Victoria: Case Five: A Lt. Kate Gazzara Novel (The Lt. Kate Gazzara Murder Files Book 5) by Blair Howard

Author:Blair Howard [Howard, Blair]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-07-04T05:00:00+00:00

21

I rolled down the car window and told the guard at the security booth that I wanted to see the governor.

“You got an appointment?” he asked.

“Chattanooga PD,” I said. “I don’t need one.”

I offered him my badge and ID. He grabbed them, waggled his hand at Janet, took her creds too, and studied them. He checked our badges and IDs like we were about to enter the Pentagon. He looked back and forth from the photos to our faces, lingering much longer on Janet. I couldn’t blame him for that. She did, after all, look more like a kid than a cop.

Finally, satisfied we were who we said we were, he reentered the guard booth. I watched as he made the call.

“He ain’t here,” he said, leaning around the door jamb.

“Oh, yeah? How about we go see for ourselves?” I yelled back at him.

He talked into the phone some more then exited the booth, came to the car window, leaned down, handed us our creds, and said, “Drive on, go straight to the front steps of the house where you’ll be met. Do not stop along the way.”

Then he stood back, pressed a button just inside the door to the booth, and the huge iron gates swung slowly open. He waved us through and, in the rearview mirror, I saw him step into the middle of the driveway and make a note of our license plate.

“Wow,” Janet said. “That guy was really serious. Better safe than sorry, I suppose… Holy crap, would you just look at that.”

Holy crap indeed. I’d always known that Lookout Mountain was the high-status area in Chattanooga, but I had no idea just how high.

We followed the perfectly paved road through the woodland for maybe a quarter mile. Every tree along the way was lush and green.

“Will you look at that fricking house?” I said as the dazzling white mansion came into view.

It stood atop a slight rise. A traditional, Antebellum structure with two-story windows, each flanked by heavy black shutters. Gigantic white colonnades guarded the front of the home, supporting the roof over a vast front porch.

Holy cow, I thought. Talk about Gone with the Wind. All we need now is Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler.

“I feel like I should have gotten dressed up for this one,” Janet joked, looking down at her skinny jeans and white tee.

“You look fine,” I said. “Ah, there’s our chaperone, just like the man said.”

I parked the car almost at his feet and we stepped out into the sunshine.

“Can I help you?” he said in a deep, resonant voice.

“You can.” I smiled as I held up my badge and introduced us both. “We’d like to talk to Governor Randolph.”

“I’m afraid Governor Randolph is not in residence.” The man stood like a fricking statue.

Not in residence? What kind of talk is that?

“I take it you mean he’s not in?”

“Exactly so, Lieutenant.”

“Okay, then would you be so kind as to tell us where we can find him?” I said, still smiling.

“The Governor is at his club golfing.

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