Rose slid the chair back from her desk and plunked herself down. A moment later Jack entered and took a seat. She moved her feet uncomfortably under her desk as he stared at her.
“I thought you’d have stuck your head into my office to call me in,” he said. “Is everything okay? I’m hoping that my accident in the States didn’t cause you to get into trouble. I told her I was entirely responsible.”
“No, she’s not angry with me,” Rose responded.
“Good.”
He crossed his legs and sat back in his chair.
Damn it, you look like you’re settling in. I wish you’d leave.
“I presume you were told to keep an eye on me and document any further transgressions?” he said.
“She has her eye on you, that’s for sure. I’d suggest you be extra polite in any future dealings you may have with her. She’s also perceptive, and doesn’t appreciate being conned.”
“Yes, I clued into that in the meeting when I tried to soften her up by talking about the prosecutor’s two-year-old daughter. She gave me the hairy eyeball then.”
“So you know she’s not someone you should mess with.”
“What did you talk about after I was dismissed?”
“She made it clear she doesn’t like your sense of humour and feels you show a lack of respect for her rank.”
“I see. What did you say?”
“I told her I’d speak to you about it, so consider yourself spoken to.”
“Was that all?” He glanced at his watch. “You were gone a long time.”
Damn him. Reminds me of the time I interviewed some inmates over a murder. The other inmates timed how long the interviews took to try and figure out who was saying something they shouldn’t. Rose shrugged. “What else was there to say?”
He looked at her curiously.
“What else was there to say?” Christ, how could I make such a rookie mistake? He knows I’m holding something back. “She also said to tell you to submit a request through channels if you plan to cross the border again.”
Jack studied her face briefly then rose to his feet. “No problem. I’m working on it now,” he said.
She found herself staring blankly at her doorway after he’d left. It was the first time she’d broken her word to him. Why do I feel so upset? I had his best interests at heart. She busied herself straightening out the items on her desk, and then straightened them again. A haunting feeling remained. He knows I lied to him.…
* * *
Late that afternoon Jack submitted the request seeking permission to authorize him and other investigators, if need be, to enter the U.S. to work with investigators there on the gun smuggling investigation.
He knew that the bureaucrats in Ottawa would have to approve the request, then contact their counterparts in the U.S., gain permission, then send documentation back. He was optimistic that the process would be completed by the following week.
In the meantime, Laura prepared a warrant allowing them to place a tracking device on Graves’s truck. At noon the following day Laura walked into their office with the warrant in her hand and waved it at Jack. “Got it signed,” she said. “Good for sixty days starting today.”
“Perfect,” Jack replied.
“Tonight?” Laura asked as she sat down.
“Sure, I’ll pick you up at your place at eleven. Shouldn’t take long.”
“It better not. That’ll take us into Thursday. I’m off to Hawaii Friday morning. Don’t you dare get me into something to screw that up.”
“Me? Never!” Jack exclaimed, hamming up his surprise. “How could you even think that I would ever —” He stopped talking to answer his office phone.
“Jack! It’s Bonny … from Staffing,” she added.
“You sound chipper,” Jack noted.
“I am. I have some unbelievably good news,” she said. “I wanted to phone you earlier but had to wait until you-know-who left for lunch.”
“My dear friend Chief Superintendent Quaile,” Jack replied.
Bonny’s voice spilled over with excitement. “I wish you could have been here this morning to listen to the lambasting he received from Assistant Commissioner Lexton.”
“Oh?”
“She showed up this morning asking for him and when she discovered he wasn’t in, she went to his desk to drop off something and write him a note. Then she saw your performance evaluation in his basket. Well! I tell you! Quaile arrived a moment later and the proverbial you-know-what hit the fan.”
“I bet Quaile put the blame on someone else,” Jack said.
Bonny snickered. “You’re right. First he tried to say that he received it late, but she noted the dates beside the initials of those who’d forwarded it to him. Then he changed his story to say it must have been inadvertently misfiled and only recently located.”
“What did Lexton say?”
“She didn’t swallow any of his malarkey. She told him off in no uncertain terms, then stormed out.” Bonny giggled. “Honestly, his face was so red that I thought he was going to have a coronary.”
“Too bad he didn’t,” Jack said. “It would have been the first real service he did for his country.”
“Nobody I know would have called Emergency if he had,” Bonny replied.
“Out of curiosity, do you happen to know what Lexton was leaving for him?” Jack asked.
“It was an invitation to a social gathering, but that subject never came up again.”
Jack thanked Bonny then told Laura.
“Oh, man! That is super!” Laura exclaimed. “Glad to see someone put that jerk in his place.”
“Wish we could have been there to see it,” Jack replied.
“Hey, maybe you and I will have a shot at promotion yet,” she said, her face beaming. “Let’s go tell Rose. She was pretty upset about it.”
Jack frowned. “She may already know.”
“Oh?”
“Yesterday I think Rose went behind my back and told Lexton. She was with her for quite a while, then acted funny when I asked her what they’d talked about.”
“Acted funny?” Laura questioned.
“Evasive. You know that most people don’t like to lie.”
“Right, they use terminology to evade the question.”
“When I asked her what else they talked about besides giving me an attitude adjustment, she said, ‘What else is there to say?’”
“Maybe she was busy and wanted you to leave,” Laura suggested. “Her way of dismissing you.”
“I didn’t get the feeling she was busy. Then for this to happen so soon after — I’m not buying it. Lexton could have even left the invitation or message with the secretary. She wouldn’t have had to go into his office.”
Laura pursed her lips. “I don’t know. If Lexton was standing right there, why interrupt the secretary? It would be easy enough for her to drop it off. Maybe it was a coincidence.”
“Coincidence? That’s what we say about ourselves when something happens — and you know how much truth there is there,” Jack said wryly.
Laura rolled her eyes. “You’re right about that.”
“We’ll tell Rose about Quaile catching hell,” Jack continued, “but study her reaction. It could be interesting.”
“Are you going to accuse her?”
“No point. She’d be concerned that it’d affect the trust I place in her, which will later translate to suspicion that I’m holding stuff back from her.”
Laura gestured with her hands. “You do anyway.”
“Exactly, so there’d be no benefit to channelling her mind in that direction and promoting more suspicion.”
“If she did tell Lexton, it would’ve been because she wanted to help you,” Laura noted.
“I know. If she did do it, she must trust Lexton to some degree or else she wouldn’t have.”
“What do you think about Lexton?”
“Time will tell. If Rose did tell her, then I’m impressed with how she handled it.” Jack paused. “Let’s go find out.”
A moment later, Jack saw Rose’s eyes briefly widen with surprise when he started to tell her about the latest call he’d received from Bonny. That was followed by a slight flicker of concern … then her face became passive as she listened.
As Jack talked, he saw that Rose was studying his face. Looking to see if I suspect something and am angry? His tone and expression gave the impression that he was pleased as he related what Bonny had told him.
Rose smiled when he finished. “That’s wonderful! It sounds like he got what was coming to him.”
“I’ll say,” Laura replied. “It puts Jack and me back in the running again.”
“That’s fantastic,” Rose replied. “I really hope the both of you get promoted. I can’t imagine anyone else being more qualified.”
After a little more chatter, Jack and Laura returned to their desks.
Jack then eyed Laura. “Diagnosis?”
“She initially looked surprised. She didn’t know what Lexton was up to,” Laura concluded.
“I agree. What else?”
“I saw some concern. She was checking you out to see how you were reacting.”
“Meaning?”
“She told Lexton, but wasn’t aware of the action that Lexton took.”
“Exactly.”
“And you didn’t give even an iota to suggest you’d clued in.”
Jack gave a lopsided smile in response.
Laura stared at him. “You’re going to toss it back at her someday, aren’t you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know damn well what I mean. You’re going to wait until she’s giving you hell for having done something without telling her. Then you’ll let her have it with both barrels and use this as an excuse.”
Jack shook his head in mock disbelief. “It saddens me to think you’ve become so cynical and devious. Whatever happened to that nice young woman I first met?”
“I met you, is what happened.”
Jack chuckled. “Sounds to me like you should be promoted.”