Fahey's Flaw (2 page)

Wynn scrubbed a hand over his face. “Thanks for the clarification.” He hoped that would cut it off, but he secretly knew better.

“The two percent didn’t take into account guys who have sex with other guys but don’t identify as gay, nor men who were married but now live as gay.” He smiled at Wynn.

“Bingo. Yeah. Like I said, thanks.”

Beck’s partner joined them with his own cup of coffee. “Morning all. What’s going on so far today?”

Glancing at Jeff Taylor, Wynn said, “Nothing. Just talking about the Royals baseball game last night. Did you catch it?”

“Nah, missed it.” Jeff nodded and sipped his drink.

Wynn knew that would be the case, and that was why he mentioned it. Jeff was the youngest detective in their squad and the handsome hottie had a sugar daddy at home who took good care of him. Wynn knew for a fact that neither of them followed baseball. Jeff’s fella, Reese Iverson, was British and a football fanatic.
British football, which those of us in the states call soccer
. He smiled and shot a look at Mel and Beck. They seemed to catch his meaning.

“Good game,” Beck commented. “If you’re a Yankee fan.”

“Who’s a Yankee fan?” Their chief approached with a scowl on his face.

Rod Kern was beefy and squat, a former marine who still wore the crew cut to prove it. He was a diehard Kansas City fan, whether it was baseball or Chiefs football. Merely mentioning the New York Yankees in his presence was an invitation to an ass-whoopin’.

Wynn tried to reel the conversation back in. “No one, boss. Just talking about the game. You ready for briefing?”

“As soon as Dix and Abby get here. We’ve got a different kind of briefing on tap for today, people.”

Surprised, Wynn raised his eyebrows. “We’re being briefed by the Homicide chief and the medical examiner? This can’t be good.”

“It’s not. They want to tell us about a new drug hitting the streets.” He glanced up as the aforementioned couple entered the room. “G’morning,” Kern called to them and waved a hand.

James Dixon was the sergeant in charge of the Homicide squad and Wynn liked him a lot. A standup guy, Dix was one of the first gay cops he’d met in the department. Dix had never tried to hide it, which had made Wynn—and probably a lot of others—feel more comfortable coming out. Like him, Dix had been married and had had a son before he’d decided to follow his true preferences. He’d met his soulmate a few years back and the men had gotten married, combining their households and their grown kids. His husband, Bryan, ran a nice Italian restaurant that most of them frequented regularly.

“Morning, all. Hope the Vice Department coffee is better than Homicide’s today. Ours is really bad.”

Abby glanced at him. “Did you make it?”

“Of course.” Dix grinned.

Kern motioned to the conference room. “Coffee’s out here, bagels in there where we’ll meet.”

“Bagels.” Abby smiled and bypassed the coffee as she headed in.

The tall woman had a long shock of thick, silver hair and an attitude that was just as impressive. She knew her stuff, she could dish it out as well as take it, and Wynn had learned early on, cops didn’t want to cross her. He grabbed a notebook and his cup, stopping long enough to refill it before entering the conference room.

“How’s it going, Fahey?” Dix asked as he took his seat.

“Not bad. Trying to keep a thirteen year old on track for one more month of school.”

“Yikes.” Dix and Abby both made faces. He added, “I remember those days. Of course mine’s about fifteen years older than that, but he was a rascal back in the day. We were happy when the Marines took him.”

Abby nudged his arm. “And look how good he turned out. Jared’s a dream.”

“Just got married,” Dix agreed. “Really nice girl.”

“Pretty soon we’ll be calling you ‘grandpa’,” she teased.

He shot her a look. “Try it once and see what happens.”

“Aw,” she leaned into him. “Do you mean to tell me that you’re going deny that cute little kiddo when he or she toddles up to you and says ‘Pa-pa’?”

Dix grinned. “No, I didn’t say I’d deny the kid anything. Hell, I’ll probably buy him a car. I’m just not going to take it from a sadistic medical examiner. You have been warned.”

She made a face at Wynn. “Did he just call me ‘sadistic’?”

Laughing, Wynn nodded.

The others had all taken their seats and gotten bagels. Dix glanced around. “We might as well get started. Thanks for giving us this time, Rod.” He nodded to the chief.

“Of course.”

Dix continued, “I’m going to give you an overview of why we’re here, then Abby will talk specifically about this drug and its side effects. It’s particularly nasty, folks. You heard about the bath salts on the street a year or so ago? It’s right along those same lines, with a few differences.”

He pulled out some notes. “The drug is called Flakka, which comes from the Spanish slang term
la flaca
meaning a sexy, skinny girl. It’s a new designer drug hitting the streets particularly hard in Florida, and a few other states including Texas. Two nights ago, a case was reported here and that’s why we’re trying to get the word out before anyone else gets hurt.” He glanced at Abby.

She nodded and picked up her notes. “Flakka is a man-made stimulant called an alpha PVP. It’s a close relative to the bath salts that were so widely reported not too long ago, and they were banned. So far, Flakka hasn’t been. Of course, the people who make this crap can get around a ban by sticking a ‘not for human consumption’ label on it. Anyway, the main attraction is the low price—three to five dollars—and the long-lasting high it creates.”

“Three to five dollars?” Wynn repeated, shocked. “No wonder it’s popular. That’s cheap as hell.”

“It is, and it’s completely unregulated. The stuff is also called ‘gravel’ because it looks like aquarium gravel. And one reason it’s so dangerous is that it’s cut with dirt, talc and other cheap crap that should not be injected into a person’s veins.”

Mel spoke up. “Is that how Flakka is taken? Injections?”

Abby shook her head. “Not just injections. Any number of ways. There are reported cases of snorting, adding it to food or drinks, vaping in an e-cigarette and even inserting into the rectum.”

“Why in the hell—?” Jeff let his question drop.

Wynn frowned.
We all know why.

Abby shrugged. “The usual reason. The drug messes with a person’s neurotransmitters, or brain chemicals. It causes a long lasting, euphoric high. The problem is, the user never really knows what he’s getting with unregulated drugs. A higher dose causes hallucinations, paranoia, aggression, agitation, and the feeling of super-human strength. People on it have been seen running down the streets naked, breaking into buildings, and lots of other insane stuff.”

She pulled out another sheet of paper. “The side effects are quite serious. Rapid heart rate, high blood pressure, seizures, hyperthermia—which is elevated body temperature. Reported temps have gotten as high as one hundred five to one hundred eight degrees. At those numbers the blood will no longer clot and the user has internal bleeding. Next comes organ failure, kidneys, liver, lungs, and brain damage can occur when the body temp stays too high. At that point you’re talking permanent damage or death.”

“Do the idiots using this stuff have any idea about the side effects?” Mel asked, shaking her head.

Dix said, “That’s what we’re hoping to accomplish. We’ve prepared a flyer and we’re asking you folks to help us get the word out on college campuses across the city.” He set some of the flyers in the center of the table.

Wynn picked one up. The headline read,
Five Dollar Insanity
, and it went on to give the dangerous high points. “These look good.”

Kern rubbed his chin. “Why just colleges?”

Dix replied, “The OD here the other night was at a college party. We’re not sure how many other people took the drug, but there was at least one overdose. That patient is going to be okay, but there could be lingering, permanent side effects.”

The chief continued, “What I meant was, it’s party season for high schools, too. That five dollar price tag is surely going to intrigue the younger kids who might not have jobs or as much money.”

“Good point.” Abby nodded. “If you’ve got the manpower, we should alert the high schools as well. Give them enough flyers to send one home with each kid. Parents should be aware of this, too, which is why we’ve got some news coverage planned starting tomorrow. But in order for this to be effective, the schools need a cop to give a quick explanation of why it’s so serious, and why we feel the need to act now. Just dropping off the flyers isn’t enough.”

Kern nodded. “We can devote as much time as needed to this. There’s a couple dozen public schools and at least that many private schools, if not more.”

Wynn shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “High schools, shit. My kid is headed into high school.”

Dix replied, “I hear there’s a hair color specifically for men, you might want to check that out.”

Chuckling, Wynn shook his head. “I would if I gave a fuck. I’m thirty-fucking-one years old. My hair’s gonna do what it’s gonna do.”

Abby nudged Dix. “Yeah. So there.”

Dix laughed and shrugged. “He’s just a pup, I know. I’m just sayin’, his grief’s going to get worse before it gets better. I remember the high school years, and living with a teenage boy.”

Wynn pushed his chair away from the table. “Yeah, well I don’t get to live with mine. And the only good thing about that is the fact that he recently announced he’s gay. His mother doesn’t like me very much right now. She’d be booting me out if she hadn’t already done it years ago.”

Dix’s eyes widened. “Oh, shit. She’s blaming his announcement on you?”

“Yeah, like I run some gay brothel out of my house or something. I refuse to admit to her how long it’s been since I’ve even been on a date, let alone had anyone else around my kid, which has
never
happened.” He rose. “I’ll start pulling lists of schools and enrollment numbers so we can get working on those flyers.”

Kern stood and nodded. “Thanks. And thank you, Abby and Dix, for the information.”

They chatted for a few minutes and Wynn returned to his desk. He was suddenly feeling a little pathetic and sorry for himself, and needed to bury his nose in work.

A few minutes later Dix approached and dropped into the chair by Wynn’s desk. “Hey. Sorry about the issues at home.”

Wynn shrugged. “Shit happens.”

“Yeah, but it can’t be easy. I don’t profess to know what it’s like to take a boy through the whole coming out process, but if you need someone to talk to, my door is always open.”

“Thanks. I appreciate that. We’re figuring it out. Plus, I have a strong support system here.”

Dix waved a hand. “Sure, but none of these bozos have kids. Except for the straight guys.” He grinned.

“True, and it’s not like I’m going to pour out my problems to my chief.”

Dix smiled again. “My people do.”

Wynn couldn’t argue with that. “You’re not the average chief.”

“Indeed.” He rose. “Thanks for the help with the case, and remember, you can call me anytime.”

“Thank you.” Wynn watched him walk over to where Abby chatted with Mel. They made their goodbyes and left.

Mel returned to her desk, across from his. “Five Dollar Insanity.” She set the flyers on her desk. “I get
free
insanity coming to work every day. In fact they
pay me
to take this insanity.”

Chuckling, Wynn tossed a list her way. “Here are the public schools I’ve pulled up so far. I’m working on the private schools. I thought we could let Taylor and Mathes handle the college campuses.”

Jeff paused and shoved the last bite of a bagel into his mouth, chewing it up before he spoke. “We can do that. We’ll have to take a different tactic with the colleges. Maybe get flyers out to the frat houses and sororities for starters.”

Beck approached and nodded. “There are service fraternities and church youth groups. Some of them should be interested in helping.”

Wynn agreed. “Probably more than the standard frat boys. If I recall, they were more interested in partying than doing community service.”

“Eh, times have changed.” Beck shrugged. “Schools are cracking down on the party houses these days. Of course there’ll always be the select few who are gonna do what they’re gonna do. But I gather, from talking to some of the campus police officers, that things are run a little tighter at the schools now than they were when we were students.”

Jeff rolled his eyes. “I’d hope so.”

They all chuckled. Beck added, “Yeah. Some of us are lucky we survived it. The alcohol hazing was bad enough back then. I can’t imagine throwing drugs into the mix. Glad I don’t have to worry about it.”

Wynn muttered out of the corner of his mouth, “Until your kids get up there.”

Beck shot him a sarcastic smile. “Thanks, pal.”

Mel clapped her hands. “Let’s get back on track, here. So Wynn and I will visit the high schools, while Jeff and Beck will tackle the college campuses. We all square with our assignments?”

Jeff nodded. “It’s a plan. We’ll brainstorm and see if we can’t come up with some other social groups. There have got to be dozens of them out there. Beck and I will make a list before we pound the pavement.”

“Sounds good,” Wynn agreed.

The two men returned to their desks.

Mel smiled at him. “Colleges versus high schools. I think we got the better end of this deal.”

Wynn waggled his eyebrows. “Despite what you may have heard to the contrary, my mama didn’t raise no dummy.”

She laughed. “I’ll take your word for it. Give me that list of public schools. I’ll try to put them in some type of logical order.”

“You got it.” Wynn compiled data on private high schools until noon and after a quick sandwich for lunch, headed out to start delivering flyers. St. Sebastian’s Academy was way down on his list but he had a vested interest there and chose them to start with. He’d made enough flyers to send home with all the kids in grades eight through twelve, so he could see if Connor brought one home or blew it off.