Page 62 of Goblins Don't Count
With a wink and a smile, he walked out of the office, leaving me staring after him and his sparkly wings. Soon, Brannigan came in, studying my face.
“What did he want?” He made it sound like it was automatically a bad thing.
“He named me acting lieutenant. Does he have the power to do that?”
His expression cleared. “That’s all right then. I thought maybe he pulled the plug on funding.”
“Why do you care about working here? About our funding? You golf on the weekends.”
He grinned. “Right? What’s more suspicious than that? Seriously, though, Sato, you’ve never asked me about myself in all the years we’ve worked together. It’s like you don’t care.” He touched his heart like it was delicate.
“You won’t tell me? Then why should I trust you? Corruption is everywhere.”
“You really want to know? I’m going into politics after a few years of public service. It’s the plan my family’s public image team came up with.”
I stared at him. “Your family’s public image team? You’re kidding.”
“Nope. So, considering where I come from, I’ve been astonishingly willing to get my hands dirty.”
“As long as it doesn’t involve paperwork or actual dirt. Wouldn’t you rather make lieutenant, you know, to help with your resume?”
“My resume’s not that important to me. You’re going to be working yourself to death without enough resources to accomplish anything, constant frustrations, and banging your head against the walls that keep closing in. And talk about pay. No way it’s enough to make up for the stress.”
“So glad we cleared up your motives. Now tell me what you found when you were filing.”
“Nothing. No one’s found anything missing, other than three cases Nills noticed were gone that he recently filed for Jossy.”
So the station had really been sacked just to find those files? Good thing I hadn’t left my briefcase in the car. “Great. I need you to run to the courthouse and get everything you can find about the lawsuit against Cellular Beauty, and find out how Representative Phil was connected to it.”
He hesitated then gave me a loose smile. “I’ll take Lewell while you drown in paperwork.”
“And I need someone to talk to the girl’s only living relative as well as co-workers at the company.”
“Her mother? Shouldn’t you do that since you’re a woman? You could bond as females.”
I frowned at the desk and the mess spread across it. If I was actually the acting lieutenant, I had a lot more to do than catch a demon. I’d have to manage other people and hope they were competent. I stood up and grabbed the files. “Sexist as that was, you’re right. I should get out of the office for a few hours.”
“Not that office hours aren’t over.” He gave me a bland smile. “Still, I can go to the courthouse for your files since you’re so desperately understaffed.”
That had to change. We walked out together, and then I stopped with a lurch when I saw Sashimi walking through the front door, wearing a navy suit and looking particularly tidy and respectable. My heart beat erratically at the sight of him and I wanted to fix my hair and make sure my breath wasn’t horrible.
He smiled when he saw me, walked towards me, and then bent to kiss me, sweet, chaste, and very public. It didn’t matter how sweet it was, fire flooded through my system and I ached to drag him into my office and forget about the rest of the world.
“Hi,” I said, gripping my folders more tightly. We were civilized today.
“I’ve come to take you out for dinner. Have you eaten?” His eyes were soft, like his smile.
“No. I’m starving. I’m so glad you came. I actually have to talk to some people, but maybe we could get dinner on the way, and you could be my partner?”
He flashed a smile. “Of course. I brought a car. Do we need assault suits for this mission, Lieutenant?”
“You heard about that?”
“The mayor publicly announced that he was going to make you Lieutenant in the face of your courage and cleverness, stopping the demon from killing again. Winston was there, helping push the fear towards demons and away from witches, particularly public servant witches. He’s very good at manipulating public opinion.”
“And private. He’s a nuisance.”
He smiled slightly more. “I’m so glad to hear that you think so. Some find him very charming.”
