Deadly Waters Pt. 08

"If I can."

"The next time you're going to get in a car chase, can you wait until I'm on duty? I missed all the fun."

Sean chuckled. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks," Sean said as he stepped out of the cruiser.

"Any time. Hey, do me a favor?" Paul asked as he rolled down the passenger window.

"Next time I get in a chase, wait until you're on duty?" Sean asked, bending over and looking back into the car with a grin.

Paul laughed. "Yeah! How'd you know?"

"Michelle asked the same thing."

"She stole my thunder!"

Sean slapped the side of the car and stepped back as Paul rolled up the window and idled away. He had a good group of officers. "Hey, Marmalade. Miss me?" he asked after opening his door and stepping inside.

Marmalade meowed that he had and then weaved around his legs, rubbing and purring. He picked the cat up and draped it over his shoulder, giving it a good scratch on the back of the neck while it purred and rubbed its head against his cheek, its eyes closed in contentment. He put Marmalade down, and after dropping off his computer, and placing his weapon and badge on the dresser, returned to the kitchen and searched the cabinet, looking at the various cans of cat food.

"Mmmm... Liver and chicken tonight. Yum." He opened the can and dumped it into a bowl. He'd just stood up from placing the bowl on the floor, and was looking in the refrigerator for his own meal, when his cell rang. He smiled as he glanced at the display. "Hello, Maggie. What can I do for you?"

"I just heard. Is it true?"

"Is what true?"

"That you arrested Steve Locoste this morning, that he ran, and you had to chase him down."

"Yeah, it's true," he replied, keeping his tone neutral.

"Is that what had you down yesterday? You knew this was coming, didn't you?"

"I didn't know he'd rabbit, but yeah, I knew this was coming."

"You okay now?"

"Yeah. It was nothing personal. It's not even the arresting of Steve."

"What was it, then?"

"Some of the evidence got me down a little, that's all. I'm fine now. In fact, better than fine."

"Good. It's over now and the city is better for it."

"And your name has been cleared, too, in the whole fish kill thing. I have evidence proving Steve was dumping illegally into the Siouan River."

"Even better!" she said, and he could hear the smile in her voice. "Can you give me all the juicy details?"

"No. I can tell you, though, that I wrecked my car trying to chase Steve down. I may be getting the Jag out sooner than I thought."

"Oh, no! Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine. He backed over me with his truck. His truck was barely bent, but my car didn't fare as well."

"At least you weren't hurt!"

"No. He wasn't going very fast, but it still made a mess of my car. They had to haul it away on a rollback."

"If you need wheels, I can loan you my truck."

"The mayor is looking for something for me to drive."

"If he doesn't find anything, I'll let you use my truck. I can borrow the lab truck, or something, if I need to go somewhere I can't go in my car."

"Thanks, but I hate to take your truck."

"It's not my truck, it's the city's truck, just like your car is the city's car."

He grinned, conceding the point. "Okay, thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

"You're welcome."

"Oh, and you can stop testing the river now."

"I'm glad you reminded me. The lab will be glad to hear that. I'll tell them in the morning."

I'll bring another couple dozen doughnuts around tomorrow as a thank you." He paused, gathering up his courage. "Would you like to join me for dinner tomorrow night to celebrate the wrapping up of my case and the clearing of your good name? I'll pick you up about six."

"Is this a date?" she asked, her voice playful.

"I think we can call it that. Since you're no longer a suspect, I can ask you out on a date. It's not supposed to rain tomorrow. I'll bring the Jag."

"That'll be great, but you better have the top up. It's still too cold to be riding around in a convertible. People will think we've gone mad!"

He chuckled. "I think I can arrange that. So, it's a date?"

"It's a date. How should I dress?"

"Since it's a celebration, I'll take you someplace nice, so dress up a little. I'll wear a jacket."

"Oh my God! I can't remember the last time someone dressed up and asked me out to dinner. I'll wear a dress."

He smiled and sighed in relief. It had been years since he'd asked a woman out on a first date, and though he'd never admit it, he'd been nervous. He was looking forward to seeing her dressed up, and thinking about seeing her in a dress gave him that little thrill again.

"I'll see you at six, then," he said, unable to wipe the smile off his face.

"Okay, I'll see you then. I'll send you my address."

"That'd be helpful."

"I'm looking forward to it!"

His smile widened. "So am I."

Our top story tonight, the anchorman intoned solemnly as he stared into the camera. Steven Thomas Locoste, former councilman of Brunswick, was found guilty today of the second-degree murder of Jonathan Boyd Thacker, and one count of felony dumping of industrial waste, he read as his face was replaced by a clip of a court room sketch. Mr. Thacker had been involved in the recent controversy over fish kills in the Siouan River. Mr. Locoste is appealing the ruling. Brunswick Mayor, Rudy Klinger, had this to say after the verdict was announced.

The station cut to a video of Rudy standing in front of Brunswick City Hall. Sean couldn't help but smile. Rudy still looked like a car salesman from the 1970's. While I join with others in condemning the tragic killing of Boyd Thacker, I think this definitively clears the city of Brunswick of any wrongdoing--

The picture cut back to the anchor. In other news, a--

Sean pressed the power button on the remote, causing the television to fall silent.

"My hero," Maggie said, looking up from the snuggle, her voice dripping with teasing sarcasm.

He shrugged, looked into her eyes, and smiled. "So long as he gets what's coming to him."

She grinned. The arrest of Steve had caused a huge controversy in town. Everyone found it hard to believe that a city councilman, and one of the town's leading citizens, had been involved in, not only illegal dumping, but the murder of Thacker as well. Steve's friends and business associates had rallied to his side at first, but as the case progressed, they began to fall away one by one. Steve had lost everything, even his wife filing for divorce as the evidence of his misdeeds came to light, and the town had fully turned against him.

The thing that made it so delicious, from her point of view, was not only had the people turned away from Steve, but they had rallied around her and Sean. Where before people didn't say much about the kills, they had started going out of their way to tell her how they'd never believed what people were saying about her. While people still made gentle fun of Sean's Boston accent, they'd embraced him as one of their own, nodding and speaking to him as if he'd lived in Brunswick his entire life, not just the four months he'd actually been there. He was beginning to fit in, and she'd even heard him say y'all a few times instead of youse guys.

He stretched with a groan. "I probably should go."

She sat up and took his lips in a leisurely kiss. "Do you have to?" she asked as the kiss slowly dissolved and she returned to the snuggle with a deep sigh.

He smiled down at her. They had become quite the item around town, their blooming romance causing some tongues to wag. Not that he cared, but what little had gotten back to him was positive. People seemed to like that he'd arrived in town, cleared the good name of one of their own, caught the bad guy, and then swept the girl off her feet. He didn't know about the sweeping her off her feet part, but he certainly enjoyed her company, and she seemed to enjoy his.

"No, I don't suppose. Did you have something in mind?" he asked with an easy smile.

She looked up and smiled back at him. "I have one or two ideas," she purred.

He gave a small nod in agreement as he twisted so he could cup her face in his hands. "I have a few ideas of my own," he breathed before taking her lips again.