The Third Mrs. Mitchell. Lynnette Kent

see me, sir?”

      “Yeah, Pete. Sit down.” The assistant chief shuffled through some papers, tapped the stack on his desk and folded his hands on top. “I told you I’d get back to you as soon as our budget decisions were made.”

      “Yes, sir.” This was not going to be good news.

      “The city council handed down a fifteen-percent cut in next year’s police department appropriation. We’ve frozen salary levels across the board, denied most new-equipment requisitions. But to meet the budget, we’re gonna have to trim nonessential programs.”