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“Not a single, solitary clue.”
Old Earl breathed easier, which made sense given that he’d been the one telling everybody he thought Lee was off the grid hiking in Alaska somewhere. He turned and walked back toward Angela. “You’re new in town?”
She nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“How do you know this lowlife?” he asked, pointing at me.
She swallowed. “We were sweethearts in high school.”
That confused Earl, given the way his eyebrows twitched. “And yet you asked Dev to dinner?”
She shook her head. “No.”
Glancing over, I could tell Devlin still had no idea we were talking about him. “I had to get your son away from Angela before I came to you with the complaint.”
“Complaint about what?” Earl turned toward me. “His dating habits?”
“He was holding a ticket over her to pressure her into accepting a date, and that’s unethical.”
“Is that true, young lady?” he asked Angela.
“Yes.”
Earl nodded, still seeming relieved. “Devlin, get over here.”
The dipshit trotted up behind his father. “Yep?”
Earl shifted his chin toward Angela. “Benson here says you forced his girl to have dinner with you to hold off on a ticket. Is that true?”
“No, she wanted to… I was just—”
“Did you write her a ticket? Yes or no?”
Devlin nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“What for?”
Looking down at his shoes, Devlin answered, “Overnight parking in the business district at The Peanut Barrel.” It came out as barely a whisper.
Earl huffed and shook his head. “We haven’t enforced that in years.”
“But it’s still on the books.”
The chief’s expression turned to one I hadn’t witnessed before. “That’s not what the badge is for,” he seethed. “Get in the fucking car and consider yourself on warning. Now.”
Devlin scurried off.
Earl turned back to me. “I’ll see that he doesn’t do that again. Are we cool?”
I avoided laughing at the concept of a Pollock and a Benson ever being cool with one another, as well as Earl choosing those words. “Yeah, so long as he stays the fuck away from her.”
“He will.” The chief walked back toward his car, tipping his hat to Angela. “Miss. I hope you haven’t been inconvenienced too much tonight.”
“It’s okay,” she answered coolly, lowering the phone.
“I’ll personally dispose of that ticket for you.”
“Thank you,” she replied.
