Discombobulate

Chapter Thirty

Detective Mullen had fallen for Sheriff Winston's trap. He came into Winston's office when he was called. When he walked into the office a few feet, the door slammed shut behind him.

He spun around to see Winston standing in front of the door with his arms crossed. He had been waiting for Mullen to enter. Mullen couldn't go anywhere unless Winston moved. Winston's toe tapped along the concrete floor.

"What are you doing?" Mullen raised an eyebrow. "I thought you needed me for something."

Winston nodded towards a chair behind him, "take a seat."

"What is this about? I don't have time to sit in your office and doddle around. I have cases I need to work on."

"Sit down," Winston waved him toward the chair again.

"But I need to wo-" 

"Sit down!" Sheriff Winston bellowed. He didn't like raising his voice, but he wasn't going to let Mullen talk him into freeing him. He had him cornered and he had questions for him.

Mullen turned a chair towards Winston and threw himself into it. His lips pressed together in a tight thin line. "What the hell is this about?"

"You stepped out of line at the cemetery. You accused me of being romantically involved with Denise. I know we haven't known each other for long, but this is my job. I'm not like Sullivan. I'd never become romantically involved with someone I'm working with."

"I stepped out of line?" Mullen chuckled in amusement. "You offered to buy her coffee."

"You offered to drive her home," Winston pointed out.

"If I hadn't, you would have! The press could have came back at any moment. You took her home from the hospital and people saw you. They would have seen you again. Why don't you get it? It makes us look bad!"

"You suggested she was on drugs." Winston continued to dig into his friend. He had to figure out why he changed his tune.

"Maybe she is! Have you ever thought of that? It looked like it!" Mullen snapped back.

Winston's dark eyes narrowed at Mullen. "What made you change? You were sure it was Sullivan. You called me the other night when you encountered him. Did he pay you to switch suspects? Did you take a bribe?"

"What? No!" Detective Mullen shifted in his seat. "That's not what happened!"

"Were you threatened?"

Detective Mullen froze. His adam's apple bobbed as he gulped. Sheriff Winston pointed a finger at his friend. "Sullivan threatened you again, didn't he?"

"N-No." Mullen got out. "I haven't talked to him since I last saw him." He dropped his arms from his chest.

"You're a shitty liar. What did he say? Mullen, this can help us with the case. We can get him arrested!"

"No, we can't!" Detective Mullen cried out. He threw up his arms. "You're a sheriff! Why don't you get it? We can't arrest him!"

He lowered his voice before he continued. "It's not only Sullivan we have to worry about. He had deputies under him. They were fired for working with him. It goes deeper than that. Who knows how many people we're up against."

"What happened? When did he threaten you?"

Mullen sighed and took his phone out of his pocket. "I forgot I had his number on my cell phone. He texted me while they were bringing up the caskets." He handed the phone to Winston.

Rethink your choices wisely. I didn't forget about your kid. Three months isn't a long time to live.

Attached along with the text was a blurry photo of Detective Mullen's wife holding their daughter outside. Winston's heart dropped while reading the words. Sullivan was a monster.

"Mullen, I have to arrest him for this. This is a threat to your daughter's life."

"You can't! He might be in jail, but someone else could harm her. These are former police officers he's friends with. They know how to track people down. I will never forgive myself if my wife or daughter ends up dead."

Sheriff Winston paused for a moment. Something had to happen. Sullivan needed to slip up. Sullivan was the puppeteer. With a simple dip of his fingers, the puppets below danced. They did anything he wanted.

Winston needed to snip the strings and sever the master from the puppets. He needed to be sure the puppets wouldn't regroup. He never felt more defeated. Every turn, there was another wall. Trapped in an ongoing maze with no way out.

"What do you think we should do?" Mullen finally broke the silence.

"I think I should get a warrant and arrest the former sheriff. What do you think I should do?"

Tears welled up in Mullen's eyes. "I think we should start figuring out a way to plant evidence. Let Denise take the fall."

"I'm not planting evidence, it's illegal and immoral."

"I don't give a fuck about your morals! You're asking me to pick between my own flesh and blood and a woman I met a few weeks ago." Mullen hoisted himself out of the chair.

"Denise seems like a lovely woman, but I'm not letting my daughter die. If you had a kid, you'd do the same thing. Now, get out of the way, I have cases to solve."

Winston sidestepped away from the door. "Mullen, if we follow this route, we let him win. He's out of office and still throwing his weight around. We can't let him do this!"

"We can let him win this fight. I'm not watching my kid die. There's nothing else we can do. It was a good try, but it's not worth risking my kid's life. We can meet up and figure out how to plant evidence, I'll find you tomorrow."

Mullen left Winston's office without another word. Winston was speechless. There seemed to be no hope for the case. Mullen had a good point. They didn't know how many people Sullivan knew. They had no idea how far his connections went.

Winston and Mullen were now a part of the show. The puppeteer had two new puppets. All he had to do was manipulate one and the other followed along. The uncanny feeling of uncertainty wrapped around Winston. The pair of friends didn't know what was going to come next.

The only one who knew the next move was Greg Sullivan.