Revenant (30 page)

“Oh, I’m aware of it, all right. It’s not something I’m likely to forget any time soon.”

“That’s what I figured. The investigation into the shooting was going to be a formality right from the get-go. There was a witness to the whole thing, after all. Besides, how the hell do I write up the circumstances of
that
confrontation? No one outside of you, me and Brett Parker—who’s already out of the hospital and going to be fine, by the way—would believe it if I told the truth.”

“Good point. But won’t that also be the case with the ME’s report? What is Dr. Affeldt going to have to say about the fully decomposed skeleton of Earl Manning lying in a pile in the front seat of my cruiser—the skeleton of a dead man with none of my bullets lodged in him?”

Mike sipped his coffee and smiled. “You know, after the incident last fall with Professor Dye and Chief Court, I think our friendly neighborhood medical examiner has decided to follow the path of least resistance. The poor old guy has now been confronted with medical impossibilities twice in less than a year, and I don’t think he has the energy to do much more than rubber-stamp an autopsy report. His findings won’t be available for some time yet, but I’m betting when they’re published, Mr. Manning will have died from a single gunshot wound following an attack on Officer Sharon Dupont in the front seat of her police cruiser.”

“You won’t be able to fool Manheim the Maneater, though. That reporter’s going to smell the supernatural connection from a mile away.”

“She already has. She called me last night requesting an interview. ‘Work with me and we’ll get out the real story,’ she said.”

Sharon laughed at Mike’s falsetto imitation of the reporter’s voice. “What are you going to do?”

“Ignore her, what else can I do? She’s already going to make a fortune off one tell-all Paskagankee book, I’ll be damned if I’m going to give her the chance to write another.”

“Think she’ll give up that easily?”

Mike shrugged. “I hope so, but I doubt it. In any case, the crew from Hollywood is due next week to begin filming location stuff for the movie based on her book about last fall’s murder spree, so I’m hoping she’ll be too busy hob-nobbing with the glitterati to worry about badgering me.”

“She’ll never leave you alone,” Sharon muttered.

“What do you mean?”

“Come on, I’ve seen the way she looks at you. She’d like nothing better than to sink her man-eating teeth into you.”

“Is that right? Well, as much fun as that sounds, I’m hoping she’ll soon get the message that this broken-down old cop is off the market.”

“And how are you going to convince her of that?”

Mike ignored the question, instead glancing down at the floor next to his chair. “Would you look at that. I dropped my napkin.” He eased down to one knee.

Sharon looked down. “I don’t—“

Out of his pocket Mike pulled a gold band, topped by a glittering diamond.

“—see any—“ Sharon froze, her confusion evident.

“I know I’m not any great prize,” he said. “Most of my future is behind me and you’ve barely scratched the surface of yours. And I swore after Kate left me that I’d never get married again. But that was before I met you. And now I can’t imagine living a fuller life than one with you as its centerpiece, or an emptier life than one without you. I love you, Sharon, and I need you, and I always will. Would you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”

The tears spilled down her cheeks and Mike sensed diners all over the restaurant turning in their seats to watch the drama unfold. The clatter of silverware on porcelain and coffee mugs on Formica came to an abrupt halt and the buzz of conversation died away.

Sharon nodded. “Yes,” she whispered after an eternity, and the diner erupted in applause as Mike slid the ring onto her finger, then pulled her to her feet and engulfed her in a bear hug.

He wiped her tears away and took a deep breath, blowing out forcefully. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous,” he said. “Fighting a murderous dead guy was nothing compared to that.”

They settled back into their seats as the applause died away. He noticed a strange look on Sharon’s face. “What’s bothering you? Second thoughts already?”

“Never. But what about our jobs? The whole reason we had to stop seeing each other is that you’re my supervisor. The Town Council will really freak if we get married. They’ll never allow it; you’ll lose your job for sure.”

“I’ve already considered that. It’s a non-issue.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean my last official act as Chief of the Paskagankee, Maine Police Department was to reinstate you to active status. I’ve already submitted my resignation to the council, effective noon today.” He looked at his watch. “Or in about ten minutes, according to Timex.”

Sharon stared, her mouth agape. “What if I had said no?”

“Then I suppose I would have been heartbroken as well as
unemployed.”

“But . . . who’s going be chief?”

“That’s up to the Town Council, but I’ve recommended Pete Kendall. The guy’s an outstanding cop for such a young officer—he’s a lot like you in that sense—and he’ll make a wonderful chief if he gets the chance. But that’s out of my hands.”

“And what are you going to do for work?”

“I don’t know. I figure I’ll watch TV all day in my underwear and live off the hard work of my wife.” Sharon kicked his shin under the table and he grinned. “Okay, okay, I’ll get off my lazy ass and seek gainful employment. There must be a security firm in the area that could use a moderately successful ex-cop on their roster.”

“Moderately successful? I don’t think you’re giving yourself enough credit. But good luck finding a security firm way out here in the middle of nowhere.”

“Yeah, well, we’ll figure something out. That’s an issue for another day. I came to the conclusion pretty quickly that you’re a hell of a lot more important to me than any job, especially one where people sometimes shoot at me or lock me in freezers and leave me there to die. But right now, I think we need to celebrate.”

“Agreed. What did you have in mind?”

“Why don’t we go back to your place? I’m sure we can think of something.”

Sharon smiled. “But it’s barely past breakfast.”

“Even better. That gives us all day.”

REVENANT is the second entry in Allan Leverone’s series of supernatural suspense novels set in the isolated little town of Paskagankee, Maine. The first in the series is titled PASKAGANKEE, and is available here:
http://www.amazon.com/PASKAGANKEE-ebook/dp/B0072PMYNM

About the author

Allan Leverone is a 2012 Derringer Award winner for excellence in short mystery fiction and a 2011 Pushcart Prize nominee. He is the author of the Amazon bestselling thriller,
THE LONELY MILE
, as well as the thrillers,
FINAL VECTOR
and
PASKAGANKEE
. He has authored three horror novellas:
DARKNESS FALLS
,
HEARTLESS
and
THE BECOMING
. Allan lives in Londonderry, NH with his wife, three children, one beautiful granddaughter and a cat who has used up eight lives. Connect with Allan on
Facebook
, Twitter,
@AllanLeverone
and at
AllanLeverone.com
.