The Wolf Pack

The Wolf Pack

By: PABLO DIABLO

Copyright 2019

OFFICER BROWN

This whole thing started when we moved from our home in Boston, so Tim could take a job with Atlanta PD. Tim had been unhappy with the Boston force for several years and one day a longtime friend of his gave him a head’s up about a position on Atlanta’s elite K-9 unit, called the ‘Wolf Pack’.

The Wolf Pack had national attention as one of the premier K-9 teams. There is usually 13 team members each with their own German Shepard. Unfortunately, one of the teams passed away during a traffic stop. The officer, John, walked up to a vehicle of a drug trafficker who was already holding a fully loaded Smith & Wesson automatic. As John approached the vehicle, the driver opened fire before John even had the opportunity to draw his weapon.

All of this was caught on dashcam and on his body cam. It didn’t take long for the other K-9 teams to descend upon where John laid dying on the roadside. Unfortunately, John’s dog, Barron was locked up inside the running Police SUV.

It didn’t take long for the unit to find the perpetrator, less than 12 hours since the whole incident was caught on dash cam and body cam. As the team attempted to serve an arrest warrant, the perpetrator tried to ambush the squad by firing at them almost immediately. Fortunately, none of the officers nor the K-9’s were hurt. However, the same can’t be said for the perpetrator. He died in his flea-bag hotel room as he drew fire from 8 other officers.

The funeral for John was stunning. Everyone in full uniform best dress. John’s own K-9 sat quietly next to John’s coffin on display at the church. Lots of dignitaries showed up, as did the news crews. Several of the local TV stations interrupted their programming to carry John’s funeral. The picture of Barron sitting perfectly still next to John’s coffin made the front page of both the Atlanta newspapers. One of the papers read “A HERO LAID TO REST”.

The article in both papers detailed John’s long career with Atlanta PD. His hard work and dedication to the force which he dearly loved. They mentioned about his wife passing from brainstem cancer only months before. There was no mention what was going to happen to Barron.

As Tim and I arrived in Atlanta on Saturday, his interview was set for Monday morning promptly at 10am. My husband of 12 years was very nervous knowing the circumstances of how the opening came about. Tim shined and pressed every part of his Boston PD uniform. He wanted to humbly interview under what he felt was a truly tough position for everyone.

We stayed in one of those week-long corporate hotels that cater to traveling businessmen. It was nice enough, but quite frankly I missed my house only a few blocks from Fenway Park, where the Red Sox play. Tim and I were season ticket holders and went to as many games as possible.

On Sunday, Tim made the drive from our hotel to the Atlanta Police Station twice to try and figure out the best route realizing that there was little traffic on a Sunday and therefore he needed to factor in go to work traffic on Monday.

Tim left the hotel Monday morning 90 minutes for a 12-mile drive. He arrived much faster than anticipated. He sat in his SUV waiting and watching as the time for the interview drew near. About 15 minutes before the appointed time, Tim left his vehicle and headed inside the front entrance to the station. He was greeted warmly by the front desk Sargent, an Italian guy named Tony. He gave Tim a visitor’s badge and told him to wait in one of the wooden benches in the lobby as someone would be down shortly.

Although it was only a few minutes, to Tim, it felt like an hour. These are the things that Tim really didn’t like much, such as sitting in a courtroom waiting to be called. He called this ‘slow time’.

Much to Tim’s surprise, an attractive young Policewoman appeared before him offering to take him upstairs to the interview room. She explained that there would be John’s boss, Lt. Jergens and Captain Stoney handling the interview as well as herself, Officer Margaret Brown.

In Tim’s head, he really didn’t notice how attractive Officer Brown really was. His mind was instead, focusing on the impending interview.

Officer Brown led him through a series of magnetically locked doors until they reached the elevators. She swiped her badge across the electronic access panel signaling for the elevator to come pick them up. Once inside the elevator car, Tim finally realized the heavenly scent that he was smelling. He blurted out to Officer Brown, “Roses. You’re wearing that Rose perfume. My wife has it as well. It smells great on you.” He says without even thinking, yet he was embarrassed almost as soon as the words left his mouth. In his mind, he thought he sounded like he was hitting on her, which he wasn’t. Quite the opposite in fact. It alleviated his brain only for a couple of moments from the whirlwind going on inside of his head.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like I was hitting on you. I just recognized your perfume as my darling wife wears the same one.” Tim said a bit meekly.

“Darling, you weren’t hitting on me. Heck, I know that! No one would be stupid enough to hit on someone when they are here for a job interview. Don’t worry about it. No offense taken.” Officer Brown said with a big beautiful smile and a distinct southern drawl.

As the elevator reached the 8th floor, Officer Brown offered a small piece of advice, “Be straight with them. This position was opened under dire circumstances. They will ask direct questions, give them direct answers. If you don’t know an answer, don’t fake it. The whole interview will take at least one hour. The more they like you the longer the interview will be, so a long interview is good. Oh, and by the way, you are the 5th and final officer that they are interviewing for the position. Good Luck!”

Officer Brown gave him another big smile and led him down the corridor to a room labeled Private Conference Room #6. She opened the door allowing Tim to enter. He stood at attention until everyone in the room was introduced.

The one thing that caught Tim’s eye was the large German Sheppard sitting perfectly still in the corner of the room. The interviewers introduced the K-9 as Barron, John’s partner.

Tim asked if he might approach Barron. They gave him permission. Tim cautiously approached Barron, holding his fist out for Barron to smell. He held it there for several minutes. Barron sniffed the hand only to give it a lick a couple of moments later. This was a very good sign. Tim reached up and scratched Barron behind the ears before taking a seat at the table.

There was a pitcher of ice water, which Tim used to fill a glass, since his entire mouth was as dry as a desert.

The interview began. Various questions about Tim’s career in Boston, his best arrest, his worst arrest, and why after being an officer for more than 9 years would he want to leave that department.

As Officer Brown sat there, he kept remembering her advice ‘give them straight answers’ which he did. The toughest question was the one about why he would want to leave.

“Sir, and Ma’am, things have changed so dramatically since I joined the force. When I started, I looked forward to going to work every single day. However, now it just seems that the system in Boston is broken. The district attorney won’t prosecute a tough case. She only wants to make a deal otherwise she won’t even prosecute. Other officers are taking early retirement and the new officers that they are hiring don’t have the size nor strength to handle a 250-pound drunk man. What they are looking for these days are people who can write great reports and spend a lot of time pulling traffic detail. I became a street cop to make people feel safe in their neighborhoods, not make the district attorney’s job easy.” Tim was extremely nervous saying all of that, but he saw a smile from Officer Brown which made him feel a bit more assured that he was doing the right thing.

As the interview went on, Tim felt a wet nose move his hand. Barron had moved over next to him and laid down on the floor beside his chair. At first, only Tim noticed where the dog had moved, but after a couple of minutes the other interviewers noticed as well.

“I think Barron really took to you. That’s a good sign for us. We were very unsure how Barron would take to a new partner. You’re the only one that he seems comfortable with.” Captain Stoney said.

The interview ended up going on for three and a half hours. When it was over, they asked him to step outside for a few minutes, so they could discuss him privately. Tim was happy to oblige. Sitting in a chair outside the conference room, he felt relieved.

Tim’s mind was racing now. He felt that he had given a good interview. He was thankful for the advice of Officer Brown, thinking for a moment that he should maybe buy her a small gift of some sort for the helpful tips on interviewing. He readily dismissed it as overthinking the whole situation.

About forty-five minutes passed before Officer Brown came to get Tim from the hallway. She winked at him before they went back into the conference room.

He stood at attention again until he was directed to sit.

The Captain began, “You probably don’t know this, but you are the last candidate that we are interviewing for this opening. You scored well, everyone here liked your candor. We are looking for someone who will be excited to come to work for Atlanta PD and try to be a positive role model for kids, help people feel safe in their neighborhoods, and most of all make proper arrests. We are not looking for any ‘Dirty Harry’ types. The shoes that are being filled on this elite unit are huge. John was loved by all his fellow officers. He had a long-distinguished career. What really tipped the scales of our opinion about you was the fact that you were the only one who took the time to try and get to know Barron and it shows that Barron took to you just fine. Therefore, we are offering you the position with our elite ‘Wolf Pack’. You will be on probation for 90 days. At the end of the 90 days you will be evaluated by the team. If you pass your probation, you will be given permanent assignment to that squad. Do you have any questions for us?”

Tim’s head was spinning. “No sir, none at the moment, however I’m sure once my mind settles down and I’m in my SUV driving back to the hotel, I’ll probably have about a thousand questions.” He answered.

“Well, for now, Officer Brown will be your contact. Here’s her number and contact information. We get our uniforms from a specific vendor. She will give you all that information. We would like you to start next Monday 7am sharp. Thank you, officer, for making this difficult transition a bit easier for us.” The Captain said.

Everyone got up, said their goodbyes and congratulated Tim on the position. Tim’s mind was racing. He was so happy that this gamble of resigning the Boston PD and coming to Atlanta paid off, in spades.

Tim really didn’t even remember the ride back to the hotel. When he arrived, he swept me up in his arms, kissing me passionately, something that I had not seen in quite a while. Tim was very happy. We made passionate love for several hours before we finally fell asleep in each other’s arms.

As the week progressed, I met Officer Brown several times. I thought that she could be my sister. She’s an inch or two taller than me, but we both sport short blonde hair and have similar figures, both of us weighing in about 95-100 pounds each.