reports that we write can be helpful in recalling what happened."
"I've had numerous conversations with prosecutors over the years and it's amazing how many jurors expect us to have... to have some kind of encyclopedic knowledge of past cases."
Weston snorted a laugh and sighed. "Too much TV. They watch shows like Law & Order-"
"The sixteen different versions of it."
They both laughed at that before Weston continued. "And they expect us to be like the officers on those shows. Completely composed with perfect recall."
"True. Sad, and true."
"It would be easy if we had nothing to do between the day of the case and the trial."
"Isn't that the truth." The chief looked across the room at a TV screen where a local news show was talking about a case that the Texas Rangers had been involved in. "And public perception can be nearly impossible to fight at times. All we can do is the best we can. After that..."
Weston nodded and looked down at his hands folded in his lap.
"I know we said we'd go over today's assessment, but I think our brains both need a break from that."
Weston smiled at that. "Probably a good thing."
"I've heard some things lately."
Weston lifted a questioning brow at that. It was one of those phrases where ninety-nine percent of the things after it could be bad.
"It seems like you've developed a case of life outside of the Rangers."
The chief's stoic look softened into a smile and Weston relaxed for a moment.
"It was bound to happen sometime, right?"
