The Milburn Big Box Set

by Nancy McGovern

  “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, looking down at him. “He’s a kid all right,” he said. “Can’t be bothered to stomp on a rat like him, it only hurts my shoes. All right, kid. Talk before I begin stomping. 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 want 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 Nora again. There was a smile on her face, but it rather resembled the bared fangs of a tiger.

  Harvey glared after the boy and turned to Nora. “What are you hanging out with him for?”

  “I caught him in the woods,” Nora said.

  Harvey raised an eyebrow. “Doing what, endangering species with his wanton destruction?”

  “Funny, Harvey.” Milly whacked his shoulder teasingly.

  “Why are you here?” Nora asked. “Come to see the new cops?”

  “Yep,” Harvey said. “I wanted to know, as is my duty if I could help in any way.”

  “Harvey just wanted the latest gossip.” Milly laughed. “You won’t believe how he loves to poke his nose into things.”

  “Nora knows me well enough,” Harvey said. “Besides, she’s the official town Miss Marple.”

  “Old lady who snoops about?” Milly asked. “Don’t be mean, Harvey, she’s not that old.”

  “I didn’t mean--”

  “You two have a good day,” Nora said, unable to bear it any more. “I’m going to go see how Sean is doing.”

  It was the truth, but she had to admit there was a different reason as to why she’d said it.

  Harvey stood looking at her a second longer as she walked away from him, and Nora could feel his gaze burning into her.

  Why did it have to be this way? she asked herself. All she really wanted was to run back and jump into his arms. Instead, she had to will every particle of her body to walk away from him, and look as neutral as possible when Milly put her arm around him.

  As soon as she was away from him, though, her thoughts wandered back to Ricky. He’d run away as soon as he had seen Harvey. Was there a reason behind that?

  Was Harvey the one he’d been trying to extort? Or was she reading too much into it?

  Harvey’s face, of course, had given away nothing at all. It never did.

  *****

  Chapter 17

  Sean was all too pleased to see her again.

  His home was on the large ranch his father had left to him. It was beautiful and wide, with lavender trimmings and a porch wrapping around it. A green garden with neat rows of lemon trees stood in front, and two comfortable rattan chairs were placed invitingly on the porch, with a low stool between them, and a jar of mint lemonade on it.

  “Welcome to my home,” Sean said with a smile. “I believe it’s the first time you’ve been? I can give you the grand tour if you’d like, but I warn you, my room’s rather messy.”

  “No thanks,” Nora smiled. “I’m fine sitting out here.”

  “Well, my mother’s out of town at the moment, and my sister’s in Jackson,” Sean said. “She works there as a lawyer and comes home each weekend. But for now, I’ve got the house to myself.”

  “You live with your mother and sister.” Nora smiled. “I didn’t take you to be a domestic animal.”

  “Did you picture me living in a cave with a few bears?” Sean raised an eyebrow. “Well, I tried renting an apartment in town a few years but, to be honest, once I got over the stigma of living with my mom and sister, I realized it’s really nice to have all the housework taken care of so I can focus on being sheriff. Besides, I got a nice separate entrance to my room.” He waggled his eyebrows at her, and she blushed.

  “Sean, don’t be gross.”

  “I was going for smooth,” Sean said, sounding glum. “Oh well. Have some lemonade?”

  “No thanks.” Nora sat down, and he sat down next to her. They stared ahead in silence for a few moments, admiring the garden and the grounds in front of them. To their left were the stables, with six chestnut horses now safely ensconced, eating oats out of their bags.

  “Your father was very successful,” Nora said.

  “My entire family built this ranch up,” Sean said. “Ma handles it now and she keeps telling me it’s my duty to handle it someday. Between you and me, I think it should go to Julie. She’s the one who loves it. For me, it’s just the place I come to sleep.”

  “But you’re happy here,” she
said. It was true. 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 jumped 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, Ricky, is staying.”

  “Ricky what?” The man opened a register book and began scanning it.

  “Ricky… Richard Tanner,” Sean said. “Tall, hefty, 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 sixteen-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 the door. “Open! Police!”

  Nothing.

  He banged again. “Open up! I’m warning you!”

  Nothing.

  There was a row of doors, all eerily silent, all closed. Somewhere, a window creaked.

  Sean put his boot to the door and pushed. To their surprise, it creaked open.

  “Right,” Sean said, pulling Nora to the side and pulling out his cell phone. “We’re calling for back up.”

  In half an hour, three police cars swarmed the motel, and the door was wide open. Nora’s heart was still pounding against her chest when Detective Jason came out of the room.

  “Nothing,” he said, shrugging. “Sorry Sean. The place is empty. Clean as a whistle.”

  “No sign of him,” Sean asked. “I got a bad feeling, Jason.”

  “Well, if some people hadn’t been over smart…” Jason gave Nora a look. “Maybe things would have ended differently. For now, my guess is he’s decided to run away, out of town.” Detective Jason pushed his face against Nora, looked her in the eye. “Now, if there’s anything you remember, anything at all, I suggest, for the boy’s sake, that you tell me.”

  Nora shook her head. “I have no clue where he could be.”

  “What about the place where you found him?” Sean asked. “The woods? He could have gone back there.”

  “It’s been two hours since I last saw him,” Nora said. “I don’t know.”

  “It’s getting dark too,” the detective said. “Sean, I know this feels important to you, but Rudy and I have a few other leads we’re chasing up. The thing is, the kid had ID saying he’s 18, and we had no proof on him. If he’s gone, he’s gone. Nothing for us to do.”

  “Didn’t you have an injunction saying he couldn’t go out of the county?”

  “Sure, and I’ll put out a description to anyone who might spot him,” Detective Jason said. “Apart from that, I guess I have to let this lie for now. You guys should go to the woods. See if you find anything.”

  Sean looked miserable as they drove back, and Nora felt even worse.

  Where was Ricky? Why had he vanished?

  “When’s the last time you saw him?” Sean asked, and Nora told him.

  Sean gave a small sigh. “From the way you describe it, it sounded like Ricky ran after seeing Harvey. Now, I’d suspect Harvey but I remember doing that last time, and it didn’t go well.”

  “Harvey couldn’t have wanted Wallis dead anyway,” Nora said. “He was asking Wallis to campaign against you. He and Wallis were allies.”

  “You know who the first suspect is in a murder,” Sean asked. “It’s always an ally. Either the wife, or the business partner, or a friend.”

  “Sean, Harvey’s not a murderer.”

  “So you say,” Sean said.

  “No matter how much you hate him for what happened between him and your father,” Nora said.

  “That’s not the only reason I hate him,” Sean said, looking at her. He held her gaze until she looked away.

  “Harvey didn’t do it,” Nora said.

  “Fine, he didn’t,” Sean said. “But that doesn’t mean that Ricky wasn’t extorting him. You only heard one side of the conversation. Maybe Ricky tried to blackmail Harvey, and Harvey told him to get lost. Did you ever think of that?”

  Nora shook her head. “I didn’t consider it.”

  “Or… or maybe Harvey was doing something else, something he didn’t want people to know about. Or maybe Harvey was one of the last people to see Wallis and he doesn’t want to be a suspect so he offered to pay off Ricky,” Sean said. “There’s so many possibilities, Nora. Don’t just dismiss the fact that it could have been Harvey that Ricky was talking to.”

  “So what do we do?” Nora asked.

  “We search the woods first,” Sean said. “Then we go to Harvey’s.”

  The woods were empty. Sean and Nora spent three hours searching around it before they gave up.
>
  “It’s too dark now,” Sean said. “We’ll never find him even if he is here.”

  “Sean, I’m terrified,” Nora said. “Please tell me… tell me he’ll be all right.”

  “I would,” Sean said. “But I don’t lie. There’s a very real chance he’s in danger, Nora.”

  “I did this,” Nora said. “I should have turned him in. Oh god, what have I done?”

  “I don’t care,” Sean said. He gripped Nora by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. “Listen. What’s in the past is over. You made the best decisions you could with the information you had. Stop regretting it. Here’s what you’re going to do now. You’re going to come with me, and if it takes all week, you and I are going to find that boy. All right?”

  “All right.” Nora smiled up at him.

  That was the thing about Sean. No matter where you were, no matter what happened, he always made you feel like there was a road leading away from it all. Like any mess you made could be cleared up, and he was the capable man who’d clean it for you.

  He smiled at her now, and Nora felt a strange stretch in her heart.

  *****

  Chapter 18

  Nora awoke the next day, her dreams having been full of Ricky. It had been rather insane - she’d been chasing him through a jungle that suddenly opened up into a scary rock concert with all the audience members dressed up as skeletons. On stage, Wallis screamed into the microphone with a diamond guitar and a skeleton suit.

  “We are Legend. We are Alive!” he’d screamed.

  In the dream, Ricky turned to Nora, pointing at Wallis, saying something Nora couldn’t make out. Then, inevitably, the crowd swallowed him and he vanished.

  When she woke up, she was covered in a sheen of sweat. After taking a hurried shower, Nora put on a navy blue dress and a white jacket. Then, changing her mind, she took it off and went with blue jeans and an emerald polo neck t-shirt.

  “It’s all over town that Ricky’s missing,” Mrs. Mullally said. “There’s rumors that it’s the police that made him run away. I heard the new cops are a little bit better than thugs.”