Ah hell. I was sitting in a public park with a crying mayor. It didn’t get any better than this. Daisy cocked her head at the grunting sounds coming from Jim John. She eased up to him and whined. When that got no response, she licked the side of his face. I seriously considered slipping away, leaving the two of them to their misery.
He lifted his head, pushing Daisy away. “I take care of them financially.”
Not my concern, nor was it my place to judge him. “I’m going to fire Moody.”
Panic lit his face. “You can’t. He said he’d tell my wife if I do anything he doesn’t like.”
“Maybe you should tell her first. How many other people do you think he’s told besides Jansen? Eventually your wife is going to hear. Better it comes from you.” I was starting to feel like a priest holding confession. “Think about it. In the meantime I’ll take care of Moody.”
Daisy brought me a stick, dropping it at my feet. I threw it, and off she went. He didn’t ask how I was going to deal with Moody. I sure would have, but then I never would have put myself in this position. “I’d advise you not to answer any phone calls from him from now on.”
“That’s actually a relief to hear.” Jim John stood. “I want to know when it’s done.”
I almost snorted. It sounded like he thought I was going to kill the man. “Sit down, Jim John. There’s something else we have to talk about.”
“I’ve heard enough bad news this morning.”
“Sit,” I said when it seemed like he was going to walk away. “We need to talk about Stephanie.”
He sat, his shoulders slumping in defeat. “I’m listening.”
“Her blood test came back. She was over the legal limit.” I hadn’t been here long enough to decide if he was a good mayor. His personal life and family were definitely screwed up, though.
He let out a weary sigh. “She almost killed that boy. Charge her with a DUI. Maybe she’ll think twice next time.”
I sure hadn’t expected it to be that easy. Even if he had ordered me to drop the charges, I wouldn’t have. Hopefully Stephanie would learn a lesson from this.
“We done here?”
“Is Stephanie home?”
“Yes. Probably still asleep.”
“I’ll send Gene Lanier and Sarah Griffin to bring her in. You might want to warn your wife. If we do it this morning, I can probably push things through, get her in front of a judge this afternoon. You going to cover her bail?”
“I should probably let her sit in jail tonight, but yeah, I will.”
He walked away, his shoulders slumped. The meeting had gone better than I’d hoped, but I was mentally drained. Mostly because I hadn’t been able to go to sleep after I’d gone back to bed, and I was missing Jenny Girl like the very devil.
“Come on, Daisy. We have a bad man to deal with.” I ran a critical eye over her as she trotted to me. Her ribs were still showing, although not nearly as badly as when I’d found her. It was her enlarged nipples that had me frowning.
“Anyone seen Captain Moody?” It was early afternoon, and the man had yet to show his face. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he knew he was losing his job and had made himself scarce.
“He’s not been around all day,” Kim said.
If I were still giving out points, Moody would have been deducted a truckload for an unexcused absence. I went to my office, got out my phone, and called him.
“This is your chief,” I said when he answered. “Be in my office at five.” I hung up before he could respond since I didn’t want to hear any excuses as to why he couldn’t come in. Next I buzzed Gene Lanier, telling him I needed to see him.
“Close the door,” I said when Gene walked in.
“Am I in trouble?”
“Not today, but Moody is. He’ll be here at five, and I’m taking his gun and badge. I want you in here as a witness so he doesn’t go making up lies afterward. You’re going to hear some things that you can never repeat, capisce?”
Gene nodded. “I can’t say I’ll be sorry to see him go. He’s bad news. But he’s not going to go away without a fight.”
I smiled. “Maybe not, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve. You think we scared Stephanie straight?” I’d stayed away from that, making myself scarce when they’d brought her in. The mayor and I had to work together, and I wasn’t about to put myself between her and her father.
