prison?” Grace asked,
finally deciding that it was time to speak up.
“First of all, it
was jail, not prison.”
“What’s the
difference?” Grace asked.
Deke Marsh
laughed. “I’ve done time in both,
and believe me, there’s a difference.”
“What’s the
second point?” I asked him.
“I served a month
before I got out because of the DA’s screw-up. I never claimed that I didn’t do
it. Was I happy that good old Alex
decided to reform and arrest me? Not
so much. I admit that I had a score
to settle with him, but somebody took care of him before I got my chance.”
“Reform? What is that supposed to mean?” I asked
him. The cop I’d known had been by
the book, to the letter, and though I hadn’t liked him, I couldn’t imagine him
doing anything corrupt.
“When he was
here, he took payoffs just like some of his other pals on the force, and then
all of a sudden he started turning them down and getting all righteous about it. That made a lot of folks upset with him,
on both sides of the law.”
“You’re trying to
get us to believe that the police force in Granite Meadows all take bribes?”
“Not all of them,
just a few,” he said with a shrug. “A bought cop should stay bought, if you ask me.”
“Why should we
believe you?” Grace asked him.
“Ladies, I don’t
give a flip what you believe. Now
if you’ll excuse me, I have things that need to be taken care of. Good night.”
After he drove
away in a late-model sedan, I asked Grace, “Did you notice that he didn’t ask
us who we were or why we were asking him questions about Alex?”
“I noticed,”
Grace said. “Do you believe anything
he just told us?”
“What, about the
cops here being dirty? I don’t
know. I’ll tell you one thing: I can’t
imagine it ever happening in April Springs.”
“This isn’t April
Springs, though, is it?” Grace asked me.
“We need to talk
to Jake about this before we do anything else,” I said. “He’ll know how we should handle it.”
“Do we really
need to do that before we talk to Alex’s ex-partner on the force?”
“We do,” I
said. “We’re heading back to April
Springs right now. Is that okay
with you?”
“I’m fine with
it. It will give me a chance to
knock out some paperwork when we get back. I may be on vacation, but some of that work has to be done regardless.”
“Then we’ll take this
back up tomorrow after I close the donut shop for the day and have a chance to
talk to Jake about what we’ve discovered so far.”
“I’ll be ready,”
Grace said. “Are you absolutely
sure that you want to go back to the donut shop so soon after your
honeymoon? I’ll bet Emma and Sharon
wouldn’t mind staying on a few more days.”
“Are you
kidding? I can’t wait to get back
to work. I’ve really missed getting
my hands in the batter and the dough.”
“You’ve really
found your perfect niche, haven’t you?”
“I have,” I
admitted. “Face it; you love what
you do, too.”
“Sure, but look
at how much I make. Add the fact
that I can pretty much name my own hours most days, and what’s not to love?”
“I feel the same
way about running Donut Hearts,” I said.
“Then we’re both
exactly where we belong.”
After dropping
Grace off at her place, I headed the last few dozen feet down the road to the
cottage that I was now sharing with Jake. I knew that the odds weren’t good that he’d be there now. After all, he was running his own investigation.
I wasn’t
expecting to find anyone else there, though.
Chapter 7
“Emma, Sharon,
what are you two doing here?” I asked as I approached my assistant and her
mother, who were standing on my front porch. “Were we supposed to meet up this
evening?”
“No, but we took
a chance that you’d be here,” Emma said. “When we saw that you weren’t, we were going to leave you a note,” she
said
finally deciding that it was time to speak up.
“First of all, it
was jail, not prison.”
“What’s the
difference?” Grace asked.
Deke Marsh
laughed. “I’ve done time in both,
and believe me, there’s a difference.”
“What’s the
second point?” I asked him.
“I served a month
before I got out because of the DA’s screw-up. I never claimed that I didn’t do
it. Was I happy that good old Alex
decided to reform and arrest me? Not
so much. I admit that I had a score
to settle with him, but somebody took care of him before I got my chance.”
“Reform? What is that supposed to mean?” I asked
him. The cop I’d known had been by
the book, to the letter, and though I hadn’t liked him, I couldn’t imagine him
doing anything corrupt.
“When he was
here, he took payoffs just like some of his other pals on the force, and then
all of a sudden he started turning them down and getting all righteous about it. That made a lot of folks upset with him,
on both sides of the law.”
“You’re trying to
get us to believe that the police force in Granite Meadows all take bribes?”
“Not all of them,
just a few,” he said with a shrug. “A bought cop should stay bought, if you ask me.”
“Why should we
believe you?” Grace asked him.
“Ladies, I don’t
give a flip what you believe. Now
if you’ll excuse me, I have things that need to be taken care of. Good night.”
After he drove
away in a late-model sedan, I asked Grace, “Did you notice that he didn’t ask
us who we were or why we were asking him questions about Alex?”
“I noticed,”
Grace said. “Do you believe anything
he just told us?”
“What, about the
cops here being dirty? I don’t
know. I’ll tell you one thing: I can’t
imagine it ever happening in April Springs.”
“This isn’t April
Springs, though, is it?” Grace asked me.
“We need to talk
to Jake about this before we do anything else,” I said. “He’ll know how we should handle it.”
“Do we really
need to do that before we talk to Alex’s ex-partner on the force?”
“We do,” I
said. “We’re heading back to April
Springs right now. Is that okay
with you?”
“I’m fine with
it. It will give me a chance to
knock out some paperwork when we get back. I may be on vacation, but some of that work has to be done regardless.”
“Then we’ll take this
back up tomorrow after I close the donut shop for the day and have a chance to
talk to Jake about what we’ve discovered so far.”
“I’ll be ready,”
Grace said. “Are you absolutely
sure that you want to go back to the donut shop so soon after your
honeymoon? I’ll bet Emma and Sharon
wouldn’t mind staying on a few more days.”
“Are you
kidding? I can’t wait to get back
to work. I’ve really missed getting
my hands in the batter and the dough.”
“You’ve really
found your perfect niche, haven’t you?”
“I have,” I
admitted. “Face it; you love what
you do, too.”
“Sure, but look
at how much I make. Add the fact
that I can pretty much name my own hours most days, and what’s not to love?”
“I feel the same
way about running Donut Hearts,” I said.
“Then we’re both
exactly where we belong.”
After dropping
Grace off at her place, I headed the last few dozen feet down the road to the
cottage that I was now sharing with Jake. I knew that the odds weren’t good that he’d be there now. After all, he was running his own investigation.
I wasn’t
expecting to find anyone else there, though.
Chapter 7
“Emma, Sharon,
what are you two doing here?” I asked as I approached my assistant and her
mother, who were standing on my front porch. “Were we supposed to meet up this
evening?”
“No, but we took
a chance that you’d be here,” Emma said. “When we saw that you weren’t, we were going to leave you a note,” she
said
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