Chapter 27: The Gangs All Here

Casey and Nancy met Tam at the door of a nearby restaurant.  Casey spoke to the hostess, and they were shown to a table, where a tall and broad dark-haired young woman sat.  She stood as they approached, and Nancy was startled at how large she was, not fat, but tall and powerfully built.  She spoke and Nancy knew immediately who she was, "Hello, Nancy," Les said warmly, "I was hoping we'd get to meet before I headed back to LA."

Nancy shook her hand vigorously, "It's so good to meet you in person," she said sincerely, "I didn't even realize the Agency had dragged you to town."

Casey nodded, "I arranged to have her come back with me.  I knew the brass would want to talk to those involved personally."

Nancy turned to Tam, "Did you get the third degree, too?"

Tam nodded, "Not quite as bad as what I've understood you've gone through, but I can't say it was exactly the next regatta."

Les and Tam were introduced, then they all sat down.  The waiter came by and took their orders.  Then Les and Tam pressed Nancy to fill them in on the whole story.  As Nancy related her actions, Casey, Les and Tam broke in with the details on their parts of the story at the appropriate places. 

By the time they were up to the present, they had all finished eating, and were contemplating dessert.  Casey grinned, "Well, I think we all deserve it!"

Nancy poked playfully at Casey's beer belly and said teasingly, "I don't know, Case, I think maybe you better lay off the sweets!"

Casey patted his stomach, "I think I'm due about the same time as you, kiddo!" he said, laughing.

They all ended up ordering dessert, and were groaning their way through pie and cake when Nancy looked across the table at Les, "So, you're headed back to LA today?"

Les shrugged, "I guess I should get back to work, though I'm really enjoying the DC area.  Never been here before."

Tam grimaced, "DC is OK, but I really hate the traffic."

Les laughed, "Oh the traffic here is no worse than LA!" she said.

"So, are you up for a promotion for this one?" Nancy asked.

Les looked at her in surprise, "Heck no, I'll be lucky if I don't get reprimanded for wasting valuable time cataloguing a bunch of files that ended up meaning nothing," she said ruefully.

Nancy shook her head, "That's not true, Les," she said certainly, "If you hadn't noticed the files were disturbed, and thought enough of it to catalogue them, I might never have realized the implication. Not to mention that the physical evidence probably would have been lost.  You did what you had to given the information you had.  It was totally appropriate."

"Yea, well, tell that to my boss," she said quietly, "Honestly, I'm thinking about giving this whole detective thing up. I'm not getting anywhere at the department - it's frustrating.  I've been there 6 years, and three of the guys I entered the force with have moved up steadily. I've been stuck where I am for the last three years." her tone reflected her frustration.

Nancy smiled, and Tam shook her head, "Now you did it, girl," Tam said quietly.

Nancy laughed outright, "Les, would you consider a move to Langley?"

Les looked interested, "What do you have in mind?"

"Well, I'll have to run it by Riley, my partner, but we've got an opening for an operative, and we weren't real impressed with the two applicants we interviewed yesterday . . ."

Les smiled broadly, "I'll take it, when do I start?"