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

Despite everything, he was.
    “You know, I haven’t had a vacation in five years,” Sean said. “Or at least, it feels that way. I know the townsfolk were kind of mean to me, but the truth is, they were right. I was very emotionally involved in the case. I needed space and time. I needed to delegate it, instead of trying to solve it myself.” He took a sip of the lemonade and smacked his lips. Then said, “Nora, the truth is, I wouldn’t have been very good at solving the case. No doubt about it.”
    “Did you meet your replacements?” she asked.
    “Jason and Rudy.” Sean frowned a little. “Mayor Almand requested them, yes? I can’t say I care for them too much. They’re a bit… rough.”
    “They’re goons,” Nora said. “Nothing short of it.”
    “Nora, don’t judge so fast,” Sean said. “Detective Jason was in the most vicious unit in NYC. He’s seen things that the most battle hardened of men would shudder at. He’s used to dealing with absolute gutter rats. So yes, he does have his techniques, but his heart’s in the right place.”
    “I took a witness to him, and Jason was terrifying,” Nora said. “He was literally suggesting torture to get information out.”
    “Who was the witness?” Sean looked interested.
    “Ricky,” Nora said. “I thought I heard him extort someone, but I could have been wrong. All I really heard him say was that he hadn’t talked about what he saw and he wanted fifty.”
    Sean steepled his fingers and put them under his chin. “Sounds pretty clear to me. He was after someone. So he’s in custody now?”
    “No,” Nora said. “The detective was terrifying him, and Ricky was refusing to speak. Plus, he’d managed to wipe his phone clean of data, so I just… I made them let him go.”
    “You what?” Sean leapt up.
    “I couldn’t leave him there, Sean. They were threatening to convict him for assaulting them when he’d done no such thing. If I’d left him there, they’d have had him sign a false confession to murdering Wallis or something.”
    “Nora, you fool!” Sean thundered. “I’m telling you, Jason is rough, but he’s a good detective. You’ve given Ricky the chance to escape. Come on! We need to go nab him. Where did you see him last?”
    Sean was racing down the garden to his garage, and Nora followed him.
    Opening it, he pulled the tarp off a ’65 Ford Thunderbird. Despite herself, Nora whistled. “That’s a lovely car.”
    “Forget the car,” Sean said. “We’ve got to find the boy.”
    Nora jumped in after him, and he gunned the engine, roaring off down the drive.
    “He could be anywhere,” Sean said, thinking aloud. “But let’s see. Knowing these kids, they tend to have fixed places they go to. I know he was staying at the local dive motel.”
    They reached the motel, and Sean walked up to the reception.
    A bald man was reading the paper and scratching his belly. He started as Sean thumped the desk.
    “Sheriff.” He looked surprised. “I mean, Sean, can I get you a room?”
    “No,” Sean said. “You can tell me where the kid is staying. Ricky.”
    “Ricky what?” The man opened a register book and began scanning it.
    “Ricky… Richard Tanner,” Sean said. “Slim, tall, floppy hair.”
    “Oh that kid,” the bald man said. “He’s in 602. They’re all accessible separately. You go to the building behind this one.”
    Sean nodded, and raced off, Nora behind him.
    “Sean, calm down,” she said. “Ricky hasn’t done it, and he won’t talk about who did. It’s no use going after him.”
    “Nora, I don’t really care,” Sean said. “Don’t you understand? Ricky was extorting the murderer, a silly dangerous thing for a fifteen-year-old to do. He would have been safer in custody.”
    “What are you saying?” Nora asked, her heart suddenly coming into her throat.
    “That you put Ricky’s life in danger by not letting detective Jason keep him in jail,” Sean said. “Here we are. 602.”
    He banged on