The Marsh by Bill Noel

Author:Bill Noel [Bill Noel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781936236886
Publisher: iUniverse
Published: 2011-09-28T00:00:00+00:00

I was about to suggest to Charles that we join the masses along Center Street when a black, unmarked Crown Vic slowly pulled in the lot. “Oh, oh,” said Charles. He pointed his cane at the car. “The King has arrived.”

The King was the acting director of public safety, Clarence King. Unlike Brian Newman, who was comfortable enough with himself to often wear civilian clothing while on duty, Acting Chief King was always in uniform—a uniform that was two sizes too small for his burly body. He was shaped like a manatee, but wasn’t nearly as attractive.

Keep you eyes on the fire, Acting Chief, I wished. Don’t turn around.

Another wish not answered. Instead of focusing on the heavily damaged building or his crew like any good chief would do, he looked over his right shoulder directly at Charles and me. The general consensus of his department, and anyone else who knew his professional skills, was that he was evil incarnate. I shouldn’t have been surprised that he failed to do what a good leader would do.

“I thought I saw you slugs when I pulled in,” he said. He slammed his car door and made a beeline for us. The scowl on his face was illuminated by the parking lot light on a pole in front of our not-so-successful hiding place. An inch-long scar over his left eye looked like an exclamation point to his unhappiness.

Charles smiled. “Hi, Chief King.”

I had learned over the years to recognize the sincerity level of Charles’s smiles. If Chief King knew what I knew about the greeting, he would have pulled his gun and shot my friend.

“Wipe that grin off your face,” said King. He was out of breath and looked like he would burst the buttons on his shirt as he gasped for air. He paused to catch his breath, but unfortunately for us, he was still breathing. “What the hell are you two doing on city property?” His right hand rested on the butt of his firearm.

There weren’t many people in all my years that I’d come to hate, but Chief King was close to crossing that line.

“We were over at GB’s and heard the commotion,” I said. “We walked over to see what was going on. One of your officers blocked everyone from going to Center Street, so we came here. Didn’t want to get in the way.”

I didn’t see anything good about mentioning the dog rescue and thought my explanation sounded good. The acting chief must not have. “What do you troublemakers know about the fire? Any witnesses to you being in GB’s?”

“Several people saw us,” said Charles. He still smiled but wasn’t working as hard to make it look real. “Check with Colleen, the waitress. We still have an unpaid tab. She’ll tell you we were there.”

“Hmm,” he said. “I told you before that if I catch you meddling in police business again, you’ll be spending a big part of the rest of your miserable life behind bars.” He turned toward the fire, hesitated, and then turned back to us.

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