Still... why should I make it a one-person show when I could make it a one-department show?
I stood up with a pep in my step, gathered all of the necessary paperwork, and made my way to the DA’s office. The door was already open, and Mrs. Bethany Johnson invited me in before I had even knocked on the door.
“Welcome,” she said warmly. “How are you enjoying all of the paperwork?”
“It’s like college all over again,” I said with a smile. “Except maybe a little less digital.”
“Yes, well, the government has a way of doing that,” Beth replied with a smirk. “We have to thank it for our job, but it will do us some good to acknowledge its limitations.”
“For sure,” I said, keeping the small talk going. “I like it more than the corporate world, though. I feel like I can make more of a difference here.”
“That’s the best attitude you can have,” she said. “Now, then, to business. As you know, your job is to help me prosecute the major crime in Springsville and what is in our area. Now, we aren’t quite the city of Los Angeles, but we do have our fair share of crime here that we need to look into.”
Like the Black Reapers. Bring it up if she doesn’t mention it. But I don’t know why she wouldn’t mention it. There’s no reason not to.
“For right now, Angela, I would like you to focus on any drug trade crimes going on.”
That... might have been connected to the Black Reapers? That wasn’t something they were well known for, though. That was more of a Fallen Saints deal. And while the Saints definitely needed some heat on them...
“Are you comfortable with that?”
“Of course,” I said, feeling like there was no other acceptable answer. “I came here to help clean up the city.”
No, this is for Shannon. You took this job for Shannon. If you aren’t doing it for her, then you aren’t doing it for any other reason than the security of a government job.
“If I may, though,” I said, thankfully not drawing an adverse reaction from Beth. “There is a motorcycle club in town called the Black Reapers. I think they are a nuisance and a menace to our town, and I think it would do us good to focus on them, no? And not just on the drug aspect of things?”
“Oh, them,” Beth said with troubling ease. “They do cause trouble here and there, but they really aren’t anything more than men who can’t let go of their teenage rebel years. I wouldn’t worry about them.”
Seriously?
Seriously...
“But, that can’t be it, right? There’s more to it than just that?”
“Don’t worry about it, Angela,” Beth said. “I have been in this position for several years now, and I’ve seen some serious criminals and some eras of prosperity and peace. The Black Reapers are not churchgoers, no, but they aren’t going to do anything worse than scream too loudly at two in the morning after a long party. Just focus on the drug trade here.”
That wasn’t accurate at all.
That wasn’t even close to accurate.
It was accurate only in that the Black Reapers had certainly been known to party at odd hours and at very loud levels. But it was not accurate to say that was where things had ended.
They had fucking murdered my best friend!
But I didn’t want my first day on the job to be questioning the opinion of the district attorney. Maybe in a few months, but not today.
That is, if she’s open to questioning.
If she’s not in the pocket of the Reapers.
Much as the thought disturbed me, it disturbed me even more that it might have been right. Perhaps the corruption in this town extended to my own pocket.
That was a hell of a leap to take, but if the leap proved accurate, then I would have to go even higher up the government ladder to give Shannon the justice she deserved.
“I understand,” I said, keeping a straight face.
“Good,” Beth said. “Do you have any other questions today?”
