Page 12 - The Peggy's - Chapter 1

Rowena waited for Abede to speak. Stared at the tent. The harshness of the lights.
The looks on the faces of the CSU tech’s faces. No one seemed to be in a hurry. No
one wanted to be involved with this crime scene. Another bad sign.
“What do you want?” Abede asked.

Rowena smiled. She had won. It didn’t matter what she asked for, she would get it.
By the time this case was over she would be ensconced on a sixty-five foot mini yacht
in the Gulf of Mexico with as many young men as she could find willing to fuck her
until her toes curled.
“Promote me to temporary lieutenant assigned as a consultant to the Feds,” Rowena
answered. “For this case only.”
“Done,” Abede snapped. Tired to leave only Rowena’ stopped him.

“Wait a minute,” Rowena’s voice dropped. Each of the three stood and waited. “You
know full well I am not just going to give this to you. We have a deal over the Landry
case, but if you want me to change the deal to accommodate this, then we need to
renegotiate. Of course, if you want someone else to take the fall for incompetence,
then, by all means; do so.”
Rowena turned back towards the tent. It glared in the ferocity of the lights. The
sound of the portable generators violated the quietness of the evening.
She had them of course. Each of the three standing behind her now would give her
anything she wanted. Anything. As long as she took the fall for incompetence over the
handling of this case and the last one. A big thing to do. One that would cost them in
ways they had no idea of yet.

And yet, she had to be smooth. They knew she would want a lot, but they didn’t
know what she had been up to inside the evidence lock up underneath the Dead’s
offices. Nor did they know what she had been doing to several of the old cold cases.
Being assigned the Dead had turned from a dead end into a six lane highway as far as
Rowena was concerned. Whatever happened right now, she couldn’t afford to rock the
boat too much. But she had to ask for enough so their own suspicions would be
assuaged.
“Here’s my offer,” Rowena began. Her voice cold and quiet. “I retire at my full pay
as a former deputy chief of internal affairs with thirty years of service. Pay and
benefits to match that title.”
They would keep her at the sergeant title, but the money could be adjusted as could
the benefits. The police commissioner had a lot of power over such things.
“I also want a small, under the table, no IRS involved, payoff,” Rowena continued.
She saw the look in their eyes. This was the masterstroke. Each believed she was
money motivated. The question was how much to ask for. If she asked for too much,