“Besides, the promotion – which the ICPD chief approved, by the way – was necessary to discuss what Lee wants to talk about with you,” Peterson added. “Come on, let’s us three go into my office.”
“…Whoa, whoa, wait a minute!” Ashton said, surprised. “I thought you were retired!”
“I was,” Carter said. “I’m not now. I came out of retirement for this. The Emperor needed someone to rebuild the force locally, someone trustworthy. The few survivors of the dissolution of the IPD Headquarters on Sintar are iffy, at best – including the personnel held in the Throne’s custody through the short little civil war that we didn’t even know we had until it broke out and ended within a single day.”
“So…you’re asking me to come back to the IPD,” Ashton confirmed.
“I am. Under me as Chief. And I need detectives. Right now I have exactly three, and one of those is the detective who’s been in custody of the Throne during the big brouhaha that killed an Empress and the Imperial Council, one more is ‘old-school’ who was on vacation during the mess, and a third is someone I coaxed in from Odessa Sector headquarters, and he’s a provisional detective – he hasn’t quite made the promotion yet. Frankly, right now the only one I trust for sure is the guy from Odessa Sector. I need someone I can pull in that I trust. And that’s you, Nick.”
“But I don’t want to work under a chief of investigations who’s as bad as it used to be, Lee. Uh, Chief.”
“You won’t. Right now I have no inspectors. I’ve already told the guy who was vacationing that I’d be accepting his early retirement come this Monday, and while it took a bit of strong-arming, he finally agreed. Peabody was head of investigations under the previous regime, but not only did I oust him from taking over the Sintaran headquarters, he’s been busted down to sergeant. And I don’t mean just sergeant; I mean sergeant investigator. That came down from Consul Saaret, and Peabody wasn’t at all happy about it, but he admits there’s some trust to be earned back, there.”
“Wait,” Ashton said. “Did you poach any of the guys here at ICPD?”
“Other than you? No. They have a tight-knit group, and they’re needed here, in any case. I’m hoping, given what we’re trying to put together, the new IPD Headquarters and the ICPD will work together, instead of at cross purposes, from now on. And that’s one reason why I want you as my top detective.”
“Oh shit,” Ashton whispered. “Lee, I’m not ready for that.”
“That’s not what we’ve seen,” Peterson declared. “Nor what Kurt Walder saw, either.”
“I’m not asking you to head up the Investigations division, son,” Carter said. “I’m asking you to be my top, most trusted, detective. Right now, you’ll be reporting directly to me until we find someone who can step into that leadership role in Investigations. We’re rebuilding, basically from the ground up.”
“What, um,” Ashton broke off.
“What-what?” Carter asked, confused.
“He’s wondering about Cally Ames,” Peterson told her husband.
“Oh, that. It won’t be a problem,” Carter said. “She and I have talked, and she’s decided to stay here, so she can still work with you on cross-department things, but there isn’t any risk of someone getting accused of nepotism. Especially if the two of you get married.”
“Oh!” Ashton exclaimed, flushing despite himself. “We, uh, we haven’t even…”
“Then what are you waiting for, silly?” Peterson asked with a huge grin. She elbowed him lightly. “That woman is not only a great catch, she’s nuts about you.”
“I, er…” Ashton broke off, and a grinning Carter nudged his wife in turn.
“Hush, Maia,” he said. “The boy – the man has his own timetable on that. Let him do it his way.”
“I’m just sayin’,” Peterson said with a shrug.
“Yes, well, that’s none of our business at this moment,” Carter noted. “We’re still talking police business, here, not advising Nick on his personal life. And to that end, Nick, do you need to think about my offer?”
Ashton, at a loss for words, shot a questioning glance at Peterson.
“Nope, it ain’t a problem, kiddo,” she said, interpreting that look. “You came to us to stay safe, and we kept you safe, knowing you might go back when the time came – assuming it ever did. I’d say the time is here, and we’re proud one of ours is going to help rebuild the division and the department, and do it right.”
Ashton nodded.
“You said you talked to Cally,” Ashton said then. “Did she have a problem…?”
“She’s so proud of you she could about bust,” Carter said with a smile. “She seemed to think you should do it.”
“Then…pending my talking to her myself…I think you have a tentative yes, Chief Carter,” Ashton declared.
“That’s what I hoped I’d hear,” Carter said, relaxing.
They were back at the Laughing Cat, in the little corner booth, screened off from the rest of the backmost back room.
“So did you accept Chief Carter’s offer?” Cally asked, after the waiter departed with their order.
“I said I wanted to talk to you about it, but yes, I tentatively accepted,” Nick told her.
“Why did you even need to talk to me?”
“Well, we’re kind of a couple now,” he pointed out. “And I figured, if I’m gonna do something that big, I needed to at least verify with you personally that you’re okay with it.”
“I’m okay with it. In fact, I’m so proud of you I can hardly stand it.”
“Aw.”
They were silent for a few moments, sipping their drinks.
“Listen, Cally…” Nick began.
“Yes, Nick?”
“You know…I really missed you while I was on Catalonia.”
“I missed you, too.”
“And if I go back to IPD, and you stay here, we won’t see
