Free A Murder In Milburn Book 2 Death Of A Deputy REVAMPED June 2016 SCRIVENER by Nancy McGovern

something? I see his kind all the time in the city. Untrustworthy bunch.” he made a sudden motion at Ricky, and Ricky flinched and shivered. Detective Jason laughed.
    “Well, my lady? How may I help you?”
    Nora looked at Ricky, who gave her a last pleading look.
    “Ricky here was talking to someone in the woods on his phone, trying to extort money out of them,” Nora said.
    “How much?” the detective asked.  
    “Fifty thousand dollars. I think,” Nora said. “Though all I heard him say was, fifty, in unmarked notes. ”
    Detective Jason whistled. “Well, that’s a fair amount of money. Who were you talking to, kid?”
    Ricky remained silent. His lips trembled slightly. “I was just asking a friend for fifty dollars,” he managed to say.
    “Lying, hmm? I guess I’ll just find out the truth.” The detective grabbed Ricky by the collar, and then grabbed his phone out of his pocket.
    “No! Give that back!” Ricky shouted, trying to grab it back.
    Jason backhanded him effortlessly. Ricky went stumbling and crashed against Dean’s desk.
    Without looking up from the phone, detective Jason said, “I’ve got you all as witnesses that he tried to attack me, right? I guess that’s enough to put him behind bars for the night. Maybe get him a nice conviction too.”
    “No! No!” Ricky was pleading. “I’m sorry. Please.”
    “There’s nothing on this phone,” the detective said with disgust, tossing the phone to Dean. “I think the little rat pressed a button and wiped out all the data on it. It’s been factory reset. Did you do that, little rat?”
    Nora looked at Ricky, who looked triumphant for about a second before looking frightened again as the detective advanced.
    “Don’t hit him,” Nora said quietly.
    The detective stopped, turned to look at her. “Eh?”
    “Don’t hit him. He’s just a scared child,” she said.
    The detective walked over to Ricky, looked down at him. “He’s a kid all right,” he said. “Can’t be bothered to stamp on a rat like him, it only hurts my shoes. All right, kid. Talk before I begin stamping. Who were you extorting?”
    “I didn’t do anything!” Ricky began sobbing. “Please, please don’t hurt me, Mister.”
    “I won’t if you talk fast,” the detective said.
    “There’s no proof against him, is there?” Nora asked. “The phone’s data is gone.”
    “Proof? We got ways of uncovering proof,” the detective smiled. “Your word’s enough for now. Drag him down to the cells, Rudy. Let’s--”
    “Stop,” Nora said. “I changed my mind. I don’t think I heard him right. I think he was just talking to his agent in New York. Ricky wouldn’t extort anybody.”
    Ricky looked at her, his eyes wide, his entire face trembling with gratefulness.
    The detective looked irritated. “If you’re getting sentimental about him, don’t be. His kind is very manipulative. They only talk if you give them a few good…” He smiled. “Well, if you treat them kindly and lovingly, as us policemen do.”
    “I didn’t hear a thing,” Nora repeated. “Let him go.”

    *****

Chapter 16
    Outside, Ricky came running after Nora. “Listen, you saved my life. I wanted to thank you.”  
    “The officer wouldn’t have killed you,” Nora said. “Hurt you a little, to make you talk, maybe, but not killed you. He’s a policeman, at the end of the day. He’s one of the good guys.”
    “The world’s a strange place if those are the good guys,” Ricky said.
    “Ricky, if you owe me anything, anything at all, just tell me who it was you were talking to. Who you thought was the…”
    She broke off as Harvey and Milly approached.
    Ricky had paled as he caught sight of them. As they approached, Nora’s grip on his shoulder loosened, and Ricky shrugged it off and ran away. Nora turned to call out to him, but he’d already vanished. What had gotten into him?  
    “Got a new admirer?” Milly asked, teasingly, watching him run. Milly seemed irritated to see