#WeWriWa ~ THE CASE OF THE WEDDING WRECKER: Mike Was a Bully

Since today, Saturday, April 30th is the last day SWITCHED is on sale for 99 cents, I switched (pun intended) back to The Wedding Wrecker. 

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, where writers share snippets from their work-in-progress or new release. Thank you to everyone who stopped by last week. 

I'm sharing snippets from the 4th Alex O'Hara cozy mystery, The Case of the Wedding Wrecker. This immediately follows the last snippet. It ended with Nick's dad saying, “That effing Dawson locked him in a cell. Wouldn’t let us talk to him.”

BTW, since this is a work in progress, suggestions are always welcome.

Snippet:  

“That’s ridiculous,” Pop said. “Where’s Dan? I’ll give that s. o. b.—”

“Pop, settle down, it’s not Dan’s fault—it’s that damn Deputy Dawg.”

The interior of the police side of Public Safety wasn’t large enough for me to miss the chief. He was nowhere in sight.

From the dispatch desk, Jenny Sampson gave me a sympathetic look as she nodded to the office with closed blinds. “The Chief has Ron in his office.”

Sometimes, Ron Dawson—aka Deputy Dawg, a thorn in my side—let his authority go to his head. Wicked with the radar gun, he delighted in catching speeders. He also enjoyed a spot of revenge for anyone who tormented him in high school, me, especially. Admittedly, I wasn’t very nice to him—silly pranks, mainly. I usually let his minor revenge tactics slide until the time he “arrested” me in front of a client.

 

And a little more, if you're interested: 

This time, Dawson had gone too far. If the chief didn’t take care of him, I would. How dare he arrest Nick? And on our wedding day. Our perfect day.

“That Nick Palzetti killed my husband,” Todd’s mother wailed. He’d gotten her off to a corner, trying to hush her.

“He couldn’t have.” Todd had a bad case of hero worship where Nick was concerned. The boy idolized him. “Mr. Nick wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

“He did. I know he did,” Sharon persisted. “He threatened Mike after she broke poor Mike’s nose.” She pointed at me.

Yeah, I busted his nose. The jerk tried to rough me up. Poor Mike, my left foot. The man was a brute. Todd had told us about how his stepfather had hit his mother. Yet, she wouldn’t leave. I tried to help her, but she rejected my offer to take her to a shelter. Told me to mind my own business.

“Mom, listen to me.” Todd made her sit then stooped next to her holding her hands. “We’ll find out what really happened. I know you think Mr. Nick did it. But he couldn’t have. I know him.”

“You defend him when your father is dead?” Her voice rose in a shriek. “Mike was a good man.”

“Oh, Mom.” Todd groaned. “Mike was a bully. He knocked you around. He hit me. He was not a good man. And he was not my father.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. That Nick Palzetti is a murderer.”

I’d about had it with her accusations. Despite the fact that they were in a corner, her voice carried throughout the small office. I started toward her, but Maria held my arm. She shook her head.

“The woman is distraught. Don’t engage her.” 

“I tell you Nick Palzetti killed Mike,” Todd’s mother wailed. “There’s a witness.”

 

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