The Sweetest Summer(97)
“All right, Mr. Katsakis.” Clancy sat down in the chair nearest to him. “Here are your options. You can wait here with us, make new friends in one of the holding cells, or relax in our luxurious break room, which has a TV.”
“Show me the way.”
They escorted him to the lunch room and handed him the remote control.
“Hey! You said it was luxurious. This is disgusting!”
Cam closed the door and whispered, “That guy thinks our break room is disgusting. What does that say about us?”
Jake asked, “Is he on something?”
Clancy shook his head. “It’s his God-given charm.”
“Hmph,” Deon said. “I’d say he ranks about a six on the cray-cray scale.”
Only minutes after they had returned to their posts, the door opened again, this time politely.
“Hi, guys.”
Clancy smiled patiently at Heather Hewes, the local press barnacle. Heather was an earnest young woman with big dreams—she was determined to be a 60 Minutes producer one day. What she lacked in spelling skills, camera work, and factual accuracy, she more than made up for with enthusiasm. “What’s happening, Heather?”
“I was hoping you’d tell me. I need something sexy or this festival week will be a washout.”
“We don’t do it for you?”
She shook her head at Deon. “In the biz we use that word to mean exciting, something to catch the public’s attention. Not, you know, actual sex.”
“Gotcha.”
“So, can you give me an exclusive on the kidnapper, Chief?”
He almost laughed—why, yes, he could, and no, he wouldn’t. “Now, Heather, you know our policy. We don’t comment on ongoing criminal investigations, especially those coordinated by the FBI.”
“Well, crap.” She sighed, pushing up her glasses. “I’m just not finding anything good to write about. This has got to be the most boring Mermaid Festival in the history of Bayberry Island.”
“Yeah.” Clancy sighed. “One for the record books, I’m afraid.”
“How about that pirate boy who almost drowned yesterday? Any word on him? I tried to interview the family but they weren’t very cooperative. Are they even still on the island?”
Clancy shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you, Heather. There are a lot of kids running around this place right now.”
She groaned in frustration. “One last thing. An anonymous tipster called the paper today. The message he left was pretty shocking.”
Clancy’s spine straightened. Was this the husband from the ferry? Katsakis? Old John, even? He made sure he sounded only marginally interested. “Oh? What was the message?”
“He said one of the chili cook-off entries was tainted with ’shrooms again. Is there any truth to this allegation?”
“Day-um.” Deon shook his head.
“I have no evidence to support that claim, Heather. I’ll let you know if there are developments we can share in either matter.”
She sighed. “See? Dull, dull, dull!” Heather left.
Not much later, Clancy went to check on Katsakis. He poked his head in the break room to find him sitting with his arms crossed over his sauce stains, watching Headline News. A can of diet Dr Pepper sat in front of him on the lunch table. “Doing okay, Mr. Katsakis?”