The Bed You Make
Chapter 10, Continued
The man behind the police commissioner's desk was bored. He dug around in his navel and then lifted his fingers to his nose for a whiff. “I need a bath.” Shrugging, he examined the plush leather chair in which he sat. He leaned back against the cushions and burrowed his narrow backside into the seat. “This chair is nice,” he decided aloud. “I can definitely see myself doing this job.”
“If you don't get out of my chair, Munson, you won't have a job!”
The young undercover cop leapt to his feet. “Gonzales told me to wait for you in here,” he stammered.
“Did he tell you to sit in my chair?” Commissioner Mac Scorpio glared as he waited for the young cop to circle the desk. A pungent aroma of dirt, urine and cheap alcohol assaulted Mac's nostrils as Munson eased by him. “You've really gotten into this undercover role, haven't you?” he grimaced.
Munson sniffed his tattered clothing a bit self-consciously. “Yeah. But things are pretty quiet right now on the docks. I got myself hauled in so that I could maybe take a bath and be clean for a couple of hours.”
Mac gratefully waved him out of the office. “You know the drill, Munson.” He tried not to breathe too deeply. “Just let me know before you go back out onto the streets.”
“You got it, Commissioner.”
With Munson's departure the smell dropped enough for Mac to expel the breath he held. He shook his head and began to leaf through the stack of phone messages clipped to his desk calendar. One caught his attention and he separated it from the rest.
“This is Mac Scorpio,” he announced when the call was put through. “I got your message. What do you need to know about Dara?”
“I need an update on the whole Jensen situation.”
Mac leaned back in his chair. “According to Garcia – ”
“No, don't update me now.” There was the sound of papers rustling in the background. “Can you free up some time from your schedule this morning? I've made some personal decisions that I would like to discuss with you. Some of them involve Miss Jensen. And you.”
“Me?” Mac didn't hide the surprise in his voice. “Okay. I will free up some time for you.”
“Good. I will see you in about an hour, then.”