2020 Car Show

[W. Burke]

'Listen Blackburn, if there's one thing you should learn, it's that Zach here loves his Crown Vics. I'm sure when the new fleet comes in and they replace those, he's going to hold the quartermaster at gunpoint for at least one of them, if not both. That's just a vic on crack he's got.'

[A. Blackburn]

*Hearing Burke's comments I look up from peering into the Mustang.  For a brief moment I look at Russo and then at Burke.*

'Yeah, I know, I've worked with the Capt for almost 7 years now.  He's going to be the first suspect to look into should they disappear all of sudden.'

[W. Burke]

'Trust me, at work, I wear a lot more brass than you, and if they disappeared, I wouldn't come between him and his cars.' I pause for a second, and then change thoughts. 'I thought I'd be the lame cop at the car show showing up in a police car, then he showed up and saved my ass. At least it wasn't a Vic'

[A. Blackburn]

*Realizing any more of this conversation is going to probably land me in trouble one way or another I decide to segway it into a different directions.*

'Well, speaking of the Crown Vics.  When are they, plus the other retiring vehicles, going to auction?'

[Z. Russo]

*Letting Blackburn and Burke talk their shit about the best car ever made I chuckle.*

'I think the next auctions next month. I'm trying to keep one as a museum car. I'm hoping to get rid of the white unmarked charger sometime this year too'

[A. Blackburn]

'You mean the one that looks like it came from a video game?'  Yeah, that one needs go'

[Z. Russo]

'Maybe we can replace that with another new hybrid. Those will save us a lot in the long run'

[Z. Russo]

*Looking for James and Katie I see they slipped away. I turn back to the group and begin to eat. I hear someone doing a burnout, but thats Oxnard PD's issue. Not mine*

'Crazy when you think about it. When we started back in the 90s nobody thought hybrid SUVs would be a thing. Let alone cop cars. I remember when they made a big deal that the caprice was going out of production.'

*James comes back cuts me off before I ramble about the how great the caprices and crown vics were.*

James: 'Dad, Katies doing that thing again.'

'Ok, Guys i'll be back.'

*Turning back to James.*

'Where is she?'

James: 'We were walking over by the cars and then one of them started making alot of noised thats when she started.'

*I walk over a few rows of cars and I can hear her before I see her. Approaching her I can see there are people staring. I walk up to her and place my hand on her arm.*

'Lets go back to the car, Ok?'

*As she continues screaming and crying we walk back to the car. I hit the unlock button and hear all the doors unlock. I open the rear door, Burke and Blackburn see this and walk over.*

'Get in.'

*I get Katies bag and get her iPad and noise cancelling headphones. Katie is screeching directly into my ear as I lean over to try and find her headphones.*

'Remember what they said in program. Breath.'

*I unlock her iPad and open her spotify. Seeing the calming playlist I plug the headphones in and help her put them on. I get out of the car and close the door but don't let it latch so I can hear whats going on.*

[A. Blackburn]

*As we're talking Russo's son comes up and mention something about Russo's daughter so they wander off leaving me with Burke.  Really don't know how to talk with this guy.  I mean, he's the head boss for Christs sake.  Are we even allowed to be friends?  Going back to looking at the Mustang one last time I'm about ready to leave when I hear a commotion coming from where my cars are.  Heading back over I see Russo dealing with stuff.  His daughter is screaming like a demon straight out of hell and a crowd is kind of forming.  Can sort of figure what's going on so moving through the crowd I see Russo is dealing with it so I turn around to address the crowd.*

'Alright, there's nothing to see here.  He's got it under control so move on.'

'But what's'

'Said don't worry about it.  Move on'

*As some of the crowd leave I hope that helps Russo.  If that was my kid I wouldn't want a crowd watching either.*

[Z. Russo]

*Looking around as I get out of the car I see there's a crowd starting to form and Blackburn begins to disperse them.*

'Thanks. I'm not sure if you knew this but my daughter is on the spectrum. This is a fairly regular occurrence.'

*I explain, as the embarrassment has faded a long time ago.*

[W. Burke]

*As the crowd disperses, I walk over to Zach. He's a veteran when it comes to this kinda stuff, so it doesn't seem to really phase him any longer. The last of the onlookers seem to linger when they see me approach Zach. I opt to ignore them.*

'Everything good Zach?'

*I make a point to make it very clear we know each other, and then I dart a glare at the last of the onlookers, who take that as their cue to leave.*