Whispering Pines Mysteries Box Set: Books 1-3: Whispering Pines Mysteries by Shawn McGuire

Author:Shawn McGuire [McGuire, Shawn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Brown Bag Books
Published: 2018-08-05T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

The closer I got to the sheriff, I realized he was talking to a visibly unhappy Lupe Gomez. In fact, from the intense red flush on her cheeks and the way she flung her arms out to the side as she spoke, I’d say she was flat-out furious. I didn’t have to get much closer before I could hear their words.

“It’s called freedom of the press,” Lupe said. “Ever heard of it?”

“You need to watch yourself, ma’am,” Sheriff Warren said. “Not sure you know who you’re talking to.”

“I know who you are. I’m not doing anything wrong. I was sent here to do a job and that’s what I’m doing.”

“The articles you’re writing are upsetting people,” he said.

“What’s upsetting them? The fact that I mentioned there was a death?”

Zeb hitched his thumbs into his service belt. “It sheds an unfavorable light on the village. People come here because they believe it to be a safe, family-friendly place.”

Lupe stared at him with her mouth hanging open and eyes narrowed in confusion. “People don’t die in safe, family-friendly places?”

“There was no reason for you to write about that situation. Like I said, talking about unpleasant things upsets our tourists.”

“You know what upsets the tourists?” Lupe took a step closer.

“What’s going on here?” I asked, breaking up something I feared might end with Lupe spending the night in the pokey.

“Ms. O’Shea.” Sheriff Warren pushed his shoulders back. “Speaking of upsetting the tourists.”

Me? “What did I do?”

“You started this whole kerfuffle.”

I looked at Lupe. “Did he just say kerfuffle?”

“I think so,” she fought off a small smile. “Never heard anyone actually use that word before.”

I turned to the sheriff. “And how did I start a kerfuffle?”

He tugged at his collar, which told me he was becoming heated or upset. “You’ve been wandering all around the village asking questions.”

“That’s what I did,” Lupe said. “And I wrote down their answers.”

“Ah,” I said. “Obtaining knowledge, and then sharing that knowledge. Dangerous stuff.”

“Ladies, I will not be disrespected. The two of you are asking questions about a murder and getting people upset. We don’t want the tourists to think that a murder took place in Whispering Pines.”

“Even if it’s the truth?” I asked.

He leveled a glare at me and then returned to Lupe. “Why don’t you focus on the positive things? Talk about the beauty of the area. The entertainment at the circus. The water sports or the incredible food. There so many wonderful things.”

“Basically,” I said, “you want Ms. Gomez to paint a Norman Rockwell picture of Whispering Pines with her words.”

“Glad you understand,” Sheriff Warren said. “My own focus has been to keep anything negative off the streets. People yearn for a place where their children can run around outside without worrying that they’ll get snatched up by kidnappers. They want to know that they can go to the beach and not have to watch a bunch of drunken fools causing a scene and using language they don’t want to hear.”

He was talking like we’d agreed to join him in this fantasy crusade of his.

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