Chapter twenty nine
The morning after the fiasco on Manatee loop, Rick and Sarah woke up early and were preparing to leave the cabin when Rick’s cell rang.
Rick answered and listened for a minute, said thanks and hung up.
“Shit!”
Sarah didn’t hear Rick swear very often and it worried her, especially with all that was going on right now. She asked, “What’s wrong Rick?”
“Sean is alive. Apparently, he wasn’t in the canal. He slipped into some old lady’s house, took her car and escaped. The only good news is that we can have our house back.”
Sarah asked, “Is the woman alright?” Rick replied, “I’ll find out for you.”
The chief had told Rick that between his unwelcome guests and the crime lab he was going to come home to quite a mess. He said that if he needed someone to help clean up he knew someone that was reasonable and very thorough. Rick relayed that to Sarah, but she allowed as how she could clean her own house. As it turned out, she had plenty of help.
The next day, while they were finishing the cleaning up with the help of John, Dolly and Ollie the police chief showed up at the house. John offered a beer and it was accepted. They walked out and sat on the dock to drink their beer.
“What is it Chief? I don’t think you just stopped by for a free beer.”
“No I didn’t, but it is nice. This is one hell of a nice place you have Rick.”
“Thank you. You’re welcome here anytime Chief.”
“Thank you. I’ll remember that. Rick the Ann Arbor detectives have gone back to Michigan, but the reason I stopped is that I felt you should know that they are very suspicious of you for some reason.”
“I know, I guess I just don’t know why.”
“Well there’s the matter of the ball, they think you were less than forth coming on that, and I have to admit even I thought you were evasive.”
Rick remained silent and eventually the chief asked, “Are you in some kind of trouble Rick?”
“No I’m really not. I can’t talk to you about what’s going on Chief. I will tell you this much; I haven’t done anything wrong, I’m not wanted by the law for anything and that is the truth. Beyond that there is nothing I can say.”
“I believe you Rick. I don’t know if I should mention this, but what the hell, I did a background check on you when this all started.”
“Oh, how did I come out?”
Clean as a hound’s tooth, accept for the fact that you just fell out of the sky about three years ago. I just wish you could trust me. I have the definite impression that you’re in some sort of trouble and I would like to be of help.”
Actually, the chief was more convinced than ever that Rick and his family was in the witness protection program. The chief couldn’t think of another thing that made sense, but that still didn’t explain Sean and Weasel. He was sure of one thing though, the Moore’s were not criminals. Leo had known many criminals during his career and these people didn’t fit the profile.
“Chief take my word that there is nothing you can do for me. If there was I think you may be the one person I would trust.”
“One other thing that’s got their shorts in a knot is that they figure you know the guys that were in your house. I have to admit that that makes a lot of sense and I get the impression that Williams and Brown are pretty damn good at what they do. Just one more question and I’ll leave you alone. Do you think the one that got away, Proudfoot, will come back?”
“Chief I wish I knew and if that’s a sneaky way of finding out if I know him, yes there’s a chance that he may come back. You sure I can’t buy you another beer?”
“No thanks, to tell the truth I shouldn’t have had that one, I’m still on duty.”
“Chief do you think I would be able to get a permit to carry a gun?”
“Sure, come down to the office, and I’ll take care of it personally. Do you know how to handle a gun?”
“Yes sir. I won’t claim to be an expert but I’m competent.”
“Okay then I’ll be going now. Just stop by the station anytime.”
“Well, y’all come back, as they say in the south, and bring your wife along. I’m sure Sarah would like to meet her.
As they walked through the house to the front door Sarah asked the chief for the name of the woman Sean had robbed.
“Why do you ask?”
“I thought I would pay her a visit and see how she’s doing.”
“Well I’m not sure I’m supposed to divulge that kind of information, but I don’t see what it could hurt. After all, you could just knock on her door and ask her. Her name is Henrietta, Henrietta Pickett. I’m sure she would enjoy a visit.”
Sarah said goodbye to the chief and repeated Rick’s invitation to come back and bring his wife. In fact, she said, “I Think I’ll give her a call. You can’t depend on men in these matters.” She added with a smile, “If you could just give me your home number I’ll call her this afternoon.”
After he left, Sarah asked, “Is there a problem?”
“No, not really. Those two detectives have gone back to Michigan. I’m not sure why Chief came by. I don’t think it was the reason he gave.”
“What reason did he give?”
“He said he wanted to let me know that Williams and Brown don’t trust me.”
“Does seem unlikely they all being policemen and him not knowing us all that well.”
Rick answered, “I don’t know, but I doubt if it’s anything to worry about. The Chief seems to be a pretty straight arrow sort of guy. I like him and I think he might be a good person to have as a friend. I suspect he wields a good deal of influence in this town.”
“Are you sure that is a good criteria for choosing your friends?”
“Your one hundred percent right about that Sarah, but if you like them anyway it’s certainly not something you should hold against them.”