“You are quite forgiving.”
She shrugged. “Being a cop is stressful. People don’t generally like you. My younger brother’s a firefighter. Everyone loves firemen.” She smiled. “When the fire truck shows up, people are relieved. When a police car shows up, people are worried. Even law-abiding citizens get stressed when they see a squad car in their rearview mirror. We’re spit on, yelled at, accused of any number of things, most of which aren’t true. And we can’t do anything about it, just take it. I’m not justifying Tommy’s behavior. Or the behavior of any other cop who crosses the line. We have to be better than everyone else. We have to control our temper, not react to the threats and anger. Why do you think so many cops have drinking problems? A high divorce rate? Anger management issues? It’s not easy doing what we do and taking shit from the people we’re most trying to help.” She paused. “Sorry, I get on my soap box and sometimes forget myself.”
“Sac PD should be sorry they lost you.”
“Well, yeah. But it was my choice. I could have weathered the storm, but you know how the rumor-mill gets. So I took a good severance package and walked. I don’t regret it.”
That was a lie. She might have been able to weather the storm, but the hostility had stressed her, and she didn’t know if she could trust a new partner once she returned from disability leave. If they ever let her work the field again. She didn’t want to be a desk cop, but that might have been the only option once she was cleared for active duty. She missed her job because she was her job, so in that she did regret leaving. Yet, she wouldn’t have done anything different. How could she? Turning a blind eye to Tommy’s gambling and working for the Russian mob was hard enough, but walking in on him with that girl ... she lost it.
“You’re pretty amazing, you know that?”
“Not really. And truly, there are far more good cops than bad. It’s just the bad ones who get all the attention.”
“If it’s any consolation, I know how you feel. When I accepted the appointment by the Governor, I didn’t realize how much people hated politicians.”
She smiled. “I can imagine.”
The waiter brought their meals and Alex tried not to scarf it down. So she asked more questions. “How’s your staff handling the shooting? It must have been stressful for them. Your chief of staff, right? And legislative director?”
“Good memory.”
“You were a prosecutor, you probably have been threatened many times, dealt with some pretty shady defendants. But most people don’t get shot at.”
“They’re good. I offered them time off, neither of them took it. Both were in the office today, though I insisted they leave early.”
“Have they been with you long?”
“Both since I was appointed last year. Eric had worked for the previous LG, and Melanie I hired away from the Governor. She’d run one of his satellite offices, and I’d met her years ago. She was definitely underutilized by the governor.”
“It’s good that you have staff you can trust.” He glanced away, so Alex prompted. “Or, do you not trust them?”
“I do,” he said quickly. “I’ve been a little concerned about Eric. He’s had some ups and downs. Comes from a good family, is very smart, but had a bit of trouble from the friends he chooses.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“You’re sounding like a cop.”
She shrugged. “Can’t help that. But if he’s mixed up with some shifty friends, maybe what happened yesterday had something to do with him.”
Travis was surprised. “I can’t imagine that.”
“You don’t have to. You should tell Detective Perry—let him ferret out the information, figure out what happened. You need to give him the information so he can do his job.”
“Of course. I’m sure I told him everything, but when he calls me with an update, I’ll mention Eric’s friends to him.”
“If I join your staff, I’ll want to run deep backgrounds on all your employees, both in the capitol and on your campaign. Would you have a problem with that?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Good.” She took another couple bites. The food really was delicious. “What exactly would I be doing for you?” she asked between bites. “The CHP will handle your day-to-day security in the Capitol, as well as home security and acting as escort, at least until the police wrap up this investigation. You said something about advance?”
“Let me ask you this. If you’d been working for me prior to yesterday, how would you have handled the hotel situation?”
She swallowed and considered. She didn’t have to spend much time thinking, because she’d already had an answer.