92 Pacific Boulevard - Debbie Macomber [76]
So far, this was nothing out of the ordinary and didn’t warrant Troy’s attention. “Is there a reason you’ve come to tell me this personally?” he asked.
“Yes.” She nodded curtly.
At that moment it was easy to see that Gloria was Roy McAfee’s daughter. The set of her jaw, the unyielding line of her mouth, was all Roy.
“The driver was Mayor Louie Benson.”
Troy felt like groaning out loud. Well, so be it. The law was the law. “I see.“
“He lawyered up right away,” Gloria went on to tell him.
Troy wouldn’t have expected any less. “His brother Otto’s an attorney. I imagine Louie has him on speed dial.“
She nodded again. “His attorney met us at the jail.“
This was awkward, but he’d handled awkward situations before. “I appreciate the advance warning.”
Her gaze found his and he read the doubt in her eyes. “I wanted you to know…”
“Did Mayor Benson point out that he was an elected official or did you recognize him?“
“Both,” she said. “I knew who he was as soon as he stepped out of the car and then he told me. The thing is—” She hesitated and then looked away. “He was belligerent when I first pulled him over.“
“I…see.” Troy had known Benson for years on a casual basis, although they’d never been close friends. The mayor had been kind when Sandy died and insisted Troy take all the time he needed. To the best of his knowledge, Troy couldn’t remember seeing him with a drink in his hand, not even at the social functions they’d both attended. This behavior seemed completely out of character.
Gloria appeared to be waiting for Troy to comment. “I came to discuss this with you because I wanted to be sure I’d done the right thing, taking Benson into custody.“
“You did.” Awkward situation or not, Gloria wasn’t to blame because a local politician hadn’t had the good sense to know when enough was enough. Sometimes people in the public eye felt they’d been awarded some form of entitlement that placed their actions above the law.
“Mayor Benson asked me to cut him some slack.” Gloria clasped and unclasped her hands. “I checked his driving record, and it’s clean. He doesn’t have so much as a parking violation.”
Troy nodded. Still, that didn’t give him a clear picture. It could mean that in the past Mayor Benson had been granted a free ride or some deputy had conveniently looked the other way.
Gloria stared down at the floor. “He said if I issued him a DUI, he’d see to it that I was fired from my job.”
“In other words, he threatened you.” Troy had to believe Louie didn’t know what he was saying. He could charge the mayor with a further offense, but he didn’t want to do that, as much for Gloria’s sake as Louie’s.
Gloria frowned slightly as though she’d never intended to admit this. “I…think he was too drunk to remember everything he said. The thing is, Sheriff, I enjoy working in Cedar Cove and I’d hate this incident to tarnish my career in law enforcement—or worse, end it.”
That wasn’t going to happen. Not on Troy’s watch, anyway. “You have nothing to worry about, Ashton. You did your job. If there’s any political flack over this, I’ll deal with it.”
He felt, more than saw, his deputy relax.
“I thought later that I should’ve contacted you at the time of the arrest.”
“Don’t second-guess yourself. You made the right decision.” Although in retrospect, Troy wished she had called him. It wouldn’t have made any difference to the outcome, however. Benson would’ve ended up in jail regardless. But it might have eased Gloria’s mind. Instead, she’d spent a restless night, worrying about Troy’s reaction to the news.
“Like I said, you did your job.” He glanced at his watch. “Aren’t you off duty?”
“I am.”
“Then why are you still here?”
Her mouth twitched with a half smile.
“Again, I appreciate that you brought this to my attention. I’ll handle it from this point forward.”
“Thank you.” The relief in her voice was evident.
When Gloria had left his office, Troy decided he’d better talk to the mayor immediately; otherwise,