He almost laughed at the fact that there was never anything subtle or even soft about Jillian.
“All of my deputies are watching for him 24/7. I’m sure we’ll get him before he does anything.”
“Can I quote you on that Floyd?”
“Sure.”
“Well, if you don’t have anything else for me today, I’ll let you go. Thanks Floyd.”
With that, Floyd was greeted with a dial tone. He replaced his receiver and with a shake of his head, frowned. There was no telling what that crazy woman would print now. He’d just have to deal with it when it came out.
Just then, he looked up and saw Penny standing in his open doorway. She was smiling in that way that Floyd had learned meant she was going to ask him for something. So he just waited almost anxiously to see what it was.
“Sheriff, I was wondering about tonight.”
When he didn’t comment, she continued, “I was wondering just exactly where we’re going and what all we’re gonna to do.”
He smiled thinking he knew where this was going now. So he said, “Where would you like to go Penny?”
She walked over to stand at his side, placed her hands on her hips, and looked into his eyes. “Does this town have a bowling alley?”
“It sure does.”
She looked thoughtful for a moment. “Does this town have a pizza joint?”
“It sure does.”
He was determined not to prompt her in any way. He was enjoying this and he was sure she wanted to sway him to her way of thinking.
“Well . . . can we go bowling then go get pizza?”
He grinned at her and said, “We sure can Penny.” He thought for a moment. “Have you been bowling before?”
She blushed! This was the first time he’d seen his tough little tomboy daughter blush. She hung her head a little and said, “No.”
When he didn’t respond, she looked back up and said, “But I know how. Some of us kids used to hang out at a bowling alley and I watched them real careful. So I know I can bowl.”
“Okay, then that’s what we’ll do tonight. I’m sure Sue Ann and Andy would love to go bowling and out for pizza too.”
When Penny left his office, he just sat there staring out the window with a goofy grin on his face. His daughter was coming around and he was loving it.
* * *
Sue Ann couldn’t wait for their group date as she and Andy had been calling it. She was so excited and anxious to tell Floyd all about the coffee shop. She had asked Andy not to say anything about it even to Penny before she had a chance to tell Floyd.
She was so proud of Floyd when he remembered to open her door again. But instead of getting in right away she reached out with her arms and hugged him. Then she let go and bounced up and down saying, “We’re going to do it Floyd! Jo and I are going to buy the coffee shop and run it together.”
She jumped in and closed the door leaving Floyd standing there in openmouthed astonishment. As soon as he was behind the wheel, he turned to her and she turned sideways in her seat and said, “Someone is buying my shop and Dick and Diane are selling us the coffee shop. Isn’t it just great?”
Penny spoke up while Floyd was still trying to recover, “Will I get to go there too?”
“Of course you will Penny. It’s going to be a family operation.”
As soon as she said that, she realized what she’d said. Penny and Floyd weren’t family but they sure were starting to feel like it. She tried to keep going hoping no one else would notice it but when she looked at the silly grin on Floyd’s face, she knew that he had caught it. But he didn’t say anything. He just put the car in gear and backed out of her driveway.
“Gil’s mother and aunt have already volunteered to help us. Actually, they insisted that we let them help. You know those two.” She stopped and clapped her hands. “It’s just going to be so much fun.”
Floyd was laughing but she didn’t care. She knew he was happy for them too.
He snorted and said, “Who’s going to do the cooking? You both love to cook.” She knew he realized how that could be taken so he added a little more before he got into trouble. “And you’re both great cooks too.”
She clapped her hands together again as Floyd headed the car down the street. “That’s okay. We’ve already got that figured out. I love to bake and Jo loves to cook everything else. So we’ll each do our own thing and share waiting on tables and the counter.”
Before Floyd could say anything, Penny called out from the back seat, “Cool!”
Everyone laughed.
When Sue Ann calmed down a little, she noticed that Floyd was looking all around more than normal. In fact it was much more than was necessary to simply drive the car. She realized that he was watching for Hennesey. Suddenly she got a chill and she was frightened for a moment. Then when she looked back over at Floyd, her fear went away and she felt safe. He was such a big capable man that anyone would feel safe around him. She also remembered that when she had hugged him before, she’d felt the gun he had in his belt at his back which was covered up by his loose shirttail. That didn’t bother her either. In fact, it actually made her feel better, safer.
She overheard the kids talking in the backseat. Penny had talked Andy into agreeing with her idea of going bowling followed by pizza. She smiled to herself knowing that it hadn’t taken much persuasion since those were two of Andy’s favorite things to do.
As Floyd parked in the bowling alley parking lot, he turned to the others and said, “Everybody stay put for just a minute . . . okay?”
Sue Ann was surprised when Floyd just remained behind the wheel instead of getting out. She knew he was checking things out but how long could that take?
She was even more surprised when she found out what he was really waiting for. Floyd had parked on the row after the handicapped parking in a space with an empty space on each side. Just then, a patrol car pulled into each of the empty spots and the deputies got out. One stood in front of Floyd’s Cherokee and the other stood behind it.
Floyd looked over at Sue Ann with a cautious smile on his face. “Now we can get out.”
As they walked into the bowling alley, it was a strange feeling for Sue Ann to have the deputies in front and behind them all the way into the building. But she did feel safer. She noticed that one of them stayed near the entrance. She wasn’t sure where the other one went.
On the way over, Penny had been bragging about the fact that even though she’d never bowled before, she’d watched enough that she knew she’d do just great.
Sue Ann was surprised when Penny did do well. In fact, she did as well as everyone but Floyd. But he was a very good bowler who bowled in a league.
Sue Ann was watching her son. Andy, a typical seven-year-old boy, usually had trouble relating to girls, but he and Penny seemed to have hit it off quite well. So well in fact, that he didn’t even seem to mind that Penny’s score was higher than his.
When they left the bowling alley to go to the pizza parlor, the same procedure was repeated when they went out to the car only in reverse. Once they arrived at the pizza parlor, they were escorted in as before.
Half an hour later, as they were all munching on their pizza, Sue Ann looked closely at Floyd. She could see the tension in his whole body. She had known him most of her life but tonight she was seeing a side of Floyd McCracken that she’d never seen before. Sure, she’d seen him in his uniform as much over the years as she had in regular clothes. But this was different.
Before, even in his uniform, he’d just been her best friend’s cousin and someone she had wanted to be friends with. Now, he was . . . Well, there was no other way to put it but that he was a cop through and through. Contrary to what she would have believed before tonight, that made her feel good. Not just safe and secure, but . . . loved?
After another hour of food and fun, they were all reluctant to leave the pizza parlor but this was a school night and she needed to get Andy home.
When they we
re still fifty feet from Floyd’s Cherokee, the deputy, who was in the lead, held up his left hand and everyone else stopped where they were. He leaned over the windshield and plucked a piece of paper from under the wiper blade.
Floyd held his arms out to his sides and said, “Everyone stay right here for a minute.”
He walked up to the deputy and they looked at the paper in the light of the deputy’s flashlight.
When Floyd came back, he said, “Let’s move a little farther back.”
When they’d moved another fifty feet away, he motioned for them to get behind a full-sized van. “We’ll all wait right here while they check out the car.”
Sue Ann watched as one of the deputies opened all four doors and searched the inside of the vehicle while the other deputy crawled under it with his flashlight.
Soon, the deputies joined them behind the van and Floyd said, “Everyone bend over and put your hands over your head. I’m going to start the car with my remote.”
Sue Ann was surprised that both Andy and Penny did as Floyd instructed without question but she could hear them whispering to each other. So she joined them.
When Floyd hit the button to start the car, the motor turned over and nothing else happened.
Floyd led them all to the Cherokee and motioned for them to get in. The kids hopped into the backseat and Sue Ann stopped Floyd as he was reaching for the handle to open her door.
“What did the note say, Floyd?”
She could tell that he didn’t want to answer but the glare she was giving him must have swayed him. She wasn’t going to take no for an answer and he must have realized it.
He blew out a breath. “It was from Hennesey and it just said that he was still going to get me. That’s all.”
“That’s all?” she screeched before she could catch herself. She had to stay calm for the kids. They didn’t need to see her fall apart. She could see them watching her and Floyd. She took a deep breath and calmly tried to say, “I believe in you Floyd. You’ll get him. I know you will.”
He tried to smile down at her as he opened her door.
That was how their group date ended but it had given Sue Ann a lot to think about.
Chapter Nine
Over the next two days, things seemed to settle into a somewhat normal routine with Floyd and Penny eating at Sue Ann’s house Wednesday night and all four of them going to Thelma’s Thursday night.
Floyd knew the kids had been having fun with the ‘family evenings’ as he was beginning to think of them. When he really thought about it though, it shouldn’t have surprised him a bit. Neither had brothers or sisters and had sorely needed a friend. Sue Ann had told him once that Andy didn’t have any close friends. She had said that some kids even made fun of him over his love of nature. So that was making it easier for them to become friends. Floyd was sure that they were beginning to enjoy each other’s company.
At first, he’d been concerned that Penny was two years older than Andy. But that hadn’t been a problem since Andy was a seven-year-old intellectual in the making. In fact, he was helping Penny to adjust much more than anyone else was.
And Floyd couldn’t be any happier. It sure hadn’t looked that way in the beginning. He’d thought he’d spend most of his time when they were all together just keeping Penny in line. After all, she had spent all her life in a bad part of Kansas City. But she seemed to really be blooming here. He knew Sue Ann had a great deal to do with that as well as Andy.
Friday morning he and Penny needed to go in to her school to turn in all her completed assignments and get the new ones for the weekend.
They were finished inside the school and had just made it to the main doors when Floyd heard shouting on the other side of the doors. Then he recognized Sue Ann’s voice just before she cried out as if in pain.
Floyd pushed through the doors and immediately saw Sue Ann in the grasp of her ex-husband. He was twisting her arm and from the sound of her cries, he was hurting her pretty bad.
Before the guy saw him, Floyd clasped his hands together and brought them down in a chopping motion on the arm that was holding Sue Ann’s arm. He heard a distinct cracking sound and Ray cried out in pain. Floyd pulled both of his arms behind him and hooked them up with his handcuffs.
He turned to Sue Ann and said, “Are you all right Sue Ann? Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head but she was moving her arm around in a circle obviously trying to work out the pain. “It hurts a lot but I don’t think he did any real damage.”
“Good. Can you stay right here with Penny while I get this guy on his way to jail?”
She nodded and turned to say goodbye to a wide-eyed Andy.
Floyd could see that there was going to be some major damage control to be done there yet. Maybe he could help Sue Ann with that . . . if she would let him. But maybe not now that he had just hit the boy’s dad.
Floyd didn’t have a prisoner cage in his vehicle so he keyed the mic on his portable radio, which was clipped to his belt. “Dispatch, 100. I need transport for a 10-15 at Wilson Elementary School.”
He then led Ray, who was moaning, down to the curb next to his Tahoe.
Less than a minute later, a patrol vehicle pulled up on the street next to Floyd’s vehicle. When the deputy jumped out and came up to Floyd, he said, “I guess you’ll need to take this guy to the ER first, then put him in holding and call me so I can book him.”
He was standing there watching the patrol car moving away down the street when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked around and Sue Ann was standing there with Penny next to her. Penny! In the excitement, he’d forgotten that she had been right there. His daughter had seen him manhandle another man. Even though the guy was hurting Sue Ann it could have scared her. What would she think of him now?
Penny looked up at Floyd with a big grin on her face and said, “That was cool . . . Dad.”
Floyd felt like shouting out for joy. His tough little tomboy had called him Dad. One look at Sue Ann told him that she was also aware of the significance of that word. She reached out with both arms and drew him and Penny into a three-way hug that felt better than almost anything Floyd had ever felt.
Sue Ann spoke first. “I’ll let you two get down to the sheriff’s office. I need to go open my shop for the last time.”
She grinned at both of them and said, “But I’m not staying there all day. Jo and I are spending the day at the coffee shop so we can learn how to make all that fancy coffee they sell there.”
Floyd laid a hand on her shoulder. “I’m happy for you Sue Ann.”
Before she could say anything, Penny chimed in, “Me too.” Then she poked Floyd on his other arm and said, “We need to get to work, Dad.”
It was all Floyd could do just to get in his Tahoe with Penny and head it toward the office without laughing or shouting or something. But he couldn’t wipe the silly grin off his face.
Two hours later, he was called to the jail, on the second floor, where he booked a somewhat subdued Ray Vickers who now had a cast on his right arm.
Afterward, Floyd was sitting at his desk trying to figure out a way to try to flush Hennesey out so they could catch him. He wasn’t getting anywhere though. He was even relieved when Crystal buzzed him that he had a phone call. That is he was relieved until she told him who it was. He didn’t have to wonder what this call was all about. He knew exactly what the judge wanted.
He picked up the phone and said, “Good morning Judge Hawkins, how are you today?”
“Don’t give me that sweet sounding small talk Floyd. You know good and well why I’m calling you on a Friday afternoon when I should be home in front of a warm soothing fire sipping some of my fine brandy.”
The judge’s low gravelly voice showed his irritation better that anyone else would have been able even when shouting at the top of their lungs. Floyd braced himself for he knew he was in for a stiff lecture.
“I just got off the phone with one of those fancy lawyers from Spr
ingfield. He says you not only beat up his client but you broke his arm too. Then you threw him in jail to boot.”
Floyd knew the old boy liked him and hoped to cash in on a little of that right now.
“Did that fancy lawyer happen to tell you that I had to hit his client’s arm to keep him from breaking Sue Ann Vickers’ arm? And that he’s the very one who Sue Ann wanted you to put an Order of Protection against just a while ago?”
It was quiet on the other end for a moment. Then the judge cleared his throat noisily and said, “Well then. Okay Floyd, it looks like we’ve both got some damage control to do here.”
When Floyd didn’t say anything the judge said, “Very well, I’ll keep that fancy lawyer off your back and I’ll issue that Order of Protection.”
It was quiet for another moment then the judge came back with, “But did you have to break his arm?”
Floyd wasn’t given a chance to answer because all he heard was a dial tone.
He laughed so loudly that Penny came to the doorway to see what was so funny.
* * *
Sue Ann had opened her shop as usual this morning but she couldn’t get the incident with Ray at Andy’s school out of her mind. Poor Andy. He didn’t need to see that. She was sure it came as quite a shock for him to see Ray hurting her. He’d never been near when Ray had done that before and he’d only been four when Sue Ann left Ray.
She was going to have to sit him down as soon as she got home this evening and talk to him about it. Mainly, she needed to know how he felt about the whole thing especially Floyd’s having to hit his father.
She certainly hoped all of this wouldn’t turn Andy against Floyd just when things were really beginning to look so promising between her and Floyd.
She blew out a breath as she continued cutting a customer’s hair. She didn’t want Andy to hate his father. That was never good. But he was old enough now that he needed to know that she had been justified in getting herself and Andy away from Ray when she did. How could she go about doing that?
A Better Solution (Crowley County Series Book 2) Page 12
