Nothing but Trouble_ A Kevin Kerney Novel - Michael Mcgarrity [23]
The population of Santa Fe more than doubled during Indian Market and stretched his department’s resources to the limit. The number of sworn personnel Kerney had was barely adequate to cope with the resident population of Santa Fe, and the possibility of a disaster or major crime during Indian Market always worried him. Fortunately, the weekend wound down with nothing more than a few purse snatchings, several cases of heatstroke, some lost children safely returned to their parents, one shoplifting arrest, and a few fender benders.
In late August the mayor publicly announced that he would not stand for reelection in March. As the candidates lined up to announce their intention to run for the office, a stream of concerned, curious, and ambitious senior commanders sought Kerney out to question him about his plans. He made it clear to all that he would step down and retire, although he didn’t say when. He needed to discuss it with Sara first, and not by telephone.
On a Friday morning Kerney took an early flight from Albuquerque to Washington, D.C., where Sara was to meet him at the airport. After he arrived, he spotted her outside the passenger screening area with Patrick at her side. His son, now three, had grown again and looked more and more like his mother each time Kerney saw him. The same strawberry-blond hair, eyes more green than blue, the same line of freckles across the bridge of his nose, and a smile that melted Kerney’s heart.
Patrick broke away from his mother and ran to Kerney, who picked him up and gave him a bear hug.
“Can I have a pony?” Patrick asked, after Kerney smooched him.
“What does your mother say?” Kerney asked as Sara stepped up, gave him a kiss, stroked his cheek, and smiled her wonderful smile. She was wearing her Class A army uniform, which surprised Kerney. On the phone last night she’d said she was taking the day off.
Patrick raised four fingers. “I have to be this old.”
“How old are you now?”
Patrick glumly held up three fingers.
“You’ll be four soon enough,” Kerney said.
Patrick shook his head, as though such a day was an eternity away.
“Don’t pout,” Kerney said. “Soon you’ll be back in New Mexico and you can ride with me every day.”
Patrick’s eyes lit up. “Every day, forever?”
Kerney laughed. “How long is that?”
Patrick pondered the question seriously and spread his arms wide. “This much is forever.”
“Forever it is,” Kerney agreed with a laugh. “Are you working?” he asked Sara.
Sara nodded. “I’ll tell you about it on the ride home.”
In her SUV, Sara explained that she’d been called a few hours ago and told to report to her Pentagon boss at sixteen hundred hours.
“I don’t know why,” she added. “But my orders for embassy duty have been rescinded. I’m to remain at the Pentagon until further notice.”
“In the same job?” Kerney asked.
“God, I hope not,” Sara said. For three years she’d worked for a one-star general, a petty tyrant who’d given her nothing but grief. It was a distinct possibility that her orders had been canceled as a payback for standing up to him time and time again.
“So we’re in limbo,” Kerney said.
“For now. Have you officially resigned?”
“Not yet,” Kerney replied. “The mayor asked me to stay on until the end of his term. I wanted to talk to you about it before I gave him my answer.”
Sara sighed.
“What?” Kerney asked.
“It seems like reality is again interfering in our lives.”
“I will retire, Sara. In fact, I’ve already announced it.”
“Well, that’s one piece of the puzzle.”
“What are the other pieces?”
They’d reached Arlington, Virginia, where Sara and Patrick lived in the house Kerney had bought as