Purrfectly Deadly

Chapter 25

After she’d dropped the couple off at Veronica’s place, Odelia drove to her uncle’s house to give Chase the good news. When she arrived, she found the back door open, as usual. Alec didn’t believe in locking his door, figuring nobody would be so stupid to break into the house of the chief of police.

She walked through the kitchen, which was squeaky clean. Her uncle never cooked, and neither did Chase, apparently. All she found were two cups in the sink and half a pot of cold coffee in the coffeemaker.

She went upstairs to look for Chase, taking the stairs two at a time.

“Chase? Are you up there?”

“Over here,” he bellowed, and she found him in the guest bedroom, his suitcase open on the bed, while he was seated next to it, staring at a picture frame of an older man in police uniform. He looked like Chase, but older.

“Your dad?” she guessed.

He looked up. “Yeah, this was taken when he got a commendation.” He dumped the picture frame on top of his luggage.

“I’ve got some great news for you,” she said, grabbing a chair.

“Oh? What’s that?”

She quickly told him the story of what had transpired just now, and his eyebrows raised a fraction of an inch.

“So Veronica George finally decided to come clean, huh? Well done.”

“I just thought you’d like to know she’s going to retract her statement, so you should be good to stay on here in Hampton Cove. I’m sure my uncle will take you back in a heartbeat.”

“Too late,” he said, surprising her.

“Too late? What do you mean? This is your chance, Chase.”

He gave her a weary look. “My reputation is shot to hell, Odelia. Even if Veronica retracts her statement, those rumors will never go away. Not until the whole story comes out, and even then they’ll persist. It’s like with those apologies the tabloids publish in small print on the bottom of page fifty after they’ve destroyed your reputation on the front page just days before.”

“This won’t be buried on page fifty, Chase. I’ll get you the front page.”

He shook his head. “Muds sticks, Odelia. No matter what you write.”

“Not when I reveal the truth and do the whole story, like you said.”

He raked his fingers through his hair. “What are you going to write?”

“I’ll print the retraction on the front page. Clear your name entirely.”

“Like I said, mud sticks. I can’t be a cop in this town, not with half the population believing I’m dirty. I’ll never have the authority I need again.”

“But—”

He held up his hand to silence her. “Look, I appreciate what you’ve done for me, I really do, but my mind is made up. This part of my life is over.”

She stared at him, defeated. “What are you going to do?”

“A buddy of mine set up his own business in Cleveland. Private security. He’s always asked me to join him so I finally told him I would. It’s not as much fun as being a cop, but it’s a paycheck.”

She stared at the picture frame of Chase’s dad. “Is that what your dad would have wanted? You running away like this?”

For a moment, the fire returned to his eyes. “I’m not running away. I just know when it’s time to call it quits. And right now it’s time to move on.”

She remembered something Brutus said. “Wasn’t being a cop your dream?”

He stared at her. “Yes, it was. My dad was a cop, so naturally I thought being a cop was the greatest thing ever. And it was. It still is.”

She realized she didn’t know Chase all that well. In the short time he’d been here, he’d made quite an impression on her, but he’d never discussed his personal life.

“Your dad… is he retired now?”

“Retired to that big old retirement home in the sky,” said Chase.

“Oh… I’m so sorry, Chase.”

“One week before his retirement he broke up a fight on the Lower East Side. Some dumb dispute about a hot dog stand. One guy suddenly took out a gun and fired off a warning shot. The shot went wide and hit my dad in the carotid artery and he bled to death. Dumbest death ever.”

“Oh, God, Chase. That’s horrible.”

“Mom didn’t take it too well, as you can imagine. She hasn’t been the same since. The fact that her son was kicked off the force didn’t help either.”

“Where is she now?”

“Living with her sister in the Bronx. I’d take her, but I’m not exactly in a position to do so right now.”

“But don’t you want to stay close? Ohio is a long way from your family.”

He shrugged. “It’s a job. A man’s got to eat.”

“Look, what if I expose the Commissioner? Would that help?”

He stared at her. “And how exactly are you going to do that?”

“I have my sources. I’ll figure something out.”

“You can’t go throwing out wild accusations, Odelia. They’ll come after you next. This guy… he’s ruthless. And it’s not just the Commissioner, you’re going up against the mayor as well. Both powerful men, both trying to protect their careers now that there are important elections coming up.”

“I’m a big girl, Chase. I can handle myself,” she promised him.

He gave her a grimace. “You better have ironclad proof, or else they’re going to sink your career like they sank mine. In fact I’d advise you to stay away from this whole business.” He rose from the bed, grasped her hand and shook it. “See you around, Odelia Poole. It was nice sparring with you.”

“I’m not giving up on this yet,” she said adamantly. “This town needs a good cop like you, Chase, and I’m going to make sure you stick around.”

He shook his head. “Keep dreaming, Poole.”

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do.” She wasn’t doing this for herself. She was doing this for Chase, for his mother, and for Hampton Cove. Because this town deserved a great cop like him, and his mother deserved a break, and so did he. The fact that her heart suddenly hurt when she thought about him leaving town never to return had nothing to do with it, of course.