Free Jessica Beck - Donut Shop 17 - Old Fashioned Crooks by Jessica Beck

a chance to talk to him before you do anything rash,” I said,
almost pleading with my stepfather.   If Jake would leave the state police and become our new police chief,
everything would be pretty much ideal for us.  
    At least that’s
what I believed.
    “Call him and see
for yourself, Suzanne.”
    I did as the
chief requested, and Jake answered on the first ring.   “I just have one question for you.   Did you turn down the chief of police
job?” I asked him before he had the chance to even say hello.
    “Suzanne, I told
you all along that I wasn’t interested in taking over there.   Phillip clearly needs to move on, but
I’m not going to be the one who takes his place.”
    Jake had already
told me that more than once over the past several days, but that clearly didn’t
mean that I’d accepted it.   “Think
about it before you do anything rash, Jake.   It would be perfect.”
    “Not for me.   I’m sorry.   Suzanne, I hate to disappoint you, but it’s
not going to happen,” he said flatly, and I knew that it was true, no matter
how much I wished that it might be otherwise.   “Do you still love me, anyway?” he asked
in a softer voice.
    “Only with all my
heart,” I said.   “I didn’t mean to
push you so hard.   If it’s not right
for you, then it’s not right.”
    The relief was
clear in his voice as he replied, “I’m not saying never; I’m just saying not
right now.”
    “Got it.”
    “Listen, I hate
to do this, but I really have to go,” Jake said.
    “Go.   We’ll talk later.”
    “I’ll call you
tonight if I can,” Jake answered, and I hung up, still a little stunned by the police
chief’s sudden departure.   I knew
that he’d been threatening to leave since his brother’s untimely demise, but a
part of me hadn’t believed it.  
    I asked the
chief, “What made you decide to act so suddenly?   I thought you were planning to hang on
for a while.”
    “We both know
that there’s nothing sudden about it,” the chief said.   “In a way, this is all your fault.”
    “How’s that
possible?” I asked him, not understanding what he meant.
    “Well, I took
your advice and spoke with your mother.   She was upset that I was still working as the police chief, even after
I’d promised to quit.   She told me
that if I was going to leave, I needed to do it now.   The more   I thought about it, the more I agreed
with her.   I’ve been miserable just
hanging around waiting for someone to step in and take over.   I told the mayor my decision, and an
hour later, he had my replacement lined up, effective immediately.”
    “He’s already
hired someone!” I asked shrilly.
    “There was no
need to dawdle.   My mind was made
up, so there was no use delaying the inevitable.”
    “Did he at least
promote from within?” I asked, hoping that Grace’s boyfriend, Officer Stephen
Grant, might have inherited the job.
    “No, he’s hired
an officer from the Granite Meadows Police Force.   The man’s supposed to be good, and
what’s even more important, he can start immediately.”
    “If he’s so good,
how can he just leave his old job without at least giving them any notice?” I
asked.
    “I pulled some
strings to make it happen,” George said as he and a stranger approached
us.   “The mayor there owed me a
favor, so he intervened with the police chief.   Let’s go to Phillip’s office where we
can discuss this in private.”
    “Hey, it’s not my
office anymore,” Chief, or Former Chief Martin, said.   “Ask Chief Tyler.”
    “It’s not
official until tomorrow at eight AM, so you might as well call me Alex until
then,” the new chief said.   He was
tall and lean, somewhere in his mid-thirties, I’d say if I had to guess.   There was a scar on his left cheek, and
he had a full head of brown hair, and icy dark eyes that were almost black.
    “That’s just a
formality, as far as I’m concerned,” the chief said.
    “I don’t want to
go anywhere,” I