State of Affairs

by Marie Force

  “Is that right? Well, I suppose it’s the least they can do with the way you’re turning your lives upside down in service to the country.”

  “Yes, that’s true. So what’re you doing here?”

  “I have a meeting with Agent Hill about the investigation later this morning, and no, I don’t have anything new to report. In addition to that, the mayor has been blowing up my phone wanting to talk to me—and to you.”

  “I heard about that. What’s she want with me?”

  “She’s on her way over here, so you can find out for yourself.”

  Sam grimaced. “Like, now?”

  He checked his watch. “Any minute now. She was coming to talk to me, but she’ll be thrilled to hear that you’re here too.”

  “I’m only here because I caught a new case last night. I’ve got real work to do.”

  “The mayor wants to talk to you. That’s your job at the moment.”

  She scowled at him. “I never should’ve come here today.”

  “Hindsight is twenty-twenty, Lieutenant.”

  “You don’t have to appear to enjoy this so much. Am I in some kind of trouble that I’m unaware of?”

  “Not that I’ve been told. I believe she’s interested in offering you a promotion.”

  That surprised the hell out of her. “What kind of promotion?”

  “The deputy chief position is currently open.”

  “Shut up.” She’d no sooner said the words than she remembered who she was speaking to. “Sir.”

  Farnsworth laughed. “Don’t kill the messenger.”

  “She is not going to offer me that.”

  “What if she does?”

  “I, uh… I’ve got nothing on that. The thought never occurred to me.”

  “I think you need to formulate some thoughts on it in the next…” He checked his watch again. “Ten minutes or so.”

  “You can’t be serious.”

  “I’m serious, and I think she is too.”

  “Can she just do that?” Sam’s voice sounded high and squeaky, even to her. “Jump me over two ranks and put me in a job like that?”

  “She can do what she wants. She’s the mayor, and from what I hear, she likes you a lot. Admires your career, your moxie, your success at closing the toughest of cases. And she likes that you’re a woman. She says we’re long overdue for a woman in the department’s top leadership, and I agree with her.”

  “I completely agree too, but if she does this, she’ll set me up for a nightmare with the people I jumped over to get there.”

  “Which I mentioned to her when the idea was first proposed to me.”

  “How long ago did that happen?”

  “Last Wednesday.”

  “So, before Nick became president.” It was, in a way, a relief to know that his promotion hadn’t led to talk of hers.

  “It’s got nothing to do with him and everything to do with you.”

  “And you think this is a good idea?”

  “I think it’s an intriguing idea. She’s been under fire for the lack of women in command within city departments, and I believe she sees you as a potential high-profile appointment that she could refer to when she’s criticized for her record with elevating women. If I had to guess, that is. And that would explain why she’s in such an all-fired rush to make this happen.”

  “There’s no way I could do this, Chief. I’d be vilified by every officer in this department who will once again say I got there on my back, because of who my father is, because I’ve known you all my life, because I’m an attention-seeking whore. You name it, they’ll say it. They even say I sleep with you! My freaking uncle.”

  His bark of laughter made her smile. She loved him so much and always had. Somehow they’d managed to navigate the tricky nature of their longtime personal relationship in the context of their professional duties. Not that it hadn’t been without its challenges. Chief among them—no pun intended—was the low-level talk about them having an inappropriate relationship. Disgusting.

  “We both know how you got where you are in this department, so don’t let baseless gossip get to you.”

  “I have a feeling the gossip is only going to get worse.” She made a face that had him laughing again. “Let me get my team started before the mayor gets here.”

  “You’ve got five minutes. Meet us in my office.”

  “I’m never coming here on a Sunday again.” She stalked off toward her pit, trying not to think about the latest earth-shattering development that’d been tossed her way.

  Deputy chief.

  Just that quickly, she had tears in her eyes as she longed for her father. He’d know how she should respond to this news. While she had no intention whatsoever of taking the job, she had to be careful in how she declined the mayor’s offer. The woman was, after all, the boss of them all, and it wouldn’t do to laugh in her face when she made a genuine offer.

  Thank God the chief had given her a heads-up, or she might’ve been tempted to laugh in the moment. The very idea of it was preposterous. She’d been a lieutenant for only two years and wasn’t even eligible yet to sit for the captain’s exam, not that she had any desire to be a captain, either. No, the only job in the department she wanted was the one she already had.

  Freddie, Gonzo and Jeannie were in the pit when she walked in.

  “Heard we caught a new one,” Jeannie said. “Figured I might be able to help.”

  “Happy to have you, but I can’t authorize overtime on this one. Not yet, anyway. I can shave some hours off the regular week for all of you, though.”

  “That’s fine,” she said. “Michael left for a conference this morning, so I wasn’t doing anything.”

  “Let me check my email to see if Brendan Sullivan came through.” She used up two of the five minutes the chief had given her to unlock her office and boot up her computer. Another minute passed while her antiquated printer spit out the three pages of info Brendan had sent. “I bet the printer at the White House doesn’t take that long,” she muttered, taking the pages to the conference room and handing them to Freddie. “I need to do something with the chief. I’ll be back in a few.”

  “What’s up with the chief?” Gonzo asked.

  “Nothing important.” Under no circumstances would she accept that kind of promotion. Not like this. “I’ll be back ASAP. Get me some threads to pull.”

  “On it,” Freddie said.

  Sam left them to do what she wanted to be doing herself and made her way to the chief’s suite. Normally, his assistant, Helen, would be standing guard, but even the faithful Helen got a day off every now and then. Through the door, which was cracked open, she could hear the chief speaking to the mayor. She took a deep breath to calm nerves that were suddenly on full alert and knocked on the door.

  The mayor, a Black woman named Monique Brewster, stood to welcome Sam with a warm smile and a handshake. Sam had long admired the woman who’d risen through the ranks on the city council to become the city’s first Black female mayor three years ago at the age of forty-two. Since then, Sam had found her to be tough but mostly fair. The only thing she’d disagreed with her on was her criticism of the chief when things happened that were in no way his fault—such as his former deputy chief sitting on evidence in her father’s shooting for four fucking years, or Lieutenant Stahl wrapping Sam in razor wire and threatening to set her on fire. Again, not the chief’s fault.

  “I’m so glad to have the chance to sit down with you,” Brewster said, “but I’m surprised you have the time to be here this weekend.”

  “I’m here because I’m the Homicide commander, and we caught a new case last night.”

  “I meant that you have better things to be doing.”

  Wondering if she was being tested in some way, Sam glanced at the chief.

  “What you need to understand about the lieutenant, Madam Mayor, is that there’s nothing more important to her—other than her husband and children, of course—than her duties to the depart
ment, her squad and the victims they serve.”

  Sam couldn’t have said it better herself.

  “Even being first lady?”

  The chief cleared his throat, which meant he was trying not to laugh. “Especially that.”

  Sam pointed to the chief with her thumb. “What he said, not that I’d want that to become public. It’s important to me to support my husband in his new role, but I have no intention of completely changing my life to accommodate his job.”

  Was it her imagination, or did the mayor seem to be looking at her with new respect?

  “Well, that works out rather nicely considering the reason I wanted to meet with you.”

  Sam thought about stopping her, of telling her she already knew and wasn’t interested, but decided to wait her out and let her make the offer before she declined it.

  “As you know, we have an opening for a deputy chief, and as you also may know, I’ve told Chief Farnsworth that the MPD is long overdue to see a woman as one of the department’s top commanders. With that in mind, I’d like to offer the job to you as one of the top-ranking women in the department.”

  While Sam’s first inclination was to say thanks, but no, thanks and then ask if she could get back to work, she took a second to come up with a diplomatic response that would be more advantageous to her career in the long term. “Thank you for thinking of me,” she said after a long pause. “As you know, the position is particularly meaningful to me because my father was the deputy chief when he was shot on the job.”

  “I do know that, and may I please extend my sympathies again on his passing? I had the chance to work with him many times over the years and always found him to be a delightful, engaged public servant.”

  “He was, for sure, and we appreciated the flowers you sent to the funeral home.”

  “I’m also extremely sorry for the role my colleague—and yours—played in his death. I continue to be horrified by what was uncovered after he died.” Longtime City Councilman Roy Gallagher was one of three defendants facing murder charges in the wake of Skip Holland’s death. The MPD’s former deputy chief, Paul Conklin, was locked up on related charges after sitting on evidence that could’ve broken the case years earlier.

  “That’s something we have in common,” Sam said. “It also means a lot to me that you thought of me for the job, but I’m unable to accept your kind offer.”

  “Because of your new duties as first lady,” she said. “I actually thought you might snap it up as it would allow you to take on more of an administrative role at a time when you’ll be juggling multiple priorities.”

  The chief coughed, and Sam had to force herself not to look at him or risk the two of them devolving into uncontrollable laughter.

  “I can see how that would seem to make sense. However, if I may speak frankly…”

  “Please,” the mayor said. “Of course you may.”

  “I’d rather be strung upside down by my toes than have an administrative job.”

  The chief could no longer cover his laughter with coughing. He cracked up. “Welcome to the species known as Lieutenant Holland, Your Honor. She’s a little feral and uncivilized, but we love her anyway.”

  Sam rolled her eyes at him. “He’s known me too long.”

  “And she’s always been this way.”

  “Which is another reason why I have to decline your generous offer. As much as I’d love to see a woman in the deputy chief’s office, it can’t be me. I have a hard enough time navigating the old boys’ club around here because of my last name and the fact that people think the only reason I’ve gotten to where I am is because of my name and my father and the fact that the chief is my beloved adopted uncle. If you move me up two levels to deputy chief, I won’t have the respect of the people I command. I think the chief would agree that’s an essential element to being successful in his job and the deputy’s job.”

  “Lieutenant Holland is right about the pecking order around here, and you’re right, Your Honor, that she’d be a marvelous deputy chief—if she earned it the usual way. She’s also right that she’d hate the job. When she became the lieutenant in charge of the Homicide division, she made a comment I’ve never forgotten.”

  Sam was trying to remember what she’d said to him in the midst of attaining her most cherished goal.

  “She said she’d reached the pinnacle by getting the only command-level job she’d ever want within the department. Not only is she happy as the Homicide commander, I think you’d agree she’s also extremely effective in that role.”

  “I completely agree, and I hear what you’re both saying,” the mayor said. “However, I’d still like you to think about it for a day or two before you decide.”

  Again, Sam looked to the chief.

  “She’s not going to change her mind, Monique,” he said in the kind, conciliatory tone that made him such a great chief.

  Not that she was biased. Much.

  “Well, I’ll confess to being disappointed, as I’d hoped you’d want the job as much as I want you in it, but if that’s not the case, I’m certainly not going to force the point.”

  Sam expelled a deep breath. “Thank you so much again for thinking of me. I’m honored to have been considered. And now I need to get back to work, since I’ve got a deadline today. I’m meeting with Mrs. Nelson at two for afternoon tea and a tour of the residence.”

  The chief ran a hand over his mouth.

  “If you laugh, I’ll never forgive you. Sir.”

  “I’m just trying to picture you at afternoon tea.”

  “I’ll make sure there are pictures for you to laugh at later.”

  “I’ll look forward to that.”

  To the mayor, Sam said, “If I could ask one favor…”

  “Of course.”

  “Please don’t let it get out that you were considering me for deputy chief. I’ve got enough on my plate without having to deal with the media storm that would bring.”

  “I understand, and no one will hear it from me or my office. I wish you and your husband all the best.”

  Sam shook her hand. “Thank you, ma’am. I appreciate that.”

  The second the mayor released her hand, Sam scooted out of the chief’s office with all due haste, feeling as if she’d just dodged a bullet as lethal as any of the actual bullets she’d faced on the job. Being stuck in an office job was her idea of hell, and for a second there, she’d feared the mayor might order her to take the job because of her desire to see a woman in the role.

  What would she have done then? She shuddered at the thought of it. Thank goodness it hadn’t come to that.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Still reeling from meeting with the mayor, Sam joined her team in the conference room where they were working on a fresh murder board. To the far left side was a photo of a smiling, cocky-looking Eduardo Carter, probably taken from his social media, and another photo from the morgue. The detectives had begun to list the information they had on him and the various connections to others.

  “What’ve we got?” she asked.

  “Numerous domestic calls for the girlfriend, Shanice Williams. Apparently, he’d been escalating lately.”

  “We need to talk to her,” Sam said. “She’ll help us determine where we go from here.”

  “Your thinking matches ours,” Jeannie said.

  “Cruz, you’re with me.” To Jeannie and Gonzo, she said, “Give it another two hours working the computers. Shoot me anything you have before you go.”

  “Will do,” Gonzo said.

  “It’s weird to walk out the main door,” Freddie said as he donned one of his ever-present trench coats and chased after her while stuffing a pack of powdered doughnuts into his face. His words were muffled by doughnuts.

  “You gotta love a Sunday. Never occurred to the media that I’d be working today.”

  “They probably don’t believe you’re going to keep your job. That’s still the plan, right?”

  “I’m here, aren’t I?
”

  “Yeah, but I guess I’m wondering if someone’s going to pull the rug out from under you.”

  “The only one who could do that is Nick, and he’s not going to.”

  “You’re sure about that?”

  Sam smiled as she thought of their conversation the night before. “Positive. Don’t worry about it. We’re going to work it out.” She nodded to Vernon and Jimmy, who were leaning against their SUV and snapped to attention when they saw her coming. “I’ll have a detail going forward. That’s his line in the sand.”

  “I suppose that’s not the worst thing that could happen. They’re going to let you drive yourself?”

  “They haven’t said anything about not letting me do that. I was thinking earlier that it’s probably because Nick turned my car into a mini Beast that’s as safe as the president’s limo.”

  “True.” After fastening his seat belt, Freddie said, “What’d the chief want?”

  “If I tell you, you have to promise me you won’t tell another living soul.”

  “Promise.”

  “Even Elin.”

  “Even Elin.”

  Sam pulled out of the parking lot and headed for GW Hospital. “We met with the mayor. She offered me a promotion.”

  Freddie looked over at her. “What kind of promotion?”

  “The deputy chief kind.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yep.”

  “What’d you say?”

  “Thank you, but no, thank you.”

  “Whoa. You said no to the mayor.”

  “I did.”

  “How’d she take that?”

  “She was disappointed. She wants a woman in the top ranks, and she’d made up her mind it was going to be me. Thankfully, the chief and I were able to convince her that I’d be the worst possible person to put in that position.”

  “No kidding.”

  “It’s okay for me to say that about myself, but you can’t.”

  “My apologies,” he said on a low laugh.

  “I also pointed out to her that my life wouldn’t be worth living within the department if she bumped me up two ranks, especially since people already think I’m where I am because of my last name, not to mention it happening right as Nick becomes president. It’s the last freaking thing in the world I’d want or need.”