“Are you okay?” Cherry asked Heather after Bowman moved out of earshot.
Heather absently rubbed her injured shoulder and shrugged. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
“That guy is a major jerk. I don’t think for a minute you were trying to steal anything. He obviously doesn’t know how much you and Chris have done for this community.”
Heather smiled. “It’s the Glandon Foundation, not me.”
“No, it’s you too. Where did they find that guy, anyway? I like Chief MacDonald, but I’m not sure about his choice for interim police chief.”
“He’s the city manager’s brother-in-law. I doubt the chief had much choice.”
Cherry rolled her eyes. “That explains it. I hope Chief MacDonald isn’t out for long. We don’t need some overzealous cop coming into stores and harassing customers. Especially with the tourist season around the corner. And he should know you don’t go accusing a customer of stealing when they’re still in the store.”
“I don’t think he liked the way I look.” Heather grinned.
“Well, in my opinion, you look terrific. Can I get you something for that shoulder?”
Heather smiled at Cherry and handed her the bottle of medicine that Bowman had knocked in her purse. “No, just this.”
When Heather exited the store ten minutes later, she spied the police car parked a few spots down from Chris’s car. Bowman sat in the driver’s seat, watching her. She hurried to the passenger side of Chris’s car and opened the door.
“Get me out of here,” Heather said as she slid into the passenger seat and slammed the door shut. She was already putting on her seatbelt when she started telling Chris what had happened inside the store. Chris listened, and when she finished putting on her seatbelt, he placed Bella, who had been curled up on his lap, on her lap. He put the key in the ignition. He was pulling out of the parking lot when she finished her telling. Chris proceeded to share with her his interaction with the interim police chief.
When Chris finished, Heather said, “That guy is mental. I wonder what Brian’s going to say when I tell him his boss wanted to shoot Hunny and tried to arrest me today.”
Chris glanced in his rearview mirror. “He’s following us.” Heather turned around in the seat and saw the police car trailing some distance behind them.
“Is he actually following us?” Heather turned back around in the seat and looked forward.
“Let me see.” Chris made a left turn.
“Where are you going?”
“I want to see if he’s still behind us.”
Heather turned around in the seat again. “He turned.”
Chris made another left turn. He glanced in the rearview mirror. “He’s still back there.”
Heather turned back to face the windshield and slumped down in the seat. “What is his deal?”
“I have no idea. I’m going to make a few more turns and head home. But if he’s still following us when I get to your place, I might just keep going and drive over to Chief MacDonald’s house. This new guy is a loose cannon.”
When they turned down the alley, Chris glanced in the rearview mirror. “He’s still back there. I guess we go to the chief’s.”
“No!” Heather pointed toward her driveway. “Brian’s at my house. He’s standing by his car. He probably just got there. Go ahead and stop.” It wasn’t Brian’s personal vehicle parked in Heather’s driveway, but the police car he drove home on certain nights.
A few moments later, Chris pulled into Heather’s driveway and parked a few feet away from Brian. Dressed in his uniform, Brian stood by his police car.
Chris parked his car, and Brian looked confused when Bowman pulled his police car into the driveway next, blocking Chris’s vehicle. Bowman parked and got out of the vehicle, his right hand resting on the gun in his belt holster as he sauntered toward the others. Heather had just gotten out of her car with Bella in her arms, but Chris remained seated in his car with Hunny in the back seat and the windows rolled up.
“Do you need some help with these two?” Clay asked Brian as he walked toward them, reminding Heather of some dime-store cowboy getting ready for a gunfight. “What’s going on over here?”
Confused, Brian stared at Clay.
“We met the guy covering for the chief,” Heather said loudly. “He’s a real ass.” She walked to Brian and stood by his side, clutching Bella while glaring at Clay.
Now Clay was the one to look confused. He glanced over to Chris, who remained seated in his car with the windows rolled up and back to Brian and Heather, who stood together in the middle of the driveway by Brian’s police car.
“What is going on, Henderson?” Clay demanded.
“I am so confused right now,” Brian said.
“A simple question. Why are you here? Are you arresting them?” Clay asked.
“Why would I arrest them?” Brian put his arm around Heather. “Heather’s my girlfriend.”
“Your girlfriend is a thief?” Clay asked.
“Thief?” Brian glanced at Heather and back to Clay.
Heather rolled her eyes and said, “It is a long and very stupid story. Ask Cherry at the pharmacy. She thinks he’s an ass, too.”
Chris got out of the car and walked over to Brian and Heather, leaving Hunny in the back seat. Hunny started barking. “I have to leave Hunny in the car so your new boss doesn’t shoot her. He’s already threatened to once,” Chris said.
Brian looked at Clay. “I’m the one who needs to know what’s going on. You call my girlfriend a thief, threaten to shoot Chris’s dog. You’re really scoring points on your first day in town. Oh, I forgot, you also wanted to arrest Danielle and Walt.”
“He wanted to arrest Little Mama?” Heather gasped. She turned to Clay and hissed, “Oh, you are a wicked man!”
Clay stood in silence, attempting to process all that had been said. Finally, he began shaking his head. “This town has problems. I suspect it has one of the highest capital crime rates in Oregon. We’ve got people wandering into the police station as if they own the place. We have an officer who doesn’t seem to have a problem dating a thief who looks like she should be dating a gang member. Expect some changes. They didn’t hire me just to cover for MacDonald. I’m here to fix the police department. Henderson, consider an early retirement. That way you can spend more time hanging with your skanky girlfriend.”
Clay turned his back to Brian and the others. Brian lunged forward as if he were about to punch out his new boss for his last crack about Heather, but both Chris and Heather pulled him back, and Heather mouthed, Not now.
Missing the silent drama going on behind his back, Clay got into the police car, backed out of the driveway, and drove down the alley, out of sight.
* * *
Fifteen minutes later, the three sat around Heather’s kitchen table, eating tacos, and drinking beer while Hunny napped at Chris’s feet and Bella disappeared upstairs. Chris told his story first, about Bowman threatening to shoot Hunny. Heather followed with her story of being accused of shoplifting. Brian then told about the incident with Walt and Danielle down at the station. He ended up saying he wished he had ignored Chris and Heather’s plea to let Bowman go, and he should have flattened the man.
“While I appreciate you wanting to knock that jerk’s head off, jeopardizing your career over that idiot isn’t worth it,” Heather told Brian.
“And I’m supposed to just let him talk about you that way?” Brian asked. “Do nothing?”
Heather smiled at Brian, leaned over and kissed his cheek, and then said, “I never said do nothing. But there are more efficient ways to deal with someone like Bowman.”
“I agree with Heather. And I’m sure we can work out something with Walt or Marie to knock that jerk off his feet,” Chris said. “There is something satisfying when a bully like Bowman not only doesn’t see it coming but can’t figure out where the hell it came from.”
“You have a point.” Brian chuckled.
Before taking another drink of beer, Chris said, “I can’t believe Bowman didn’t know you can’t arrest someone for shoplifting if they haven’t left the store.”
“Oh, Clay knows he didn’t have grounds to arrest Heather, even if she had intended to steal the medicine. He just enjoys playing the tough guy,” Brian grumbled.
“Then why did they hire him to cover for the chief?” Chris asked.
“And is that really true about him being hired to clean up the police department?” Heather added.
“Bowman is the city manager’s brother-in-law,” Brian said. “I suspect that’s the only reason they hired him, because Clay and his family want to move back to town. I doubt they hired him to clean up Dodge. And frankly, if they were going to hire someone to do that—if we needed to be cleaned up—it wouldn’t be Clay Bowman. Bowman has always had a high opinion of himself. Much higher than those around him.”
“What was he like back then?” Heather asked.
“You mean when I worked with him?” Brian asked.
Heather nodded.
Brian considered the question a moment before answering, “I remember one woman who worked up front said Bowman thought he was real macho.”
“Macho?” Heather frowned.
Brian nodded. “I wouldn’t have used macho. I would have used hard-ass. At least in his mind. His idea of policing was getting in people’s faces. He made snap judgments, which often proved to be wrong.”
Chris chuckled and took a sip of his drink.
Brian frowned at Chris. “What?”
Chris shrugged. “Well, you used to be a little like that.”
Heather giggled. “You arrested Danielle for murder… several times.”
“In my defense, I had some good reasons to believe what I did back then,” Brian insisted.
“You also thought I was a murderer,” Chris reminded him.
“I had some good reasons to believe that, too.”
“There is some truth to that.” Chris flashed Brian a grin and finished his drink.
Brian let out a sigh. “I never cared for Bowman. I was glad when he left.”
“Why would the chief hire someone like that? He must have known how he was,” Chris asked.
“I don’t think the chief had much choice, considering who Bowman’s brother-in-law is. And I think the chief figured Bowman wouldn’t be able to accept the job if he had his surgery this week. Pretty short notice for someone to move. Supposedly, Bowman was already an assistant police chief. But he obviously didn’t give two weeks’ notice, not much different from when he quit here the last time.”
“I don’t imagine his previous place of employment was sad when he quit without giving a two-week notice,” Heather said. “They probably threw a party after he left.”