“So, how’s the job?” he asked the woman making idle chitchat. “Settling in?”
She laughed.
“Oh, it’s a shitshow, but I love dealing with bullshit. You have to be a little crazy to want to do this job. I’m just glad I’m teamed up with Elizabeth. She makes it better.”
The man said nothing.
And that told Kate all she needed to know. There was only one queen in DC, and it wasn’t going to be her. It was going to be the woman who put in the work and earned that loyalty from the cops who worked there.
She already knew that Jack Warner, the Commissioner, was someone close to the Blackhawks. So, for her to also have a homicide captain and a detective on her list of friends…
No shock there.
“We’re friends, Captain Corbin, and I’m loyal to her. You can stop worrying that I’m going to try to use some antiquated power play to usurp the queen. I know that while the title is mine, Elizabeth has the king’s ear. I can read a room.”
He just laughed.
Oh, he had been thinking that, and for Elizabeth’s sake, she was grateful that the woman understood that there was a hierarchy in DC, and Elizabeth was at the top, under the president.
Kate wasn’t done.
“Detective Gaines can also tell his wife I don’t bite. I’m sure she’s asked him to figure me out if he sees me. I know that everyone is curious about my new position.”
Quinn actually laughed. Callie, his wife, had called him earlier and told him to‘feel out’the new director for her. It was clear that Kate Natalie saw that coming a mile away.
“Guilty.”
Yeah, she wasn’t shocked.
Not.
At.
All.
How could Kate not see this one coming?
The bottom line was that everyone was curious about her. She wasn’t blind, and she could see the looks she got in the halls.
They were questioning ones as if everyone was holding their breath as they waited for the second shoe to drop.
Axelle had run a tight ship, and Kate had big shoes to fill, all the while playing alongside her idol.
“Hopefully, Detective, I’ll have a productive meeting with your wife. I’m scheduled to meet with Callista tomorrow.”
Oh, Quinn knew his wife was dying to get her shrinky-dink claws into this woman.
Trust and believe.
When they stepped out of the elevator, Johanna was there waiting for them to arrive—specifically for the phone to get there.
“Hey, I’m Johanna Seaton,” she said. “Special delivery?” she asked, smiling at them. “I do love when people bring me presents,” she admitted.
Dex nodded.
“Yeah, your boss wanted this handled ASAP,” he said, passing her the evidence bag with the phone in it.
Johanna checked out the phone, and she knew what they’d have to do to get into it.
