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“Thacker,” I told him, realizing I’d never briefed him on that, but I didn’t have to because I’d been chief of detectives. “Mickey Pitts set that fire at the Shady Rest that killed Thomas Thacker.”
“We don’t have any proof of that,” Bartlett said, but he was rattled. “What we do know is you offered Pitts one hundred thousand dollars to leave rather than do your duty.”
“Pitts was burning down the town,” George said, trying to run interference. “He was killing people. He had to be stopped.”
“That’s not proper procedure,” Bartlett said, reverting to repetitive form.
“Then fireme,” I repeated. “I did it.”
“George was your boss and thus responsible,” O’Toole said. “He’s made too many mistakes. First, Lavender Blue and now this. He’s gone.” He pursed his lips as if trying to make a decision. “Listen, Cooper, things are changing. Once the new development is done, there are going to be big changes. They’re building a combination police and fire headquarters out there. State of the art. The police force is going to be restructured. You want to be a part of the new, you toe the line. Or else you get left behind like yesterday’s news.”
So far, I’d been told I was a dinosaur and yesterday’s news.
“Vince,” George warned once more, putting a hand on my shoulder and gripping tight. Since he’d hooked up with Anemone and begun eating healthy food and sleeping well, George had lost weight, and he had more muscle than fat now. Unless I wanted to get into it with him, I wasn’t going after Bartlett.
O’Toole reached for my badge, and George let go of me and snatched it off the desk, causing O’Toole to flinch once more. He handed it back to me. “Officer Cooper acted in haste.” He looked into my eyes. “Correct, Officer Cooper?”
“That would beDetectiveCooper,” I said, tilting the gold badge. “Says it right here.”
O’Toole hesitated, and I turned to toss it back, so he said, “Of course, Detective Cooper.”
Which meant O’Toole wasn’t as dumb as he looked.
Bartlett, unfortunately, was.
“Wait a second,” Bartlett protested. “I think—“
O’Toole cut him off. “You’re chief now,” he pointed out. “He works for you. That’s good enough. Right?” He emphasized that to Bartlett.
Bartlett pouted. “I want you to know you’re on probation, Detective Cooper. You step out of line and I’ll revoke it.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I asked. “And if you don’t like something? What then? Double super-secret probation?”
“No,” Bartlett said. “I fire you.”
I met his eyes. He held mine for longer than I expected, so I started to toss the badge back on the desk again.
O’Toole interrupted the manly man glare-off. “Chief Bartlett, can I speak to you for a moment,” the mayor said, and Bartlett turned on a dime to walk toward him, the perfect lackey.
“Don’t quit,” George said to me quietly. “This place will go to hell with both of us gone.”
The mayor finished saying something sharp to Bartlett and then cut him off before he could speak.
“You’re not on probation, Detective Cooper,” O’Toole said. “Continue doing whatever you’ve been doing. But make sure you follow procedure. No more freelancing.”
Bartlett fumed but shut up. As lackeys do.
“We’re done here,” O’Toole said.
George walked out of the office. I really hoped he had a plan that was going to put him back in charge soon because if he wasn’t, I was going to have to kill that little tick Bartlett.
I’m kidding about the killing part. Maiming, however, was not off the table.
“Get back to work, Cooper,” Bartlett snapped.
Definitely maiming.
CHAPTER 3
