With my hand to my heart, I said, “Why, Lou, you got me all wrong.”
“Mmm-hmm. I’m sure I do. You better get yourself on out of here, Officer Murphy, before I stick my nose in more.”
“We wouldn’t want that.”
She flashed me an evil little smile. “You clearly haven’t been living in Salem long enough, Mike. It’s my duty to butt into other people’s business and pass it along.”
“That’s my cue to leave.”
“I thought so. Have a safe shift, Officer Murphy.”
Smiling, I waved good-bye to Lou and attempted to push Sydney Burch from my thoughts.
Sydney
At the conference table, I pushed my burger to the side, completely stuffed. Wesley sat across from me with a healthy salad. He had always been my sensible friend, talking me out of things that might get us into trouble. I’d often wondered if he’d ever done anything without thinking about it. He always had a plan. And his plan had a plan.
“I’m glad you’re living in Salem now. I’ll have my best childhood friend near to keep out of trouble.”
I rolled my eyes at his words and laughed. “You make me sound like I’m reckless. I simply like to live life to the fullest. It’s too short to second-guess everything. Then second-guess the second guess. And have a contingency plan to the contingency plan.”
It was Wesley’s turn to roll his eyes. “You make me sound like a stuffed shirt.” On cue, he adjusted his perfectly pressed navy, pinstriped, three-piece suit.
“You’re not a stuffed shirt. You like order and purpose to everything you do. It’s what makes us the best of friends. I’ve never seen someone outline details like you.”
Seriously, his outlines had outlines. It was a headache to read through them when he detailed something out.
“True. My job requires it. It’s important I stay prepared. In the end, it can mean someone’s life or death.” Considering the crime rate in Salem wasn’t high, that seemed to be taking his job a little too seriously. However, that was how Wesley was.
He moved his plate to the side and pressed a button on his phone. Within seconds, Margaret appeared to whisk away our lunch.
Margaret had always been like a second mother to Wesley after he lost his own in a freak accident twenty years ago. His father had left as soon as Wesley went to college. The man had always been cold and distant. I had a feeling he hadn’t approved of our close-knit friendship.
I stood to give Margaret a hug. “It’s good to see you. I hope Wesley hasn’t been giving you too much trouble.”
With a flick of her hand, she responded, “Of course not. If he did, I’d bend him over my knee, even though he’s twice my size.”
That earned a chortle from me.
“It’s good to have you here permanently, Sydney. I know Virgil was looking forward to when you moved here for good.”
I pushed past the lump that formed in my throat. “It’s good to be here.”
“I’ll let you two finish. You have another appointment in thirty minutes, Wesley.”
“Thanks, Margaret. We’ll be done by then.”
After the plates were taken away, Wesley pulled out a file folder. “To finalize everything, I need a few signatures.”