A Murder In Milburn Book 2 Death Of A Deputy REVAMPED June 2016 SCRIVENER (15 page)

“That’s just the thing, Sean,” Nora said. “I don’t.”

*****

Chapter 25

Nora spent the rest of the day taking care of Mrs. Mullally, who, despite what Doctor Neil said, was still looking weak to Nora. When she wasn’t better by the evening, they invited the Doctor to have another look at her.
 

“Stop being afraid,” the Doctor said, after he’d checked Mrs. Mullally over. “Nora, I know you love the lady, but you have to accept she’s over a certain age now. She’s going to have to recover at her own speed. You can’t panic every time something like this happens.”

“All right,” Nora said, looking as low as she felt.

The Doctor, sensing her feelings, said, “Well, I’m done with my duties for the day. Would you like to come get some pancakes with me at Anna’s? I’d appreciate the company.”

“I was thinking of cooking dinner,” Nora said. “You could join us.”

“Mrs. Mullally is planning to sleep through the night, and I’d be ashamed of myself if I made you cook for me all the time,” the Doctor said. “No, come on, Nora. I have some serious cravings for Anna’s sugar crystal crepes right now, for some reason.”

“All right,” Nora said.

As always, the pancake house was filled with patrons. Anna gave Nora the briefest of nods, and Nora figured she was still a little sore that the deal they had met to discuss last time had fallen through.

Squeezing herself into a booth, Nora took a chunk of food on her fork and shoveled it into her mouth. It was delicious, laden with sugar, and just a little bit of spice.

“Breakfast food at night always makes me feel like a little kid breaking rules,” Dr. Neil said. “In my family, it was a strict no-no. Meals were for nutrition. There was no place for fun. Of course, back then, we didn’t have as much variety of food as you young folk do.”

“Dr. Neil, there’s a question I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Nora said.

“What’s that, dear?” he asked.

“You looked pale when Joe talked about Wallis wanting justice for his family,” Nora said. “You looked pale when I bought it up this morning too.”

“There’s no question here,” Dr. Neil said, his features neutral.

“Why?” Nora asked.

“What if I told you that you’re just imagining this?” the Doctor asked her.

“I’d ask you why you’re lying,” Nora said.

“Wallis was my patient for a little while,” the Doctor said. “I was treating him for, well, its confidential, but let’s just say that it was perfectly harmless, curable, and happens to a lot of men. He was my patient, and he confided some things to me, things that I feel I have no right to tell others about. Unless there are warrants, though in this case, I don’t think there will be.” The Doctor shook some cinnamon over his pancakes. “Anything else?”

“Was it about Karen?” Nora asked the doctor.

The Doctor kept a straight face, and chewed his pancakes. “Nora, I’m a professional. Let’s change the topic.”

“I know she was having an affair,” Nora said. “I know that Wallis had threatened her over it. Is that what Joe meant when he said
Justice for the family
? Did Wallis want to take revenge on Karen?” If the Doctor said yes, Nora decided, if he even blinked the wrong way, she’d go right now to whatever authority she could, and expose Sean’s half-truths.

The Doctor only chewed on his pancakes, with no comment. “Wallis quit coming to see me, after a while,” was his only comment. “He preferred a different doctor, one from the town next to us.”

Frustrated with the Doctor’s lack of cooperation, Nora finished her pancakes, made some small talk with him, then declined his ride home. “I’d rather walk,” she said. “After a meal like that, I need the exercise.”

As if sensing her mood, the Doctor let her go without too much comment.

Nora walked back through the darkening streets, wondering why she felt so raw. Wallis’ death had nothing to do with her, really, and yet, she felt as if by being silent about Sean’s affair, she was committing a great crime. Then, there was Ricky. His death she felt almost responsible for. Trying her hardest to remember every detail of every conversation she had had with him, Nora was lost in her thoughts.

“Saw you in the pancake house,” a voice drawled behind her.
 

She felt a chill travel up her spine. Whirling around, she saw Alan Bridges leaning against a wall, with his friend Petey next to him. Alan held a brown paper bag with a bottle neck sticking out of it. He took a sip and passed it over to Petey.

“Well?” Alan said, “Too high and mighty to answer me.” he let out a little laugh. “Did you break up with Sean and start dating the Doctor instead? He’s a bit old for you, isn’t he?”

Alan’s presence had jogged her memory. She remembered the last time she had seen him. He’d been harassing Ricky then. She remembered pushing Alan away, and earning Ricky’s trust. Ricky had told her, later, that his ambition was to be the next Zany Motts or Elvis. Poor boy. He’d had so many ambitions. He’d had a vast stretch of time in front of him, to do what he liked with. But his time had run out sooner than he expected.

Now here she was, with Alan’s beady eyes staring at her, making her realize how dark the streets were, and how alone she was.

“No, she doesn’t want to answer me,” Alan said. “I’d be too ashamed to answer too, if I were you.” He took a step forward. His hands were clenching and unclenching.

“Alan, you better leave me alone,” Nora said.
 

“Or what? You’ll set Sean on me?” Alan laughed. “I heard about how he’s being reinstated. It’s all so typical. They listened to us for a few weeks, and now Wallis’ case is being closed and Sean’s back in office. Hey ho, that’s how they blow.” He laughed. “You hear that song, ever? It’s one of Zany Mott’s greatest hits. It’s called Blowhard. I was a big fan of Zany back in the day. He always talked about not giving in to The Man.”

“You’re drunk,” Nora said in disgust.

“I’m unhappy,” Alan said, moving closer to her. “I’m unhappy with how this town is run. I’m unhappy that Sean, like his father, the rich rancher, always get what they want, and the rest of us fight for crumbs. I want justice, the same way Wallis did.”

“Wallis had no family here,” Nora said. “So who did he even want justice for?”

“Oh, didn’t the
doctor
tell you?” Alan laughed. He was close enough now that Nora could smell the alcohol on his breath. She winced.

“No, he clearly didn’t,” Alan said. “Well my dear, I’ll tell you then. Years and years ago, Wallis had a happy family. His parents had worked with a lot of great bands--”

“Yes, yes, his father even owned an original Motts guitar,” Nora said. “I know.”

“Well, what you don’t know is that his mother’s sister, Maude, had recently married the love of her life. An older gentleman named Clay Jarvis. Clay had a teenage daughter, Helen. Seventeen and what a peach she was.”

This sounded familiar... why did this sound familiar? Had she heard rumors of the events that followed? Something about Wallis and his Aunt Maude…

“Helen, everyone in town knew, was secretly seeing a certain rich rancher. A married man. Of course, in a town this small, it doesn’t stay secret for long.”

“Wait…” Nora said. “Are you accusing Sean’s father?”

“Am I?” Alan laughed. “You bet I am. You can ask anyone if your little heart doesn’t believe me. Dracon Sr. was always attracted to young and pretty girls. He’d had plenty of affairs in his lifetime.”

Was that a habit Sean would carry on with? Or would he be different from his father? Nora wondered.

“Well, when Helen told him she was going to make it public, that she wanted to marry him, Dracon got really annoyed. After all, that would mess up his pretty life and his perfect family. A few months later, Helen was dead. Poisoning.”

Nora’s eyes went wide. “What are you suggesting?”

“I’m not suggesting anything,” Alan said. “But everyone in town knows this. The sheriff at the time was Sean’s Uncle John. Sure, like he was going to investigate his brother-in-law. It was the stepmother who went to jail instead. Wallis’ poor Aunt Maude. He hated that. He was very close to her. He used to live in her house when his parents were touring with bands. He loved that family, and he had to watch as it was slowly destroyed.”
 

“So he hated Sean too, then?”

“He didn’t care about Sean. He just wanted his Aunt to get the justice she deserved. His Aunt Maude has cancer now, and in a few years, she’s going to pass away. In a way, he thought that becoming sheriff would give him access to files that were locked away right now, and that this was his last chance. That’s why he was contesting against Sean.”

“I didn’t know this,” Nora said, her voice very quiet. “I’ve made a mistake.”

“Trusting Sean is always a mistake,” Alan said. “That entire family is twisted. He makes me seem normal in comparison.” He barked out a laugh.
 

“I have to go,” Nora whispered.

“No, you don’t,” Alan said.
 

She blinked, and realized that he’d backed her against a wall. He was towering over her, and his eyes had that unsteady yet predatory look that men get when they’ve got a hit of artificial confidence.

Headlights illuminated them, and Nora took her chance to break away from Alan. She ran to the parked car, and saw Harvey get out, his face a mask of fury. Running to him, she wrapped her arms around him and buried her head in his shoulders.
 

“Peace, man,” Alan called out from behind her.

“You get out of here, Alan,” Harvey said, his voice holding all the menace of a snake’s rattle.

Alan put up his arms, and with an evil grin, moved away.

Nora, with tears in her eyes, looked up at Harvey and placed her lips on his. She could sense his initial shock, but within seconds, he had warmed to her. His arms wrapped around her, comforting her, his lips soft as he rained kisses on her cheek.

“I don’t know what to do,” Nora said to him.

“How about apologize?” a sharp voice said from the passenger seat of the car.

Harvey took a step back, putting a hand through his hair.

Milly got out of the car, slamming the door so hard that the entire frame shook. Nora thought she heard a window crack.

“Well,” she said, her voice icy.

“Look, Milly,” Harvey said.

“This is why you haven’t kissed me. Ha! You haven’t even held my hand since the funeral services,” Milly said, almost to herself. “Of course that makes sense. You wouldn’t care about me the minute your one true love gave you the green signal.”

“Milly--”

“Oh no, don’t bother about me,” Milly said, stalking off. “You and your precious girlfriend can carry on. I’m going to leave this stupid town as fast as possible, and you better believe it.”

“Where will you go? Didn’t your father threaten to disown you if you left here for a year?” Harvey asked.
 

“I got money now,” Milly said. “I made some good investments, don’t you worry about me, Harvey. Or do you feel like you need to pay me off?”

“Milly, I’m sorry. It’s just--.”

“I’m sorry too,” Nora said. “I thought he’d have told you by now.”

 
“I wanted to tell her,” Harvey said, turning to Nora. “I really did.”

“But you had no chance,” Nora said. “I get it.”

“Nora…” Harvey was looking a little desperate, caught between his desire to stay with Nora and race after Milly.

“Go after her,” Nora said. “She deserves a proper break up. Whatever was or wasn’t between you two, she deserves an apology too.”
 

“But you--”

“I’ll be all right,” Nora said. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

*****

Chapter 26

She didn’t go home that night. At least not immediately. The first place she went to was the station, where Dean Elbert, Detective Rudy and Detective Jason were all sitting in a circle, having a beer.

“Nora?” Jason looked surprised. “What brings you here so late?”

“Sean,” Nora said.

“Well, that’s no surprise,” Jason winked and nudged Rudy. “See? You owe me ten.”

“You were betting on us?” Nora said.

“This town’s a little boring, we spiced it up by betting on couples,” Detective Jason said. “Harvey was Rudy’s pick for you, and Sean was mine. Guess I win.”

“Boy, you lose. You lose big time,” Nora said. “Sean has never been interested in me because Sean is dating Wallis’ wife Karen.”

Dean spluttered a little and almost fell out of his chair. Jason and Rudy only froze for a moment, before raising an eyebrow, giving each other a look, and then staring at Nora.

“You’re saying he murdered Wallis?” Jason asked.

“I’m saying his alibi is full of holes and he should not be handling this case,” Nora said. “Sean told me himself that he’s in love with Karen. He’d do anything to protect her.”

“You know this about Sean?” Dean asked, still sounding shocked.

“It’s true,” Nora said. “He was with Karen, in the woods when he found Wallis’ body. He isn’t lying about being hit in the head, at least I don’t think he is, but he’s lying about a lot of things so that her reputation isn’t harmed.”