Jessica Beck - Donut Shop 17 - Old Fashioned Crooks by Jessica Beck

alone.
    “These aren’t our
usual brand of suspects, are they?” I asked as we headed back to the Jeep.   “Grace, I hate to admit this, but I
think we might just be out of our league on this one.”
    “We’re not going
to let a couple of goons scare us off, are we?” Grace asked, clearly unhappy
about my observation.
    “Think about
it.   We have until tomorrow morning at
eight until we have to drop this altogether.   Do you want to spend the rest of our
time trying to get those two to talk to us again?”
    “No, you’re right
about that,” Grace said as I started driving back to April Springs.   “When you look at it that way, there’s
not much about this investigation that I do like.   The fact that we can’t see it through is
really starting to bother me.   Do
you think this cop Tyler is really going to try to stop us from digging into
Rick’s murder?   What can he do, lock
us up?   I don’t believe that he’d
have the nerve to do that, no matter what he said to you earlier.”
    “Why wouldn’t he?”
I asked.   “Chief Martin has
threatened to do it enough over the years.”
    “Maybe, but we
always knew that he was just bluffing.”
    “Take it from
me.   I don’t think this new police
chief is much of a bluffer.”
    We both
considered that for a few moments, and then Grace said, “Well, at least we’ve
still got Travis and Kyle.   Neither
one of them is a thug.”
    “Not on the
surface, at any rate,” I said.
    “Suzanne, you
sound as though you’re ready to give up,” Grace replied.
    “It’s not that at
all.   It’s just that I promised Emma
that I’d dig into this, and I’m not going to break that promise lightly.   I’m just not sure what we should do
next.”
    “You could always
ask Jake for advice,” she said.
    “I could, but
he’s got his hands full as it is.   I
don’t want to add any more to his current load than he already has.”
    “Then where does
that leave us?   Are we back to
square one?”
    “I wouldn’t say
that.   At least we have four viable
suspects, and nothing that we heard today changes my mind about any of them,” I
answered.
    “Time’s a-ticking
though, Suzanne.   Should we take
another run at our two April Springs suspects while we have the opportunity?”
    I was about to
answer when my cellphone rang.
    It was Jake, and
all thoughts of furthering our investigation at the moment died.
    “Hey, I didn’t
expect to hear from you so soon,” I said.
    “Well, we got a
lucky break and wrapped things up here.   The bad guy is in jail, though in this case it was a bad gal.   Anyway, I’m happy to report that I’m on
my way back to April Springs.”
    “That’s great
news,” I said.   “What’s your next
assignment going to be?   Do you
think it will be the last one you have to do for your old boss?”
    Jake laughed a
moment before he spoke.   “He was so
happy that we solved this one so quickly that he’s decided to let me off the
hook for the rest of my notice.   He
just promised me that he’s going to process my paperwork in the morning, but as
of this moment, I’m officially through with the state police.”
    “How do you feel
about it, now that it’s a reality?” I asked him gently.
    “The honest truth
is that I’m so happy I can barely stand it.   The real question is, why aren’t you,
Suzanne?” he asked.   There was a shade
of hurt in his voice, and it killed me knowing that it was because of me.
    I took a deep
breath, and then I voiced a concern I’d been nurturing since Jake had first threatened
to quit his job.   “I just want to be
sure that you don’t regret the decision later.”
    “It’s not going
to happen, Suzanne; you can take my word for it.   I don’t look back, only forward, and
I’ve got the entire world ahead of me now.”
    “Then I’m
thrilled for you,” I said.   “I’m
just sorry that George couldn’t wait another day before he named a new chief of
police around here.”
    “He