J.A. Jance's Ali Reynolds Mysteries 3-Book Boxed Set, Volume 2: Trial by Fire, Fatal Error, Left for Dead Read Free

ago.”
    “There won’t be any call for time clocks,” Maxwell said. “I’d be hiring you as a media consultant.”
    “With no benefits, I presume,” Ali put in.
    Maxwell nodded. “That’s the best way for me to walk this past the Board of Supervisors. Besides, by doing it this way I can offer quite a bit more money than I could otherwise. Most of the time you could operate out of the Village of Oak Creek substation, but I’d need you to come in to the office in Prescott some of the time—especially early on, so I can brief you on some of our policies and procedures and bring you up to speed with what we’ve got going at the moment. There are the usual press issues—when we’re dealing with the Board of Supervisors, for example, or seeing to it that routine police matters make it into the media—but there are times when we’ll need to be able to call you out if there are emergency situations that need to be handled.”
    “Company car?” Ali asked.
    Maxwell grinned at her again. He knew she wouldn’t be asking that question if she hadn’t already made up her mind to take him up on his offer. What they were doing now was negotiating terms.
    “I saw that nifty blue Porsche Cayenne of yours as I came up the driveway,” he said. “Your helper was in the process of detailing it. Believe me, none of the vehicles in the department’s fleetwould measure up to that. I’m afraid you’d need to use your own wheels and settle for a car allowance. You’ll need to keep track of your mileage.”
    “Of course,” Ali said. “What about a radio?”
    “It’ll take some time, but we’ll set you up with the same kind of communications equipment our plainclothes people use, although you may not want a radio permanently installed in your vehicle. We’ll also equip you with a Kevlar vest, which will need to be worn at all times when you’re working for us—except when you’re in the office, that is. Oh, and you’ll need a complete contact list.”
    Will need, Ali noted. Not would need.
    In other words, Maxwell knew that he had hooked her. Now he was going for the assumed close.
    “When would I start?” Ali asked.
    Sheriff Maxwell looked enormously relieved, as though a huge weight had been lifted from his broad shoulders. “Anytime,” he said, getting to his feet and donning his Stetson. “The sooner the better.”
    He left then, sauntering away across the patio. Watching him go, Ali had no idea how much her life had just changed—in ways she could never have envisioned.

CHAPTER 2
    In the end, Ali’s cheering section sorted itself out in exactly the way she had expected. She went to the Sugarloaf that very afternoon to give her parents the news. Edie Larson was thrilled.
    “Will you have your own badge?” she wanted to know.
    “I suppose,” Ali said. “An employee ID badge to wear in the office and a wallet with a badge and another ID to carry in my purse.”
    “It’s a good thing you already have your Glock and your Taser,” Edie continued. “I’m really proud of you. This is great.”
    Ali’s dad, Bob Larson, wasn’t nearly as happy to hear it. Looking aggrieved, he folded both hands across his chest—including the one that still held a spatula.
    “I don’t get it,” he said. “You were such a sensible kid growing up. What I can’t understand is why, as an adult, you’re always dead set on getting yourself into all kinds of hot water. Why can’t you be as levelheaded as your mother?”
    Ali almost laughed aloud at that one. Her father was the levelheaded one. Her mother was not.
    After calling first to make sure it was okay for her to stop by, Ali went next to Chris and Athena’s house—her old house on Andante Drive—to tell the kids her news.
    Chris reacted stoically. “Are you sure this is what you want to do, Mom?” he asked.
    “Yes,” Ali answered with a nod. “I’m sure.”
    “Then go for it,” Chris said.
    Athena’s enthusiasm mirrored Edie Larson’s. “You’ll