he’d be overtaken, but to no avail; the emergency was indeed him. He turned on his signal and pulled over, sat with his hands on the steering wheel, and watched the familiar figure climbing out of the police car behind him. The man slowly made his way to Lou’s side of the vehicle, looking around as he did, as though taking a leisurely stroll.
The man parked himself outside Lou’s door and leaned down to look into the open window.
“Mr. Suffern,” he said without a note of sarcasm, much to Lou’s relief.
“Sergeant O’Reilly.” He remembered the name right on cue and threw him a smile, showing so many teeth he felt like a tense chimpanzee. “We meet again.”
“Indeed. We find ourselves in a familiar situation,” Raphie said with a grimace. “But I do enjoy our little chats. How is your new secretary coming along? Last month you were racing to the office because she had made a mistake with your schedule.”
“Alison. Yes, she’s doing just fine.” Lou smiled.
“And Cliff, how is he? You were racing to the hospital the time before that.”
“Still not good,” Lou said somberly.
“You have his job yet?” Raphie asked softly.
“Not yet.” Lou smiled again.
“So what’s the emergency tonight?”
“My apologies. The roads were quiet, so I thought it would be okay. There’s not a sinner around.”
“Just a few innocents. That’s always the problem.”
“And I’m one of them, Your Honor.” Lou laughed, holding his hands up in defense. “It’s the last stretch of road before getting home, and trust me, I only put the foot down seconds before you pulled me over. Dying to get home to the family. No pun intended.”
“I could hear your engine from Sutton Cross, way down the road.”
“It’s a quiet night.”
“And it’s a noisy engine, but you just never know, Mr. Suffern. You just never know.”
“Don’t suppose you’d let me off with a warning,” Lou said, trying to work sincerity and apology into his best winning smile. Both at the same time.
“You know the speed limit, I assume?”
“Sixty kilometers.”
“Correct. You were fifty above that.”
Lou bit down on his lip and tried his best to look appalled.
Without another word the sergeant bolted upright, causing Lou to lose eye contact and suddenly be staring at the man’s belt buckle. Unsure of what the sergeant was up to, he stayed seated and looked out the window to the stretch of road before him, hoping he wasn’t about to gain more points on his license. With twelve as the maximum before losing his license altogether, he was perched dangerously close with eight. He turnedand peeked at the sergeant and saw him grasping at his left pocket.
“You looking for a pen?” Lou called, reaching his hand into his inside pocket.
The sergeant winced and turned his back on Lou.
“Hey, are you okay?” Lou asked with concern. He reached for the door handle and then thought better of it.
The sergeant grunted something inaudible, the tone suggesting a warning of some sort. Through the side-view mirror, Lou watched him walk slowly back to his car. He had an unusual gait. He seemed to be dragging his left leg slightly as he walked. Was he drunk? Then the sergeant opened his car door, got inside, started up the engine, did a U-turn, and was gone. Lou frowned. His day—even in its twilight hours—was becoming increasingly more bizarre by the moment.
L OU PULLED UP TO THE driveway feeling the same sense of pride and satisfaction he felt every night when he arrived home. To most average people, size didn’t matter. To Lou, size most certainly did matter. He didn’t want to be average, and he saw the things that he owned as being a measure of the man that he was. He wanted the best of everything. Despite being on a safe cul-de-sac, one of only a few houses on Howth summit, he’d arranged for the existing boundary walls to be built up higher, and for oversized electronic gates with camerasto be placed at the entrance.
The man parked himself outside Lou’s door and leaned down to look into the open window.
“Mr. Suffern,” he said without a note of sarcasm, much to Lou’s relief.
“Sergeant O’Reilly.” He remembered the name right on cue and threw him a smile, showing so many teeth he felt like a tense chimpanzee. “We meet again.”
“Indeed. We find ourselves in a familiar situation,” Raphie said with a grimace. “But I do enjoy our little chats. How is your new secretary coming along? Last month you were racing to the office because she had made a mistake with your schedule.”
“Alison. Yes, she’s doing just fine.” Lou smiled.
“And Cliff, how is he? You were racing to the hospital the time before that.”
“Still not good,” Lou said somberly.
“You have his job yet?” Raphie asked softly.
“Not yet.” Lou smiled again.
“So what’s the emergency tonight?”
“My apologies. The roads were quiet, so I thought it would be okay. There’s not a sinner around.”
“Just a few innocents. That’s always the problem.”
“And I’m one of them, Your Honor.” Lou laughed, holding his hands up in defense. “It’s the last stretch of road before getting home, and trust me, I only put the foot down seconds before you pulled me over. Dying to get home to the family. No pun intended.”
“I could hear your engine from Sutton Cross, way down the road.”
“It’s a quiet night.”
“And it’s a noisy engine, but you just never know, Mr. Suffern. You just never know.”
“Don’t suppose you’d let me off with a warning,” Lou said, trying to work sincerity and apology into his best winning smile. Both at the same time.
“You know the speed limit, I assume?”
“Sixty kilometers.”
“Correct. You were fifty above that.”
Lou bit down on his lip and tried his best to look appalled.
Without another word the sergeant bolted upright, causing Lou to lose eye contact and suddenly be staring at the man’s belt buckle. Unsure of what the sergeant was up to, he stayed seated and looked out the window to the stretch of road before him, hoping he wasn’t about to gain more points on his license. With twelve as the maximum before losing his license altogether, he was perched dangerously close with eight. He turnedand peeked at the sergeant and saw him grasping at his left pocket.
“You looking for a pen?” Lou called, reaching his hand into his inside pocket.
The sergeant winced and turned his back on Lou.
“Hey, are you okay?” Lou asked with concern. He reached for the door handle and then thought better of it.
The sergeant grunted something inaudible, the tone suggesting a warning of some sort. Through the side-view mirror, Lou watched him walk slowly back to his car. He had an unusual gait. He seemed to be dragging his left leg slightly as he walked. Was he drunk? Then the sergeant opened his car door, got inside, started up the engine, did a U-turn, and was gone. Lou frowned. His day—even in its twilight hours—was becoming increasingly more bizarre by the moment.
L OU PULLED UP TO THE driveway feeling the same sense of pride and satisfaction he felt every night when he arrived home. To most average people, size didn’t matter. To Lou, size most certainly did matter. He didn’t want to be average, and he saw the things that he owned as being a measure of the man that he was. He wanted the best of everything. Despite being on a safe cul-de-sac, one of only a few houses on Howth summit, he’d arranged for the existing boundary walls to be built up higher, and for oversized electronic gates with camerasto be placed at the entrance.
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