Tuesday Tales: From the Word MAROON

Welcome to May and this week’s Tuesday Tales. Our word prompt is MAROON. I’m continuing with And Justice for All.

“Damn shame.” Kelly’s voice made her jump. “Sally’s the one in the maroon dress. She and Pat celebrated their eighth wedding anniversary last month. I’ve never seen two people fight so hard to be a family. Sally’s father is the head of some off the rails Christian sect. They’ve got property in the country somewhere, but live completely off the grid … no electricity, no medical treatment, and no modern social beliefs. They grow or make everything they need. Someone said they were allied with some similar denominations in the US. I asked Pat about it once. She said he’d been trying off and on to have his daughter declared mentally unsound so that he could take her kids away from her. As far as I’ve heard, none of the courts would entertain his motions since he isn’t exactly a straight shooter in the eyes of the law. We were out there last fall when a man accused him of kidnapping his missing teenaged daughter, but if he did, we didn’t find any sign of her and believe me, we searched. Pat went through everything.”

“So, Pat had enemies.”

“Only that wing nut. He’s probably going to come for Sally and the others now. I don’t know how she’s going to be able to stand up to him on her own. We’ll protect her, but Pat was her anchor. She and Sally were going home to Kenora. They were finally getting away from the old bastard. She’d found them a nice home on the Reserve. Pat was part Ojibwa. I guess that goes all to rat-shit now, too. Not sure Sally will be allowed to live on the Reserve.”

A woman police officer, a visible minority at that, with a powerful zealot as an enemy. The conversation she’d overheard and what Kelly said about an anniversary struck her.

“Pat and Sally were a married couple? Is that right?”

Was that another reason why she’d been targeted?

“Yeah.” He cocked his head. “And one of the happily married kind at that. Sally worked as a 9 1 1 dispatcher. She probably took that call this morning.” He frowned. “We’ve all heard the rumors, Detective. Do you think her being gay had anything to do with what happened out there this morning?”

Don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales.