Page 81 of State of Affairs (First Family 1)

“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.

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