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9 - Chapter 2, Intro to Morales

Estefan Morales was yawning when there was a knock on the wafer-thin door of his so-called office. He stifled the yawn and told Ariel and Thea to take a seat. With only one chair in the office Thea, closest to the door, went for another. That he had an office might be considered by most a perk. That it wasn’t much larger than a broom closet made Morales claustrophobic at times. As a result, he spent most of his time in the squad room itself. Those who didn’t know him would think he was hovering over his detectives. He wasn’t, and they knew it. He just couldn’t take being confined.

Waiting for Ariel and Thea to return from the crime scene, he had considered the sorry state of his career. A highly decorated Latino officer, his promotion to sergeant of the elite homicide unit four years before was thought of as just a harbinger of things to come. He had never wanted the job, but with seven children he’d needed the extra income to keep his family in food and diapers. Given his druthers, he would be out on the street where the action was. Oddly, he found he was as good an administrator as he had been a detective, and oversaw a loyal squad who appreciated his hands-off approach. He asked only that his detectives keep him informed and use him as a sounding board when stymied.

In the last two years, though, his career had stalled—some might say derailed. He had reluctantly taken the lieutenant’s exam twice and inexplicably been passed over each time. Aside from his impeccable credentials, politics seemed to assure a Hispanic would get the promotion. That he didn’t only make those in his squad redouble their efforts. He knew they felt they had somehow failed him. Another casualty of his falling star were the detectives now assigned to him. Where once he had been given the best and brightest he was now routinely assigned detectives others shunned.Oddly, it had worked favorably. He had taken Ariel Dampier as a favor to a fellow sergeant. She wasn’t a team player, he’d been told, but a rabble-rouser following her own agenda.

Never one to cuddle up to the brass, he had gladly accepted the rogue detective knowing full well that Sergeant McGowan’s concept of a team player was one who helped his advancement. McGowan demanded conformity, Morales cared only about results. He earned the loyalty of his squad without destroying their individuality. Dampier, he had quickly learned, was no renegade. She was as good as any detective in his squad.

And now, with one of his detectives retiring on disability, he had been handed Thea Hughes, promoted to homicide as a result of pressure from the politically well-connected gay community. Hughes was still a puzzle to Morales. Though raw and inexperienced, he sensed a sharp mind and someone eager to learn. He thought Dampier would be the perfect partner for her. It was no secret Ariel was living with her ex-husband, so there would be no rumors of Hughes hitting on her partner, or worse, the two of them engaging in an affair. And if a portion of Ariel’s expertise and experience rubbed off on Thea, he would soon have another stellar detective no one else desired.

How can so much pain lead to so much Growth?

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