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"I am"

"Then why are you still here?"

Her ain, 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, this whole affair could blow up in his face Briefly he wondered if Louie was a secret drinker In any case, Troy was not the kind of laho’d bow to influence or intimidation

But the reasons for the ht be, were irrelevant Louie was in the wrong, no question about it

When he called the jail, he discovered that Mayor Benson had been released on his own recognizance

Their confrontation wasn’t going to be pleasant Lately he seemed to be at odds with the mayor over a number of issues This certainly wouldn’t improve their relationship

Troy found Benson in his office at city hall The lanced away He looked dreadful--pale and disheveled with bloodshot eyes From his appearance, Troy suspected Benson hadn’t hadthe defensive even before Troy had opened his hty fine job of that all by yourself," he countered

Louie got up to close his office door When he turned to face Troy, his rim line "I’d like this matter to disappear I trust you can make that happen"

Nope, he couldn’t "Unfortunately, the outcome is out of my control"

It was as if the other eted me because of my position as ood officer She--"

"I was only fractionally over the legal limit, Sheriff The officer refused to listen to reason Do you have any idea how hu it is to be put in handcuffs and escorted to jail?"

"You broke the law"

"By a fraction of a point," he said, tapping his desk

"You’re the one who decided you were sober enough to drive Don’t cast blaful pause, he added, "If you want to make a fuss, perhaps I should mention that not only did you break the law, you threatened one of nored Troy’s cory He see his head "Okay, whatever You’re right--I shouldn’t have gotten behind the wheel I accept full responsibility Still, once word of this gets out, it could ruinto downplay the situation

"But that isn’t your problem, is it?" The question was tossed at him flippantly

"How you cope with the political fallout is up to you"

The ainst the edge "I’ve never done anything like this before I…I don’t drink and drive"

"I’lad to hear it"

Benson was quiet for a estions on how to deal with this?"

Troy didn’t wait for an invitation; he sat down and"I believe honesty really is the best policy Admit that you made a mistake and that you’ll take responsibility for your actions"

Slowly the mayor sank into his leather chair "That’s harder than you think," he muttered

"It would be helpful for the public to kno easily so like this can happen" Troy frequently dealt with silasses of wine in quick succession, and then people would drive home, unaware of how much the alcohol had affected them Mayor Benson wasn’t alone

Apparently he didn’t like Troy’s advice Frowning, he said, "So now you want me to turn this into a public service announcement"

Troy didn’t feel that orthy of a response "However you approach it with your constituents is up to you," he said dispassionately

Louie’s face seeht…it’s just that…" He left the rest unsaid Sighing again, he hung his head "I guess the best way to deal with this fiasco is to face it head-on I’ll contact Jack Griffin at the paper and give him the story before he prints it on his own"

"Sood person for the mayor to talk to, foralcoholic with quite a few years of sobriety If theproblem, there was no one better than Jack Griffin to confide in

The two h The arrest was acutely eht be the wake-up call he needed What happened noas entirely up to Louie Benson