by K. J. Emrick
Looking from me to Kevin for confirmation, he rubbed at his temple. “Then, just to make things more interesting, a hitman—”
“Hitwoman,” Kevin interrupted, badly concealing a smirk.
“Whatever. This hitwoman comes to Arthur’s house next, after everyone is already gone, and when she doesn’t find Arthur she breaks into his locked closet and steals the sample jars she needs to protect the... crime family’s holdings.”
“There ya go,” Kevin said, leaning back in his chair.
“Right. Sure. Simple as that. I’m betting that old coot hasn’t had that many people in his house all at one time since before Christ was in diapers.” Cutter looked over at me. “And how much of this has James already printed in that rag paper of his?”
“All of it,” I said sweetly, knowing that there’d be no way for him to hide any of this under the rug now. Which was good for me and Kevin and the rest of the good folks in Lakeshore. Now the ‘Ndrangheta would have to back off, because the eyes of the world would be paying attention to our little town for as long as the story held their interest.
On the other hand it would be bad for Cutter, because I know he’s tied up with some criminal types who will be a lot less happy about having that kind of attention ‘round here.
Can’t prove he runs in those circles, as Myles put it, but that doesn’t make it any less true. A snake’s a snake, whether you see him hiss or not.
“Two arrests, Senior Sergeant.” Kevin spread his hands wide and looked over at me with pride. Guess I could accept a little credit. “Good, solid arrests. Make the department look good.”
“And Myles didn’t do anything,” I made sure to put in. “Bruce Kay made a real blue on that one.”
“Don’t get yer knickers in a twist,” Cutter said with a dismissive wave of one hand. “Already told the guys to let Myles go. Even apologized to him.”
Kevin chuckled at that. “I’m sure that’ll make him feel so much better for being illegally detained for three days. Probably won’t even file a lawsuit against us or anything.”
“Don’t you get smug with me, Officer Powers!” Cutter exploded, rising up out of his throne, slamming his hands palm down on the desk. “I don’t have time to point out all the rules ya broke on this one. Put your mom in danger, put my officers in danger, all so’s ya can steal the spotlight again! There’s no place for that kind of cowboy American waffle here! I won’t stand for it. Not anymore. This has been a long time brewin’ and I can not tell ya how much of a pleasure it is for me to say, you are done!”
Kevin and I shared a look before we both stood up. “You’re right,” he said to Cutter. “I am done.”
Very slowly, he unpinned his badge from his shirt and tossed it down on the desk, where it banged against Cutter’s precious sunglasses, sending them skittering off the side to the floor.
Cutter’s smile was feral. It was the look of a predatory animal who’d just made a kill.
Then Kevin took out the envelope from his back pocket and tossed it onto the desk, too.
The smile slipped from Cutter’s face, replaced by a look of confusion. “What’s this?”
“I don’t work for you anymore, Senior Sergeant, because I’m working somewhere else.” He managed to put the same inflection on Cutter’s title as Cutter kept putting on our family name. Disdain was a two-way street, apparently. “That’s a letter of acceptance from the Australian Federal Police. Their next academy doesn’t start for a few months but they’ve agreed to take me on as a transfer for now. Seems they heard about me arresting not one, but two of ‘Ndrangheta’s hired killers. Guess doing good police work pays off in the end.”
Cutter’s face turned a lovely shade of red as he read through the letter. Finally he crumpled it in his hands and threw it across the room. I watched it sail in a lopsided arc and bounce harmlessly against the paneling. “Now, you listen to me—!”
Kevin took his handgun out of its holster.
Cutter blanched and took a stumbling step back.
“I’m out of your way, Senior Sergeant.” With exaggerated movements, Kevin broke the gun down, first the clip, then the slide, then the other parts, too. Never did know the names of those parts. Each one he took apart, including a big metal spring, got laid down in a row on Cutter’s desk.
“And you,” he added, “are out of mine. Get you the rest of my equipment tomorrow. Just thought you’d want this back now.”
He turned to leave, holding his arm out for me. I took it, the moment far too sweet for me to worry about how my son was going to make it away from Lakeshore, or how I was going to make it without him here. Together, we left Senior Sergeant Cutter spitting and sputtering and screaming in his office.
Epilogue
When the news hit the papers, Lakeshore was swarmed by tourists and media all over again. My Inn was full up for three solid weeks. Rosie was over the moon as she crafted special dishes for a dining room full of people hungry for both her cooking... and the gossip.
There was plenty of both to go around. Arthur Loren had come back from hospital two days after his daughter was arrested for aggravated assault. He was pretty tight-lipped about the whole thing. To this day I don’t know the story behind his wife’s death, or the history between him and his daughter, or what he thought about me and Kevin getting Jillian sent to jail.
I do know this. The day after he got back, the most beautiful bouquet of flowers I’ve ever seen showed up at the Inn, addressed to me. The card was just two sets of numbers. ECEF coordinates. I tucked the card away in a drawer for another day, wondering what I’d find if I went digging where those numbers led me. For now, I figured I’d let Arthur keep some of his secrets.
Myles got his wish. Arthur decided to sell the property that had caused him so much grief. After everything that had happened, Arthur said, there wasn’t enough gold in the entire land of Oz to make those few acres worth keeping. He might be a crazy old coot, but the man has good sense.
Of course, Myles wouldn’t be able to touch the land until the police investigation was over, and considering there were federal agents down from Hobart going over every grain of sand with a fine-toothed comb, I figured the investigation was going to take a very, very long time.
Myles thanked me for everything I’d done to get him set free again. Then he very casually asked me out. I very firmly told him no, but I got the impression that for him, at least, that wasn’t the end of it.
Danetha Alexis disappeared into federal custody the day after her arrest. I haven’t heard anything about her whereabouts in the papers since.
Let’s see, what else?
Oh, right. Lachlan Halliburton. For the most part, he kept to his promise to behave while he was staying at the Inn. There were still a few complaints of knocking in the walls whenever someone stayed in room seven, or people who swore they saw something from the corner of their eye in one of the hallways late at night, but that was all. I hardly ever saw his face.
Well. That I know of, anyway. As good as he was at mimicking other faces I have to wonder if maybe sometimes I have seen him around and just didn’t notice.
It wouldn’t be the strangest thing here at the Pine Lake Inn.
Jess disappeared for the most part, too. She still left me messages in my mirror from time to time, but they were like text messages. She’d ask me how I was, and I’d write back in the foggy glass of the mirror that I was doing all right.
Most days, it was true.
Kevin went off to his new job with the Federal Police straightaway. He called me every few days, and even sent me a pic of him in his snazzy new uniform. He and Ellie are doing great up there in Hobart.
I’m happy for him, and I miss him. Isn’t that the lot of a mother?
James and I are great, too. It’s one of those relationships that makes me wonder when something’s going to go wrong. It’s just that I’m still not over my ex, Richard, leaving me without even a note to explain why. That sort of thing can scar a girl for life,
and Richard should have known that. Shouldn’t he?
That’s my past. James is my future. He keeps telling me I need to stop waiting for the other shoe to drop, and just enjoy being with him.
Heh. Good advice.
After all, time moves on.
-The End-
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Glossary of Australian Slang
Strike a light – An exclamation of surprise or frustration.
Back of Bourke - a very long way away.
In a Jiff - in a minute, very soon.
Vaca - pronounced vay-kay - vacation, holiday.
Stellar - outstanding.
Senior Sergeant - ranking officer in the Australian police force.
Roos – Kangaroos
Keen - very interested/interesting.
Real Crank - a crazy person.
Favs – favourites.
A few clicks - a few kilometres(miles).
Mobile phone - cell phone.
Strewth - exclamation, mild oath.
Nipper – child.
Right as rain - satisfactory, comfortable, well.
Bonza - most excellent, cool, great etc.
Spiffy - great, excellent.
Fair dinkum - true, genuine.
Dipstick - a loser, idiot.
Fossick - search, rummage.
Good oil - useful information, a good idea, the truth.
Old biddy - old woman.
Bloke – man.
Noggin – head.
Too right – definitely.
Got crook - was ill.
A goner - person or thing that is dead, lost, or past recovery or rescue.
Drongo – idiot.
Down in the dumps - sad, unhappy.
Pav - Pavlova - a dessert consisting of a meringue base or shell filled with whipped cream and fruit.
The Sarge - nickname for Sergeant.
Brekkie – breakfast.
Spit the Dummy - a sudden display of anger or frustration; to lose one's temper.
Give you a ring - Call on the telephone.
Back of beyond - a remote place.
Delish – delicious.
Deadset - true, the truth.
Fella – man.
Pull the wool over someone's eyes - to deceive someone.
Bugger - used as a term of abuse, especially for a man or used to express annoyance or anger.
Bunyip - the bunyip, or kianpraty, is a large mythical creature from Aboriginal mythology, said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes.
Drop bear - a dropbear or drop bear is a fictitious Australian marsupial.
To string along - to keep someone waiting or in a state of uncertainty.
Bonkers - crazy.
Sheila – a woman.
Ratbag - trouble maker or someone causing havoc.
Bugger off - go away, leave a person alone.
Bludger - an idle or lazy person.
Donkey Track - very rough, unpaved road.
Chuck a wobbly - To overreact to something.
Flat out like a lizard drinking - Very busy.
Give it a burl - Give something a go. To have a try at something.
Give them the flick - To break up with somebody.
Had a gutful - Fed up, had enough.
Have tickets on oneself - To have a high opinion of oneself.
Mad as a cut snake - Furious.
She’ll be right - It will all be okay.
About the Author
Strongly influenced by authors like James Patterson, Dick Francis, and Nora Roberts, Kathrine Emrick dreamed of being an author for the majority of her life.
She never quite gave up on the idea of being a published author and at the age of 51, thanks to Amazon and their Kindle platform, she finally realized her dream. Her maturity allows her to bring a variety of experiences and observations to her writing.
She lives in beautiful South Australia with her partner Michael and son Adam. Also part of the family are their tribe of animals including 3 cats, Kitty, Topaz and Tubby and two dogs, Tango the Chihuahua and Juno the Lab/Border Collie cross.
Kathrine can always be found jotting down daily notes in a journal and like many authors, she loves to be surrounded by books and is a voracious reader. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family and volunteering at the local library.
Her goal is to regularly produce entertaining and noteworthy content and engaging in a community of readers and writers.
To find out more please visit the Kathrine's website at kathrineemrick.com
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