Page 83 of Full Mountie

“Sure. We’ll use that time to draft warrant requests for their social media accounts.”

Nineteen minutes later, we’ve got carefully coached apologies and a plan to get them back to the city cops, who will process them for indecent acts.

“You understand we’ll still be monitoring your behaviour going forward? We’re not going to close this case until we’re confident it was a one-off nuisance event.”

We get a round of chagrined nods.

Corinne’s mouth is twitching as we walk back to her desk.

“What?”

“I was expecting you to be harder on them.”

“Spending the day shitting themselves that their bosses will find out they almost were arrested for uttering threats is punishment enough. Ideally, I’d like them to learn something from this.”

“You think that’s going to happen?”

I shake my head. “Probably not. But I don’t want to harden their hatred for the prime minister, either.”

“You’ve gotten soft up on the Hill.” But she winks, softening what otherwise would be a stinging indictment.

I laugh. “If they were an actual threat, I wouldn’t have hesitated to take them down, don’t worry.”

“I wasn’t that concerned. Sorry to drag you out of bed.”

“Nope. That’s my job.”

My phone isfull of messages when I hit the parking lot, so I head straight to the Hill. The convoy is underway, and the advance team has reported in. The town is being inundated with stuff—donations of clothing, toys, food that will likely spoil, unfortunately. What they need is shelter.

Gavin’s chief of staff, Stew, is waiting for me when I get back to the office. He waves me into the conference room. “Looks like we’ve got a good plan,” he says. “The army’s got mod tents that aren’t bad. Big enough for a family of eight. No privacy, but spacious and heavy duty.”

I nod. “Yeah. I’ve seen those on bases.”

He introduces me to a team from the Department of National Defence, who go over the rapid deployment option Gavin can offer the town today, so people can move out of the school gymnasium.

It shouldn’t have taken four days, but it’s a solid plan, and the prime minister will like it.

I stop in at Beth’s desk to say good morning when the meeting breaks up.

“I heard you didn’t get much sleep last night,” she says quietly.

I shrug. “Happens sometimes.”

“Will you want to hit the hay early tonight?” She asks it innocently, but the small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth is asking a lot more.Are we still on for the weekend?

“I’ll be fine,” I say under my breath. “I’ll catch a second wind. Hugh should be back in time for dinner. We can cook at my place.”

“Sounds perfect.”

I steal one of her pencils and wave it goodbye at her before I take my leave.

Downstairs in my office, I turn on the news and watch my team do their job. The coverage is more glowing than earlier in the week, and Gavin—as he always does—comes off as genuinely concerned about the situation on the ground, and the long-term impact it will have on the residents of Beaumont.

He’s got his jacket off and his shirt sleeves rolled up, and the cameras catch part of a conversation he has with a teary single mother. She leans into his side as he gravely tells her he’ll make sure the insurance companies live up to their obligations.

And just like that, he’s taken back the news cycle.

After lunch, I get a visitor. Ellie knocks on the door to my office, then pokes her head in when it swings open a bit.

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