The 'Cousins'

Part Fifty-Two: An Unsettling for the Sheriff

A/N:  Much has happened in the last two days in Bamptonville. On Thursday, Greg and Jess have placed the aircon unit with Mackendrick and are exuberant about the prospects of working trades together. Wes Chandler at the motel saw Greg tending Jess's leg and reported to the Sherriff's office that he saw them in bed together. Felix Gleitner received a call from Tod Mecklen telling him about the incident. Mecklen, working in the Sheriff's office, took the call from Chandler. Armed with this knowledge, Felix  put through an anonymous call to Dr. Armstrong telling him of Wes's sighting. Felix saw this as a way to get Mitchell away from Jess, whom he wants for his own nefarious business purposes. He gets Kyler to fire up Melissa with the news and get her to spread the rumour. By Friday morning it's all over town. Greg's the only one who hasn't heard about it. Ma Tooley filled him in on the rumour over breakfast with Ali and Tomas. The benevolent atmosphere of last night in Tomas's home is gone and both men are taciturn and disagreeable. They checked out the aircon but don't want to work the weekend, preferring to clean chicken sheds for Felix. Greg balls them out and makes them promises telling them to go or wait for him outside in the truck if they are coming with him.  Mitt Fawley is getting excited about the prospect of Abie Gollancz's impending bankruptcy. Abie owns the condo where Ali and Tomas live. He needs to buy this and demolish it to gain access to the I-80 on the part of his property behind the condo where he plans to build a processing plant. He sends his General manager - Walt Kempster- to the condo dwellers with an offer to buy their mortgages if they get out this weekend.  The Prominente, who run the town, don't want Fawley's plant built or the man to acquire any increased status, but they don't want to go up against him directly. Greg takes a call from Bill Elbury in Ma Tooley's diner and learns that his investments have done really well. It bolsters his self-confidence. He leaves the diner with a whoop and a holler to collect the licence to process bio-diesel and the key to the stable where they will set up the plant behind the Town Hall. Greg's pleasantly surprised to see Ali and Tomas in the cab of the truck. He drives to the Town Hall Courtyard and parks in front of the stable door. Now read on : ...

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Timeline: 0929, Friday 20th April :: Sheriff’s Office.

Flik Donovan had a deserved reputation built over his dozen years service as the County sheriff as a decisive man of action.  At this moment he stood completely out of that character, looking indecisively down at a notepad on his desk, nibbling his thumb and with the door to his private office closed. He shuffled from foot to foot gripping the back of his chair waiting for a return call from a friend in the FBI at Omaha from whom he’d called in a favour.

He felt vulnerable and threatened by his discovery of Tod Mecklen’s probable disloyalty by working a likely secret understanding with Felix Gleitner. The call to the office, and rumour on the street about Mitchell and the boy all pointed to Mecklen’s treachery; but it still had to be proven beyond doubt before he could take action. He rubbed his chin for inspiration at the realisation that this needed delicate handling.

Flik’s eyes scanned the three lines of photographs of the previous incumbents of his office that filled the wall adjacent to his door moving his gaze from one to the next.  Each picture was of a fiercely determined and confident man, all showing a common, singular and constant purpose; to get the job done properly and quickly. Flik saw the power radiating from their faces and hard, cold, accusing eyes.

He pursed his lips as he noticed the other factor common to all of the photographs; they were all dressed and depicted in tones of black and white with no shades of grey. This added to Flik’s unease. He had an understanding with Felix Gleitner. It was a considerable grey area, but he knew there was no turning back from it now. Flik glanced again at the photographs of his predecessors taking their hard, distasteful countenances as a personal indictment of their displeasure with him.  He wrung his hands together and spoke softly through his gritted teeth.