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The senators eyed Finn outside. The man didn’t need the bug to tell him what had happened. He wiped his hands on his trousers, stood up, and trudged away.
“We will, of course, need to retain your services for the rest of the investigation,” Masson said. “If what Chief Shaw says is true, we—”
“Are you serious?” Lila asked. “After everything you’ve put me through over the last month? I volunteered because I thought this was the right thing to do, but I have no contract with Bullstow. I want out. Everyone thinks I’m a criminal now, even my own commanders and my matron. I never wanted to lose my career, but that’s gone now. I might even lose my family.”
“We’ll put out a story to cover your reputation,” one of the senators promised. “We’ll make sure our matrons understand your sacrifice as best we can without spilling Bullstow secrets. We’ll also offer you immunity to continue your work. You won’t be dragged before the committee again—you have our assurances.”
Senator Masson and the others bobbed their heads in agreement.
All except for Hardwicke. “I want no part of this. Dropping her charges was the correct thing to do. Hiring her isn’t.”
“Your concerns are noted,” Masson replied. “No one wants to hire her, but there is a time limit on this investigation. Bullstow cannot afford another round of public highborn trials. It would shake the confidence of the masses. Immunity should be on the table.”
“Assuming Chief Shaw can prove his story,” the first senator said.
Lila considered the deal. “I don’t care about your assurances, not unless they come in writing. I’ll draw up the contract myself. I don’t trust senators much lately.”
“I suppose I can understand that,” Senator Masson said. “As for you, Chief Shaw, I cannot in good conscience allow you to remain at your post. To hire an heir—”
“You just hired her! What would you have had me do?”
“You could have offered your technical department proper training when you took office fifteen years ago. Our hands are tied now. We don’t have the time to change course now.”
Chief Shaw shoved his chair back and stalked across the marble. “I work with what I am given, and what I am given is a tragedy. Their hearts are in the right place, but their minds are not. You can’t expect spoiled housecats to chase gazelles.”
“You can’t hire a poacher, either.”
Lila held her tongue at the slight, for an insult was far better than a noose. So was immunity. She could scarcely believe she’d led them through that door.
“Chief Shaw, as of this moment, you are no longer chief of security.”
“What is he, then?” Senator Hardwicke asked, clicking away once more.
“He’s a right pain in the ass, is what he is!” Masson snatched Hardwick’s pen and threw it across the room. “What in the world are we to do with you, chief? Hang you? Turn you over to the auction house? Exile you? Eject you from the militia?”
“A hundred years ago, he’d be hanged,” one of the senators chimed in.
“Try forty. Remember Chief Cloutier?” Senator Hardwicke asked. “They still have his statue in New Orleans. I read about him when the old senate records were declassified for the interns. No one but us knows he didn’t deserve that statue.”
Lila raised a brow. She’d have immunity soon. She could dig into Chief Cloutier’s records without a moment’s reproach.
The thought tempted her.
“If we charge Chief Shaw with anything, it might inflame the protestors,” another senator replied. “And as he so eloquently mentioned, we’re about to hire her, too. For now, I motion that Chief Shaw is ejected from the militia. Let’s agree on that, at least.”
“Not before we discuss whether or not he should hang,” Masson said. “I vote no. Getting Ms. Randolph involved was poor judgment, not corruption. We can’t compare him to Cloutier. So long as he can prove his charges, I find no reason to hang the man or exile him from Bullstow.”
“You can’t be serious,” Hardwicke snapped. “He let a Randolph—”
“He asked her to help us. We’ll need that same help after today.”
“If the press finds out, this won’t go well for us. The populace will not understand—”
“I don’t give a flying fig what the populace does and does not understand right now, Hardwicke,” Masson said. “That’s what our PR department is for.”
“We are chosen to uphold the law. The law states—”
“What law? What law exists for this?” Senator Masson chuckled bitterly. “Perhaps Chief Shaw is right. Perhaps I am the only one who understands how screwed we would have been if Ms. Randolph had not closed my cousin’s trap.”
