Bagels and Blackmail by C. A. Phipps

Author:C. A. Phipps [Phipps, C. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cheryl Phipps
Published: 2018-06-30T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Ethan turned up first thing the next morning. The pinched lines around his mouth were a dead giveaway that he was one unhappy Sheriff, although he was only pleasant and polite to her customers. Maddie suspected it was her visit to the police station that had brought about this visit and having time to think about it, was embarrassed by her melt-down.

He stood at the back of the bakery until the last customer was served. This took a while, as without exception, they wanted a chat with their Sheriff on the way out. Maddie was grateful for the time to find an explanation of what had happened. When they were finally alone he stepped up to the counter, hat in his hand. His ready smile absent. She was glad her staff weren’t around.

“Hello, Sheriff. Would you care for a donut?” Her attempt to encourage his good nature with a dig at the police and their liking for donuts, followed with a big smile, fell flat. “Or, anything else?”

He frowned. “I’m not here for the food, Maddie, as you well know.”

“Coffee?” she asked, hopefully.

“I’m here because you threatened my deputy.”

The hat was getting a severe twist at its brim and Maddie hoped he wouldn’t do it permanent damage on account of her.

“Shouldn’t that be an alleged threat?”

“Maddie,” he warned.

His displeasure over the misunderstanding rankled. “It wasn’t like that. I merely posed a question and she took it the wrong way. I am sorry if I was over-zealous.”

He sighed, but wasn’t capitulating. “What part of not interfering did you not understand?”

Maddie’s hand went to her hips. “How is it interfering to bring the attention of the department to the vandalizing of my posters? Big Red is still missing. He didn’t get lost as your officer assumed, and there are several other animals missing with their owners suffering as I am. Deputy Funnel, wasn’t slightly interested. In fact, she had no idea the pet stealing was so extensive. You expect me to sit back and just let the days go by without doing anything, when this isn’t being taken seriously by your staff?”

He ran his fingers through his hair. “You’ve done a lot to help, and getting a few people to make a larger reward was a brainwave.”

She could see he was making an effort to hold his temper in check, and she tried to do the same. “And yet we don’t have our pets back.”

Ethan gave his hat a few more twists, then his face softened.

“I get it, I really do, but you can’t harass my staff.”

Maddie sniffed. “Your staff should be more attentive and polite. How is it that the deputy didn’t know about the pets?”

“I’m sure she does. Sometimes there are other priorities that take precedence. You know, murders and such.”

“Which are obviously connected. Maude Oliver was murdered because she didn’t pay the ransom.”

“We don’t know that for sure,” he groaned.

“Of course that’s what happened.”

He ran his hand through his hair again, making it stand up in an odd way.

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