Fiction: Title to Be Determined (Part Twelve)

Read Part Eleven.

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"Did you see the morning paper?"

Jules looked over at Sterling as his eyes scanned the traffic. She had decided to drive through the university campus on their way to the bypass, hoping to miss more of the morning rush. Less time in the car with him, she had thought. But she had seen the morning paper - and despite her mothers best efforts, Richie Arnold had still featured Jules in his front page article - though it had been pretty bland in her own opinion, not exactly the investigative journalism that had caught her mother's eyes in the first place.

"I skimmed the front page," she admitted, making a quick left.

"The mayor's quote was fascinating." Alistair's voice was dripping with sarcasm and Jules wasn't sure if she was being invited into the joke or not, but she couldn't help but to respond with a snort as she thought of his line, quoted in bold print - 'Dr Julian, as a new member of the force, will bring her self to the work.' It hadn't even made sense.

"I'm sure he was furious about that - doesn't help his image at all." Jules laughed.

"Oh, he was furious, alright."

Now Jules knew that she was on dangerous ground. Sterling had seen the mayor already that morning. "Just about the article?" She ventured.

"He wasn't too happy about the fact that I had waited to inform him about the body - and Preston vied it as insubordination."

"In a way, it was."

"Still, they gave me a week to find a way to break the case open."

"Or what?"

"I'm out - not just off the case, but off of the force altogether."

"He's such a bully." Jules snarled, imagining the mayor standing in Preston's office, lashing out at Sterling.

"It has been six months - six murders - and I've got nothing."

"We'll find something."

"Eventually - if he's getting cocky, he'll get messy."

Jules turned right and fell silent as she drove on toward the bypass. She knew that the situation would be very much the same without her presence, but she couldn't help but to feel in some way that she had brought things to a head for Sterling. And as much as she felt he had not always played fair with her, she knew he was doing everything he could to bring the murder to justice.

"I'm not trying to scare you, Dr Julian." Alistair finally spoke as they merged onto the bypass. "I just think that you ought to be aware of the full situation."

"Jules," she responded. "You can call me Jules."

Alistair understood it as an olive branch. "Thank you, Jules."

She nodded. "I'm not scarred of the mayor - if anything, he needs to be scared of me."

Alistair laughed. "I'd like to see the two of you go at it."

"Maybe without my mother around, but I'm not afraid to use that to our advantage if that's needed."

"I'm fairly certain that he feels you'd be on his side - or at least under his thumb."

"I'm more likely to break his thumbs." Jules muttered.