by Sandra Owens
During the time of the Eminent Domain War, or Mary’s Last Stand as it became known, we would sit, wide-eyed, watching people’s faces turn red and the spit flying out of their mouths as they nearly came to blows. Daddy refused to back down, though, even when the commissioner threatened to take over the town and run my father out with his tail tucked between his legs. My dad’s only defense for standing his ground was that what they were trying to do to Mary wasn’t right. After months of fighting, the commissioner finally gave up and, in a snit, sold his house and moved away. “Good riddance,” everyone said.
In Mary’s eyes, Daddy’s a hero. In mine, too. From then on, pecan bear claws—his weakness—have been free, no matter how hard he at first argued with Mary that he was just doing his job, and she should take his money. And every Monday morning I pick them up, along with the pastries for me and Mom, and the sandwiches, and take them to my parents, spending most of the day with them. After we have our coffee and Mary’s treats, I work in the yard with my dad for a few hours until lunchtime.
“Tell your daddy I put extra pee-cans on his claws, Miss Jenny.”
“I sure will.” She put extra pecans on his claws every week, but she liked reminding him. I pulled a twenty and a ten from my wallet and handed it over. Even though I only had sixty-seven cents due back, I knew better than to tell her to keep it.
The bell over the door tinkled. I glanced over my shoulder, expecting to see Mrs. Hershel. She usually came in around the same time I did, and I would always brace for a smothering hug. It wasn’t Mrs. Hershel, but I’d definitely be good with a hug.
“Morning, Dylan,” I said.
He smiled, his eyes lighting up at seeing me. “Jenny.”
That was all he said, but it was the way he drawled out my name, making it whispery, that had me inhaling air back into my lungs. He wore a dark blue suit, light blue shirt, and a gorgeous blue and red tie. Sunglasses were pushed up on his head, and the whole effect was of a CEO billionaire like those on the covers of some romance books. I wished I had my camera with me.
Mary cleared her throat, reminding me that she was there. “Ah, Mary, I’d like to introduce you to our new police chief, Dylan Conrad. Dylan, Mrs. Mary Ballard.” I kept my gaze on Dylan, wanting to see his reaction to Mary.
14
~ Dylan ~
It was close, but I managed not to show any surprise at Blue Ridge Valley’s famous baker. “Mrs. Ballard, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m going to be one of your best doughnut customers,” I said to the top of her purple head. I doubted she reached the five-foot-tall mark, and not much more than her nose, eyes, and hair were visible over the top of the counter. Her eyes were heavily shadowed in purple, and each ear had a row of pierced rings along the shell. I estimated her to be in her sixties.
I glanced at Jenny to see amusement dancing in her eyes, and I remembered saying that I’d marry Miss Mary for her doughnuts. My lips gave an uncontrollable twitch imagining Mary Ballard in my bed. I think Jenny was holding her breath in an effort not to laugh.
God, I loved this town.
“Mr. Ballard kicked the bucket back in ’92, and nobody calls me Mrs. Ballard anymore. I’m just plain Mary. What flavor doughnut you like, Chief?”
There was absolutely nothing plain about Miss Mary. “Hot glazed for doughnuts, and…” I eyed the gigantic muffins. “What are those?”
She glanced at the ones I pointed to. “Apple cinnamon with walnuts. Eat this one now,” she said, handing me a glazed doughnut that was warm in my palm. “Take this one for later.” She put another one in a bag. “No money today, Chief. They’re a welcome present.”
“Thank you, Mary.” I bit off half of the warm doughnut, moaning at how it melted in my mouth. “I’ve died and gone to heaven.”
Mary beamed, her purple-shadowed eyes shining with pleasure. “My Larry always did love those the best. Glad to meet another man who appreciates them.”
She’d found a fan in me. “I also want three dozen assorted to take to the boys and girls at the station, and I will pay for those. Make sure you put an apple cinnamon muffin in the box.”
Doughnuts paid for, I walked Jenny out. “You’re evil, Red.” We hadn’t made it two steps out of Mary’s sight when Jenny doubled over in laughter.
“If you could have seen your face,” she gasped.
“You could have warned me, you know.”
“No way. It was too much fun watching you try to keep a straight face.”
I took out the apple muffin, biting into it. “Oh my God, this is good. I might marry her anyway, purple hair and all.”
“Just so you know, next week her hair and eye shadow will be green or red or maybe blue. It changes every Monday.”
“Even better. She’ll keep me on my toes.”
Jenny gave me a toothy grin. “Now I know how to bribe you, Chief. Give you a box of warm glazed doughnuts and apple muffins and you’ll be putty in my hands.”
I was pretty sure I was already putty in her hands. “I’m an officer of the law, madam. I can’t be bribed.”
She made a snorting noise. “We’ll see. You look really nice today, by the way. Very CEOish.”
“Thank you.” It wasn’t my usual attire. Normally I’d have on a pair of tan cargo pants and a dark brown or olive-green polo shirt with the Blue Ridge Valley police logo on the chest, bought with my own money because I refused to wear those crappy uniforms the city supplied. I was working on getting my officers something similar.
Today I had a meeting with the mayor and town manager, thus the monkey suit.
A powder-blue Mercedes convertible turned into the lot, parking next to my car.
“Oh crap,” Jenny said.
I raised a brow. “Something I should know?”
“Man-eater alert.”
The woman who exited the Mercedes was stunning. I guessed her to be in her mid-twenties, about Jenny’s age. Sleek blonde hair in a blunt cut just below her ears, eyes as blue as the sky above me, tall with a body curved in all the right places. Her sight zeroed in on me as she sashayed—that was the only word for it—straight for me.
“She hates me, so I’m outta here,” Jenny said.
I grabbed her arm. “Oh no you don’t.” The type of woman aiming for me made me want to run for the hills.
“This isn’t going to be pretty,” she grumbled.
Probably not.
“Introduce me to your friend, Jenn.”
What? No hello, Jenn. How are you? No pretense of having good manners?
“Stephanie, this is Dylan Conrad. Dylan, Stephanie Jenkins.”
“Jenkins as in Mayor Jenkins?” I said.
“My daddy.”
Oh joy. “Pleased to meet you, Stephanie. Sorry to run, but I’ve got a meeting.” Which was true, but it wasn’t until later in the morning.
She put her hand on my arm, stopping me. “We’re having a barbeque Saturday afternoon. I’ll have Daddy give you directions to our house.”
Did I miss something? Like an actual invitation that I could decline? Apparently Miss Jenkins was used to taking a lot of things for granted. I had a bad feeling that she was going to be trouble.
It was definitely time to run for the hills. “Ladies, have a nice day.” Hopefully Jenny wouldn’t be too mad at me for abandoning her to the man-eater. It occurred to me that I didn’t have Jenny’s phone number. I should have gotten that when we were together yesterday so I could text her a silly smiley face or something.
“Those doughnuts from Mary’s?” Tommy asked, eyeing the box in my hands when I walked into the building.
“That they are.” I handed him the box. “Put them in the break room.” I’d gotten plenty to go around, but even so, I rolled my eyes when he took four out. “Hungry this morning?”
“Always hungry,” he said around a mouthful of chocolate-covered doughnut.
“You’re on the desk today, right?” He nodded. “When Captain Moody comes in, tell him I want to see him.”
“Will do, Chief.”
I walked down the hall, stopping at the doorway to the bull pen. “Morning, everyone.”
“Morning, Chief,” four voices rang out.
“Anything going on I should know about?” I was on week two, and we’d settled into a routine. The day shift was already out on patrol, but the night shift had started hanging around, waiting for me to come in. We’d shoot the breeze for a few minutes, catch up on any problems that might have come up overnight, and then they’d be on their way.
“It was quiet last night,” Officer Griffin said.
“Good to hear, Sarah.” I’d already started using hers and Kim Payton’s first names, along with Tommy’s and Gene Lanier’s, my only detective. Those four were the cream of my police force, all of them sharp as tacks. Each were well on their way to earning the sixty points I’d set as a requirement to keep their jobs. Hopefully the others would get there before the deadline.
“Was that a box of doughnuts from Mary’s that Tommy just walked by with?” Gene said.
“You have good eyes, Gene.” Four cops flew past me, following Tommy like bloodhounds on the scent. “All right then. Guess we’re done here,” I said to the empty room.
My meeting agenda with the mayor and town manager was a review of my first week and a discussion of my plans for the department. I picked up the briefcase I’d stored under my desk and put three folders into it, things I’d worked on the last few days to prepare for my meeting. After a quick review of the list I’d made, I stuck it on top of the folders. It was going to be an interesting meeting, and I was going to find out just how much authority I actually had.
“Damn it, Tommy, you eat all the chocolate ones?”
I glanced up at hearing Moody’s voice. The shit was about to hit the fan.
“You wanted to see me?”
Moody stood in my doorway, a cup of coffee in one hand and a cream-filled doughnut in the other. There was nothing wrong with that, but I couldn’t help thinking if my new boss wanted to see me, I would have lost the coffee and doughnut. Also, I would’ve made sure there wasn’t a blob of white cream on my chin.
“Come in and close the door.” When he was seated, I said, “Captain Moody, it appears that you’ve forgotten that we don’t use curse words when in uniform, even among ourselves.” I could have let that go, considering what I had coming his way, but the man irritated me to no end.
“Whad I say?”
Whad? The man was dumber than a fence post, but that was the least of his problems. “You said ‘damn it.’”
His thick brows furrowed. “I thought it was ‘fuck’ we couldn’t say.”
And I was going to bang my head on my fucking desk. “We do not use any curse words when on duty, Captain, even something as innocuous as ‘hell’ or ‘damn.’” When his brows scrunched together again, I figured he was trying to puzzle out what innocuous meant. Whatever.
“We have a problem, several in fact.” I had to look away when he crammed the rest of his doughnut into his mouth.
“Like what?”
“Like this contract with Ed’s Garage.” I slid a copy of the contract across the desk, but he didn’t pick it up. I didn’t blame him because it was a snake that was about to bite him.
He eyed it warily. “What about it?”
“The department is paying Ed’s Garage at least twice what we should be for the maintenance on our vehicles.” And since Ed was Moody’s cousin, I could guarantee Moody was getting a cut. Unfortunately I couldn’t prove it. Yet. I was working on it, though.
“It’s the going rate. You calling him a cheat?”
That was exactly what I was calling him. I wished I could say that my captain was smart enough to be nervous, but the dumbass was getting mad. The next sheet I slid his way was the breakdown of costs I’d gotten last week from the head of Chicago PD’s motor pool.
“Captain Moody, those are the going charges for maintenance and repair items in the city of Chicago, where they pay union rates.” I pushed the page closer to him, but he refused to even glance at it.
He glared at me. “Just because—”
“You can sit there and talk yourself blue in the face, but there’s nothing you can say to convince me that we should be paying Ed’s Garage double what a big city does. Here’s how this is going to play out. Can I assume that there is an Ed at Ed’s Garage?”
Moody gave a curt nod.
“Then Ed has a choice. We have nine months left on our contract with him. We will honor that on the condition he charges us the same rates as Chicago PD pays, minus ten percent. When he asks why the discount, it’s because he doesn’t have the overhead that a big city does. If that is unacceptable to him, then the contract is null and void.”
“You can’t do that, sir.”
“Oh, but I can.” He’d practically spit the sir at me, and without doubt more colorful names for me were circling around in his head. “According to the fine print, we have the right to audit his books and invoices at any time during the length of the contract. Do you think he wants that?”
Silence greeted me. “Didn’t think so. When we finish here, you and I are taking a ride over to Ed’s Garage to explain things to Ed.” I wasn’t about to let Moody get there before me. If Ed cooperated, I’d let him finish out the contract, but it wouldn’t be renewed. There were two other garages I’d scouted out that I’d ask to bid on the contract.
“The next item we need to discuss is the building’s cleaning service.”
Because I was watching for a reaction to that one, I was rewarded with pure hatred in his eyes before he blanked them. “You can tell your sister that her cleaning services will no longer be needed unless she’s willing to accept the job at twenty dollars an hour.” The fifty we were paying her now was ridiculous. “You might remind her that even that is more than she’d get for the same job anywhere else.”
“You can shove the job…” He clamped his mouth shut.
I wasn’t even deducting points from the man anymore. Why bother? He was gone as soon as I could make it happen.
“Is that all?” he said, standing.
“No, there’s one more thing.” I waited for him to sit again, stifling a smirk when he eyed the door as if he’d like to run straight through it, leaving the outline of his body in the wood. “There will be no more lunches or dinners charged to the department’s entertainment account. In fact, we no longer have charge privileges at any restaurant in town.”
After I’d discovered he was entertaining his family and friends, charging it to the department—and why did a small-town police department even have an entertainment budget?—I’d spent all afternoon on Saturday visiting restaurants. They weren’t any happier now than Moody was. Not surprising considering how much money that was not his that he’d spread around.
The only response he gave was to press his lips together so hard that they turned white. Those three things were all I’d found so far, but I wouldn’t be surprised as I dug deeper to find more ways he’d figured out how to fleece the department.
“Now we’re done. Let’s go have a little talk with Ed.”
“We can’t afford new uniforms,” Mayor Jenkins said.
“Yes, we can.” My little trip to Ed’s Garage with Moody had gone as expected. There’d been a lot of sputtering and denials, but Ed had come around to my way of thinking when the subject of an audit was brought up. Now I had a mayor I hadn’t quite figured out yet how to deal with. I was pretty sure I could count on Buddy Ferguson, our town manager, as an ally, and I hoped to have that confirmed by the end of this meeting.
“The budget that was submitted three months ago wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on.” I handed both men copies of my new budget, then sat back and gave them a few minutes to review it.
Ferguson was the first to look up at me, and I acknowledged the approval in his eyes with a slight nod. “As you can see,” I said when the mayor set the page down, “several line items have been cut from the or
iginal numbers.”
“You don’t want to piss Ed off,” Mayor Jenkins said. “He keeps our police cars on the road.”
I didn’t care if Ed of Ed’s Garage was pissed or not. The bastard was a crook, along with his cousin, my police captain. “We worked things out this morning. Ed rethought his pricing. With the new contract and the other items adjusted to reflect actual costs, there’s room in the budget for new uniforms and a pay raise for those officers deserving one.”
It had been over a year since anyone had an increase in their paychecks, and that was never going to happen as long as Moody continued diverting money into his pockets. That was stopping as of today. I wanted my officers to take pride in themselves and their police department. Happy cops made for good cops.
“This budget will have to be approved,” Mayor Jenkins said, and I heard the dismissal in his voice.
I knew that, but he could give it the stamp of approval, fast-tracking a vote from the town manager and city commissioners, or it could get lost somewhere under a pile of papers on his desk.
“We can put it on the agenda for next Thursday night.” Ferguson tapped his pen on the table as he leveled his gaze on me. “It’s our monthly review session. The mayor, me, and the commissioners.”
The town manager had just let me know he was onboard. Mayor Jenkins was glaring at Ferguson. It was time to play my trump card. “Buddy, could you give the mayor and me a few minutes?”
“I think we’re done here.” Ferguson gathered up his papers and folders. He stood, putting his hand on the mayor’s shoulders. “Jim John, we said we’d give Dylan a chance to prove himself or fall flat on his face. Put him and his amended budget on the review meeting agenda.”
They had said that when I’d interviewed. One of my conditions before I’d signed a one-year contract with the town of Blue Ridge Valley was that within reason, I had a free hand to set up the police department as I saw fit.
