“Did they get all of the crooked ones?” Alexandre asked.
“No, we’re pretty sure not,” Nick sighed. “But that’s one of the reasons Lee wanted me there. There were only two other detectives that survived, one because he was on vacation, the other because he was in the custody of the Imperial Guard for trying to usurp the investigation on the palace staffer’s murder – I understand he did voluntarily cooperate with the investigation, so that’s something, but Lee busted him down from inspector, almost all the way back to beginning investigator.”
“Ouch,” Alexandre commented.
“Uh-huh. Lee’s looking to me, I think, to try to help scope out who’s on the up and up, and who’s crooked as a shipping container full of springs.” He sighed again.
“What about the detective who was on vacation?” Alexandre asked.
“Oh, he was old guard,” Nick noted. “But he was also near retirement, so Lee basically told him he was retiring…”
“And I don’t think he put up much of a fuss,” Cally added.
“He didn’t,” Nick confirmed.
“Which takes care of him,” Laura concluded.
“Yes, ma’am.” Nick drew a deep breath and let it out. “And right now, that just leaves me. So… yes, I started out working at Imperial Police Headquarters, and I’m back working at rebuilding Imperial Police Headquarters – though I spent most of the time at ICPD, happy as an oyster in a sea bed. So I guess I can see why you aren’t happy with Cally choosing me. But I swear to you on my parents’ graves, I am not like that viper pit. And I love Cally as much as I think I can love someone.”
Laura glanced at Alexandre, a world of meaning in her gaze.
“Alex, this sounds a lot different than we thought,” she said, voice quiet.
“You’re right, Laura,” Alexandre agreed. “And that also means that this must be the young man Cally’s been telling us about all along, the one who’s kept her safe, and that she’s helped keep safe, who’s been working with her and her colleagues, teaching them and bringing in people to teach them…”
“That’s him,” Cally said, nodding vigorously. She patted Nick’s thigh. “And he’s a full detective now, and he’s gonna be rebuilding the Investigations division over at IPD HQ from scratch, and maybe even head it up when he’s done rebuilding.”
“Oh, I dunno about that, honey,” Nick said modestly, flushing in embarrassment. “I think maybe Lee just knew I was somebody he could trust to help him do that. I’m sure he’ll pick somebody with more experience when it’s all said and done.”
“We’ll see,” Cally said proudly, beaming.
“I think we owe you an apology, Detective Ashton,” Alexandre said, standing and coming to Nick and offering his hand. Laura followed suit. “We were thoroughly confused, and thought that somehow you had managed to oust this ‘other’ young man from Cally’s life, and replace him…”
“When it turns out you were him, all along,” Laura finished for her husband.
Nick stood and shook their hands in turn.
“It’s fine,” he told them. “As soon as I realized you only knew of me from the IPD, I knew what the problem was. And frankly, I couldn’t blame you at all. I… do hope you’ll give me a chance now, though?”
“Most definitely!” Laura said with a smile, and it reminded Nick of Cally’s. “Now, how many bedrooms do you two need? Just one?”
“Um, no,” Nick murmured, flushing again. “We’re doing this the old-fashioned way, at least so far.”
“Nick had a bad experience with the niece of the old HQ head trying to seduce him, in order to try to control him for her uncle,” Cally explained. “He didn’t know she was related to the bastard, and it almost worked, ‘cause he trusted her an’ cared about her. So… he’s a little gun-shy. We’ve gone nice and slow.”
“That bi–! Well, I can certainly see why,” Laura said, incensed on Nick’s behalf. “Well, to start things off, let’s see about getting you two settled in, and then we can begin getting to know Nick well enough to stop jumping to bad conclusions.”
“What she said,” Alexandre agreed.
The rest of the weekend went swimmingly. Cally’s parents accepted Nick and found they liked him a lot. They also discovered that their daughter and her intended were very devoted to each other, respectful, gentle and affectionate.
By the time Laura Ames made Nick his favorite crepes for Sunday brunch, Cally knew he’d been accepted as part of the family.
Busted
When Winston Peabody responded to the summons, he found a young man was sitting at the desk where normally the Chief of Investigations would sit – where Peabody had expected to sit – in the building that had been leased as the temporary headquarters of the IPD. As it had turned out, the designs on the new building were still being finalized and the site cleared and prepared for fresh construction, so there was no help for it.
Peabody was startled to see how young the man was; he estimated he was perhaps ten or even fifteen years younger than Peabody himself. So he reached a conclusion and acted upon it.
“Hey there, son,” he said quietly. “I’m looking for Chief Ashton. I assume you’re his assistant?”
The young man looked up.
“Lieutenant Colonel Winston Lewis Peabody?”
“That’s me.”
“Sit down, Mr. Peabody. And please close the door. I’ll be with you in a moment.”
“Son, the correct protocol is Colonel Peabody.”
“I know the correct protocol, sir. Please sit down.” The younger man gestured to the visitor’s chair across the desk from where he sat.
That didn’t bode well. Nor did it look promising when the young man turned back
