Page 13 of Fighting for Brielle
“I appreciate your confidence in me.”
“Go on now. You don’t want to keep Chief Ferguson waiting.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Justice left the uniform shop and found Sergeant Westfall waiting for him.
“I figured you’d need help getting back to Chief Ferguson’s office.” She looked him over with a critical eye. “Sally is amazing, isn’t she? She makes us look spiffy.”
“Yes, she does. I love her already.”
“I made a map for you, Lieutenant Commander, but honestly you should just wander around until you get the lay of our facility.”
“Appreciate it. And you’re right. I’ll study the map tonight and find my way around tomorrow.”
After Sergeant Westfall delivered Justice back to Chief Ferguson, she excused herself and returned to her desk.
Linda gestured for Justice to take a seat. She handed him a flow chart depicting the department’s different divisions. “We’re in the process of restructuring the department. The budget is tight right now. You’ve got some hard decisions to make. Currently, we’re a hundred strong, fifty-five sworn and forty-five civilian positions, not to mention the seasonal beach patrol officers, which bring the number to one hundred and thirty.”
She pointed at the first column in the flow chart. “There are three divisions. The Field Services division, which boasts thirty officers, is run by Captain Everett Locke. He goes strictly by the book. You’ll probably like that about him.”
Justice gathered by the scornful tone of her voice that Linda wasn’t fond of Captain Locke’s style of leadership. He took the opportunity, when she paused, to ask if she’d review the Field Services division with him again, partly to absorb the details and partly to ascertain whether or not he’d judged Linda’s attitude toward Captain Locke unfairly.
He hadn’t. The longer she spoke about the officers in the field the more she revealed her bias toward the captain and the difficulties she’d experienced with him. Until Justice had the chance to speak to the captain himself, he’d take Linda’s comments with a grain of salt.
By the time Linda had answered all of his questions, Sergeant Westfall poked her head into the office to announce the arrival of Mayor Elliot Gage.
“Thank you, Sergeant. Tell Mayor Gage we’ll meet him in the press conference room shortly.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Linda straightened her uniform and reached for her white gloves and hat. She looked at Justice and offered a sad but reassuring smile. “Time for the changing of the guard, so to speak. Are you ready, Lieutenant Commander?”
“For the announcement? Yes.”
She laughed softly. “A very diplomatic reply. Diplomacy and tact will serve you well in this job.”
“I’ve never been diplomatic, Chief Ferguson.”
“A straight shooter, huh?”
“Yes.”
* * *
The entire Laguna Beach police force and nearly half of the civilian employees attended the swearing-in of their new chief. Inside the press conference room, bodies were packed into the tight space. The local news media were also present en masse to capture the mayor’s announcement, and their curiosity was peaking. One clever reporter recognized Franklin and spent a few minutes interviewing him. Franklin carefully spun the story he and his son had rehearsed, preparing for this inevitability. It helped that Franklin possessed charm and a natural authoritative manner that everyone he spoke to hoped he’d passed on to his son.
In the moments preceding the mayor’s announcement, Linda introduced Justice to Elliot Gage. The mayor smiled, shook his hand, and welcomed Justice to Laguna Beach, but both his voice and his eyes lacked warmth. Justice intuited that Mayor Gage wasn’t likely to be his ally or his friend. But that didn’t matter. He’d faced opposition before and overcome it. Running a cohesive unit was more important to him than garnering political support. He didn’t need it or want it. Owing favors to the wrong individuals eventually came back to bite you in the ass. It was bad enough he’d allowed Madam Secretary to manipulate him, and he wondered, again, if he’d made a huge mistake.
At precisely six o’clock Mayor Gage stepped in front of a pack of microphones. The consummate politician offered a broad smile, greeted the crowd, and played to it by performing his duty with aplomb. After Justice took his oath of office, he delivered a short, inspirational speech, assuring the officers of his dedication, loyalty, and support. As his gaze swept the room, it landed on Officer Owen Dooley, who smirked at him before he turned his back and left. It didn’t matter. He’d deal with Dooley in the morning. Officer Nash Carson’s hard stare, though, disturbed Justice more than Dooley’s insolence. Justice returned it, his own hard gaze never wavering. He’d deal with him, too, but thought there was something off about Carson that niggled at his core.
Within twenty minutes the press conference room cleared. Mayor Gage approached Justice and said, “A word, please.”
They stepped into an interrogation room unlike Justice had ever seen. It was bright with light and glassed in. One side was a two-way mirror. The table in the center had a metal top that, to Justice, seemed out of place given the modern structure of the room.
The mayor closed the door. “I’ll get right to the point. I strongly opposed the Secretary of State forcing you on my town and my police department. The federal government has no business poking its nose into local affairs. Chief Ferguson was doing a fine job and didn’t deserve to be pushed into retirement. Andyou,” he pointed at his head, “you’re damaged. How badly, no one knows. If you freak out on the job, you could cost lives. You’re a liability, not an asset. Believe me,Chief, I’ll be keeping a close eye on you. One screw-up, one bad decision, and I’ll make sure you’re out, and very publicly, too. Do you understand me?”
The only outward sign of Justice’s anger was a muscle ticking in his cheek. He thought the mayor’s reaction to his being chief of police wasn’t commensurate with his complaint. In fact, it was over-the-top and raised suspicion. He wondered if Mayor Gage was involved in whatever dangerous business Madam Secretary wanted him to investigate. Being a SEAL had taught Justice to keep his cards close to his chest. The mayor, though, had just showed his, and Justice smiled to himself. He moved the mayor to the top of his list of people to watch.
